Month: February 2006 (Page 8 of 14)

The All-Star rosters are complete and there are a few notable snubs:

East
Starters: Allen Iverson, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Jermaine O’Neal, Shaquille O’Neal
Bench: Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Chris Bosh, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace

West
Starters: Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan, Yao Ming
Bench: Ray Allen, Tony Parker, Elton Brand, Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki

The fans vote the starters into the game and the coaches around the league decide on the reserves. According to Tim Legler, the biggest snubs are Gilbert Arenas and Michael Redd in the East and Marcus Camby, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul in the West.

In the East, four Pistons were voted on by the coaches, with Billups, both Wallaces and Richard Hamilton all making the reserve list. It’s hard to argue with those four selections, though I’ve never been a big fan of Rasheed’s game. If I had my way, I’d replace Rasheed and Pierce with Arenas and Redd. Gilbert Arenas is having a monster year, averaging over 28 points per game. Everyone wants to say that the Wizards suck, but the team is one game over .500. (Boston is 18-31 at press time.) Michael Redd is also having a great year, leading the Bucks to a 25-23 record while averaging over 25 points per game. I don’t see how you can put all those Pistons on the roster (saying that winning is the most important thing) and then leave Arenas or Redd off in favor of Paul Pierce.

In the West, it would make more sense if Anthony had made it over Allen. They have put up similar numbers, yet the Sonics are trailing the Nuggets by six games in the Northwest Division. Camby has missed a lot of time due to injury, so I think Pau Gasol is a good choice – his steady play is one of the biggest reasons the Grizzlies are having such a surprising season.

That leaves Chris Paul. Should he make the roster over Tony Parker? San Antonio is 13 games ahead of New Orleans/Oklahoma City, but who expected the Hornets to be above .500 at this point in the season? Paul is the driving force behind their solid play, and doesn’t have Tim Duncan or Manu Ginobili to play with. Still, in close calls like this, it’s understandable that the coaches will go with a vet over a rookie, no matter how good the rookie is. Barring something outrageous, Paul will win ROY honors, and I guess the coaches feel that it is enough.

Commissioner David Stern can right one of these wrongs. He gets to pick a player to replace the injured Jermaine O’Neal on the East squad. I hope he picks either Arenas or Redd instead of shoehorning another power forward in there.

**Friday afternoon update: Stern picked Arenas to replace the injured O’Neal.**

Ladies and gentlemen, Mark Cuban:

“I own Phil Jackson. Not literally of course. That thrill belongs to the smartest businesswoman in professional sports, Jeannie Buss. Figuratively however, the coach formerly known as the Zen Master must now be considered my bucket boy.

“This wasn’t an acquisition I proactively pursued. There wasn’t an official competition that I won, thereby confirming my dominance of his psyche. Instead Phil has initiated an ongoing commentary about me that started in his previous stint with the Lakers and was reinstated this year with his return, that proves I own the guy.

“For whatever reason, I have gotten to Phil so completely and thoroughly that every time he comes to Dallas he has to offer unsolicited comments about me to the media. I wonder if he dreams about me the nights he spends here in Dallas. Ok, I don’t wonder. I’m curious about it.

“How can the NBA coach with so many championship rings find me so intimidating? I really don’t know, but he said as much in December when he called me an ‘intimidating force’ to the LA Times:

“‘Consider a place like Dallas, where the owner runs around, pumps up the volume, intimidates the referees and … has announcers as hired cheerleaders, which is an intimidating force.’

“Then of course last night he again took the initiative to comment to the media about how I am such a presence in the NBA that I turn the officials into ‘nervous nellies.’ Implying that I can have more influence on the outcome of a game than his coaching skills. I wish. But if Phil wants to this so, I’m fine with that. That’s what happens when you own someone, they can’t get you out of their head, and they don’t often think, speak or act rationally.

“I guess Phil was so overwhelmed that it caused him to take back-to-back delay of game penalties and the technical foul that comes with it, rather than send his team out to the court at the conclusion of a timeout in the 4th quarter.

“Of course the officials weren’t intimidated. At least no more than the other officials who have given Kobe technical fouls to the tune of a league-leading 11. Maybe, instead of being so concerned with Mark Cuban, Phil should be worried about the new rule in place that causes a player to be suspended a game after he gets his 16th technical foul of the season. And if I remember correctly, every technical after 16 results in a 1-game suspension as well. Can’t wait to hear what he has to say when that happens.

“Of course I don’t truly believe that I own Phil. But that won’t prevent me from walking up to him and saying ‘Boo’ to see if he jumps, just to find out for sure.”

Ahem…Bucket boy? That’s awesome.

This entry on Cuban’s blog was in response to the following quote from Jackson after the Lakers’ 102-87 loss in Dallas Tuesday:

“I know there’s a lot of pressure on the refs when they come here because Mark has them review the tapes and send them into the league. These guys are nervous Nellies when they come in to referee in this building. But they have to do a better job than they’re doing. That’s not acceptable.”

Leave it to Cuban to slam Phil so thoroughly. If he had said those things right to Jackson’s face, the Master would’ve been speechless. How do you respond to that?