Revamping All-Star Weekend

I know I have other posts I should be getting to, but this idea just popped in my head so I'm going to go with it before I forget it. Many people complain how All-Star weekend needs to be changed, I personally would like to see more basketball and less show-boating, though, that's what the regular season is for. What if we just did more basketball games with like in-game "achievements"? Though, that might get pretty messy. I wouldn't mind just having basketball though, forgoing the dunk contest, three point shootout, skills challenge, celebrity game, and Shooting for the Stars. Additionally, the big talk around All-Star break is always about who gets "snubbed".

I know, All-Star break is long over, but it never hurts to speculate though, right? So here's my take; 6-team tourney featuring the All-Stars by division not by conference. Rank the division by overall division win-loss performance, and then have the top coaching staff in each division coach. This way, even the bad teams have good representation in the festivities, and good players aren't penalized for being on bad teams. If we were to do it right now, here's what it would look like:

Eastern Conference Seeding:

1.) Southeast Division 181-177 (.506)
2.) Atlantic Division 175-181 (.492)
3.) Central Division 187-206 (.476)

Western Conference Seeding:

1.) Southwest Division 198-157 (.558)
2.) Northwest Division 174-183 (.487)
3.) Pacific Division 154- 201 (.433)

I suppose one difficulty will be figuring out how to schedule the whole thing, and that players might only want to play one game, as it is supposed to be a "break". Also given that each conference only has 3 divisions, it'd be hard to figure out who'd play more games and stuff like that. In the end, I suppose you could do like a round robin style play, where everyone plays everyone else, shorten the games a little, maybe make the rosters only 6 man and do it that way.

Picking teams also provides to be a slight challenge, but I think that each team should put in one player they think is most deserving (all teams then represented), and then the other coaches vote for the remaining players. Maybe the coaches could all nominate a panel, and from that selection the fans decide who gets to play. Teams won't all be equally represented, but certainly, the good players on poor teams get the recognition they deserve. Certainly, some of the smaller market players would get more exposure. Assuming we do normal All-Star size 12 man rosters, here are my picks, let's assume there are no season ending injuries, and everyone who started the season healthy, is still healthy:

Southeast Division (Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Charlotte Bobcats, Washington Wizards)
Head Coach: Stan Van Gundy

PG: Jameer Nelson (Orlando Magic)
SG: Dwayne Wade (Miami Heat)
SF: Caron Butler (Washington Wizards)
PF: Antawn Jamison (Washington Wizards)
C: Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)

Guards: Joe Johnson (Atlanta Hawks), Mike Bibby (Atlanta Hawks)
Forwards: Gerald Wallace (Charlotte Bobcats), Rashard Lewis (Orlando Magic)
Center: Emeka Okafor (Charlotte Bobcats)
Reserves: Josh Smith (Atlanta Hawks), Hedo Turkoglu (Orlando Magic)

Atlantic Division (Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors)
Head Coach: Doc Rivers

PG: Devin Harris (New Jersey Nets)
SG: Vince Carter (New Jersey Nets)
SF: Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics)
PF: Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics)
C: Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors)

Guards: Ray Allen (Boston Celtics), Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics)
Forwards: Andre Iguodala, (Philadelphia 76ers), David Lee (New York Knicks)
Center: Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets)
Reserves: Al Harrington (New York Knicks), Andre Miller (Philadelphia 76ers)

Central Division (Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers)
Head Coach: Mike Brown

PG: Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls)
SG: Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks)
SF: LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
PF: Troy Murphy (Indiana Pacers)
C: Rasheed Wallace (Detroit Pistons)

Guards: Richard Hamilton (Detroit Pistons), Ben Gordon (Chicago Bulls)
Forwards: Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers), Richard Jefferson (Milwaukee Bucks)
Center: Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Reserves: Mo Williams (Cleveland Cavaliers), Allen Iverson (Detroit Pistons)

Southwest Division (San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies)
Head Coach: Greg Popovich

PG: Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets)
SG: OJ Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies)
SF: Ron Artest (Houston Rockets)
PF: Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)
C: Yao Ming (Houston Rockets)

Guards: Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), Jason Terry (Dallas Mavericks)
Forwards: Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks)
Center: David West (New Orleans Hornets)
Reserves: Josh Howard (Dallas Mavericks), Manu Ginobili (San Antonio Spurs)

Northwest Division (Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Portland Trailblazers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves)
Head Coach: George Karl

PG: Deron Williams (Utah Jazz)
SG: Brandon Roy (Portland Trailblazers)
SF: Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
PF: Al Jefferson (Minnesota Timberwolves)
C: Mehmet Okur (Utah Jazz)

Guards: Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets), Randy Foye (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Forwards: Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets), LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trailblazers)
Center: Nene Hilario (Denver Nuggets)
Reserves: Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz), Paul Millsap (Utah Jazz)

Pacific Division (Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings)
Head Coach: Phil Jackson

PG: Baron Davis (Los Angeles Clippers)
SG: Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
SF: Stephen Jackson (Golden State Warriors)
PF: Amar'e Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns)
C: Shaquille O'Neal (Phoenix Suns)

Guards: Steve Nash (Pheonix Suns), Kevin Martin (Sacramento Kings)
Forwards: Pau Gasol (Los Angeles Lakers), Zach Randolph (Los Angeles Clippers)
Center: Marcus Camby (Los Angeles Clippers)
Reserves: Andrew Bynum (Los Angeles Lakers), Jamal Crawford (Golden State Warriors)

These are my picks. I personally think the Southwest division would be hard to top, but let me know what you think, and who you would switch out. Additionally, let me know if you can think of any methodology for the All-Star break that might work better. Just some tinkering for fun.