The 2013-14 All-Star game in New Orleans is still 30 days away, but the starters will be announced January 23rd and the reserves will follow on January 30th. There’s only a few days of voting left, and since I’m not good with hashtags or 140 character limits or following directions, I thought I’d put my ballot here instead.
For the sake of this particular exercise, we’ll defer to the last balloting returns for the starting lineup in the Eastern Conference. There’s no use fighting the machine, y’all -- we have to roll with the fan vote. Here’s how the last results looked:
East Starters (Fan Vote)
Backcourt: Dwyane Wade, Kyrie Irving
Frontcourt: LeBron James, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony
With those players as the starters (not the worst you’ve done, fans), let’s get to the reserves. In case you’re unfamiliar with the format, the reserves include two backcourt, three frontcourt and two wildcards to fill the 12-man roster.
East Reserves
Backcourt: John Wall and Lance Stephenson
This is a surprisingly loaded position given the general ickyness of the Eastern Confernece.
Wall should be a shoe-in, as he’s averaged career-highs in points (19.7) and steals (2.0) while leading the conference in assists (8.6). It doesn’t hurt that his biggest flaw is finally being covered up a bit, either, as he’s shooting a halfway respectable 32 percent from behind the arc. The Wizards have been truly awful when he’s off the court this year, for what that’s worth. He deserves his first appearance.
Stephenson, meanwhile, has been an absolutely electric playmaker for the Pacers (5.3 assists) and a constant triple-double threat. Considering there are only two elite teams in the conference, it would be awfully tough to ignore Stephenson during his dynamic campaign, even if the reputation hasn’t come with the improved production quite yet. His flashy style of play is perfect for this setting.
Frontcourt: Roy Hibbert, Chris Bosh, Andre Drummond
You could probably just mash the rosters of the Heat and Pacers together and roll the ball out there, right?
Hibbert doesn’t put up big lines every night, but he leads the conference in blocks per game (2.6) and he’s the anchor of the best defensive team we’ve seen in quite some time. It would be a crime if he’s left off because he’s not a big scorer. Very few players make as big of an impact on the game as he does.
Bosh is absurdly consistent -- just look at his per 36 minute scoring numbers in his last four seasons in Miami:
2010-11: 18.5 PPG
2011-12: 18.4 PPG
2012-13: 18.1 PPG
2013-14: 18.4 PPG
Point being, not much has changed. He’s solid, if unspectacular, but he’s crucial to everything Miami does. Bosh’s All-Star appearance streak (eight straight going into this year) isn’t going to be interrupted, especially without anyone really knocking down the door for his spot.
Drummond may be the surprise pick of the bunch, but he’s just been so dang productive. The second-year big man leads the league in offensive and total rebounding percentage, he’s first in the East in field goal percentage, third in blocks and behind only James, Anthony and George in PER in the East. It’s early, of course, but he’s more than earned his spot.
Wildcards: Arron Afflalo and Joakim Noah
Afflalo is still my pick for Most Improved Player in the league, even if he’s slowed down a bit as of late due to injury. Orlando’s ineptitude may hurt his chances, but virtually no one scores nearly 21 points per game as efficiently as Afflalo has this season. He’s never been an All-Star before, but with career-highs in nearly every statistical category, this is definitely his best shot.
I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for leaving Noah off my ballot. Somehow, despite everything, the Bulls still have the second best defense in the league in terms of efficiency, and it’s Noah making that happen. With overall numbers very similar to his All-Star campaign last year, Noah should just squeeze in as a hat-tip to his undying effort, even in a clearly lost season.
Just Missed The Cut
Michael Carter-Williams is facing an uphill battle, as he’s on a bad team and he’s a rookie. Still, 17.6 points, 7 assists, 5.9 rebounds and a conference-leading 2.7 steals a night is no joke. Yes, the pace helps the raw numbers, but the degree of difficulty MCW is facing as a top-option for opponents to key in on in a point guard heavy league should be factored in as well. It’s unlikely he gets named, but he’s played well enough to be a reserve.
It was awfully hard to leave DeMar DeRozan off my ballot, especially since he’s come on so strong as of late with Rudy Gay out of the picture. DeRozan’s raw numbers (20.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 3.5 APG) aren’t all that dissimilar to Afflalo’s (20.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.9 APG), but DeRozan’s true shooting percentage of 51.3 percent can’t touch Afflalo’s 58.6 percent mark. Is Afflalo’s efficiency enough to account for the fact that DeRozan plays for a team with a winning record (!) in the East? Maybe, maybe not. I won’t be too upset either way -- it’s a tossup between those two.
A lot of the air went out of the Hawks’ balloon when Al Horford went down for the season, but Paul Millsap is undoubtedly one of the best active players to never be named to an All-Star game. With a career high in points (17.4) and some surprising three-point range added to his already varied arsenal (1.1 3PM, 39.4 percent), Millsap might get some of that same “last man standing” and veteran love that Noah will, even if Drummond is the superior choice statistically.
Al Jefferson deserves some sort of reward for being a part of the 7th ranked defense and keeping the Bobcats in the playoff picture, but it’s probably not an All-Star selection. Watch out though -- he’s a big name that opposing coaches plan for heavily, which will at least put him the conversation.
—DJ Foster
Nets 127, Hawks 110: Joe Johnson put up 26 points in the first half to carry the Nets, then Brooklyn started the second half on an 11-2 run and Bob’s your uncle they had an easy win. Credit Paul Pierce who was making the right pass with the ball in the first half then put up 10 points in the third as the Hawks tried to crack down on Johnson (who also moved the ball well when the defense focused on him). Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 16 points but on 4-of-13 shooting. Basically the Nets dominated the NBA’s annual game in London, which Sir Paul McCartney was at — that’s his second Nets game this season, I hope someone got him a T-shirt.
Pacers 117, Knicks 89: Carmelo Anthony kept the Knicks close for the first quarter with his 18 points (he finished with 28) plus the Knicks did a good job of getting out in transition and getting their shots up before the Pacers set their defense. Then in the second quarter it all changed — the Pacers started attacking rather than settling for jumpers, their made shots let them get back and set their defense, and the Knicks didn’t shoot above 39 percent in any quarter the rest of the way. Plus, Lance Stephenson happened — he had 13 points in the second quarter on his way to 28 in the game
Thunder 104, Rockets 92: Houston put up 73 points, hit 12 threes and seemed to do no wrong in the first half, led by James Harden’s 16. Mostly it worked because of the threes. I’m not sure what team came out of the locker room after the break, but it wasn’t the same one — Houston shot 19.4 percent overall and scored just 19 points. Houston is a roller coaster, where Kevin Durant is a steady rock and poured in 36. Serge Ibaka was key with 21 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks.
—Kurt Helin