Blazers F LaMarcus Aldridge Gets 6th Most All-Star Votes Among West Forwards
by Ben Golliver on Jan 12, 2012 11:59 AM PST
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PrintAs noted last week, six members of the Portland Trail Blazers appear on the 2012 NBA All-Star Ballot for selection for the Western Conference team: Guards Raymond Felton and Wesley Matthews, forwards LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum and Gerald Wallace, and center Marcus Camby.
The NBA released the first week's worth of returns on Thursday and Aldridge was the only one of the six Blazers to make it on the list of leaders. Aldridge, who is seeking his first All-Star appearance, garnered more than 118,000 votes and placed sixth among Western Conference forwards.
Here's the list of leaders at the Western Conference forward position.
Forwards: Kevin Durant (OKC) 633,538; Blake Griffin (LAC) 394,264; Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 231,832; Pau Gasol (LAL) 185,428; Kevin Love (Min) 143,814; LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 118,268; Tim Duncan (SA) 81,783; Lamar Odom (Dal) 59,686; Metta World Peace (LAL) 39,006; Danilo Gallinari (Den) 34,438.
Update: Dustin Hawes of Blazers.com transcribed Aldridge's interview with Jim Rome on Thursday. He talked about the All-Star Game and possibly landing a spot on Team USA for the 2012 Olympics.
Rome: "It seems like you and I talk about this every time you come on but you still haven't made that All-Star Game Batman! Is this the year?"
Aldridge: "I thought last year was the year. So if I would have made it last year, I would be like 'definitely I'd be in it this year.' But, I think last year opened my eyes to some things that its not just about your record and things like that. I think its more politics in to it, but you know 'people say I should be in it this year', but after last year I can't be certain."
Rome: "If you're invited to the camp [Team USA], what would that mean to you?"
Aldridge: "A big honor. I definitely want to do some things with them the last three years and they've talked to me about joining the team last time but I had some family issues that I had to handle so this time everything is perfect. It's going to be a really, really big honor to join that team."
Here's the list of current All-Star starters based on the first round of voting...
- West: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Andrew Bynum
- East: Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard
Click through for the rest of the list of leaders at all positions for both conferences.
Voting continues on NBA.com.
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
Here's the full list of leaders based off the initial returns.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Forwards: LeBron James (Mia) 640,789; Carmelo Anthony (NYK) 496,351; Amar'e Stoudemire (NYK) 178,797; Kevin Garnett (Bos) 173,161; Chris Bosh (Mia) 140,601; Paul Pierce (Bos) 94,071; Luol Deng (Chi) 85,086; Andrea Bargnani (Tor) 54,739; Carlos Boozer (Chi) 53,477; Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) 43,154.
Guards: Derrick Rose (Chi) 640,476; Dwyane Wade (Mia) 637,912; Rajon Rondo (Bos) 253,969; Ray Allen (Bos) 174,934; Deron Williams (NJN) 89,128; Jose Calderon (Tor) 42,929; John Wall (Was) 38,025; Richard Hamilton (Chi) 36,418; Kyrie Irving (Cle) 27,713; Joe Johnson (Atl) 23,384.
Centers: Dwight Howard (Orl) 754,737; Joakim Noah (Chi) 75,038; Tyson Chandler (NYK) 61,774; Joel Anthony (Mia) 41,832; JaVale McGee (Was) 24,713; Al Horford (Atl) 23,546.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Forwards: Kevin Durant (OKC) 633,538; Blake Griffin (LAC) 394,264; Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 231,832; Pau Gasol (LAL) 185,428; Kevin Love (Min) 143,814; LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 118,268; Tim Duncan (SA) 81,783; Lamar Odom (Dal) 59,686; Metta World Peace (LAL) 39,006; Danilo Gallinari (Den) 34,438.
Guards: Kobe Bryant (LAL) 690,613; Chris Paul (LAC) 540,173; Ricky Rubio (Min) 133,520; Steve Nash (Pho) 118,922; Russell Westbrook (OKC) 107,197; Kyle Lowry (Hou) 90,725; Monta Ellis (GS) 63,696; Manu Ginobili (SA) 50,765; Jason Kidd (Dal) 49,596; Chauncey Billups (LAC) 42,657.
Centers: Andrew Bynum (LAL) 496,597; DeAndre Jordan (LAC) 134,961; Marc Gasol (Mem) 102,116; Nenê (Den) 94,167; Marcin Gortat (Pho) 62,631; Kendrick Perkins (OKC) 41,579.
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
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Time to vote again!
"Coach said to always be careful around Greg, because Greg costs a lot and even the slightest amount of basketball can damage him." -- The Onion
Vote!!! Even if LMA doesn't win the popular vote, I am sure it makes a difference when it comes to the
coaches votes!!!
Chip Kelly doesn't have to vote. He just has to stare.
One look into Kelly’s eyes and David Stern is at his mercy.
"I Am Mine"
We know Chip Kelly
hung out with Nate McMillan a lot in the off season, so Nate could pull some strings.
Johnson, Johnson, Smith, Smith, Thomas, Williams, and Babbitt: the Blazer's law firm.
Just wait till Nate starts talking out of the side of his mouth
and Babbitt is holding up signs with a shark, Elmo, the number 4, and a birthday cake.
by superfly05 on Jan 12, 2012 5:24 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Why don't they just call it NBA Fan Favorites
and get it over with? There is this misconception that it’s about the best players or those that do the most to help out their team. Clearly not the case.
by JamesInDigital on Jan 12, 2012 12:08 PM PST reply actions 3 recs
It is getting pretty silly.
If you look at the advanced stats, (particularly the adjusted plus minus and stuff), add it the head to heads, it seems pretty clear that LA is superior. More rounded game, team leader, we can’t get by without him on the floor, plays both ways and on and on and on.
I don’t really sweat the starter thing so much, but if I hear yet another opposing coach talk about how awesome he is and that he should have been an allstar last year…and then pick Griffin and Love over him again this year…I’m gonna snap.
PS, the fact that Lamar Odom got even half as many votes as LA the way he’s playing says something. The fan vote is just silly.
Still wondering about all the coach praise.
If all the coaches praise him and all voted for him, how did he not make the reserves. Obviously didn’t help that Stern was an idiot and sent Love. Love is great, great stats, but his team is crap.
by JamesInDigital on Jan 12, 2012 12:24 PM PST up reply actions
Listen to the coaches talk about any of the guys who made it over him
They said more or less the same thing about all of Dirk, Duncan, Gasol, Griffin, and Love. It’s not that LA didn’t deserve it last year, just that there weren’t enough roster spots to go around. Memphis fans could have a legitimate beef about Z-Bo as well, based on his play last year, but unless you make it like the HOF and not have a set number of spots every year, it will vary. Some years you get some borderline all stars like David West, Josh Howard or even Brandon (2008 version) on the team, and others you see clearly deserving guys miss out.
Yeah, and it sucks because
Soem of those guys have incentives in their contracts based on being an all-star. How silly is that? If LMA was chinese, he could have 1/3 of his stats and be the starter at either PF or center.
I knew there was stuff in their contracts regarding the end of season First Team this, Second Team that...
I even think some of it is in the CBA regarding veteran minimum salaries or something similar. It seems silly that a player would agree to those incentives for All-Star selection if they are in a small market. Maybe the all-star incentives are just frosting on the cake, though, especially for small market players…
#7
The all star incentives are only for being voted in as a starter
And if you’re a big enough star, you’ll get voted in no matter where you’re playing. Being in Cleveland and San Antonio never stopped Lebron and Duncan from being voted as starters.
Well that's even worse!
At least the coaches get it right (for the most part). There should be incentives for that, too!
#7
The incentives are the same
just with All-NBA. Either get voted as an all star starter twice (evidence of being extremely marketable and thereby a strong revenue driver for your team), be named All-NBA twice (evidence of an elite player important to wins, wins being revenue drivers), or win an MVP (same as All-NBA, basically) and you get the same benefit.
The all-star voting thing is kind of pointless in general since there hasn’t been a single two-time all star starter that didn’t also fulfill one of the other conditions as well.
I understand the marketing aspect completely..
it makes sense for the teams to reward their players for popularity and often that popularity comes via productivity. I guess the issue I would have is when an injured player gets voted in. Does he really deserve the incentive bonus or do they take it away when he is replaced (doubtful)? Yao is the obvious point of question. There is no doubt that he was good and deserving when healthy and that should be reflected in his base contract but did he get even more money because he was voted in while injured? That seems good for him but maybe it’s bad for someone else? I don’t know enough about the contract end of things regarding All-Star vs All-NBA but it feels like someone might be losing possible incentive money to an injured player…
#7
"Being in Cleveland and San Antonio never stopped Lebron and Duncan from being voted as starters."
Or Clyde Drexler in Portland.
"I Am Mine"
Clyde got only 1 ASG start in Portland
he deserved 3 or 4. so it did matter.
"But if Ding Dongs and prime rib were the path to NBA pivot stardom we'd all be wearing the uniform." -Dave
Meh, hard to compare pre-internet voting days
to now. Things have just changed so much. But Clyde started 3 games anyways (1992-1994). And besides, even though he would regularly finish 4th, I’m not sure it’s such an injustice that John Stockton and Magic Johnson were starting most of the all star games during Clyde’s peak.
Oh, and coincidentally
he was the leading votegetter for guards in the West in each of those years.
Fair enough
But I’d say Clyde’s lack of all-star starts was pretty clearly a result of having his career overlap with the two greatest PGs of all-time than being in a small market. Maybe things would have been different if he’d been in a large market and Stockton were still in Utah, but I don’t think that would be much more indicative of Clyde “deserving” to start.
I wasn't really disagreeing with you above.
For some reason, everyone seems to think I’m disagreeing with them today.
