All-star starters thoughts

[BE-Celtic]

EAST : Irving - DeRozan / Butler - James - Antetokounmpo

WEST : Curry - Harden / Durant - Leonard - Davis

Of course disapointed IT isn't in there but there were other strong candidates. What shocks me the most is the fact that Westbrook is not a starter for the West. 21 triple doubles in january and not a starter ? That's rough...

Thoughts ? 

(Sorry if discussed in another topic)

[tazzmaniac]

I think they're all deserving All-stars.  It is good to see that adding the players and media eliminated Wade and Zaza.  I didn't expect double digit rebounds but otherwise Westbrook's performance hasn't surprised me.  He's also committing 5.5 TOs per game. 

[bdm860]

It's really interesting to see the voting with the player and media vote being added to the fan vote now.

Summary
Player Voting Results
Media Voting Results

Had the rules not changed this year, Zaza Pachulia would be starting for the West.

While Isaiah Thomas didn't get the fan vote, he finished 2nd in the player vote, and 1st in the media vote, so he has the players' and media's respect.  But he did finish behind #1 in the player vote by a large margin (38 votes).

Avery Bradley on the other hand finished 12th in the player vote, getting as many votes as Sergio Rodriguez, and fewer votes than Jeff Teague and Nicolas Batum.

But on the other hand, Tyler Zeller, Amir Johnson, Jaylen Brown, Gerald Green as well as players who haven't even played a game this season like Khris Middleton and Mo Williams along with a bunch of other head scratchers got 1 vote each, and Ben Simmons actually got 3 player votes despite not playing a game!  Olynyk even got 2 votes!  So apparently at least a few players don't take this too seriously and probably just vote for every one of their teammates.

DeMarcus Cousins finished a healthy 4th in the West, and the 6th most votes for any frontcourt player from either conference (behind only LeBron, Giannis, Durant, Kawhi, and Anthony Davis), then a big gap between Cousins and the next batch of players.  The players definitely respect him, only 5 votes behind Anthony Davis too.

I thought all the Knick players seemed pretty high, with Porzingis (51 votes) and Anthony finishing (50 votes) 5th and 6th in the East frontcourt, Derrick Rose finishing 9th for East guards (14 votes), and Courtney Lee and Joakim Noah getting 6 and 5 votes each.

Draymond Green (9th place, 21 votes) and Klay Thompson (8th place, 14 votes) finished low, especially when you compare them to players who got a similar number of votes (Steven Adams 20 votes, Zaza 19 votes).

For all the crazy votes, 8 Celtic players got votes, but Jae Crowder and Marcus Smart were not among them.

So to me, it looks like the players didn't take this too seriously, a lot of guys just voting for their teammates, looks to work about as well as the fan vote.  Though the very top still works out.  Media voting looks very respectable though.

[BE-Celtic]

 Ben Simmons actually got 3 player votes despite not playing a game! 

Lol i hadn't noticed. Makes sense

[vgulab]

I'm ok with 7 out of 10 starters. All star should be about individuals and what they did so far this season and not for which team they play.

1. Westbrook averages 30/10/10 so he should start even if Jordan was his competition for the spot. But Curry plays for GS.

2. IT averages over 28 ppg but Irving plays for Cavs. You see the pattern here?

3. Cousins averages 28/10 but Leonard plays for SA.

I'm not saying Leonard, Irving, Curry aren't great players, they are, but all star should not be about who is overall better player or which team do they play for. Maybe i'm seeing a pattern here that the best nba teams must have all star starters, i just don't like it.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

Wait, you're saying Cousins is better than Leonard?

What? That's not even a discussion, Kawhi Leonard is a much, much better NBA player than Demarcus Cousins.

[timpiker]

I'm happy IT did not make it as a starter.  Gives us more leverage on the contract and reduces his chance of an injury during the game a little.  In my mind, he's an all-star and that's all I care about.  These popularity contests are bullEdited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. anyways.

[Celtics4ever]

It is a sham, ZaZa getting in, Curry starting over Westbrook, but it is a joke game anyways so who cares.

[vgulab]

Wait, you're saying Cousins is better than Leonard?

What? That's not even a discussion, Kawhi Leonard is a much, much better NBA player than Demarcus Cousins.

Leonard is mvp candidate great player but like i said all star is about what players did this 3 months so far individually. Cousins averages 28/10. Every GM will say Kawhi is the better player and i would too but this season Cousins deserved to start because of the great season he has. Maybe i have some diffrent understanding of what the all star is all about.

[tazzmaniac]

It is a sham, ZaZa getting in, Curry starting over Westbrook, but it is a joke game anyways so who cares.

ZaZa did not get in.