Big Four Voted in as Reserves

NBA.com - Eastern Conference coaches voted Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo as four of the seven All-Star reserves named Thursday. They will be joined by Al Horford and Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks and Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat on the bench at Staples Center.


That is awesome. I remember watching the '06 Pistons all go on the floor at once. Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace and old friend (or foe) 'Sheed taking the floor. And who went out with them? Paul Pierce. Must be sweet for Paul to get to do the same with his teammates.

The roster seems logical in the East. Only the top 6 teams in the league are represented. Rightfully so, as no other team in the conference has a winning record. There's probably a case to be made for Danny Granger, who is averaging 21 points a contest. While Ray is only getting 17 per game, however, he is shooting 9% better than Granger. So that would be my rebuttal to that argument. KG doesn't have huge numbers this year, but come on; do the fans want to see Brook Lopez and Andrea Bargnani? If anyone got snubbed, though, it was Josh Smith, who is probably having a career year. But all-in-all, good choices. Biased? Probably..

I'm slightly confused on the Western Reserves. I guess if we are making the case for Garnett, then Tim Duncan should absolutely be included. Unfortunately, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love should be on this team. They are most certainly playing better basketball than Tim Duncan on the scorecard. Then again, Duncan's contributions don't always reflect in his statistics. I consider Steve Nash to be a snub. He is having a typical Steve Nash year numbers wise. However, it's impossible to argue with Paul, Williams, and Westbrook being chosen, all of whom are playing for contenders at the same position.

There will be at least one other roster spot opening, as Yao will not be participating. Early reports say that Steve Nash will take that spot. Ultimately, that can't go wrong with who they choose (well, I guess they can), but if the West is going to lose a big man, he should probably be replaced with another big man.

Are there other snubs? Most likely. But I like both teams. Kudos, coaches.

Interesting to note. The West roster has 4 players who, before playing for the NBA, played overseas. The East? Zero. Significance? None, really. Just caught my eye.

Maybe we can win 3 of Saturday Night's festivities. Rondo in the skills, Paul (or Ray) in the 3s, and Nate in the dunk contest. THAT would be cool.