Sorry, didn't mean to imply that much disagreement
More continuing the response to douglast above
I do think Clyde would have been starting by 1987 if he'd been in LA
But that’s not a fair comparison, because it also implies he’d have a ton of early playoff success, so I couldn’t think of a fair comparison of a large market where he’d be getting one-and-outs during his rise.
Houston or Dallas? I really don’t know.
Yeah, there are all kinds of counterfactuals we could play
Would we remember Magic and Bird as “Magic and Bird” if they hadn’t both landed on teams with multiple other HOFers? How differently would we remember Stockton and Isiah if they’d be on the Pistons and Jazz, respectively? Given the way all star voting works now (being forced to vote for all 10 positions every time), I really feel like the neutrals from every other team will pretty much always cancel out any one big city’s effects for the top two spots.
Indeed, a big enough star will make it from anywhere
That being said, being in a small market and getting votes will rely on a few things, in various percentages:
1. Being a top draft pick (which often leads to #3 below)
2. Getting national coverage in a deep playoff run (Duncan is a classic example, Drexler too)
3. Being a part of the NBA hype machine (Hello Kevin Love who would be invisible otherwise)
4. Being from a country that will destroy the voting totals (We all know who I mean)
5. Being a transcendent player trumps all, and usually leads to #’s 2 and 3.. (Hello Lebron in Cleveland)
I’m probably missing one. But, if you’re not from a large market, there are a set of “things that must go right” in order to get voted as a starter. In a larger town (or from a large country), you still need some things to go correctly, but not as many.
care to list other players besides Kevin Love who have posted the 4th best PER in the NBA but been “invisible?”
i keep dancing on my own.
There are lots of players who have good stats but are invisible. It's not a shot at Love.
It’s about national perception of a non-major team. And don’t get me started on PER in general.
ok, but you said “there are tons of players who have good stats but are invisible.” Who are they?
i keep dancing on my own.
You redefined "good stats" to mean "Kevin Love's numbers or better"
He’s putting up great numbers on a historically awful team. Lots of players put up very good numbers on bad teams and never make the playoffs. I’m not here to list a whole bunch of very good players on good teams, only to argue “whether they’re as good as Kevin Love” which is a pointless discussion.
Those are not Kevin Love’s numbers or better. Kevin Love averaged 20/15 last year and that list is players who averaged 15/12, so quite a bit worse, and notice that the achievement is more impressive because the pace of the whole league has decreased by 10% (most of the other guys are from the 80s). He is putting up amazing numbers on a bad team. Are numbers everything? No. But his numbers are that good that they make people (including Stern granted) take notice.
i keep dancing on my own.
People rarely take notice of good stats on bad teams unless it's publicized
To his credit, he got publicity, and it’s helping his vote. LMA is more versatile, but with lower overall numbers, while doing it on a much much better team, and is getting less publicity. So he’ll get less votes. I’m actually ok if LMA doesn’t make the team, but I only was arguing the point that it’s easy to have stats and not get noticed if you’re in a smaller market. Not sure why it became a huge bru-ha-ha from there about it, like I was taking shots at Love.
I guess my sticking point with what you are saying is that it’s not stats that got Love noticed, because there are lots of people that have good stats on bad teams but don’t get noticed, but then that “good stats” couldn’t be defined as “Kevin Love” stats. But the entire reason people are noticing Kevin Love is because his stats are so crooked they are basically historic. So the precedent of the other guys who put up productive, but not crazy, but weren’t noticed because Stern didn’t choose to intervene really doesn’t do anything. It’s the numbers that make him!
i keep dancing on my own.
by atomiccafe on Jan 12, 2012 2:53 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
Just to get this whole "can't name another player!" non-squiter out of the way...
The names that immediately came to mind are Andrew Bogut and LaMarcus Aldridge from recent times. MIL even had a very good season with Bogut at C, and he got an All-NBA spot but no All Star game. same with LMA of course as we know. If they put up those numbers in New York, and only won 50% of their games, they’d be in the All Star game.
I’m not really looking to continue the back and forth so I’m not going to spend all afternoon going through players before 2009.
Apparently Kevin Love is a very hot topic. Sorry I even brought him up as a smaller market player, my bad.
Plenty of guys get all-NBA spots without being all stars
Guys have tepid first halves of the season and then explode in the second half. Heck, Deron Williams has an even greater case than LA/Bogut, making the 2nd team All-NBA in 07/08 (as opposed to 3rd) but not making the all star game (which the huge market Brandon Roy made) until the following year. I don’t think anyone would claim that Brandon was more hyped than Deron at the time.
Looking at his splits for that season, it’s easy to see why, though. His scoring held fairly steady, but he was averaging under 9 assists through December before upping that nearly 3 assists a game from January on. Basically exactly what happened with LaMarcus last year.
Bogut’s snub year tells a similar tale, although probably more due to team performance than individual. His numbers stayed fairly constant throughout the season (although he did pick up his scoring after December), but the Bucks were 20-25 through January before finishing the season on a 27-11 run. I guarantee if the Bucks were still sporting a sub-.500 winning percentage at the end of the season, Bogut would not have been an all-NBA selection.
Apparently Kevin Love is a very hot topic. Sorry I even brought him up as a smaller market player, my bad.
After thinking about this for a couple minutes, I should probably note something important: If a player like Bogut or Aldridge made the team last season, I also would have applied the “invisible” tag to them too. It’s about national visibility (which neither have), not about in-game visibility.
It is easy to get a ton of rebounds (esp offensive)
when there are a ton of missed baskets.
Also who else on the team gets rebounds? Is Love competing with anyone ELSE on the team for those rebounds?
Whatever Love does do…he apparently doesn’t get his team to have a winning mind set.
Or carry the team to wins.
Which with Adelman as his coach..he should be able to do if he is truly an all star.
I actually expect the Wolves to improve by midseason
As the team gets to know each other. Wouldn’t shock me if they snuck into the 8th seed, since they’re young and there’s a lot of West weirdness.
The Wolves have been an average team so far. They have played a tough schedule and had bad luck in close games.
and yes, Natsthecat, as it turns out there are 9 other players Love competes with for rebounds while he’s on the floor.
by jksnake99 on Jan 12, 2012 2:52 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I'm watching to see if scouting catches up to Rubio
Which may knock him back a little until he adjusts. That might change how their season goes too.
lol if by competing you mean
watching kevin love grab rebounds, then you are right. However, he only competes with the other team, or 5 others for rebounds, and really, only 2/3 players at a time.
also, you have to ask yourself why exactly Stern picked this singular moment in time to intervene and make such an undeserving schlup the focus of the NBA’s marketing campaign.
i keep dancing on my own.
Look, I'm not going to back down on my point
Kevin Love is playing in a non-major market on a non-contending team. He would still be invisible if Stern hadn’t added him to the All Star game. It’s possible playing next to Rubio is also helping with the Spanish vote.
Really?
I always thought Love was very recognizable by casual fans, regardless of being on a losing team. He took UCLA to the Final Four. Grabbed tons of headlines by grabbing insane amounts of rebounds. The dude was a huge topic all year long on sports radio. He had a ton of cache.
Also Love was making news on Twitter.
I believe that is why Stern put him on, because of the It factor.
i like it here, there, everywhere.
I can't say if he has national buzz prior to his national coverage
So I don’t think it’s fair to comment either way. I personally never saw any coverage for him prior to him being added to the All-Star game, but that’s totally anecdotal of course.
Twitter’s no surprise, it buzzes for all kinds of players during the NBA season.
My take on Love last year
He started off getting pub for not playing as much as he should. When he started getting big minutes he put up a 30/30 game that got pretty big national press. After that performance he was one of the more high profile small market guys out there, with the ASG only adding to that.
| 23.1 | .647 | .605 | 15.6 | 28.3 | 21.9 | 6.7 | 0.9 | 7.7 | 17.8 | 20.7 | 118 | 100 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 2.2 | .214 |
I think to some extent, the level of Kevin's buzz depended upon your circles.
But that’s a total guess. I follow national coverage pretty closely, and Kevin rarely came up until his All Star appearance. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I knew about his numbers, and they’d be noted in the broadcasts, but there was no major hints of buzz.
But like I noted, I could have missed buzz in other areas. There are so many online niches these days that buzz can form in an area you don’t see until it hits you in the head.
ha, weird.
At the time i was thinking why is Love getting all this coverage and not LMA. My conclusion was that a 30 rebound game gets people talking more than a few 40 point games.
i like it here, there, everywhere.
Because that wasn't happening?
LA only had 2 40 point games last year, both in February long after the all star team was decided. Love’s 30-30 game came in November and he even had a 43 point game in December. Love also had more 30 point games than Lamarcus before the all star break, but even then, 30 point games aren’t rare enough to merit special coverage.
Yeah, at the time he seemed to be getting some above averageattention for being the rebounding leader
Then he had the 30-30 game, and floodgates started to burst, then he got added to the ASG, and it was on.
But it all started with his appearance on Entourage. That’s all the exposure anyone needs.
Phase 1: Collect underpants
Phase 2: ???
Phase 3: Profit!
The hype machine goes back further than last year's all-star campaign
Even in his rookie year, ESPN used him in their “RV” ad campaign.
Except they aren't
Guys on that list with losing records who were all-stars in the year given:
Dwight Howard (06/07 Magic)
Jeff Ruland (83/84 Bullets)
Kevin Willis (91/92 Hawks)
Kevin Garnett (06/07 Wolves)
Moses Malone (80/81 Rockets)
Dikembe Mutombo (91/92 Nuggets)
Buck Williams (85/86 Nets)
Antonio McDyess (00/01 Nuggets)
Blake Griffin (10/11 Clippers)
It’s hardly unprecedented, especially considering the raw Kevin Love numbers are much better than atomic’s filter anyways.
Blake is a very good example, bad team, good stats
So he was bumped right onto the team.
