THIS GETS LEFT IN RESERVE: HOW WE'D SIZE UP THE ALL-STAR ROSTERS.Byline: VINCENT VINCENT Vital Information Necessary Centralized (movie, The Black Hole) BONSIGNORE With all due respect to NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= fans who decided the starting teams for the 2006 All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league. The players are often chosen by a popular vote of fans of the sport and the game often occurs at the halfway point of the regular season, although this is not the case for some all-star games , the real vote starts this weekend when NBA coaches determine the seven-player reserve corps for both teams. The league office sent out ballot instructions to all 30 coaches Friday, with their picks to be announced To be announced (TBA) A contract for the purchase or sale of an MBS to be delivered at an agreed-upon future date but does not include a specified pool number and number of pools or precise amount to be delivered. next Thursday. But we can't wait that long, so we came up with our own picks. For arguments sake, we'll include players who came close to getting a coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. selection but didn't quite make the cut. In some cases, we played around with the positions, so don't expect to see two deep at every spot and don't be surprised if we go three-deep at others. We're trying to build the best teams possible. We'll let the coaching staffs figure out minutes and where guys fit into the lineup. EASTERN CONFERENCE STARTERS GUARDS: Dwyane Wade Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. (born January 17, 1982) is an American basketball player who currently plays for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames include "Flash" and "D-Wade". , Miami; Allen Iverson <noinclude></noinclude> Allen Ezail Iverson (born June 7, 1975, in Hampton, Virginia[1]), nicknamed A.I. and The Answer, is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association. , Philadelphia. FORWARDS: LeBron James LeBron James (born December 30 1984) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). , Cleveland; Jermaine O'Neal Jermaine L. O'Neal (born October 13 1978, in Columbia, South Carolina) is an American National Basketball Association player who currently plays for the Indiana Pacers. O'Neal, a 6 ft 11 in (2. , Indiana. CENTER: Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (pronounced "shak-KEEL") (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey), frequently referred to simply as Shaq, is an American professional basketball player, generally regarded as one of the most dominant in the National Basketball Association (NBA). , Miami. --Comment: On one hand, it's hard to believe no one from the NBA-best Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are a team in the National Basketball Association based in the Detroit metropolitan area. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. Franchise history From Fort Wayne to Detroit didn't make the starting team. On the other, what a fabulous statement this makes about the sum of their parts being greater than any individual player. Editor's note Editor's Note (foaled in 1993 in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Champion 2 YO Colt Forty Niner, who in turn was a son of Champion sire Mr. Prospector and out of the mare, Beware Of The Cat. Trained by D. : Indiana's O'Neal isn't expected to play due to an injured groin, so we'll pick eight reserves rather than seven. EASTERN CONFERENCE RESERVES GUARDS: In the mix: Chauncey Billups Chauncey Ray Billups (born September 25, 1976 in Denver, Colorado) is an American professional basketball player. Billups is the starting point guard and team captain for the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons. , Detroit; Gilbert Arenas Gilbert Jay Arenas Jr. (born January 6, 1982 in Florida[0]) is an American professional basketball player currently with the NBA's Washington Wizards. Arenas overcame his modest NBA debut, including being a second-round draft pick, to establish himself as one of the most ,Washington; Michael Redd  This page is currently protected from editing until disputes have been resolved. , Milwaukee; Richard Hamilton Richard Hamilton may refer to:
--Comment: The East is loaded with quality guards, and you can make a strong case that Billups, an MVP (Multimedia Video Processor) A high-speed DSP chip from Texas Instruments, introduced in 1994. Officially introduced as the TMS320C80, it combines RISC technology with the functionality of four DSPs on one chip. candidate, should be starting ahead of Wade and Iverson. But the fans spoke, and we have to respect that. Arenas - the former Grant of Van Nuys standout - is the NBA's fourth-leading scorer at 28 points per game, and though his shooting percentage can be better we'll cut him some slack because he has to force so many threes to make up for Washington's non-existent frontcourt. Redd edges Hamilton in overall production, but Hamilton is the more efficient player. We'll go with Billups, Hamilton, Arenas and Redd. O'Neal's injury allows us to tap into the versatility of the East's guards, which is why we're taking four. Arenas can play the one or the two and Redd and Hamilton can play the two or the three. It was tough to leave off Kidd and Carter, but ultimately Arena's versatility and Redd's 3-point shooting were too valuable to overlook. FORWARDS: In the mix: Paul Pierce, Boston; Rasheed Wallace, Detroit; Chris Bosh, Toronto; Dwight