NBA All-Star Weekend: West Reserves

After giving my opinion of who should be on the bench in the East, now comes the West. I think choosing this bench was easier, with the West so stacked with great players (although there is a bias in this, you’ll know what I mean). I’m sure you guys probably feel the same. Anyways, here is my bench.

From the West:

The Guards: Deron Williams (PG) and Brandon Roy (SG)

I know, I know… a lot of you are gonna say Chris Paul should be there, but I really feel that Deron has done an amazing job pushing Utah to the 4th seed right now. On the other hand, the Hornets have been so terrible in my opinion, but I will admit that by the end of the season, I WILL regret this decision. Brandon Roy is just an obvious choice, and I’m not even gonna explain myself here.

The Forwards: Kevin Durant (SF) and Dirk Nowitski (PF)

Kevin Durant IS the next T-Mac. Enough said. Personally, I like underdogs and young-blood teams, and the Thunder has been showing the new future of the NBA (much like the Blazers several years ago). So, you gotta give it to Durant for doing such a good job and making the Thunder such an overachieving team. Dirk… sigh… as much as I hate the Mavs, he’s probably the next best player in the PF positon aside from Tim Duncan.

The Center: Chris Kaman

The Clippers are not who they used to be anymore (it’s the Nets now lol). Jokes aside, Chris has come back from injuries big time, almost averaging a double-double with 20 PPG and 9 RPG. Solid playing from the guy who I used to think was the weirdest-looking guy in the NBA (besides Sam Cassell). Good job on getting a haircut, zombieman.

The Wild Cards: Chris Paul and LaMarcus Aldridge

Since Chris Paul can’t make it on the guard position, I have to put him in the wild card section. He’s an all-star stuck in a competitive conference filled with other great point guards. As for LaMarcus, you can say that I’m biased and all, but I’ve watched almost all the Blazer games and he’s been putting the effort to keep the injury-filled Blazers from losing less games than it should.

NBA All-Star Weekend: East Reserves

With the All-Star game coming in a few weeks (unfortunately on Valentine’s day, might I add), the east and west starters has already been decided. That being said, all there’s left is the bench, which are voted by NBA coaches (so you won’t have the likes of A.I. or any other undeserving players on the team… yea that’s right… I don’t think A.I. should be on the team). Anyways, enough with my complaining… below is what I believe to be a suitable bench for the East and West. It goes two guards, two forwards, one center and two wild cards (I think this is right). My criteria for the players is not only how well they are doing, but also how their team is doing. An all-star on one-man team can stack the stats considering that he’s the only one making the double-doubles and so on every night, so I’m taking the team that he’s playing on into consideration as well.

From the East:

The Guards: Rajon Rondo (PG) and Joe Johnson (SG)

Personally, I like Derrick Rose more, but as a playmaker and solid support for the injured Celtics, I would have to give it to Rondo. Joe Johnson was picked based on stats and how well the Hawks have been doing (can’t really say much other than I can’t think of any player that can play the SG position better than him in the East… aside from D.Wade).

The Forwards: Gerald Wallace (SF) and of course, Chris Bosh (PF)

Gerald Wallace has been playing extremely well this season, making numerous highlight reels and bringing the Bobcats up the standings to a playoff contender. Chris Bosh has been solid and continuing to improve, definitely deserves to be on the team (not to mention the fact that KG is injured, I have a feeling that he might even start).

The Center: Contradicting with what I said before… Brooke Lopez.

Really? When New Jersey is 4-40? Yea, and that’s cause there isn’t any other center on the East besides Dwight Howard that’s actually good. Shaq? He’s getting old and he’s not really making an impact for the Cavs. Jermaine O’Neal? No. Bargnani? He’s gotten a lot better this year but still a long way to go. Think about it, New Jersey wins games because of him, even though it’s only 4 games. If you can find another center that deserves to be here more than him, my comment box is always open.

The Wild Cards: David Lee and Josh Smith

David Lee is a given for most people. He’s the human double-double (avg. 19.4 PPG and 11.4 RPG), and not to mention that New York is overachieving this season, in my opinion. Josh Smith is… well, I just think he’s a decent player and with the stats to put him above the rest that’s left in the East.

So there you have it, my East bench. Lemme know what you think and who would you choose instead. West coming up next.

Christmas: The Birth of a New Blog

Merry Christmas everyone! With Christmas being the birth of Christ (obviously...), it’s also the time to introduce my new blog, Hoop and Harm. For those of you unfamiliar with my contribution with another blog, My Amazing Food Blog, I have run out of places to go (for now...). So, I moved on to the next best thing that I like talking about, basketball.

With 1/3 of the NBA season underway, many surprising events have occurred (rookies playing like all-stars, teams overachieving, etc), and certainly more will come. This blog is just me keeping track of what I think, but comments and contribution posts are all welcomed. If you want to post your opinion on the blog feel free to email me your post and I’ll put it up (as long as it’s about basketball, of course).

Note that what I say are purely my own thoughts and opinions, so there WILL be the following:

• Huge bias for Blazers (RIP CITY!)
• Hating on the Spurs, Mavs, and Celtics
• Hating on specific players (more on that later)

First official post coming soon... in the meantime, do leave comments on your own views, fav teams, players, etc. Welcome to Hoop and Harm!