All Star Watch: Jason Kidd Proving Age Ain’t Nothin’ But A Number
Jason Kidd, Dime #40
As I mentioned last week in a post, Dirk Nowitzki is playing at an MVP level and the Mavericks are playing on a championship contending level. While Dallas is clearly Dirk’s team, Jason Kidd is quietly doing a great job as Nowitzki’s sidekick. In his 15th season in the League, you could argue that the 36-year-old veteran is proving that he is still in the top tier of point guards in the NBA. But is he an All-Star? We took some time to debate this.
Why He’s In: On top of keeping the Mavs at the top of the standings (they are 14-5, tied for second in the West), Kidd has been putting up some impressive stats: 8.6 ppg, 9.1 apg (fourth in the NBA), 5.6 rpg, 1.8 spg and 0.5 bpg (career high). People like to joke around and call him ‘ason Kidd (get it, no J), but you can’t say that if he’s shooting a career-high 48 percent from beyond-the-arc and 90 percent from the stripe. He’s sacrificed his points in order to get Shawn Marion, Josh Howard and Jason Terry looks and so far it’s been working great.
While Nowitzki has done a much better job being a leader this season, Kidd is always going to be a great mentor and a leader for any team he plays for. And we saw from the game against the Nets the other night, that Kidd still has that killer instinct and fire. There are guards in the West that are scoring more and getting more headlines, but Kidd is someone that will be relevant in May and June.
Why He’s Not: It is no secret that the West is crowded with All-Star calibur guards: Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Kobe Bryant, Brandon Roy, Tony Parker, Chauncey Billups, etc. If he was in the East, he’d probably be a shoe-in. Kobe will definitely get voted in, and as unfair as it is, CP will probably get voted in too. That leaves only three spots open. Yes the Mavs are winning, but Williams is averaging nearly 20 and 10 and Nash is averaging 16.5 points and a league-leading 11.5 dimes.
Final Verdict: Kidd is definitely killin’it in ‘09-10, but it’s just way too crowded in the West. As much as I’d like to see Kidd play in front of his home crowd, this is something that probably won’t happen.
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December 4th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Dee says:
Too bad the fans get to pick, he should be the starting PG for the west. D-Williams is killing it, but Kidd is as well.
December 4th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
E-money says:
Tru so. Very true
December 4th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
dapro says:
Funny Dime but didn’t you guys kill Cuban for trading Devin Harris for J Kidd and now your saying he’s an All Star???
The trade made sense then and now it looks even better now…you can’t underestimate Kidd’s value on a team
Stats don’t tell the entire story
December 4th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
BiG ShoT BoB says:
Deosn’t matter my boy;s making it regardless.
December 4th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Heckler says:
why is it too bad that the fans are voting?
sheeeit, the coaches are WORSE at making the reserve selections.
deron williams has NEVER been an allstar; what does that tell you about the coaches selecting. Carmelo Anthony didnt make it last year. nor did he make it the year he snuffed mardy collins.
remember, the fans only select 10 starters for the game. The coaches select FOURTEEN reserve players.
if fans dont vote, who is going to vote?..media?..sports writers? I DONT THINK SO. them bastards (dime included) are WAY MORE BIASED than the fans.
December 4th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
Too crowded, give D.Will his well deserved All Star spot already
December 4th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Diego says:
Hell, no. Look at his stats! Only immpressive one is the assists–and he is only 4th there. And I could pass the ball to Dirk for a 3 a few times a game and rack up some easy assists myself. (Assists has always been somewhat of a subjective stat anyway. And if you got a guy like Kobe, LeBron or Wade on your team, you ain’t racking up many assists, what with their control of the ball!)
Guards in East: Joe Johnson, D. Wade, Jennings, Ray Allen, Rondo, Rose, all higher notch today than Kidd by far. Shoe-in in East my ass. Only if based historically on name, in which case you could add Shaq, Ben Wallace, Jermaine O’Neil and a bunch of other old fellas, based on years past–or only if you have an all-star team with 25-30 guys on it.
December 4th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Eric says:
I think this article would make much more of a sense if Kidd’s name was replaced by Nash’s, he is playing WAY better than Kidd, period.
December 5th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
dagwaller says:
@ dapro, SO true. I don’t hear any of the guys talking about the Nets “stealing” Devin Harris anymore. He hasn’t been good for more than a year now.
December 7th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Yes Sir says:
Guards in east better than kidd – ray allen, rondo rose…lol
I think ray allen barely does anything other than shoot 3’s.
Rose -> have you been watching the bulls or the nba this season?
Rondo-> hes playing well, but according to your logic, boston has ray allen, pierce and garnett. i think assists are as easy.