Settling for the All-Star Reserves - West

The All-Star starters have been named. That is the 1st step of completing the All-Star roster. Fans did their work.

The next step is to determine the reserves. That is the work of the coaches, who have to pick two guards, three frontcourt players and two more players of any position.

So, how can we distinguish the field? Let's comb things through the Western Conference:

Northwest Division:

Oklahoma City: Russel Westbrook, Serge Ibaka
Portland: LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nic Batum
Denver: Ty Lawson
Minnesota: Kevin Martin, Nikola Pekovic
Utah: Gordon Hayward

Pacific Division:

Los Angeles C: Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Jamal Crawford
Golden State: David Lee, Klay Thompson
Phoenix: Goran Dragic
Los Angeles L: Pau Gasol, Nick Young
Sacramento: DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas

Southwest Division:

San Antonio: Tony Parker, Tim Duncan
Houston Rockets: James Harden, Dwight Howard, Chandler Parsons
Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki, Monta Ellis
Memphis Grizzlies: Mike Conley, Zach Randolph
New Orleans Pelicans: Anthony Davis

As such:

Guards: Russ, Lill, Wes, Ty, KMart, CP3, JCraw, Klay, Dragon, Swaggy P, Isaiah, TP9, Beard, Monta, Conley

Frontcourt: Serge, LMA, Nic, Pek, Hayward, DJ, Lee, Pau, Boogie, TD, Dwight, Chandler, Dirk, Z-Bo, Brow

Which leads me to this:

Reserve Guards: Lillard, Paul
Reserve Forwards: Aldridge, Dwight, Nowitzki
Reserve Wildcards: Harden, Parker

Will wait for Adam Silver's call: Davis, Dragic, Lee
Should be stewing: Cousins, Conley, Randolph

Settling for the All-Star reserves - East

The All-Star starters have been named. That is the 1st step of completing the All-Star roster. Fans did their work.

The next step is to determine the reserves. That is the work of the coaches, who have to pick two guards, three frontcourt players and two more players of any position.

So, how can we distinguish the field? Let's comb things through the Eastern Conference:

Atlantic Division:

Toronto: DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry
Brooklyn: Joe Johnson
New York: n/a
Boston: Jeff Green
Philadelphia: Michael Carter-Williams, Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young

Central Division:

Indiana: Lance Stephenson, David West, Roy Hibbert
Chicago: Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson
Detroit: Brandon Jennings, Andre Drummond, Josh Smith
Cleveland: Luol Deng
Milwaukee: n/a

Southeast Division:

Miami: Chris Bosh
Atlanta: Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague
Washington: John Wall, Bradley Beal
Charlotte: Kemba Walker, Al Jefferson
Orlando: Arron Afflalo, Victor Oladipo 

As such:

Guards: DeMar, KLOE, IsoJoe, MCW, Kidet, Lance, Jennings, Teague, Wall, Beal, Kemba, AAA, Oladipo
Frontcourt: Green, Thad, West, Hibbert, Noah, Boozer, Gibson, Drummond, J-Smooth, Deng, Bosh, Millsap, Jefferson

Based on that, here are my choices:

Reserve Guards: Stephenson, Wall
Reserve Froncourt: Hibbert, Noah, Bosh
Reserve Wildcards: Johnson, Millsap

Waiting for Adam Silver's call: DeRozan, Drummond, Deng
Should be stewing: Jefferson, Afflalo, Lowry

TWTWTNBA: Finalizing the Western Conference All-Stars

Other than Tracy Morgan's moment (and TNT's subsequent apology), the highlight of last week's pregame was the naming of the All-Stars Starters (which are voted on by the fans) for both conferences.

The Coaches will dictate who will comprise the reserves. Each coach, however, cannot vote for his own players. Now each coach can be creative in designating positions, because there is a need to have at least one "Center" on the roster.



In the West, these are the starters:

Guard - Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets)

Guard - Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)

Forward - Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)

Forward - Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets)

Center - Yao Ming (Houston Rockets)

If I were a part of a NBA Coaching Staff, the following would comprise my choices for the West All-Star Reserves:

1. Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks) - 3rd in the balloting among forwards this year.

2-3. Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs) - The Spurs are the best team in the league.

4. Pau Gasol (Los Angeles Lakers) - Carried the team while Kobe paced his way through the early part of the season.

5. Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) - If he elevated his game in the playoffs last year, he raised it to another level this season.

6. Deron Williams (Utah Jazz) - If CP3 is here, D-Will has to be here. He's on the pine, so there might be a possibility of an opening for someone.

7. Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers) - At this point, we can no longer ignore his impact anymore. This is meant to be HIS weekend.

Injury replacement for Yao Ming

Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) - As much as they are facing the wrath of Kaaaaaaaaahhhhhhnnnnnn, it is really hard to ignore the numbers and that double-double streak of his.

Close calls:

Big Men: Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph (Memphis Grizzlies) , LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trailblazers), Luis Scola (Houston Rockets), Paul Millsap (Utah Jazz),

Guards: Monta Ellis (Golden State Warriors), Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns), Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets), Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers)

The West is really loaded. So loaded, I can name a 2nd All-Star team from the snubs. That's why the Yao scenario provided a break which the NBA could plug someone in.

TWTWTNBA: Finalizing the Eastern Conference All-Stars

Other than Tracy Morgan's moment (and TNT's subsequent apology), the highlight of last week's pregame was the naming of the All-Stars Starters (which are voted on by the fans) for both conferences.


The Coaches will dictate who will comprise the reserves. Each coach, however, cannot vote for his own players. Now each coach can be creative in designating positions, because there is a need to have at least one "Center" on the roster.





In the East, these are the starters:

Guard - Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls)

Guard - Dwayne Wade (Miami Heat)

Forward - Lebron James (Miami Heat)

Forward - Amar'e Stoudemire (New York Knicks)

Center - Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)


If I were a part of a NBA Coaching Staff, the following would be my choices for the East All-Star Reserves

1 -4. Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics). The Celtics own the best record of the East.

5. Chris Bosh (Miami Heat) - If the four of Boston gets in, the three in South Beach likewise gets in.

6-7. Josh Smith & Joe Johnson (Atlanta Hawks) - J-Smooth deserves to get in at this point. He's been phenomenal.

Close calls:

Big Men: Gerald Wallace (Charlotte Bobcats), Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks), Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers), Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee Bucks)

Guards: Raymond Felton (New York Knicks)

If you notice, only six teams from the East are represented. It is also not a coincidence that those are the same six teams that are the virtual locks to make the playoffs. Just goes to show that the deep gulf still exists in that side of the Association.