Any player who has an established pedigree (Garnett, Buck) are ones that get to the game due to reputation of course. The whole system is different since the 80’s so Ruland is someone who would probably struggle to make it in the modern age.
Dikembe is a great example as well.
Oh no worries
In that situation, you’re totally right. His appearance that season was a little weird when the team was so bad, but he’s Wade so it was accepted.
Well, I was just going by the list posted
with the filters being 15 points/12 rebounds. Wade was certainly a much flashier player and a clear star having led his team to a title. Steve Francis in 2001/2002 (pre-Yao) is another, but that was an extremely weak year for the West with guards (Kobe got double the votes every other guard) and I think would be far more attributable to lingering dunk contest cred given that he finished behind Derek Anderson in voting the previous year.
The dunk contest is a good point
I could argue “memorable appearance in previous All Star festivities” as another bullet point.
Not that anything could help Nate Robinson, no matter how many shots he took in a big market.
To be fair
The 2000 dunk contest was a much more seminal moment in NBA history than really any other dunk contest could be at this point, given that it was the first one in three years, the relative malaise of the previous few, and how wildly all of Vince, T-Mac and Francis exceeded expectations.
The voting for that year really just looks off, though. Francis received fewer votes in 2002 than he did in 2001, but he was a starter in 2002 and finished sixth in the voting in 2001. Definitely an outlier year in gerenal.
Hah nice catch on 2001 voting, I hadn't seen that.
Fans can be so finicky in voting. It seems they vote for whomever gets national coverage more than stats in general.
I wonder if the Rubio voting is a buzz/coverage thing, or a Spain/Europe thing. So hard to tell.
So?
Those things are equally true even if you’re in a large market. I mean, can you name a single exception outside of the Chinese coattails (Francis/McGrady) that doesn’t fit those criteria?
It’s certainly true that larger market guys will pick up more auxiliary votes (i.e. Andrew Bynum will always finish ahead of someone like Sam Dalembert), but those guys aren’t getting voted into the game.
Kevin Love was an afterthought his first two years in the league when he wasn’t starting and putting up great but not necessarily historic stats. 20-10 has a certain mystique to it. Being one of the only guys in history to average 20-15 and the first guy in forever to do it has even more of a mystique. There are plenty of great players/stat whores on bad teams, but none of them still come close to doing what Kevin Love has done.
I have no attachment to Kevin Love
but basically you are implying that the reason he got into the all-star game is so nefarious it cannot be discussed on this site. When you state this opinion regarding a relatively run-of-the-mill all-star selection, you’re bound to get some responses. Don’t act like this is a “dangerous subject” when nobody else believes it’s particularly controversial. I’m amenable to the idea that Love isn’t a deserving all-star based on his defense or team record, but I disagree with it. The idea that there must be some nefarious and underhanded NBA conspiracy to get him in the all-star game is not an opinion I can simply let slide though.
i keep dancing on my own.
by atomiccafe on Jan 12, 2012 5:28 PM PST up reply actions 5 recs
but basically you are implying that the reason he got into the all-star game is so nefarious it cannot be discussed on this site.
I said I thought he made the All-Star team being on a losing team in a non-major market.
I mean seriously, that’s what I talked about above.
I never intended anything nefarious. I’m not even sure what nefarious things would be involved.
There's a bigger question that went unanswered, which goes back to my original comment
I simply feel that historically, strong stats on a very bad team didn’t beat out an alpha with good stats on a playoff team (with exceptions of course). Many teams have watched their good players get passed over when their team stinks. In 2007, Zach was around 23/10 on a bad team and got passed over by Stern for Mehmet Okur, who was on a playoff team. Then in 2011, when we have a player who is on a good team, the Blazer got passed over again, for a player with great stats on an awful team. That generally gets tiring.
But really, this all stemmed from me saying KL is “invisible” nationally in the middle of a separate topic on how small market teams struggle for All-Star recognition in comparison to a large market team (For example, David Lee had great stats, but it definitely helped that he was a Knick to make an All Star game from a bad team). I of course never implied he’s “invisible” on the court, just from national coverage, which IMO had been limited for him prior to his All Star appearance.
Honestly, I was just discussing the point about small markets, and there seems to be so much built up hostility about KL that it totally derailed the discussion from a small part of the comment.
I really didn’t appreciate the assumption that I was speaking of some nefarious plot. I still don’t get where the nefarious came from. The closest I can get is from where I said “That’s a can of worms I ain’t touching”, which is a gargantuan leap in assuming my intent, IMO.
Honestly, I’d have been fine with an “I disagree”. I’m cool that way, people don’t always agree.
I disagree about the alleged lack of national coverage angle.
Between K-Love being part of a Final Four run in college at UCLA — which is a major market school and why a dude like Carmelo had his fame transfer smoothly from Syracuse to Denver — as well as stuff in the NBA like his 30/30 game, he had more recognition among casual fans than LaMarcus Aldridge did long before David Stern made him a All-Star replacement pick.
"I Am Mine"
I can appreciate the LA link, though he was only there one season
Afterward, he seemed to vanish pretty quickly (which was exacerbated by his injury, of course).
Vanish from public view, I mean
There seems to be some confusion about what I meant about vanish, I mean from being seen nationally.
Yeah, but UCLA gets attention when it makes Final Four runs.
Melo was at Syracuse for also one season — even though his year ended in a championship — and played on some crummy Denver teams early as a pro whilst keeping his fame intact.
"I Am Mine"
Scratch that, Melo was a first-round and out exit player.
I thought he spent a couple years on the outside looking in with Denver, but nope. My memory was fuzzy on that one.
"I Am Mine"
Yep.
He averaged over 20 points every season, including his rookie year. The teams made the playoffs, but didn’t really succeed until that late run, but combine it with his NY legend status and he kept a buzz around him at all times. Weirdly, combining him with a declining AI was both awful and genius at the same time.
That being said, even he didn’t make an All Star Game until 2007, and his first vote-in was 2008 I believe.
To be honest, the huge turnaround Denver made
in Melo’s first season was probably as big a reason he kept his cred as anything. Taking a 17 win team to the playoffs the following year is a good headline.
Of course, that team also added Andre Miller and Marcus Camby so it’s debatable whether Melo himself really had much of an effect.
As an aside, I highly recommend checking out the number of starting lineups for that 02/03 Denver team if you want a laugh. That has to be some sort of record.
That team's offensive rating is just sad.
Yet, this year’s Wizards might give ’em a run for their money.
"I Am Mine"
Carmelo was definitely helped by winning a title in NY
Combine that with good numbers, and being lumped as the “big three” with James and Wade after the draft, and he was ready-made.
I definitely can appreciate UCLA’s Final Four appearance, but I didn’t see it mean that much in terms of national coverage after he got to Minn. He’d get mentioned, but only in highlights like any other player. No major buzz type stuff.
It’s possible this was taken into account as part of Stern’s decision… it’s so hard to tell with Stern.
I don’t really see a consistent pattern with Stern’s picks. His last 10 picks (Love in 11; Kaman, Kidd, Billups and Lee in 10; Mo Williams and Ray Allen in 09; Allen and Sheed in 08; Okur in 07) have been deserving and undeserving; good teams and not so good teams; great stats and merely good stats. Doesn’t seem like he puts a lot of time into it.
Doesn’t seem like he puts a lot of time into it.
It’s entirely possible this is the correct answer, and all the rest of today’s discussion is moot. Wouldn’t surprise me at all. So hard to tell with Stern.
Just Stern being Stern
FWIW, I’ve made the argument before (with Jake I believe) that very few players have won an all-star consideration being on a horrible team regardless good stats either via the coaches or Stern.
It's definitely the exception
Especially when players from winning teams have earned consideration. (For example, when Kaman replaced Roy, they were running low on worthy candidates)
It’s happened before though, and will happen again. But it’s rare enough that it’s inevitable the other team’s fans will feel slighted based on “the norm” the NBA has set, intentional or no.
Absolutely
Especially when you add the fact that team’s fans feel slighted based on nothing… if you give them even a bit of something like that to focus on.. they go rabid quickly.
2007 Z-Bo is an interesting comparison
His stats certainly stood out similarly, but I’d argue that Z-Bo’s stats weren’t nearly as impressive as Love’s. Averaging 23/10 is certainly rare and impressive, but not that unheard of over the past 15 years. Looking at that time period, 12 different players (Bosh, Brand, Duncan, Ewing, Garnett, Griffin, Dwight, Malone, Shaq, Z-Bo, Antoine Walker, Webber) have averaged 22/10, many of them multiple times in just that time period.
Compare that to 20/14, which only one other player (Dwight) besides Love has accomplished, and he’s the only person to average over 15 in that time period, and I feel safe calling Love’s season more impressive than Z-Bo’s. Couple that with the fact that Zach was a pretty odious individual at the time, and I think passing on him but taking Love makes sense.
There's no misconception. Everyone knows the starters are the fan favorites.
The coaches pick the rest of the team, and for the most part the 24 picks are deserving. i.e. the starters would usually have been picked by the coaches anyway (there are occasionally exceptions). So let the fans have their picks because it usually only affects who actually starts rather than who makes the all-star teams.
"You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man." - Matty Walker in Body Heat (1981)
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Jan 12, 2012 12:27 PM PST up reply actions
Not really
How many times have injured players who have notchance of being able to play been selected. When alternates run out then you get the situation like last year with Stern choosing. And sending Love over Aldridge. How did Minnesota do last year again?
by JamesInDigital on Jan 12, 2012 12:29 PM PST up reply actions
I said usually!
And how did the fan vote get Love into the game over Aldridge. It didn’t. That was a judgment call that the fans didn’t affect. When Stern picks someone to replace an injured player it’s always a judgement call that someone disagrees with.
"You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man." - Matty Walker in Body Heat (1981)
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Jan 12, 2012 12:39 PM PST up reply actions
Team record shouldn't matter
If you want to judge someone based on how they help their team win, that’s one thing. But basing it on an overall team record is ridiculous. This isn’t the “team with the best record’s best player” award.
