Where Is The Love?

"When I Open My Eyes I'll Be in Dallas"
The All-Star game sucks. It has particularly sucked for the last five or six years, but in general it’s always just been a showcase for dunks and unrealistically long range shots, which is kind of awesome, but only up to a certain point. Every year I lose interest about halfway through the second quarter, but the game does serve a captivating purpose. The All-Star team selections serve as a midseason milestone to remind us of the elite players and fan favorites within the NBA. This is an interesting method of marking history in the league and the system in which fans choose the starters and experts choose the reserves creates a balance that usually results in the best representation of top players. This system, however, is flawed. For one, players like Yao Ming, Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson have been named to too many All-Star teams simply because they are popular, not necessarily because they are having a good season. This is generally ok because those that choose the reserve players judge performance alone, but when elite players are overlooked because they are not necessarily popular and then also denied a bench spot, the only thing that redeems the All-Star process is lost. Let’s look at who is supposedly leading the NBA this season:

Eastern Conference
Starters:
LeBron James – Miami
Amare Stoudemire – New York
Dwyane Wade – Miami
Derrick Rose – Chicago
Dwight Howard – Orlando
Reserves:
Ray Allen – Boston
Chris Bosh – Miami
Kevin Garnett – Boston
Al Horford – Atlanta
Joe Johnson – Atlanta
In my opinion the Eastern Conference has a pretty accurate breakdown, probably because there is less talent to pick from. There are only a few teams represented here which is unfortunate but the truth is there are only a few good teams in the Eastern Conference to choose from. I don’t know what they were thinking with the West though:

Western Conference
Starters:
Kevin Durant – Oklahoma City
Carmelo Anthony – Denver
Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles (Lakers)
Chris Paul – New Orleans
Yao Ming – Houston
Reserves:
Tim Duncan – San Antonio
Manu GInobili – San Antonio
Pau Gasol – Los Angeles (Lakers)
Blake Griffin – Los Angeles (Clippers)
Dirk Nowitzki – Dallas
Russell Westbrook – Oklahoma City
Deron Williams – Utah
I don’t care how much of a national hero he is, Yao Ming needs to be banned from the voting at this point. There’s no way he’s going to play in this game and frankly I almost forgot that he is even still an NBA player. Most notably, the reserve selectors made a huge error in ignoring Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge. How could they possibly give Tim Duncan the spot over Aldridge who is averaging 21 and 9, let alone Kevin Love who is averaging 21 AND 15 REBOUNDS. If that isn’t All-Star caliber play, I don’t know what is. The selectors have done more than just ignore a great player in Love (who will probably get a spot when Yao Ming decides he can’t play) but have left out a player who might not be that popular but more than deserves the recognition that comes with an All-Star spot. They have failed to perform their role in the only even semi-important aspect of the All-Star game, a roster of players who represent the best and most popular players from the season and will be remembered as the top performers of 2010-11.

Next Big Thing(s)

Out of a high school class with some stellar players, including Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley and Eric Gordon, two names stand out from the others. Names that seem like they will almost always be used in the same sentence, the way Magic and Larry are. The two best players out of the college class of ’07 are OJ Mayo and Kevin Love, and they better get used to each other, because they’re going to be seeing a lot of one another.
The comparisons are inevitable, not because they play the same type of game, not because they have the same background, but because they’re both great and they’re not exactly doing anything to get away from each other. Since the McDonalds All-American Game, where they faced as East (Mayo) vs. West (Love), all eyes have been on them. The final score indicated a game as closely matched and even as these two, 114-112, with Love’s squad prevailing.
Kevin’s dad, Stan played in the NBA and he moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon from Santa Monica at an early age. He is a 6-10, 260 pound forward and he’s a huge offensive threat, using fundamentals in combination with creativity and straight last-one-to-leave-the-gym strength. He’s got the MVP awards, he’s got the championships as well as numerous citizenship and student/athlete awards.
OJ Mayo’s dad has been in and out of jail while his mother supported the family by herself. Mayo is a 6-4, 210 pound guard whose crazy athleticism and highflying dunks are complimented nicely with a silky J. He’s been on Youtube for pushing a ref, had his fair share of run-ins with the law and aspires to rebuild his community of Huntington, West Virginia.
To add to their numerous differences, Love is committed to UCLA while Mayo will be suiting up for USC.
Though these two lead very different personal lives, have different backgrounds and very different approaches to basketball, they will be compared, and they will be rivals. The beauty of basketball is that it transcends race, religion and reputation. The only thing that matters in this game, the same thing that makes these two rivals, is game. It’s what Larry and Magic shared, and it’s what Oden and Durant share. These two definitely got game, and there’s no doubt that you’ll be hearing about them for a while.