All-Star voting has come to an end and now we know the All-Star starters. There are some questionable picks in the Eastern Conference starting lineup, but it seems the voters at least got the starters out of the West right.
So the starting five for the Western Conference are:
C – Amar’e Stoudemire
F Tim Duncan
F- Carmelo Antonio
G-Kobe Bryant
G Steve Nash
It’s a good thing Nash passed McGrady for the starting job. The only thing I would do is give Duncan’s starting job to Nowitzki because I think Dirk has performed a little better this season so far, but he’s close, so I’m okay with Duncan starting.
First of all, I would like to say that this will be the year that more teams than usual will be represented in the All-Star Game. I think only two or three teams from the West deserve to have two representatives in the All-Star Game. So basically, the All-Star team is made up of leaders from all the Western Conference teams that are still in the playoff hunt.
So who should be the Western Conference All-Star reserves?
So let’s see…
The Lakers already have Kobe, the Nuggets already have Carmelo, the Spurs have Duncan and the Suns have Nash and Stoudemire. Now we are going to reward the other teams competing for playoff spots.
Dallas obviously should be represented by Dirk Nowitzki.
Portland should be represented by Brandon Roy.
I would also add Chris Paul of the Hornets and Kevin Durant of the Thunder.
I think the Houston Rockets’ roster is too balanced and none of their players stand out enough to be named an All-Star, so I’d rather add the top two Utah Jazz leaders: Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer.
We already have 6 reservations now so we can choose just one more. We could take Monta Ellis because she scores a lot of points, but let’s not forget that she also leads the league in turnovers and her Warriors are one of the worst teams in the league. Maybe Pau Gasol? He has good statistical numbers and plays for possibly the best team in the league. Chris Kaman is also having a career year and his Clippers are doing better than expected, even without Griffin. Still, I decided not to take any of these three guys, but instead go for Zach Randolph of the Memphis Grizzlies. He also has great stats and is really helping the Grizzlies fight for playoff spots.
So there you have it: the complete Western Conference All-Star team as it should be!
