Last week, when the NBA announced its 2011 All-Star starters, some of the Dime crew turned in our own (unofficial) early votes for the All-Star reserves. Those were the players whom we thought should get a ticket to Los Angeles for the craziest weekend in basketball. Today’s list is made up of who we’ve agreed will have their names called tonight when the reserves are unveiled:
EAST
G – Rajon Rondo
G – Joe Johnson
G – Raymond Felton
F – Paul Pierce
F – Kevin Garnett
F – Chris Bosh
C – Al Horford
(Starters: Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Amar’e Stoudemire, Dwight Howard)
WEST
G – Russell Westbrook
G – Manu Ginobili
G – Deron Williams
F – Tim Duncan
F – Dirk Nowitzki
F – LaMarcus Aldridge
C/F – Pau Gasol
(Starters: Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Yao Ming)
* So where is Blake Griffin? Good question. Although we’re obviously huge fans of Blake and think he’s deserving of an All-Star spot, NBA coaches are old-school loyal. (Hence the Duncan selection.) So even though LaMarcus Aldridge isn’t exactly a grizzled vet, he’s also not a rookie, and his team is in the playoff mix. Every year there’s an All-Star like Aldridge who gets his first bid during a breakout season where his team is winning, e.g. Gerald Wallace and Zach Randolph last year, or Danny Granger and Dave West before that. Aldridge is that guy this year.
That said, we can almost guarantee Blake will be playing in the All-Star Game even if he is snubbed tonight. David Stern still has to select a replacement for Yao Ming, which we predict will be Blake. Which of course leaves Kevin Love out in the cold, but you can’t expect too much when your team is as dreadful as Minnesota.
* Other guys who should prepare for bad news: Monta Ellis, Ray Allen, Kevin Martin, Zach Randolph, Steve Nash and Tony Parker.