Howard, Orlando; Chris Webber, Philadelphia. --Comment: Howard and Bosh don't get enough recognition because they play on bad teams, but people around the league know about these guys and the rest of the world will catch on once their teams start playing better. Wallace's numbers (15 points, seven rebounds) don't look All-Star worthy until you remember how unselfish and clutch he is. The bigger the game, the better Wallace usually is, and there isn't a more versatile defender in the league. He can check centers, power forwards and small forwards. Pierce is putting together a terrific season, and by all accounts his attitude has been great. Unfortunately, he's playing on a really bad Boston team. Webber is close to his former self, but he gets downgraded playing in Philly. We'll go with Wallace, Bosh and Howard. Bosh and Howard represent part of the future of the league, and they deserve props for going about their business effectively and professionally despite playing in really bad situations. If we had the choice, Wallace would get the starting nod in place of the injured O'Neal. CENTER: In the mix: Ben Wallace, Detroit; Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland. --Comment: Where have all the centers gone? That's a column for another day. We'll take Wallace. We know, we know, this gives the Pistons four players on the East squad. But can you really argue? WESTERN CONFERENCE STARTERS GUARDS: Kobe Bryant, Lakers; Steve Nash, Phoenix. FORWARDS: Tracy McGrady, Houston; Tim Duncan, San Antonio. CENTER: Yao Ming, Houston. --Comment: It doesn't seem right that Houston - worst record in the West Houston - gets two starters while the Pistons got shut out in the East. But in defense of the Rockets, they've battled injuries all year. On the other hand, we can't wait to see how Nash and Bryant blend. WESTERN CONFERENCE RESERVES GUARDS: In the mix: Tony Parker, San Antonio; Baron Davis, Golden State; Ray Allen, Seattle; Jason Richardson, Golden State; Chris Paul, New Orleans/Okla. City; Mike Bibby, Sacramento. --Comment: We're not too sure people realize how good Parker really is, but to put it in perspective, he's second in the NBA in field-goal percentage (.548 percent, 374 of 682) behind Shaquille O'Neal, yet Shaq has attempted only 24 more shots (398) than Parker has made. Parker, incidentally, is the only guard in the top 30 in that category. There isn't a rookie in the league that's made a bigger impact on his team than Paul, who's turned one of the worst teams in the league last year to eighth in the Western Conference. Allen is having another solid season, and he's the best long-range shooter in the West, but the Sonics have underachieved horribly. We'll take Parker and Paul. In the final analysis, this was an easier choice than it seems. Parker and Paul are having fabulous seasons and their teams are reaping the benefits. FORWARDS: In the mix: Elton Brand, Clippers; Shawn Marion, Phoenix; Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas; Carmelo Anthony, Denver; Kevin Garnett, Minnesota; Rashard Lewis, Seattle. --Comment: By far the toughest decision in either conference. The fact is, a great player won't be making the trip to Houston. What more can you say about Brand, other than he's a legitimate MVP candidate, he's averaging a double-double (25 points, 10 rebounds) and the Clippers are fifth in the Western Conference? Nowitzki is having another spectacular season (25 and nine) and the Mavs are just a game behind San Antonio in the Southwest Division. After a slow start, Anthony has risen to ninth in the league in scoring (25.4) and the Nuggets Nuggets can refer to several branches of interest:
We'll take Brand, Marion, Nowitzki and Anthony. The toughest cut of all was Garnett, but he's paying the price for the Wolves' awful season. His loss is Anthony's gain, because Melo was thisclose to spending the weekend with his boys back home in Baltimore. Brand, Marion and Nowitzki were no brainers. CENTER: In the mix: Pau Gasol, Memphis. --Comment: See the Eastern Conference center comment. So we'll take Gasol. At first glance, this seems like a choice by default. However, Gasol earned his trip by averaging 20 points and nine rebounds per game and leading Memphis to sixth in the Western Conference. He deserves the selection. --Odds and ends: Philly radio talk show hosts and columnists stirred up their annual debate about trading Iverson this week, leaving the longtime Sixers superstar a bit melancholy. ``The worst thing is reading it, looking at the newspapers,'' Iverson, the NBA's second-leading scorer, said after practice Thursday. ``You see terrorism on the front page, and then you see all the deaths in Philadelphia on the local page. All that negativity and then you get to the sports page, when it's supposed to be something gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. , and you see even more negativity. You see the Donovan (McNabb) thing, you see T.O. (Terrell Owens), you see the trade talks with me, so the whole paper is like a book, `Tales of the Dark Side' or something. ``That's just the way it is here. I realize it. I understand it. It's going to be like that. If I'm here next year, if I'm here the year after, there's always going to be negativity.'' CAPTION(S): photo, 3 boxes Photo: no caption (Scott Skiles) Box: (1) OFF THE GLASS - Vincent Bonsignore (2) Daily News/CBS 2/KCAL 9 SPORTS CENTRAL POWER RANKINGS - Ross Siler (3) FIVE QUESTIONS WITH SCOTT SKILES |
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