But if you are truly an all star
you don’t have the worst record in the west…Kevin Love.
I have to agree
Makes me think that points and rebounds are just being stolen from teammates, since they’re not leading to wins. The rest of the team isn’t that bad, or should I say that much worse than KL.
KL is a good player, and works hard, but I’d bet a good 20% of his rebounds are from his own misses.
yeah
he occasionally bats the ball off the board/rim a few times a la Zbo.
i like it here, there, everywhere.
Why change the name.
I’d argue that the misconception here is that all-star means anything else, or that it should.
The idea, and this is by no means limited to NBA, seems to be that the guy who has had the best half-season DESERVES to be in the All-Star game, but I don’t think that’s actually defined anywhere. It’s a completely subjective exercise with no wrong or right answer, yet people get really worked up about it, quote half-season stats, etc.
Right, it's an exhibition
If enough fans want a guy to see a guy play in the game, he should play in it. If twenty million Chinese fans want to see Yao Ming and his teammates like T-Mac or Stevie Franchise play in the all star game, they should get to. There’s no reason to think that the view of two million Blazer fans to see LaMarcus should trump them.
Yeah, short of some shenanigans
with automated scripts on dummy accounts spamming voting, everyone voted in should be playing in the game.
yep
What the Blazers need to do OBVIOUSLY is get a decent Chinese player on their roster.
This is who LMA should lobby for next year.
We might be able to get him past Dirk
No real chance of getting him voted in but if we get him close enough it may increase his chances of being picked by the coaches.
There’s also a very real chance that he misses out again this year.
if he goes on a little tear he can really lock up a spot
here’s to hoping he does that and it coincides with a win streak
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
Would be fun to see one of those Lamonster runs again
Hopefully before getting snubbed this time.
He has to get more votes than K-Love this year. Come on. If you asked every coach in the NBA who’d they’d rather have at the 4, I have to think it would be LA for 90% of them.
"You know, when you are in the game, you hear 20,000 people behind you, you don't feel anything."
- Nicolas Batum on playing through his shoulder injury during the 2010 playoffs.
And yet they didn't vote him in last year.
Yet it seems like a lot said they did…
I can't understand it either
a white boy from Portland, playing in Minny, on a losing team? Gotta be the “white boy” part.
Dang, I didn't realize the crazy stats he's putting up this year though
23 an 15 with a 25 PER
I still take LA if I want my team to win and I don’t look back, but still…
Call me crazy, but could it have something to do with the spectacular typical box score stats and equally spectacular APBR stats?
by jksnake99 on Jan 12, 2012 2:46 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
kevin loves may not be much of a power forward,
but he’s a damn good player, especially if you don’t care about defense, like a lot of people who vote in these things. and he’s like a gift from the gods on fantasy teams.
Lamarcus is a swiss army knife (does everything pretty well), kevin love is like a spork or something.
plus minnesota is actually doing pretty well.
if they get rid of beasley and start rubio, they might even be able to snag that 8th seed since memphis has gone down the drain.
They are the 2nd worst team in the west
Explain how they are doing pretty well?
Through 10 games, Minnesota is 3-7 with the following notable losses:
@ Milwaukie
vs. Memphis
vs. Cleveland (Two nights after losing to Memphis at home)
@ Toronto (One of the if not THE worst team in the NBA.)
"You know, when you are in the game, you hear 20,000 people behind you, you don't feel anything."
- Nicolas Batum on playing through his shoulder injury during the 2010 playoffs.
Hey don't strip the #1 pick
aka John Wall of his title of pg on the worst team in the NBA.
and yet they are basically an average team by point differential and SRS, while starting Darko, Michael Beasley and Wesley Johnson.
i keep dancing on my own.
by atomiccafe on Jan 12, 2012 1:47 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
exactly. if they come around to starting Derrick Williams and Rubio
they could probably be average or better.
I know!
between them and clippers both actually doing well, i’m not surprised people are predicting the world will end soon.
The season is still early
and what is with all this TWolves being good talk. They are tied for the worst record in the West.
yeah they're still terrible so far
They are a whole lot more fun to watch this season though.
Joel Anthony gets more votes than al horford or spencer hawes
what a joke
by YoniRap on Jan 12, 2012 12:22 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Joel Anthony should get more votes than spencer hawes
He took over as starting C during the playoffs and Miami went 4-1 all the way to the Finals.
He’s almost solely responsible for Boston trading Big Baby, who couldn’t get a lay up to save his life during the conf. semis (after Big Baby had his way with the ‘10 Laker’s bigs).
But, only Horford is all-star worthy among those 3
well if spencer hawes keeps up with the way he's been playing so far this year, then he might be worthy
meanwhile, joel anthony is at best a role player and probably wouldn’t start at center in at least 2/3 of the teams in the NBA, even with the shortage in good NBA Cs.
and Horford is now injured
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
yeah that really sucks.
The hawks have just never been able to put it all together and it’s sort of a shame cause they’ve got a lot of talent.
Honestly though who wants to see Kevin Love play? I see the Griffin appeal of jumping high. Fans like dunks.
Kevin Love was awful in last years all-star game, it was actually sad because he was trying and failing. Aldridge actually has a beautiful post game, can catch spin lobs, will swat some shots. I’d rather see DeAndre Jordan than Kevin Love in the all-star game.
Being white, I think he's an immediate underdog...
There’s a lot of nba fans out there who want to see more than just nash and dirk (neither of whom are americans) in an all-star game.
And don’t sleep on Minnesota… they’ve got Rubio, derrick williams and Love and a zillion good trade options.
Ricky as #3 surprised me
Glad to see him do so well. Is the all-star voting getting a lot of press in Spain?
Not much actually. I know because I follow the NBA.
Not many hard core NBA fans here either. Calderón is playing well for Toronto and only has 42,929 votes.
Don't think so
Pretty sure Spaniards are Spanish, Hispanic are Mexican, at least thats how I have always thought of it.
Thank you, interwebs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic
Short version: Oroginally yes, but under the currently accepted meaning in the US, no.
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they're not.
by conspirator5 on Jan 12, 2012 5:28 PM PST up reply actions
or sometimes...
As such, the term to many people in North America has lost its association with Spain and Portugal, and has become associated primarily with Latin America. This usage is viewed by some as incomplete since the term Hispanic referred to Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula: modern day Spain and Portugal) and its ancient Hispanic inhabitants. .
IMO LMA needs to work harder
he has had only 1 30 pt game yet, and has he even hit the goal of 10 rebounds in a game yet?. I want him to be an all star as much as anyone, but LMA hasnt really raised my eyebrows this season so far. Boy, I bet LMA is really missing Dre about now. Dre made LMA great, this season so far, he has just been average. I hate to hate on my boy LMA, but he needs to step up his game if he wants to be an allstar. Sorry guys, he just hasnt done much to show an improvement from last year. I thought he was working on his game, his post ups and his left hand over the summer, so far havent seen it. Kevin Durant and Dirk are almost a shoe in(not to mention Pau and Griffin) and if LMA wants it, he has to DOMINATE, which sorry to say he hasnt.
So,
Bring it on, tell me how stupid I am and how im not a fan. How LMA deserves it and I am wrong wrong wrong. I want him to be an all star, but its something you earn, it isnt just given to you.
by cavejunctionblazer on Jan 12, 2012 12:42 PM PST reply actions
Can't have it both ways.
Dirk isn’t earning it this year, neither is Gasol… Are they better than last year? Kind of contradictory there.
by JamesInDigital on Jan 12, 2012 12:46 PM PST up reply actions
20 assists between Andre (12) & Rudy (8) yesterday :(
LA might be getting better numbers with these two guys.
but they won't
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
he just said he wouldn't re-sign
there is nothing in what he says that indicates he believes he should start over Lawson.
Miller didn’t believe there would have been a battle for the starting job with Lawson had a lockout not significantly shortened training camp. But Miller said he plans to have a good attitude and will “support” Lawson during the 66-game season.
“He is the guy, that’s pretty clear,” Miller said of Lawson. “I understand why they brought me here, so I’m not going to dwell on this, 66 games. Move past and leave it alone.”
Not the smartest thing to say, but he’s still going to play hard and whatnot.
i keep dancing on my own.
You are right.
Like last year…Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady most certainly deserved the votes last year. BOTH clearly dominated and earned their spots.
It seems there will always be LMA detractors..he’s not doing this or that...whatever. He is an all star and deserves to be there.
Camby? Really? Over Wes?
I would love it if you ranked our whole team since you offer the female perspective
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
yeah..Camby is a better interview.
Matthews is good looking but not sexy. At least not in interviews. Camby became sexy when I heard that he kicked over the ice buckets in the Phoenix locker room.
I can't believe girls use to think BRoy was attractive
only that makes sense to me is the fact that he was the guy. Out side of that, BRoy is pretty goofy looking imo.
Alpha male body + sensitive guy attitude = babe magnet.
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they're not.
by conspirator5 on Jan 12, 2012 5:30 PM PST up reply actions
Uh, Roy is not a 'sensitive' guy...
Rudy is a classic example of a sensitive personality, with his Extraverted Intuition and Introverted Feeling.
Agree...Wes is great looking, attractive, but not "sexy"
LA and Nico are sexy to me :) I don’t find Camby attractive at all physically :)
Go Blazers!
Work harder? Like head to head against Dwight Howard? Hmmm.
LA’s versatility works against him. Most fans only look at basic stats and don’t see things like LA’s move to Center vs D Howard last night which was at least partially responsible for making it a game. Look at what Howard did to Canby & Thomas while the Magic rolled. It wasn’t until Nate went small with LA on Howard that the Blazers made their comback. In the end Howard only got 13, well below his average, because when he passed out of LA’s single coverage, his teammates couldn’t miss. If they hit merely great from 3’s, Blazers win and LA is a hero.
