Yi (Photo. Bradley Meintz)One of our favorite running arguments year-after-year is the one about who got snubbed for the All-Star Game. In ‘06, everyone in the Dime office was up in arms that Chris Paul didn’t get the nod despite his ridiculous rookie-year stats. Last year, at least one of us (me) thought Zach Randolph got the shaft. And any Rod Strickland fan can tell you how many times Hot Rod got left out off the roster undeservedly.
This year, the arguments have already started — not even about who should be in the actual All-Star Game, but who should be on the ballot. The most notable omission is Yi Jianlian; not necessarily because he’s playing well enough to merit a starting spot (10.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.8 bpg), but because a lot of people worried that the Bucks’ rookie could have used the Chinese vote to become a starter over LeBron or KG (your likely Eastern Conference forward reps), and via the trickle-down effect, take an All-Star reserve spot from someone more deserving.
And aside from Yi, there are other guys with legit beef for being left off the ballot…
Chris Wilcox — For whatever reason, Nick Collison (center) is on the ballot as a forward, and sixth man Wally Szczerbiak is on there, too. Wilcox, Seattle’s actual starting PF and one who’s having a good year (16 ppg, 8 rpg), is nowhere to be seen.
Sam Cassell & Devin Harris — Antoine Walker is on the Western Conference guards list and these two aren’t? I can almost understand Devin’s snub: each team is allowed five spots max, which for the Mavs meant Jason Terry, Stack, Dirk, Josh Howard and Dampier got the nods. But how does Cassell not make the ballot? He’s the team’s starting PG, which everyone knew going into the year due to Shaun Livingston’s injury, and not to mention Sam is one of the best in the West.
DeSagana Diop — How Dampier got the call over Diop, I still don’t know. Even though the ballot was made prior to the season’s opening tip, if you go back to last year, Diop was the Mavs’ best center.
Brendan Haywood & Kendrick Perkins — Blame Zaza Pachulia. Him being on the ballot gives any Eastern Conference starting center who’s not a good reason to be upset.
Delonte West & Earl Watson — Both Delonte and Watson are running the point a lot better (and a lot more often) than Luke Ridnour, but Ridnour’s the one on the ballot. Then again, it would have made sense before the season to assume Luke would be the starter. The bigger travesty is Luke’s spot in the Team USA program.
Tyrus Thomas — Charlie V (not enough PT) and Mike Dunleavy (not a forward) made the Eastern Conference forwards list before Tyrus. Granted, I can see where some people didn’t have him pegged as the Opening Day starter for Chicago, but he’s had some great games that are making the ballot-selectors look bad.
November 19th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
nick says:
another snub would be jose calderon. i know he doesn’t start but he is the best backup in the league(barbosa is a combo)
November 19th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Charles-K says:
would i be off base to say, stop whining?
I dunno, i guess i can see your point for the people who shouldn’t be on the list, but your candidates are never gonna get serious consideration anyway…
November 19th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Dime Magazine says:
Charles -
we’re not whining. we’re not saying these guys should make the game, we’re just pointing out the problems with the ballot.
November 19th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Bron42 says:
the simple fact that most of these guys arent big names says why most were left off. like wilcox is having a good season compared to his other years but hes not a allstar.
That aside, the only real issue would be yi starting based on votes.
November 19th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Mike says:
I think its good that they left Yi off the ballot..
I wouldn’t have watched the allstar game if he would’ve started over KG or LeBron..
And if the Chinese people all begin writing him in as a starter, than every non-Chinese NBA fans should stuff the ballot boxes for LeBron and KG..
Voting for someone just because he’s your countryman, and not because he deserves it, is ridiculous.
I don’t have beef with Yao getting all them votes, because he actually is the top center in the NBA.. Now Yi might get there somewhere down the line, but not now..
November 19th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
TJ says:
The problem is that Yao was starting before he was the best center in the league. His rookie year (13.5ppg, 8rpg) he got the nod over Shaq (27.5ppg, 11 rpg), even though he was definitely not deserving.
It’s ridiculous, but it would most likely happen.
November 19th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Bone says:
The difference between Yi and Yao is you could argue that Yao would have been Shaq’s back-up in 02-03, so it was a matter of semantics over who was starting. I do not think anyone is going to argue that Yi would make the team anyway if he wasn’t voted in as a starter.
