The starters are set (unofficially). There is no way that any of these players are being passed up so I'm going to list them now.
East:
G- Iverson
G- Lebron
F- G. Hill
F- V. Carter
C- Shaq
West:
G- T-Mac
G- Kobe
F- Garnett
F- Duncan
C- Yao
I'm disappointed. If I had to rechoose, I'd say the all-star line-up should look like this (I changed roster positions from the ballot to make possible):
East:
G- Francis
G- Wade
F- Lebron
F- Hill (or Okafor just to get a PF in the mix, how about that streak of 19 straight double-doubles?)
C- Shaq
West:
G: Nash
G: Kobe (obviously not being bias because I hate him)
F- Garnett
F- Duncan
C- Amare
I'll post some other time who I want to see come off the bench.
My all-wish team
PF)K. Garnett
SF)S. Marion
C)A. Stoudemire
SG)K. Bryant
PG)S. Nash
Bench: T. Duncan, D. Nowitzki, T-Mac, R. Allen
My all-this should be the official line-up team
PF)D. Nowitzki
SF)K. Garnett
C)T. Duncan
SG)K. Bryant
PG)S. Nash
Bench: A. Stoudemire, R. Allen, S. Marion, T-Mac
No collection of people in the world could beat that team if the game were to actually mean something.
I'll come back later and do my East team when I have more time. But right now I can definitely say say L. Hughes will be somewhere on there.
Ok, here is who I think(/want) should make the benches:
East:
Wade (no question)
Ben Wallace
Francis
J. O'Neal (I don't want him to but he will despite missing much of the season since there isn't much other options at the forward position)
Jamison
Maybe:
Kidd (hasn't played much but he's Kidd)
Big Z (decent year and they may decide to have 3 centers)
Richard Jefferson (carried Nets so far but only to a shitty record and it would be a pointless vote since he is injured)
West:
Nash
Amare
Brad Miller (just because they need a back up C and Amare is listed as F even though he's been playing C)
Allen
Dirk
Peja
Maybe:
Webber (because he is Webber and actually stayed to the all-star game without getting on the IL)
Ginobili/Parker (I would personally like Ginobili to go)
Dampier (because Cs are limited)
Kirilenko (is 14 games enough? He definitely showed his importance)
Guaranteed to be shafted since West is so deep with forwards:
Zach Randolph
Boozer
Well, mine would be based on performance and team record, so...
West:
C - Brad Miller (Better stats than Yao and Amare isn't listen as a center.)
F - Tim Duncan
F - Dirk Nowitzki (Better team record than Garnett.)
G - Ray Allen
G - Steve Nash (Allen and Nash are the key players on the top three teams in the west. This easily makes them more worthy than Bryant/McGrady.)
East:
C - Shaquille O'Neal (Biggest no-brainer on here.)
F - Jermaine O'Neal
F - Antawn Jamison
G - LeBron James
G - Dwayne Wade (Less scoring than Iverson, but better stats elsewhere plus better team record.)
Of course, I typed this without doing too much research, so forgive any mistakes. 😉
Well, the official starting lineups have already been announced. Any disagreements?
EASTERN CONFERENCE
F - Vince Carter, New Jersey
F - Grant Hill, Orlando
C - Shaquille O'Neal, Miami
G - Allen Iverson, Philadelphia
G - LeBron James, Cleveland
Coach: Stan Van Gundy, Miami
WESTERN CONFERENCE
F - Tim Duncan, San Antonio
F - Kevin Garnett, Minnesota
C - Yao Ming, Houston
G - Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers
G - Tracy McGrady, Houston
Coach: TBD
Personally, in the East I think the forwards should've been Jamison and O'neal(even with the suspension I think he still did more than Carter).
In the West it's hard to argue with those choices but I think Nash should've started at guard over Kobe, he's one of the league's MVP leaders and Kobe's missed games due to injury. It's hard to fit Nowitzki in there with all the talented forwards in the west but I wouldn't argue with someone who thinks he should've started over KG this season at least.
For the East, im glad that Grant Hill made it. He deserves it. Shaq and Lebron are no-brainers. I think Iverson deserved it, but Wade deserves it just as much. And i think Antwan Jamison should be starting for Carter. Jamison is having a great(quiet) year. So is Webber. Ok and for the West, Amare should start instead of Yao and i think Nash deserves it more than Kobe. Plus, Kobe might not be healthy for the All-Star Game. I think Dirk should've started. The rest i agree with. Oh and im glad Korver made the Rookie Challenge.
For me it really comes down to who will entertain. I think the reason Carter is there is because of his flair for the spectacular, the same could be said for Kobe being there instead of Nash. Although it does look like Nash will be starting if Kobe doesnt pull through. Amare wasnt listed as a center so it was always going to be Yao as the West's big man. Grant Hill is the guy i'm most pleased to see there, he has always been a great player and is one of the few classy stars left in the league. With all he's been through he must be on cloud nine. It will definitely be a entertaining high flying game. Do you guys know who gonna be in the dunk contest?
They are expected to announce the dunk contest sometime next week. Lebron sounds skeptical about doing the dunk contest since he already has to do the all-star game AND the rookie game. I really want to see him do it but I understand where he is coming from. However, I expect him to next year since he won't have to do the rookie game. Hopefully he does do it this year though. I expect to possibly see J.R. Smith and Josh Smith. Chris Anderson really wants to do it again but hopefully not because he sucked. Ricky Davis doesn't want to do it. Fred Jones is expected to defend his title despite have some injury problems. Carter said no. The choices are becoming limited.
The only problems I have with the reserves is, I think in the West Webber should've made it over Rashard. I think he's had a better year so far and also Sacramento has no one in the game. And in the East I think they should've added another guard instead of Ilgauskus, either Stevie Franchise or J Kidd.
Agreed despite me not liking Webber, Francis, or Kidd very much (I like Kidd more than the other two though). I'm almost thinking Brad Miller more than Webber.
I also read somewhere that Josh Smith did accept an invitation to the Dunk Contest and Lebron said it depends on his ankle (just like last year but his ankle isn't as bad as last year either).