AndLA is doing this while he plays himself back into game condition after his heart procedure of just 4 weeks ago. We shoud be in awe of what LA has accomplished so far this year, not critical.
by HiPo Steve on Jan 12, 2012 1:06 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
Small is a relative term
LMA is taller then Dwight. Honestly even though I have been hating on KLove as an all start for 2 years now. I think LMA at center and KLove at PF could be one of the best big combos in the league.
We could call KLove the center if that made him ok with it
IDC about titles really.
2 HiPo Steve, I love LMA and want him to be an all star
but his ppg avg is way lower than other PFs
his rebs are way lower than other PFs
to give some props his PER is super high at 21.84!
All im saying is he needs to average a double double. Dude Kevin Love gets like 20 rebs a game while LMA gets like 5-7. LMA needs to up his game. Nate has challenged him to get 10 rebs a game and I think he has only done it once!
IMO LMA has played less than his levels last year(which has alot to do with Dres departure). Which isnt to say he hasnt played well with everything going on-lockout, surgery etc…but to make the all star game, my point is, he needs to dominate which he hasnt done. He needs to show the separation between him and the other PFs out there, that there is a distinct higher level of play from him than the other PFs. When he is averaging a double double like he should, hes a no brainer allstar all the way, until he picks it up, no way does he make an all star.
Dont you worry though, im not worried yet, there is still a ways to go b4 the all star game. And he might make it because of the coaches vote anyways.
Also just wanted to end with, I respect your opinion and I appreciate the way you responded to my post
by cavejunctionblazer on Jan 12, 2012 3:08 PM PST up reply actions
I honestly don't expect LMA to make the game at this point
A lot depends on Tim Duncan’s status though. And whether LMA can go in as a C.
It would look weird if the Blazers have a top 4 record and don’t have an All Star, but that’s not unheard of.
hey tim
yeah I hope he makes it, as a center would be interesting, he did play pretty solid d on howard last night, he prolly has a better chance a center? IDK though, Bynum? Marc Gasol? tough to say.
by cavejunctionblazer on Jan 12, 2012 3:17 PM PST up reply actions
Yeah it's tough to say
He’s versatile, and considered the alpha on a winning team, but his numbers aren’t overwhelming, plus he’s invisible nationally. I’d argue Bynum and Gasol are both more visible, in Gasol’s case due to name familiarity more than location.
Honestly, I’m not worried about whether a Blazer makes the All Star Game. They could use the rest.
LoL totally!
I dont even watch the all star game. We need all the rest we can get it seems.
by cavejunctionblazer on Jan 12, 2012 3:25 PM PST up reply actions
I usually love All-Star festivities
I tend to watch the whole weekend. Considering all the possible events, I think they should consider the MLB rule: Every team has at least one representative. It could be for a minor event though, if you don’t have any worthy player for any “real” events. That way every market has a reason to see somebody.
That being said, last season’s events were awful. That dunk contest looked awfully rigged.
The ONLY part I ever watch
is the 3pt shootout. Cuz its based purely on shooting skill, its timed and the pressure is on. Its pretty enjoyable but the rest is bogus corporate sponsored commercial crap made to make money. The dunk contest is weak now. The game itself is weak now, they play hardly any real defense and they just let each other score to get the score as high as possible. Everyone is afraid of getting hurt, so they play easy instead of real.
by cavejunctionblazer on Jan 12, 2012 3:38 PM PST up reply actions
The dunk contest is the pro-wrestling of the all-star weekend
Jumped the shark (literally as a Happy Days reference) with the whole Nate Rob- Dwight superman- kryptonite scripted finals
Aut disce, aut discede; manet sors tertia, caedi
by Occam's Blazer on Jan 12, 2012 9:41 PM PST up reply actions
Or Blake jumping over the hood of a car
which any young athletic person could do. Ibaka or Mcgee should have won last year.
Right, he needs to build himself up more than he needs regular season recognition.
I’m concerned with LA getting whatever he needs for a strong postseason. Is that the All Star team? Probably not so much. Let’s face it; unless and until Blazers have post season success, LA will not get the national recognition he deserves – and even then maybe not.
In Portland many of us resent flying under the radar. I don’t mind it.
Postseason success is definitely a key to fan voting
Chris Paul is a classic example. He came in second in MVP voting in 2008 behind Kobe, and was a near-unanimous NBA First Team member. But he had to be voted onto the All Star bench by the coaches.
That spring, he led the Hornets to a dominant series win over Dallas, and nearly won round 2 over San Antonio.
Between the press coverage and the playoffs, h became a star and was voted into the 2009 All Star Game as a starter.
If Duncan gets put on over LMA
that’s laughable
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
yeah
but you always gotta allow for one year of that. Now two in a row and it becomes a completely unfounded decision…put Timmy (not Timmay!) out to pasture
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
I hope Duncan retires before he pulls a Ewing or Olajuwon
SAS seems to want him to retire as a Spur, too, which is cool. They had some good luck of getting he and The Admiral from draft to (likely) retirement.
Tim Duncan - an All-Timer...
Living in Austin for over 30 years, I was a diehard Spurs fan all the way back to ABA days. Tim Duncan is held in even higher esteem in SA than BRoy is here, if one can even imagine that. He brought all the love & skills to small market San Antonio that Brandon brought to us here – plus Championships. He even took a pay cut on one of his biggest contracts so that the Spurs could afford to surround him with the talent needed to win another championship. Tim Duncan is an all-timer. I can’t imagine the Spurs trading him; he’d retire first.
Spurs and Blazers have a lot in common, to our credit here. Focusing on team play with the whole bigger than the sum of its parts, both are small big cities (if you know what I mean) with a greater sense of community and fan loyalty than most. I remember when SA won their first championship a fan had to be hospitalized because he blew out a lung screaming 20 minutes after the ceremonies had ended. Hardly a soul had left the arena. That is something I can’t imagine happening anyplace else – except Portland.
It was enlightening watching the Spurs grow into their Championship. It was definitely not linear. Only in retrospect does it seem predetermined. I can remember fans on Spurs blogs calling for coach Pop’s head in the middle of their first championship season after they lost a game giving up a big lead. Like Nate many fans thought of him as a good but flawed coach who could never take them to the promised land. Coaches, players, & teams grow gradually into champions; they don’t turn into them overnight. To me the most beautiful aspect of basketball at this level is watching the changes they go through as they improve. Getting there is extremely rare; enjoy the journey no matter where it leads.
by HiPo Steve on Jan 12, 2012 9:19 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
very good post. rec!
I’d love to be in Portland the day the Blazers win their 2nd championship. The entire city would be bonkers.
Kevin Love doesn't play D
and he is on the worst team currently in the West.
Well....
…fan voting has always been a “fan” perception based action. Too bad. Aldridge IMO should be ahead of Gasol and Love.
I’m hoping his position will improve. If not? He might have to be a coaches selection. And it’s too bad, I believe he does deserve better from the N.B.A. fan base.
"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"
If your team sucks
you should not be in the all star game. All stars win, losers lose.
Disagree
This is an individual award. Basing it on how bad your teammates are shouldn’t even be in the equation.
by jamon51 on Jan 12, 2012 1:05 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Chris Paul is an All Star
he makes his team mates better and wins game because of that. He took a bad team in NOH to the play offs. Kevin Love is a stat whore. He doesn’t play team basketball doesn’t play defense and doesn’t win. What part of that says all star?
Those are individual traits and can be considered
“Making your teammates better” = individual
“Doesn’t play team basketball” = individual
“Has a point guard who sucks” = team
See the difference?
If your individual talents make your team win games
your an all star. This is why Monte Ellis isn’t an all star, he is a great stat whore, not a winner though. Also why I don’t mind still seeing Tim Duncan in the all star game.
Put Tim Duncan on MN
Surround him with a bunch of unproven and crappy players. Have him play equally hard, they win a few more games, but still miss the playoffs. Still an All-Star?
Tim Duncan
when he was Kevin Loves age puts them in the play offs.
I'm talking about this year
You said that this year Duncan is an all star and Kevin Love is not. Switch locations — is Duncan still an all star? If Kevin Love in SAN gets 6th seed in the west (with Parker and Ginobili), is he now an all star, despite the same effort/stats? It doesn’t make sense.
Only reason I'm ok with it this year
is because of his history. If Duncan played the way he did this year all his career he’s not an all-star. Which is also why I don’t care if he makes it either way. On the other hand, Kevin Love has won nothing and proven nothing other then stat whoring gets you onto Sterns good list.
I'm not even saying Kevin Love should be an All Star
…but blaming a player for having crappy teammates is ridiculous.
We are talking about the NBA
there aren’t a whole lot of crappy players playing in the best basketball League in the world.
Clearly, a guy like Luke Babbitt would wipe the floor with you or I.
Yet, that doesn’t mean Babbitt isn’t terrible relative to someone like Dirk Nowitzki.
"I Am Mine"
But are you really trying to say
that there are starters in this league of Babbitts caliber of play? I understand that at the end of the bench there is a difference, but as far as starters go, no one is THAT bad.
Babbitt is in a league of his own...is there a team out there
in the universe…some alien all star team maybe..that has the players worthy of being on the same team as Babbs?
Babbitt is a rabbit
don’t question it, just accept it
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
it's all relative
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
Comparatively
They are crappy players
by ZenGarden on Jan 12, 2012 4:49 PM PST via Android app up reply actions
not blaming..just pointing out that Duncan could have
made the team win…even with crappy team mates..when he was in the NBA for the amt of years that Love has been…
Fantasy Sports might have something to do with it...
Going off Fantasy value, KLove is practically MVP!
Even if Aldridge gets snubbed again, he’ll still make all-nba which means he’s inarguably a top 15 player in the whole league.
Not all All-Stars are elite superstars like Chris Paul.
