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All-Star snubbery Annual debate rages: No justice for NowitzkiPosted: Monday February 05, 2001 5:31 PMUpdated: Monday February 05, 2001 5:41 PM
This time of year, you can set your watch to it. Tick-tock, the NBA All-Star Game ... tick-tock, NBA All-Star snubs. Only so many players make their respective conference All-Star teams, so someone is going to be left out in the cold. This year's leading "snubee," according to the CNNSI.com users, is Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki. Keep reading to find out the other players you felt were slighted this time around. Dirk Nowitzki and Antawn Jamison got snubbed. You could also make strong cases for Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker and Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who won't get any respect while he plays in Vancouver, which is sad. Nowitzki has slightly better stats then his teammate, Michael Finley, and Finley made the team. How do you explain that? How can a player like Jamison, who is averaging nearly 25 points a game and 10 rebounds, not get selected? It's borderline sickening. Then you have a guy like Karl Malone who is the most boring and unentertaining player in the league, who, as he stated last year, would rather stay home at the All-Star break than make the team. Also, you have David Robinson, who isn't even averaging 15 points a game, making the team. I think it is actually appalling that these two players (Nowtizki and Jamison) got robbed like this.
I think Mark Jackson deserves to be an All Star. As of this writing, he's second in the league in assists and first in assist-to-turnover ratio. He creates a lot of opportunities without taking a lot of chances, a rare combination. I'd take him over Stephon Marbury any day.
I think it's pretty poor to leave Antoine Walker and/or Paul Pierce off the team. I mean, these guys have put up some impressive numbers. Pierce averages 24 points, Walker about the same, plus around 10 rebounds. Just because the Celtics don't have a winning record doesn't mean you leave off two outstanding players. I would imagine that Boston would barely have 10 wins in the absence of this duo.
Dirk Nowitzki was snubbed. What more do you have to do? His 21 points and nine boards a game are very impressive! These numbers come from one of the biggest men in the game, who can obviously rebound. But he is also one of the top five 3-point shooters in the league. What can I say? The man does it all in only his second year! He got a bad deal!
Steve Francis got snubbed, no doubt. There are already too many power forwards on the team who can play center, so get rid of David Robinson. Also, the slam-dunk contest is a joke.
David Robinson? He has no business being an All Star, not with Dirk Nowitzki playing so well, anyway. Nowitzki and Finley have been the cornerstones of the much-improved Dallas Mavericks, who haven't been to the playoffs in several years. I mean, 21.4 ppg and 9.4 rpg, come on! Dirk deserves to be on the team. How many big men can post-up, drive to the hoop, drain the 3 with consistency, pull down rebounds and bring the ball downcourt like Magic and Bird?
I believe Steve Francis should've made the Western All-Star team. He leads the Rockets in scoring, assists, minutes and rebounds. He's a true leader, and he makes the Rockets go. Then again, I am from the Houston area.
I think that one of the best candidates for the West was Predrag Stojakovic. The guy is having a great season leading the Kings to one of their best seasons ever. He averages more than 25 points a game and plays excellent defense. Stojakovic, along with Dirk Nowitzki, should have earned a spot on the All-Star team. Too bad!
How could Jalen Rose be left off the All Star team? He comes real close to deserving to start, but leaving him off the team all together is goofy. He's one of only two or three players in the NBA who have 21.5 ppg., 5.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists per game. He can play the one, two or three position -- all very effectively, which is a rare talent. He has better numbers than quite a few players who made the team, so what gives? Why is this guy so underrated?
The selection of Anthony Mason is a joke. There is no way the votes go to him instead of his teammate Brian Grant, especially while the East has such a lack of power in the paint.
I believe David Robinson and Karl Malone got to the All-Star Game by their reputations. Eddie Jones is having a pretty good season, and Dirk Nowitzki is having a great season. Dirk should definitely be in D.C. The fact of the matter is, if you have 20 spots available on the roster, someone will be left out. Some say your team has to be doing well to be an All Star. Some say that it's all about stats, and others think it should be about who the fans vote for. I think that if the All-Star Game is for the fan's benefit, send the players that get the votes. Jason Williams is having his best season and was third in the voting among Western guards. Who better to watch in a game that's for fun? If the game is for players, send the ones who are playing best. Dirk instead of Karl Malone. All he does is gripe anyway. Decide whom the game is for and then send those players.
Right off the bat, I would say, without hesitation, that Dirk Nowitzki was robbed. He is the classic case of an NBA player who does it all for his team, night-in and night-out, and did not receive proper recognition. Just because he is white, cannot jump through the gym ceiling and has a funny name and haircut does not mean he should be left off the All-Star team. The man can flat-out play. He can shoot, rebound, defend and run the floor. As for David Robinson, I think he is having another solid year. I cannot argue that he should not be an All Star this season. However, I think that Nowitzki deserves to be there before he does. Oh yeah, and how the heck did Alonzo Mourning make it? He hasn't even out on a pair of sneakers this season. Dikembe Mutombo should have easily made it over Mourning. He owns the paint in Atlanta.
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