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Sad truth: If an All-Star Doesn't Fit, Somebody Must Sit; Dwight Howard
By Tony Mejia | CBS SportsLine.com Staff Writer
Detroit has certainly been impressive, but four All-Star spots is just excessive.
I apologize for channeling the ghost of Johnny Cochran, but it's kind of fitting, as this reaction piece to the NBA All-Star reserves is going to deal with making a case -- a case for the snubbed.
Rasheed Wallace blocked Dwight Howard's path to the All-Star team. (Getty Images)
The premise: Though the Pistons' 40-8 start is the top story in the league this season, it's not exactly unprecedented.
San Antonio was 41-12 at the break last season, yet only Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili represented the Spurs in the All-Star Game. Phoenix was 40-13, and while Shawn Marion, Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire all got bids, coaches weren't voting the Suns' entire starting lineup into the game. Reportedly, Larry Brown and a handful of other East coaches did just that for Detroit . But you didn't see anyone crying for Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson last year, did you?
How about the teams just a couple of games behind the Pistons this year? San Antonio and Dallas are both 38-10. How many players did the Spurs land? Two. Tony Parker and Duncan. The Mavs? Just Dirk Nowitzki.
Heck, the 72-win Chicago Bulls -- who the Pistons have almost no chance of catching -- sent just two players, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, to the 1996 All-Star Game.
The merits of team play should certainly be rewarded, but this is an All-Star Game, and the concept is to tout individuals. Players like Michael Redd and Dwight Howard may not have the luxury of teammates as good as the assembled crew in Detroit , but they're busting it on a nightly basis to try and help make up the difference. That's two of the NBA's top 11 scorers and its leading rebounder getting passed over.
One possible solution is to supply extra wiggle room. Expand to 14 roster spots instead of 12 -- the number used since way back when there were 14 teams. Now there are 30 teams, and too many deserving players are missing out at All-Star time. If there were 14 players, everyone would still get minutes and the likes of Redd and Dwight Howard in the East and Carmelo Anthony and Baron Davis out West would be justly rewarded.
Given the current parameters, there are simply too many close calls that had to be made. Here are the most trying ones, on a case-by-case basis:
Rasheed Wallace vs. Dwight Howard: Shouldn't the NBA's leading rebounder be a part of his conference's All-Star team? Isn't that why Ben Wallace has three consecutive All-Star berths before this one, his fourth?
But the real travesty is that coaches found room for Rasheed Wallace, who averages the same amount of points as Dwight Howard but nearly half the boards, the same amount of blocks and is shooting just 43.5 percent. Why? Because he facilitates offense? C'mon.
Rasheed Wallace is a great talent, but when you face the Pistons, he's not the guy you have to fear. You play Orlando , and the first player you think of, in just his second year, is Dwight Howard. Heck, Washington 's Antawn Jamison and Philadelphia 's Chris Webber deserve to be there more than Wallace does, but the coaches making the choices were overzealous rather than reasonable.
Rip Hamilton vs. Michael Redd and Gilbert Arenas: Hamilton got the nod, and there really isn't a problem there. Yes, there is a discrepancy in scoring, as Arenas averages more than 28 and Redd nets over 25. But Hamilton (21.6 ppg) is the leading scorer on the NBA's best team, and that counts for something -- particularly since he would average more somewhere else.
On Friday, Arenas garnered commissioner David Stern's appointment to replace the injured Jermaine O'Neal. The Wizards and Bucks have nearly identical records, but Arenas' numbers are so daunting, it would have been a surprise for Redd to get the nod.
Though Redd has the slightly better shooting percentage, Arenas has managed to be the NBA's No. 4 scorer while averaging nearly six assists. Some call Redd one-dimensional, yet he's managed to become one of the top clutch shooters and helps his team gain spacing due to his accuracy. He's a Reggie Miller-type. Arenas is an Allen Iverson-type, and if you put those to head-to-head, you know who would get the nod. Same thing happened here.
Pau Gasol vs. Carmelo Anthony: You could have carved this one up any which way and still disappoint a deserving individual.
Anthony has scored more points than anyone in the Western Conference except Kobe Bryant. The Denver star has matured this season, accepting George Karl's challenge to be great and develop into a go-to guy. At the same time, Gasol's team has a better record, largely because his own development. He's averaging career bests in scoring (19.5), rebounding (9.2), assists (4.2) and is blocking two shots per game.
With Tracy McGrady being voted in and Tim Duncan, Elton Brand, Kevin Garnett, Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki all ahead of Gasol and Anthony on the totem pole, it took a position change to get one of them in. If Anthony would have gotten the nod, the West coaches could have made Brand a center. Instead, Gasol gets the positional switch, recognized as a center despite the fact Lorenzen Wright has started nearly every game at that position for the Grizzlies.
Maybe Anthony can get the same treatment next year and be moved over to guard. The aforementioned forwards are unlikely to go anywhere and Phoenix 's Amare Stoudemire will be back, so 'Melo and Pau might be pitted against each other for the final spot once again.
Tony Parker vs. Sam Cassell, Baron Davis, Chris Paul: Since they chose to take only one of these deserving gentlemen, the opinion here is that the coaches made the right move.
Parker, a first-time All-Star, has been his team's best player this season, and that includes Duncan . Parker's speed has changed games night in and night out, making the game easier for teammates and aiding San Antonio in overcoming the foot woes that have limited Duncan and the assorted injuries that have kept Ginobili from being his normal self.
Cassell, 36, has been resurgent with the Clippers and led them into prominence, so he has a right to be disappointed, particularly since this might be his final chance to reach his second career All-Star Game. Davis is second in the league in assists, yet Golden State has fallen below expectations despite his efforts. The Hornets have been successful beyond anyone's wildest dreams, in large part because of Paul, but it was unlikely that the coaches would vote in a rookie with so many other deserving candidates boasting similar credentials.
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