Some All-Stars are just plain stars, especially those who round out the final spots.
"I Am Mine"
by AK1984 on Jan 12, 2012 1:16 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
or not stars
like Chris Kaman or Mo Williams.
i keep dancing on my own.
by atomiccafe on Jan 12, 2012 1:49 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I can't believe Mo Williams is a former All Star.
Kaman I accepted because of his story as much as anything, but yeah, he was pushing it too.
Blake Griffin deserves the nomination
After Dirk and Durant that is – who are obvious super-stars. After that it’s Blake -
Why? Because he’s fun to watch. He’s the biggest “star”, though not the best basketball player.
After that, it’s Duncan being the HOF player that he is. Even if he’s fading, seeing him in an all-star game is familiar, expected, and it wouldn’t be as good without him.
As nice as LaMarcus is playing, especially this season, he shouldn’t be in an exhibition game of this kind. He might deserve an all-nba team nod at the end of the year though…
It's okay
while LMA might be the one watching K.Love in the Allstar game grabbing some exciting rebounds. K.Love will be at home in the offseason watching LMA win playoff games.
by AP_18 on Jan 12, 2012 12:55 PM PST reply actions 2 recs
All-NBA is a far superior award
…and yet everyone ignores it. I’d much rather Aldridge win All-NBA than All Star.
by jamon51 on Jan 12, 2012 1:17 PM PST reply actions 3 recs
babbitt should be getting some love. 3 rebs. in 4 minutes of work last night. that's insane.
A displaced Sonics fan that has somehow emerged as a Blazers fan (and loves it).
by anitachampionship on Jan 12, 2012 1:17 PM PST reply actions
I'm voting for him every day.
RIP CITY - We're back!
by CyclonicWinds on Jan 12, 2012 4:40 PM PST up reply actions
Funny thing that applies to this whole post:
One of those boards was clearly Aldridge’s, but the let Babbit have it.
B/c he doesn’t seem to put weight into individual stats, just what’s best for the team.
dinasour type of guys choir boys
and if LMA would he'd be an All-star!
if he would learn to act like a complete tool ala CP3 he’d be a superstar too!
Well, I wish he was a little more selfish
My fantasy team ‘Dwight Men Can’t Jump’ needs all the help it can get, and LA is an integral part of it
Aut disce, aut discede; manet sors tertia, caedi
by Occam's Blazer on Jan 12, 2012 9:47 PM PST up reply actions
why are people up in arms about the starters being a popularity contest and LA being 6th?
the starters are SUPPOSED to be a popularity contest, that’s why the fans vote the starters and the coaches pick the reserves. And because of Portland’s national obscurity, the competition amongst forwards in the West, and LMA’s lack of “sizzle” in his game, he isn’t ever going to be a starter.
I do think that the coaches vote him as a reserve this year, especially after last year’s miss
by rip_city_swagger on Jan 12, 2012 1:25 PM PST reply actions
This yrs all stars in the west are gonna be pretty weak....
If they really want to base this by record, blazers should have at least 2 all stars……
Cp/Westbrook/TP
Kobe/Harden
KD/Wallace
Griffin/LMA
Bynum/Nene
Wild cards
Dirk and Pau
OKC has the best record and deserves 3.
Lakers will have 3 cause they are he lakers.
Dirk is an all star we know this….
Blazers, LMA hands down deserves it and Wallace is playing like one and there is not better small forward in the west than Wallace besides KD.
TP is an all star here because of his teams record same with NeNe.
I believe Westly deserves to be in here too…. If you compare his numbers and team record between everyone else… It matches pretty well with Hardens, Westbrook,TP and any other guards in the top 8 teams in the west.
by Hoi on Jan 12, 2012 1:29 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Come on
In fewer mpg, Harden scores more on fewer shots, rebounds more, and has triple the number of assists that Matthews does. Wes’s season numbers are pretty close to GW’s due to the absurd goose eggs that Gerald puts up at a somewhat regular interval, but he’s clearly below every other guy mentioned, and having the second best record in the conference certainly shouldn’t entitle a team to three all stars.
I agree with that
Wes$ is a cool guy and a good player. But at this stage in the game, not an all star.
That's why I put harden in there over Mathews....
Harden is balling no doubt…. I’m just saying that westly is under rated. He won’t make it… Not even close. If you see Westly play and I have every game… He’s been consistent. Defends, scores, shoots the 3 and rebounds.
Just sayin….
by Hoi on Jan 12, 2012 1:45 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Here's all 3 players stats
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/teams/portland-trail-blazers/stats
Check out all their stats. All 3 are shooting a very good FG %
by Hoi on Jan 12, 2012 1:40 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
no team "deserves" 3 all-stars
it’s a big pet peeve of mine when a solid role player gets an all-star nod simply because he’s the 2nd or 3rd best guy on a very good team.
team record should only matter when you’re comparing #1 or #2 options.
steve nash, for instance, would be way more deserving of an all-star nod than a guy like harden who doesn’t even start for crying out loud!
swap harden with nash and let me know which team’s record would suffer more…
Personally
Tebow should get selected over LMA
by comptoncory on Jan 12, 2012 1:46 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Just a wild guess from overseas
If all the people coming to Rose Garden each game would cast only several votes Lamarcus would have way more votes right now. To me It means that fans in Portland don’t really care.
it means that most adults who go to games don't do online fan voting
it’s sort of a younger generation thing…has absolutely nothing to do with them not caring.
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
exactly!
and to the die hard fans who really love the game… the all-star game is pretty damn boring until late in the 4th quarter.
Die hard
fans ought to give some love to their best player!
I've been voting for Gerald and LMA everynight!
I’m like Bruce Willis!
Or it means every team has fans that do that.
Dale Ellis should have never been given that starting spot. (Old-timers will probably get this reference)
I remember when you would fill out all-star ballots at McDonalds...
with a pencil.
Aut disce, aut discede; manet sors tertia, caedi
by Occam's Blazer on Jan 12, 2012 9:50 PM PST up reply actions
Hmm....
Internet’s here for some time, my 70 years old dad uses it. I guess in US it’s similiar….
I would say most season ticket holders aren't caught up in the All-Star game
so yeah, I guess if you want to say they don’t care (about Lamarcus getting into the exhibition that is the All-Star game specifically) then you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. Just make sure it’s specific to this, because overall it’s as passionate and invested as any fanbase in any sport. I also don’t think most season ticket holders are going to get online, go on NBA.com, and vote for the all-star teams. They care about the Blazers and would take great pride in LMA being an all-star, but they could probably care less about the ASG itself. I just think you’re connecting dots that aren’t directly related.
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
I don't care
about ASG at all (it’s as boring as can be) but I would like Lamarcus to get the respect he deserves. Not only from coaches or commentators but also on the national (worldwide) level. That’s why I vote every day.
it's in the coaches' hands (and LMA's)
I think him being 6th is an accomplishment, our fans would never be able to vault him above Durant and Griffin let alone the other guys in the way. The math looks close now, but just wait.
My point is it doesn’t mean this fanbase doesn’t care
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
All this hand wringing is pretty silly to me
LaMarcus will be an all-star this year, but he won’t (and shouldn’t) get voted in to start the game. Griffin and Durant are just better players at the moment, and also very popular.
He’ll easily make the bench though, since from last year Carmelo’s trade and z-Bo’s injury takes out two of LMA’s competitors without adding another. Had there been an extra forward spot last year, it would have been between LMA and z-Bo, so he’ll make it even without passing anybody on the roster from last year.
i keep dancing on my own.
by atomiccafe on Jan 12, 2012 2:04 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Griffin isn't better yet
Let’s see him lead his team to some wins.
He was neutralized in crunch time by Lamarcus and Bosh in successive nights. His D is suspect and he has a hard getting close shots off against stout D.
/s
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Jan 12, 2012 3:57 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
How come is Griffin
a better player? Would you really prefer Griffin on this team rather than LA? The guy’s got no D.
Yes
Griffin is a more efficient and prolific scorer and far better passer. Those overcome LaMarcus’s advantages on help and man defense (and rebounding is part of defense too, and Blake is an excellent defensive rebounder).
i keep dancing on my own.
disagree in part
I’d rather have LMA but Blake has advantages in passing and rebounding. Can’t compare scoring really as LMA will light teams up at times and gets doubled and planned for more vehemently than Blake.
Blake gets tons of double teams, he just passes out of them resulting in a vastly better assist rate.
i keep dancing on my own.
he can do the splits too. He’s an all around talented jerk. Having him on this team whining and acting like an idiot would drive me crazy.
"Having him on this team whining and acting like an idiot would drive me crazy."
He’s no worse at whining to officials than was peak B-Roy, who complained ceaselessly.
"I Am Mine"
Roy's whining was tiresome but (unfortunately) effective
I wish it was less effective.
It was a common sentiment of frustration in the GDT’s when Brandon complained to the refs and did not get back on D quickly.
I'd also rather not see any whining
It ranks with NFL guys always doing the “throw a flag” motion on every dropped pass on the ref lobbying I’m tired of.
Its a bit annoying
to watch a sophomore do it. I mean he has already proven a lot, but he’s too close to being a rookie IMO to be getting a ton of respect from officials.
To be fair, Brandon was doing that as a sophomore too
To quote the 80s commercial, “I learned it from watching you!”
Hmm
maybe I didn’t notice it cause of my blazer bias. I defiantly noticed it more the last few years.
At one point the refs commented that Brandon didn't do a lot of complaining
But it was pretty clear he had already picked up the habit as an NBA sophomore, then it just worsened from there.
In fact, I think the leaked quote was from a ref that said Brandon played "the right way"
Aka not complaining. It didn’t take long to change.
BRoy had waaaay freaking more talent
His whining annoyed me but he had enough game to make up for it. Swapping Griffin for LMA and throwing in whining and lousy defense…no thank you.
