Who should play in the Western Conference All-Star team?
WESTERN CONFERENCE:
Starting five:
C – Amar’e Stoudemire
Even though in his NBA.com player’s profile page he’s listed as a forward in the All-Star balloting he’s a center. While I think he’s a power forward that’s definitely a smart move by the NBA because the competition among West centers is really weak.
Stoudemire continues to be one of the league’s premier big men and his impact on the game is huge. Of course, Amar’e deserves to be an All-Star. He’s great!
F – Dirk Nowitzki
Somehow I feel that Dirk is still a bit underrated. His Mavericks are at the high end of the Western Conference playoff pack and he has been their MVP as always. He’s averaging more than 25 points and just recently entered the 20 000 point club.
Nowitzki is probably the best power forward in the Western Conference this year. Yeah, he wasn’t voted in by the fans but I think that he deserved this starting spot more than Tim.
F – Carmelo Anthony
This is really a no-brainer. Carmelo is having a career year so far and leads the league in scoring by dropping 30 points per game. He works on his game a lot and it pays off – this is by far his best season in terms of free throw shooting (87%)
His team is doing very good as expected and Carmelo helps the Nuggets not just by scoring points – he also rebounds well and gets a lot of steals.
G – Kobe Bryant
If you are arguably the best player in the league then you are definitely a deserving starter in the All-Star game. His Lakers as many expected have the best record in the league and Kobe averages more than 28 points per game.
G – Steve Nash
Nash proves that if you have excellent basketball IQ than it doesn’t matter how old are you. At age 35 (turns 36 this February) Steve is having a stellar season. He averages more points than he did the last two years and is second in the league in assists (11.1 APG). Steve has never shot better from the field and from the free throw line than he’s doing it this season.
Phoenix got of to a very hot start but has slowed down since then and the Suns can’t afford to play bad if they want to make the playoffs in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.
Let’s choose the reserves!
F – Kevin Durant
Durant deserves to play in the All-Star game. He already is one of the elite scorers in the league.
F – Tim Duncan
Tim will start the All-Star game and while I think that Nowitzki deserved the starting spot a bit more, Duncan still was the second best choice. It’s close.
G – Brandon Roy
He’s the main reason why Portland Trail Blazers are the team that they are.
G – Chris Paul
He leads the league in assists and besides that he has improved his 3-point shot.
G – Deron Williams
Deron has been snubbed from the All-Star Game too many times now.
F – Carlos Boozer
I believe that both members of this terrific tandem deserve to be All-Stars.
F – Zach Randolph
Memphis deserve to have one representative in Dallas. Randolph has been playing out of his mind.
The potential injury replacements would be Chris Kaman (just missed the roster), Monta Ellis (I’m sorry Monta, I see that you’re averaging 26 ppg but don’t forget that you’re also leading the league in turnovers and your team is one of the worst in the league) and Pau Gasol (Pau has missed a lot of games this season)
