All-Star reserves announced

Here they are:

EAST
Chauncey Billips (Detroit), Chris Bosh (Toronto), Caron Butler (Washington), Richard Hamilton (Detroit), Antawn Jamison (Washington), Joe Johnson (Atlanta), Paul Pierce (Boston)

WEST
Carlos Boozer (Utah), Steve Nash (Phoenix), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas), Chris Paul (New Orleans), Brandon Roy (Portland), Amare Stoudemire (Phoenix), David West (New Orleans)

As a reminder, Jason Kidd, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard are the starters for the East, while Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan and Yao Ming are the starters for the West. (It’s funny, because the email I received from NBA.com regarding the reserves has T-Mac in the group of images at the bottom, which are supposed to represent the starters. It’s good to see that the coaches didn’t select him when there were far better first half performances in the West.)

So, compared to my picks from two weeks ago, in the East, Rip Hamilton and Joe Johnson replaced my picks of Ray Allen and Josh Smith. With Boston’s recent slip, I can see why the coaches took Rip over Ray Ray, though I think Hedo Turkoglu would have made a better choice. I still think Josh Smith is the best player in Atlanta, though Joe Johnson has a bigger name at the moment.

In the West, Brandon Roy and David West replaced my picks of Baron Davis and Shawn Marion. Man, knowing how much importance he places on getting props, I bet the Matrix is pissed. He’s been a good citizen all year and is playing great ball, but he doesn’t make the All-Star team (and Amare Stoudemire does). I have no problem with the David West pick. New Orleans is on fire and West is a terrific complement to Chris Paul. I think it came down to the fact that the coaches couldn’t justify three Suns and only one Hornet, so they went with West, who probably deserves the honor given the Hornets’ recent play.

Roy is a great young guard, but Portland’s success is a team effort in every sense of the word, so it’s tough to take him over Davis who has better numbers and has led the Warriors to a better record.