|
ESPN.com
Stein Line's All-Star Reserves
By Marc Stein
January 25, 2008
This is exactly how the coaches do it.
As instructed on ballots that went out Friday, coaches in each conference have been asked to vote for seven reserves -- excluding their own players, of course -- for the All-Star Game in New Orleans on Feb. 17. The list of seven players is to be comprised of two forwards, two guards, one center and two wild cards, with each coach ranking his choices from one to seven to give each vote a point value ... but also with the invitation to ignore the positions at which players are listed on the official All-Star ballot if they wish.
The exact wording from the league office: "If the head coach feels a player can play more than one position, he should vote for that player at the position that he thinks is most advantageous for the All-Star team, not necessarily the one he plays most often during the season."
The coaches' secret ballots are due back to the league office by Tuesday, with the reserves to be announced Thursday night. Using the same official guidelines as the X-and-O men, here's how our benches would look:
EAST RESERVES
Forwards: Caron Butler (Wizards), Paul Pierce (Celtics)
Butler has been so versatile and rugged in Gilbert Arenas' absence that this could be a pretty heated Beltway debate: Gil or Caron ... who is Washington's true franchise player? (An aside: Butler is also one of best bargains in the league at just $8.5 million this season.)
It's been easy, meanwhile, to overlook Pierce. He has new teammates named Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in Boston. But don't forget that the Celtic you take for granted is the guy finishing much of what KG starts at both ends while playing more of an all-around game than ever before.
Guards: Chauncey Billups (Pistons), Jose Calderon (Raptors)
Billups, again, would have been one of my starters had I actually punched a ballot -- placed ahead of Dwyane Wade because of the depths of Miami's for-the-ages collapse. Then there's Calderon, who probably deserved at least a starter's mention in the last Weekend Dime. He's been even more efficient than the economical Chauncey. How efficient? The Spaniard, not a bad bargain himself at just $2.5 million a season, has averaged 13.8 points, 9.9 assists and just 1.8 turnovers in his 28 starts while shooting 50.7 percent from the floor, 43.4 percent on 3s and 91.2 percent from the line.
All of which helps explain why Toronto hasn't nose-dived without T.J. Ford and why Raps general manager Bryan Colangelo was moved to thank predecessor Rob Babcock on Chad Ford's weekly podcast for bringing Calderon over. Praise for Babcock, remember, is not exactly Toronto tradition.
Center: Chris Bosh (Raptors)
I know (and I agree): It's not really All-Star Weekend without Shaquille O'Neal. But Shaq will be in New Orleans and I suspect we'll see plenty of the Big LSU. So there's no need for East coaches to vote Shaq in on a lifetime achievement basis, especially when he's not even healthy to play. East coaches, furthermore, don't have to fudge at all to vote for Bosh. The lefty indeed plays plenty of center for the Raps and the rules, as noted above, allow coaches to vote for players at the position "most advantageous for the All-Star team" and "not necessarily the one he plays most often during the season." So Bosh is clearly the best fit here, especially because he's gradually getting healthier and more dominant and with Rasheed Wallace urging the coaches to evaluate him on purely statistical terms. Which would ensure that Sheed gets to stay home all weekend.
Wild Cards: Antawn Jamison (Wizards), Rip Hamilton (Pistons)
There are only five 20-and-10 guys in the entire league and Jamison, as the other chief catalyst in Washington's gritty Arenas-less run, is one of them. Yet there are actually several contenders for the last spot on the roster in spite of the East's ongoing ability to disappoint us as a group: Hedo Turkoglu, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace and two of our favorite lefties -- Michael Redd and Josh Smith -- all have a case.
The traditional Stein Line tiebreaker, though, naturally led us to make a team-success choice between a second Piston (Hamilton over Sheed) and a third Celtic (Allen). And Rip prevails. As much as I'd like seeing Boston's entire trio of prominence prominence (don't want to offend anyone by calling them anything more) on the All-Star stage, even Ray would have to concede that Rip has been sharper for a fellow 30-game winner.
The Line's 1-to-7 East Order:
1. Billups, 2. Butler, 3. Pierce, 4. Bosh, 5. Calderon, 6. Jamison, 7. Hamilton
|