From watching a lot of Clips games in the last two years
My impression is that Blake has started whining more this season, and has more of a premadonna attitude. That said, he still plays with a ton of heart and hustle. I seem to recall a time when Bedgers complained about BRoy not complaining enough, and that being a factor in the referees not respecting him enough. As players’ stuature rises in the league, it seems that they all spend more time jawing at refs.
Also, Blake gets absolutely hammered by defensive players. A lot of that is attributable to guys not wanting to get dunked on, or trying to stop his power drives. He’s also the kind of player who is always mixing it up where the action is, and taking a lot of shots to the chops for his efforts. You can literally see him turning red with anger and frustration over getting hit and the no-calls.
Also, Blake gets absolutely hammered by defensive players.
This is absolutely true. However, often a player gets hammered at a level seen as a proportional response to the perceived hammering he’s delivering to his opponents. The Shaq syndrome, if you will.
trying to dunk on people's heads will definitely lead to some hard fouls.
But I have not seen Blake really lay the wood on anyone… yea, maybe he pushed some blazers in the back when fighting for rebounds in a game once, and ticked of Miller, but I don’t see him comitting near-flagrants when playing defense.
Shaq, speaking about how hard he gets fouled, and people’s mis-perception that he should just take ‘cause he’s huge: (paraphrase) “It hurts. When you prick a giant, does he not bleed?”
those big guys all get whacked on the head constantly
and don’t get enough protection
i keep dancing on my own.
Is there a video montage on youtube for the flagrant fouls that aren't called?
This is one of those situations where I’d like to see with my eyes over trusting a coach who will always lobby refs for his player, similar to Duncan or CP saying every call is bad so they get more calls.
Ditto for any fouls Dwight commits on offense that could be seen as cause for possibly retaliation. Dwight’s a strong guy and he bowls over players a lot.
No sarcasm intended (actually no sarcasm from me in general today). I’m actually curious.
Van Gundy is great
And I definitley agree.
In pick-up hoops, I am a post guy. And it’s very frustrating to work for good post position, get it, get a well-timed entry pass without losing position, then finally, after all that effort, start to make your move only to get intentionally hit/wrapped up.
Even when there is no anger or dirty intent from the defensive player, it makes me frustrated, and sometimes angry. And I’m a peaceful sportsmanlike guy playing for fun! So when it happens to the pros on a regular basis, I don’t fault them for getting angry or complaining.
Blake does a whole lot of fouling for boards
Guys probably get frustrated and just let him have it. Camby and Dre are easy examples. The last Clips game Blake had LMA by the jersey most of the time he was trying to cover him.
Getting punked by a sophomore that gets superstar calls probably gets under guys’ skin.
Griffin is a good player and has national exposure. A high vote total was inevitable.
I’d argue a lot of his “great rebounding” involves an amazing amount of uncalled fouls, but that’s separate topic to not start here.
by Timmay! on Jan 12, 2012 2:21 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
It'll be disapointing when the coaches put Duncan on the team instead of LaMarcus.
i like it here, there, everywhere.
they did last year, and it was turrible then too
"But if Ding Dongs and prime rib were the path to NBA pivot stardom we'd all be wearing the uniform." -Dave
Lamarcus said...
…that he believes it’s a “political” thing, that being picked for the All-Star is more about having a big name than it is about talent or winning. He was on the Jim Rome show this morning and was pretty straight about his disappointment at not being picked last season. Rome tried to insist LA would make it this time, and Lamarcus sounded doubtful. Out there on the floor, either winning or coming even in the few head-to-heads he’s had this season, Lamarcus knows he’s the better player. Seems he’s hurt he didn’t get recognized for it, by the coaches or Stern, and is already preparing himself to be hurt again by not expecting it.
I agree that All-NBA, and especially a shot at Team USA, is far more important and honors that truly recognize a player’s talent and contributions.
The fan votes only bother me when a player is either injured, or is barely contributing. And of course, when Stern picks someone because of their stats over someone with pretty good stat, who demolished said player in every head-to-head, and whose team is playoff bound :)
Go Blazers!
Rome tried to insist LA would make it this time, and Lamarcus sounded doubtful.
I don’t blame him. He was alpha on a playoff team last season and was barely a footnote. It has to make you feel like you’ll never make the team after a while.
Of course, last season his season took an upswing around January, which didn’t help him.
He seems a lot more focused on team than individual achievements this season, at least in interviews.
Barely a footnote? There was lots of talk, much of it deserved in my opinion and all of it deserved in many folks opinions, about how he was snubbed, particularly after he was absolutely gangbusters immediately following the selections. Then he made all-NBA 3rd team. I think the good will built up from that will help him make the team rather comfortably this year.
I doubt LMA saw much of the snub coverage, so I suspect he felt pretty ignored
That’s probably related to his current attitude.
I’m not really convinced he’ll be an All Star this year though. He definitely is due at this point, but it’s a tough call. I do think Tim Duncan will be a factor of course.
if the blazers are still in the top four
the coaches will probably have to select a blazer for the sake of recognizing that acheivement.
I swear there was a good team last year with no All Stars.
Oh duh, it was us! We were one of the only playoff-level teams to not get a representative. We and Memphis I believe.
but we were near the bottom of the playoff picture, and so was memphis
just like they did with the spurs last year, coaches will vote in players from top 4 teams, even if the teams success is more of a team effort than individual. though if that’s the case I don’t know what they’ll do with denver this year.
He'll probably take Westbrook's spot
Lowry will probably get the screw job among the guard this season.
| 23.1 | .647 | .605 | 15.6 | 28.3 | 21.9 | 6.7 | 0.9 | 7.7 | 17.8 | 20.7 | 118 | 100 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 2.2 | .214 |
Dirk just had a historic, title winning run in the playoffs.
He has a third of the votes Griffin has. It’s just so stupid, but the fans have done much worse. At least Griffin is playing, although he has yet to lead a team anywhere. No sour grapes though, Lamarcus at 6th ain’t too shabby.
/s
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Jan 12, 2012 3:39 PM PST via mobile reply actions
though Dirk hasn't been doing so well this season
I was expecting them to contend again for another few years, prove to the media that it wasn’t some sort of fluke.
I'm not sure how much of Dirk's numbers is related to them bombing on opening night
Kind of curious. Usually the star of the NBA Champions has some holdover into next season.
It's funny when celebrities/athletes endorse products they would in no way use in real life.
See also Jennifer Lopez squeezing into a Fiat or Tiger driving a Buick…
Tell me again why we traded Miller?
by RenoBlazerFan on Jan 12, 2012 3:51 PM PST up reply actions
The Fiat commercial makes me laugh every single time.
Somehow I wonder if Buick was happy Tiger was driving a Cadillac the night after Thanksgiving.
by Timmay! on Jan 12, 2012 3:54 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I read somewhere that Tiger is really cheap.
And that he actually drives the Buick they gave him. During “Tiger-Gate” wasn’t he driving an Escalade? Not relaly much of a step up from a buick, price-wise at least.
I seem to recall...
Some old video of Dirk dunking over a car when he was just a young-un in Germany. Anyone with youtube access care to look?
Other than Lebron of course, is there any player more disliked in his home state than Love? I’m sure there is, just can’t think of one at the moment.
What makes it all the more interesting to me— not good or bad, just interesting— is that Love is well on track to be the best player ever from Oregon… and yet many folks hate him merely for being selected for the ASG over a Texan who stars for the local team.
I just find that aspect of it interesting. Has nothing to do with the debate over who should be there.
Paul Pierce?
Maybe not his entire home state, but it’s hard to imagine someone from Inglewood being hated that much in LA.
Technically my understanding is that a lot of Oregon is unhappy with him for his college antics
Not the LMA thing. Not that I really care about the college stuff, but I keep hearing about it.
What's really fascinating is that the people who love Kevin REALLY love him
And presume everyone is against him/them with the slightest negativity.
And the people who hate him REALLY hate him, and presume everyone is for him if they give the slightest compliment.
It’s like the looney tunes episodes where someone lights a match inside a tool shed full of dynamite.
Love thoughts.
I am pretty middle-of-the road about Love. In interviews and on TV profiles, he seems like a solid, grounded guy. He’s an interesting player, who has worked very hard on two skill sets (rebounding and threes) to the level where his rebouding is elite and his shooting is quite good. (Rebounding well night in and night out takes a ton of effort and commitment) This from a guy who seems naturally very strong and coordinated, but not as height-and-hops gifted as most other NBA big men.
So I respect him for achieving a lot with what he’s been given. And the Beach Boys connection is neat.
But I don’t see him as a franchise cornerstone or God’s gift to hoops, just like I don’t see why people get worked up about his all-star spot. He’s a borderline all-star, just like LMA. I guess one does wonder whether, if he were black and playing the same way, he’d get the same amount of national attention.
I just hate him because he's from LO
and I hate those guys…
-Jealous Clackamas High School graduate
Johnson, Johnson, Smith, Smith, Thomas, Williams, and Babbitt: the Blazer's law firm.
by Doctor Worm on Jan 12, 2012 4:43 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
"if he were black and playing the same way, he’d get the same amount of national attention."
This.
Just like Chuck did in Philly during the late-’80s.
"I Am Mine"
Come on now
If he were black he’d be Wes Unseld.
Kevin Durant won me over when he went Rocky IV on Russia this summer.
by blazeraddict on Jan 12, 2012 4:49 PM PST up reply actions
Hmm, I think he's closer to Chuck.
The outlet passing is there, but Unseld was a better defender than both Love and Barkley. It helps that both Love and Barkley were stuck on mediocre teams for a bit early in their career, although Chuck did have a two years to start his career on a decent post-Finals 76ers team before it fell back to mediocrity during the late-’80s.