Also, the reason Antoine is on the ballot is because each team has to have at least three guys on the ballot and Antoine probably just replaced Ricky Davis for the Wolves.
November 19th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Austin Burton says:
Each team has to have at least two, I think it is. And you could have put McCants on there in Toine’s place. AND Toine isn’t a guard by any stretch.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
MoxInTheWest says:
Ty should be on the ballot for sure! He is very productive when he gets in the game, but his day will come. Luke Ridenour is absolute trash. Shouldn’t be on the ballot or in the USA program. He’s about 1 season away from the D-League.
November 20th, 2007 at 8:25 am
Russ says:
I know there are some problems with the balloting SYSTEM, but these guys are about all big reaches here. Yes you guys some WTF guys like walker or damp….but it’s not like those guys are gonna make the team anyway.
They simply need to change the ballot to put in the best players period, not the best of whatever happens to be there at that particular ‘position.’ They need to change with the times, most teams dont’ rollout a REAL center anymore. Hell, some people throw out 3 guards. The game changed, but the league is still in the past.
It’s a much more interesting conversation to talk about who doesn’t actually make the TEAM, not the BALLOT. We’re only what….10 games in???? Too early to make most of these judgements except for people who have the years to back it up.
Like Charles-K said, none of these dudes have a glimmer of hope of ever making the team, so who cares?!?!
Half of these guys you mentioned don’t even start for their teams! So why SHOULD they be on the ballot for an all star game?
Wilcox - as I’ve mentioned in other posts, people don’t put a lot of weight on putting up decent numbers on a poor team. Seattle has one win and just got pieced last night by the grizz. This also goes for watson and west. I like delonte actually, but when the last time you saw a part time point guard on a losing team sniff the all star game??
Diop, Haywood , and Perkins??? - all career journeymen at best.
Thomas - again, lost his starting job on a team with what….2 wins??? Plays a whopping 20 minutes a game?? If his own coach can’t play him, why should we???
Sam I Am is the only decent example here.
November 20th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Amar says:
perhaps these problems could be mitigated if they actually started to print the ballots AFTER the first month of the season. the game is in feb anyway, getting votes for all of jan, half of feb and half of dec is still going to be a lot of votes. you know why? because there are a lot of internet votes everyday.
November 20th, 2007 at 9:12 am
Celts Fan says:
Russ, Perk is not a “career journeyman at best.” Watch a game man. he’s a solid defensive center that can grab boards, catch the ball cleanly and (usually) finish. I’ll give you that he’ll most likely never even sniff an allstar game, but the guys more talented than you’re giving him credit for.
Ty Thomas “lost” his starting job because he’s the perfect energy guy off the bench and he and Ben Wallace are redundant. Trust me, if he’s playing next to a legit 5 that can score (instead of the offensive nightmare that is Ben Wallace) he’d be a starter and a good one.
Cassell is a great example and it always annoys me that he’s only made one or two all star games. Guy’s got a few rings, a career of going to teams and improving them, and a lot of clutch shots under his belt. A few more all star games and we’re talking about a HOF’er here…
Also, I applaud the NBA for having the guts to say, “Yi isn’t worthy, we’re not putting him on the ballot.” I know the game’s a popularity contest, but it was bad enough when Wince Carter kept getting voted in well beyond when he deserved it. To have Yi start would be a travesty.
I think the biggest change they need to make to the ballot is to ungroup the guards. PG and SG are completely different positions, and any ASG w/ JKidd and Steve Nash shows how important a 1 is to those games. The ballot should be changed to Point Guards, Wings (2s and 3s), and Bigs (4s and 5s) instead of its current form of guards, forwards, and centers…
November 20th, 2007 at 10:10 am
E to the IZZO says:
WTF, how does walker get on the ballot, the only thing he is good at guarding is his plate at the buffet line!!!
November 20th, 2007 at 10:15 am
PLLLLLLLEEASE says:
90% of the names on the ballot are just a formality, only superstars/players who get press, have a chance at starting (this is why Yi was left off, Chinese population would of thrown him in there). The above guys should be mad if say a Antoine Walker made it instead of a Cassell. Lets have this list come out when its time to argue about the reserves, who are voted in by the coaches, come out and then we will see who get snubbed b/c its not like the above guys definately wont get in.
