71 replies to this topic

[coachx]

Just FYI.....allstar reserves announced tonight on TNT. I'm not sure if they will announce it 8:00 or 7:30.

Hopefully JJ's recent stellar play coupled with the Knicks struggles gets JJ the nod over Felton. As long as the coaches didn't cast their votes 2 weeks ago JJ should now be a shoe in.

Horford's is a shoe in at C.

Smith has a lot of competition at the foward positions.

Edited by coachx, 03 February 2011 - 12:14 PM.

[JackB1]

Horford = in
Joe = in
Josh=  sorry, try again next year

[Bawse]

The forward position is stacked in the Eastern Conference and that is very unfortunate for Smoove... gonna be snubbed again. I predict Joe makes it in easily. Al should make it as well.

[MaceCase]

coachx, on 03 February 2011 - 12:04 PM, said:

Just FYI.....allstar reserves announced tonight on TNT. I'm not sure if they will announce it 8:00 or 7:30.

Hopefully JJ's recent stellar play coupled with the Knicks struggles gets JJ the nod over Felton. As long as the coaches didn't cast their votes 2 weeks ago JJ should now be a shoe in.

Horford's is a shoe in at C.

Smith has a lot of competition at the foward positions.

Horf is as close as we have to a lock at the backup C position.
The ASG is also about momentum so whoever sticks out recently in the coaches' mind when they submitted their votes this past Tuesday.  That gives Joe a great chance coupled with his past pedigree but coaches may try to get the whole Celtics starting lineup on there...
Josh's real chance lies in the wildcard selection where he can be picked regardless of position but this would still be hard because 1) I doubt they give the 5th seed 3 representatives 2) Chicago streaked to the 3rd best record in the league and although Boozer missed plenty of games the darkhorse is Luol Deng who is putting up similar raw stats to Smoove.  The Bulls just have to have 2 representatives at this point.

[capstone21]

Josh's play in Jan destroyed his chance of making the ASG

I hope JJ does not make it so he can rest during the ASG weekend.  It is between him and Felton

Al is guaranteed

[Swatguy]

CrawfulToCrawesome, on 03 February 2011 - 01:02 PM, said:

Horf is as close as we have to a lock at the backup C position.
The ASG is also about momentum so whoever sticks out recently in the coaches' mind when they submitted their votes this past Tuesday.  That gives Joe a great chance coupled with his past pedigree but coaches may try to get the whole Celtics starting lineup on there...
Josh's real chance lies in the wildcard selection where he can be picked regardless of position but this would still be hard because 1) I doubt they give the 5th seed 3 representatives 2) Chicago streaked to the 3rd best record in the league and although Boozer missed plenty of games the darkhorse is Luol Deng who is putting up similar raw stats to Smoove.  The Bulls just have to have 2 representatives at this point.

Chicago's run is inflated by having so many home games (27) and a weak division (11-0). The Hawks have a better road record and conference outside of their own division. Deng vs Josh is close. Darkhorse, DeRozen.

[Sothron]

Al and Joe should make it. I think Josh deserves it (like last season) but he won't make it due to the glut of forwards.

[SmooveTheFuture]

Sothron, on 03 February 2011 - 01:33 PM, said:

Al and Joe should make it. I think Josh deserves it (like last season) but he won't make it due to the glut of forwards.

Nothing against horford but he is only making it cause there is no good back up centers in the east really. If he was play PF like everyone wants him too it would not be that easy. I believe he deserves consideration but if hes gonna make it so should josh. its the same as last year there numbers are the same. Im gonna be irate if garnett or bosh make it over smith.

Edited by SmooveTheFuture, 03 February 2011 - 01:36 PM.

[Swatguy]

SmooveTheFuture, on 03 February 2011 - 01:35 PM, said:

Nothing against horford but he is only making it cause there is no good back up centers in the east really. If he was play PF like everyone wants him too it would not be that easy. I believe he deserves consideration but if hes gonna make it so should josh. its the same as last year there numbers are the same. Im gonna be irate if garnett or bosh make it over smith.