"I Am Mine"
Yeah, Unseld was much better than both on D
But Chuck attacked outside in on offense (though Love has expanded his range) and based on size/body type/passing, I like the Wes comparison. The larger point though, the guy can play, he is not a great white hope charity case by any stretch
Kevin Durant won me over when he went Rocky IV on Russia this summer.
by blazeraddict on Jan 12, 2012 4:58 PM PST up reply actions
not a fan of mike love
he’s apparently the reason the beach boys never finished smile.
by YoniRap on Jan 12, 2012 5:15 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
That and drugs
lottsa drugs
"What began as a credible protest against bank bailouts, crony capitalism and the like has, in large measure, been hijacked by crazies and criminals,"
by 92wastheyear on Jan 12, 2012 7:17 PM PST up reply actions
I dunno, I like Love (insert joke)
but mainly I think he just gets a raw deal here a little bit. He was a deserving all star last year, regardless of his team’s horribleness, simply because his statistics were legitimately bonkers. Plenty of people play on teams that shoot horribly, teams with a super high pace, or collect stats at the expense of their teams, and none of them put up numbers remotely close to Love’s last year. If it were easy, we’d see guys come somewhat close fairly regularly, but the fact that we don’t see players touch those numbers should say something.
Yeah, his record hurt his all star case, but really only took him from being a slam dunk all star (it would be absurd for a player on a winning team to miss out averaging 20/15) to being a more marginal all star. While I wouldn’t go so far to call it a majority here, a significant portion of BE posters seem to imagine that he’s no different from Shareef Abdur-Rahim, which is just a joke.
by Royster on Jan 12, 2012 4:42 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
He didn't do anything wrong in college
UO recruited him. He turned UO down, went to a better program, and a bunch of drunk morons cussed his family out in Eugene.
Kevin Durant won me over when he went Rocky IV on Russia this summer.
by blazeraddict on Jan 12, 2012 4:32 PM PST up reply actions
I suppose "antics" was the wrong word since it gets negative immediately
My bad. I’m getting afraid to even discuss KL at this point.
i don't understand why you keep saying you are afraid to discuss Klove
i like it here, there, everywhere.
I think a lot of this is misguided efforts by Blazer fans to prop up LMA
Love and Griffin are amazing talents. So is LMA. Unfortunately, one of them is always going to get hosed when it comes to All Star selections, doesn’t mean the other two suck though
Kevin Durant won me over when he went Rocky IV on Russia this summer.
by blazeraddict on Jan 12, 2012 4:39 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I hope so, crap like this is so soccer mom of our fan base
Kevin Durant won me over when he went Rocky IV on Russia this summer.
by blazeraddict on Jan 12, 2012 4:43 PM PST up reply actions
I've always wondered which fan base in sports is the most off-kilter.
My gut says it’s the Penn Staters, who are almost like a group of cultists.
The SEC mouthbreathers from places like Lousiana State, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida are a screwy, unhinged bunch of loons, too.
Portland, however, has indeed cornered the market on soccer moms. Oh well, guess it could be worse.
"I Am Mine"
AK, ever listen to This American Life?
A couple years ago, they did a story on the Penn State “cult” in College Station PA and just recently went back and revisited it to see how the community was reacting to Paternogate.
Fascinating, and maybe hitting just a little too close to home for the Portland soccer moms.
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they're not.
by conspirator5 on Jan 12, 2012 5:20 PM PST up reply actions
As much as I goof on the hypersensitive nature of Portland fans, ...
it’s nothing like the Cult of JoePa at State College, PA. That’s a weird environment throughout all of Happy Valley, which goes beyond mere sports.
"I Am Mine"
"Antics" implies he did something
As a Duck fan I would have loved to see him go to UO. I’d also like to date Brooklyn Decker. Unfortunately, she finds Andy Roddick more appealing, doesn’t make it okay for me to buy a ticket to the US Open and cuss her and her mother out at Flushing Meadows
Kevin Durant won me over when he went Rocky IV on Russia this summer.
by blazeraddict on Jan 12, 2012 4:36 PM PST up reply actions
I've already addressed this above.
I really don’t care, I didn’t go to any Oregon universities. Just noting that it comes up a lot.
So did the "Al Horford does coke" meme when folks were joking about trading for him
I just see that as a cop out by rabid fans trying to justify an inexcusably ugly thing that happened at UO, just strikes a nerve with me
Kevin Durant won me over when he went Rocky IV on Russia this summer.
by blazeraddict on Jan 12, 2012 4:42 PM PST up reply actions
Eh. I don't really pay attention to it.
It’s college ball. Everyone seems to be nuts in college sports.
I only note it because it’s been commented in repeatedly. So there are other reasons for this all to happen besides the LMA thing. Whether it’s reasonable or not, meh.
People seem really caught up in the KL thing on both sides for all kinds of reasons.
Wonderful that you don't pay attention to it
However, to state that
my understanding is that a lot of Oregon is unhappy with him for his college anticsgives credence to an unsubstantiated story that is used as a straw man by people who got their rocks off on heckling the guy’s mom at a basketball game. If someone can point to anything this guy did other than not going to UO, dunking on them in a TRL game, or stealing their girlfriend maybe this would do something other than make me wonder about the sanity of our species, but I still have not seen it.
Kevin Durant won me over when he went Rocky IV on Russia this summer.
by blazeraddict on Jan 12, 2012 4:54 PM PST up reply actions
Also worth noting:
Ernie Kent got seriously attacked for not trying harder to recruit K-Love.
Folks might not remember this, but this is one of those situations that caused Conzano to offer a flat-out apology. He was one of the biggest Ernie Kent haters, and was a big critic about the failure to bring K-Love to UO. Then the NCAA released this academic audit that showed that under Kent, UO had one of the best academic records of any NCAA team. A big part of the reason was that they didn’t recruit slackers who were trying to touch college as little as possible on the way to the NBA. Kent refused to go groveling in Lake O because he knew Kevin wanted as little to do with actual college as possible. Baldy made a point of taking a break from his Kent bashing to give him props for taking his academic responsibilities seriously.
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they're not.
by conspirator5 on Jan 12, 2012 5:15 PM PST up reply actions
I know that
Love’s parents held their other son back a year so that his body could develop and he could play basketball better. Unfortunately for the kid he was never very good. Now he’s in Kevin’s entourage.
Johnson, Johnson, Smith, Smith, Thomas, Williams, and Babbitt: the Blazer's law firm.
I'm surprised no one's mentioned Philly's infamous booing of Kobe Bryant at the All Star game.
That kinda counts right?
At this point, does Philly booing anything REALLY count?
Aut disce, aut discede; manet sors tertia, caedi
by Occam's Blazer on Jan 12, 2012 10:02 PM PST up reply actions
I hate Kevin Love
Because I knew him when he was in High School. And him and even more so his father is as big as a DB as possible. No I don’t mean defensive back.
It's not a state, but pretty much the entire province of Ontario wanted Toronto-born Eric Lindros dead.
dinasour type of guys choir boys
Love deserved to be there based on ridiculous stats
I don’t understand the anger though I do believe some of those stats were over-hyped. I still believe it was Duncan who bumped LMA out. Hard to be terribly mad about that because of what Duncan has meant to the league.
It’s just going to be tough for us to get an All-star in PDX for a few years. LMA might make it as a reserve but there’s definitely no guarantee.
I don't get the lifetime award concept with Duncan
Hard to be terribly mad about that because of what Duncan has meant to the league
Weren’t the other 12 All Star appearances enough of an award for that?? Not to mention the 13 All-NBA Teams, and 13 All-Defensive Teams….OMG I just realized we better make sure he gets in there again this year…..he might not yet realize he is good at basketball!!
"What began as a credible protest against bank bailouts, crony capitalism and the like has, in large measure, been hijacked by crazies and criminals,"
by 92wastheyear on Jan 12, 2012 7:43 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
no the problem is that the spurs were killing it that year,
so despite the fact that duncan’s production was way down, they had to give someone credit for the spurs leading the west
They didn't "have" to give the Spurs a spot on the team ....but even if they did
…why jack over LMA? Why not screw over one of the western conference guards instead….. and put in Manu or TP . They put up more numbers than Duncan
"What began as a credible protest against bank bailouts, crony capitalism and the like has, in large measure, been hijacked by crazies and criminals,"
by 92wastheyear on Jan 13, 2012 7:21 AM PST up reply actions
Well there you go then
"What began as a credible protest against bank bailouts, crony capitalism and the like has, in large measure, been hijacked by crazies and criminals,"
by 92wastheyear on Jan 13, 2012 10:48 AM PST up reply actions
Random note:
I have been consistently voting for Kris Humphries in the east. Though I was certainly on the bandwagon for bashing him because of my Kardashian-hate, I think he got used and I feel bad for him getting booed by people AFTER having been jilted. Seems really unfair. So I’m trying to give him some love in a conference I don’t care about. :-)
Plus I’ll rip my fingernails out before I vote for tools like KG and Melo.
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they're not.
You know what
I’m sick of hearing about this crap. Get some post moves. Get an up and under move. Get a left. Get a jump hook that you can hit more than once every three or four tries. Learn how to pass out of a double team. Get more than seven rebounds a game.
by heybabydrinkyourmilk on Jan 12, 2012 5:25 PM PST via mobile reply actions 1 recs
Yeah!
Just become Hakeem, basically. It’s not that hard….;)
/s
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Jan 12, 2012 7:31 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
I'm trying to think of an element of Aldridge's game that he's improved since he came into the league...
I’m having a hard time. I mean I appreciate what he does, don’t get me wrong, but none of the aforementioned have come around yet. Can you think of one?
by heybabydrinkyourmilk on Jan 12, 2012 7:55 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
haha
i had to look up who that was. i guess i don’t listen to the radio much.
by heybabydrinkyourmilk on Jan 12, 2012 8:58 PM PST up reply actions
So if somehow LaMarcus got the start over Durant...
we’d have LA and 4 players from LA.
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