November 20th, 2007 at 10:33 am
Myrie in NY says:
who really gives a shit about all this? Does it matter who starts a meaningless all star game?
As for the ballots, players not on the ballots can still be selected as reserves by the coaches. So again….does any of this “who’s on the ballot, who’s not” shit really matter?
By the way…the commish’s office needs to fire all the makers of the all star balloting process. These dumbasses can’t get something this simple right? Get rid of all they asses….
November 20th, 2007 at 10:40 am
chrisGO says:
“who really gives a shit about all this? Does it matter who starts a meaningless all star game?”
AGREED. the all-star game isnt what it used to be in the 80’s. back then you can tell it was fairly competitive as opposed to the pickup game that now exists.
maybe do it like baseball where the winning conference gets home court advantage in the finals.
November 20th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Myrie in NY says:
ChrisGO–
I don’t like the baseball format. It makes the allstar game more meaningful than any regular season game. The NBA should not switch to that format.
Homecourt is necessary for rewarding teams with a good regular season. If not…whats the point of playing 82 regular season games?
As for baseball, it doesn’t make sense to me that the winner of an allstar game could have game 7 of the world series in their ballpark; when quite possibly that made it as a wildcard team while their opponent won 100 regular season games.
Not to mention in baseball, the reserves control the game. In the allstar game, starters are usually out by the 5/6 inning. Sometimes sooner. So the acutal best players may not even effect the outcome of the game.
If you/anyone agree with the baseball format, then why play 162 regular season ball games?…For what? They become meaningless. And if that is the case, can you blame a player to taking HGH to break records so his 162 days of work can mean something?
Bah well…sorry for the rant. Back to the NBA…
November 20th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Russ says:
Celts Fan,
Didn’t mean to hurt your feelings by calling a player on your favorite team a journeyman. You’re obviously biased and therefore there is no reason to debate that point any more with you. Although it’s just great that as a professional basketball player making millions of dollars he can CATCH a ball and (usually) FINISH while no one is guarding him because they are too busy double teaming the other 3 future HOF’s on the floor. I find it amusing that even you had to qualify the statement with ‘usually’.
He does what he is supposed to do and that’s great, but that doesn’t mean he could do more if they asked him too, atleast he sure didn’t last year. He’s actually putting up career numbers this year. Although 7ppg and 5rpg is nothing to jump up and down about.
Everything you said about Ty Thomas just further solidified my point. He shouldn’t need a REAL offensive 5 to make a consistent meaningful impact on the game if he is to even be considered for an all star appearance. There are plenty of other players in the league who can do that who are more deserving.
Perfect energy guy off the bench=possible allstar?? NO.
It would be one thing if he simply didn’t start but played atleast starters minutes like they did with gordon in the past, but that is not the case. 7ppg and 5 rpg is not worthy of even consideration for an all star game.
November 20th, 2007 at 11:11 am
Austin Burton says:
Russ — Manu and Jason Terry come off the bench, too, but they deserve to be on the ballot. Other than Ty Thomas and Delonte/Watson depending on the night, everyone else on that list is a starter.
November 20th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Russ says:
I never said Manu and Terry weren’t deserving. And while they don’t start, they do play starters minutes and put up ‘all-star caliber’ numbers…something I said would make the story entirely different in ty thomas’s case by referencing the example of ben gordon.
So my bad..33% of the guys you mentioned don’t start as opposed to the 50% I said originally.
November 20th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Russ says:
…and Diop being a starter once Dampier is back and in shape is not 100% either. Those guys have been jockeying around for the last couple years. Not that starting over a guy that has to practice catching basketballs half filled with water is anything to write home about.
That’s the thing about some these guys….they start on their teams…but if you put them on a host of other teams they would never start…..whereas while terry and manu may come off they bench for their teams, they would start on many(if not most) others.
November 20th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Myrie in NY says:
Let Yi play in the game. They’ll be in the Big Easy. He can bring his cultural to the wknd and give the players shrimp rolls, egg rolls, kitten & brocoli, sumdumbbitch, dog foo yung and all that….
February 18th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Ty Thomas says:
My name is Ty Thomas… Ilive in Delaware, Ohio. I am working on a project to paint everone I can meet named Ty Thomas. Do you think this is stupid?
Ty Thomas (artist)
Delaware, Ohio