  OK, if Al were in the west would he make the All-Star game? If yes...you know.  

[niremetal]

SmooveTheFuture, on 03 February 2011 - 01:35 PM, said:

Nothing against horford but he is only making it cause there is no good back up centers in the east really.

Yeah, because there's always been an overabundance of NBA centers who averaged 16/10/3.6 for a team on pace to win 50+ games.  He's leading NBA centers in assists by a wide margin, a fact that has gone unnoticed around here but undoubtedly hasn't by league coaches.

Quote

If he was play PF like everyone wants him too it would not be that easy.

I agree.  But that's because in the modern NBA, he's best suited to play center most games, because his quickness and explosiveness is too much for most centers - but not most PFs - to handle (and he's strong enough to hold his ground against all but 2 or 3 centers in the league).  I really, truly wonder when the chatter about PF being Al's natural position will stop.  Will it be when he makes an All-NBA team as a center (as he may this year)?

And before someone says "Al thinks he's a natural PF too," I say "so what?"  What a player wants doesn't necessarily equate with what he is best at.  It's the same in basketball as in every other profession - in the legal world, it seems like everyone wants to be a trial lawyer, but some people are just better-suited for negotiating contracts and drafting documents (which is far less enjoyable).  Josh would be a full-time SF or maybe even SG if it were his choice (he even tries to act like a SG when we have him at PF), but that's not what his skill set is best-suited for.

Al's height and strength are only a major hindrance against a couple centers in the NBA.  Against the rest, his superior athleticism WAY more than makes up for the fact that he is an inch shorter than most NBA starting centers (only a handful of whom are 7 feet tall today).  He loses those advantages if he moves to PF.  He would gain a slight height advantage (and it's really slight - the average NBA PF is 6'9), but that's at the expense of losing most of the huge edge in athleticism he has against centers.  He also wouldn't get nearly as many open jumpers as a PF, because PFs are more accustomed to staying with and closing out on jump shooters.

Al is a lock to make the All-Star team as a C for the second year in a row.  It's tough to argue that he would be a lock if he were a full-time PF.  Shouldn't that count for something?

Edited by niremetal, 03 February 2011 - 02:06 PM.

[lethalweapon3]

Josh is becoming the Susan Lucci of All-Star Selection Day.

~lw3

[hawkshomer]

SmooveTheFuture, on 03 February 2011 - 01:35 PM, said:

Nothing against horford but he is only making it cause there is no good back up centers in the east really. If he was play PF like everyone wants him too it would not be that easy. I believe he deserves consideration but if hes gonna make it so should josh. its the same as last year there numbers are the same. Im gonna be irate if garnett or bosh make it over smith.

Prepare to get mad. I'm not saying it is deserved I think that is just what we will see.

[Dolfan23]

SmooveTheFuture, on 03 February 2011 - 01:35 PM, said:

Nothing against horford but he is only making it cause there is no good back up centers in the east really. If he was play PF like everyone wants him too it would not be that easy. I believe he deserves consideration but if hes gonna make it so should josh. its the same as last year there numbers are the same. Im gonna be irate if garnett or bosh make it over smith.

Good luck with that one but I wouldn't hold your breath over hoping that Smith makes it ahead of either Bosh or Garnett or even over Al.  Statistically Al and Josh have had very similar seasons but they're viewed very differently in the league where Smith is seen as a headache and Al is seen as a leader and someone who is easy to coach and who doesn't constantly complain to the officials.  Like it or not that's going to be a huge factor in being selected by the coaches for the ASG.

[PureGreatness]

Al has been the most consistant player on this Hawks team. Joe will get in on reputation. Im a big Josh Smith fan but he isnt making it. Sorry, don't get your hopes up.

[BossTweed]

http://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA

Y! Sources: Western Conference All-Star reserves: T. Duncan, P. Gasol, R. Westbrook, B. Griffin, M. Ginobili, D. Nowitzki, and D. Williams.

Y! Sports has obtained list of All-Star reserves. Eastern Con: R. Allen, P. Pierce, R. Rondo, K. Garnett, C. Bosh, A. Horford, J. Johnson,