BoxscoreHighlightsJoe Johnson on his involvement in pre-game frivolities: "I came out and gave them a little swag. I grooved for them. That’s what this weekend is all about is entertaining."
Johnson's All-Star Game scoreless streak ended at 41 minutes and 26 seconds when he made a turnaround jumper with 2:50 left in the second quarter to put the East up 67-59.Al Horford on his 8 point, 4 rebound, 2 assist, 1 steal, 1 block performance: "I didn’t allow myself to get nervous. I was calm out there."
Horford on being an All-Star: "I have to credit my teammates for putting me in this position. I've worked hard to get to this point, but they've made me a better player, so I'm very fortunate to be representing them."
At ESPN.com, Maurice Brooks gave Al Horford a B+ and Joe Johnson a B on his game scorecard.Frank Hughes of SI.com graded out both Hawks at B.
TIP-OFF: 8:20pm (EST)
TELEVISION: TNT (pre-game coverage starting at 7pm)
FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: East -1, 262.5 o/uI watched All-Star Saturday night only intermittently but I did see that, for another year, my suggestion to include Josh Smith and Tony Allen in the skills challenge was ignored, that those of us old enough to have watched dunk contests 25 years ago should be grateful to have done so, and that it was nice to see Paul Pierce* win (presumably) one last thing.*Was Kevin Garnett's enthusiasm during the three-point shootout self-aware and ironic? I think it might have been. Which is a greater benefit of the doubt than I can muster for the various too-preppy-by-half ensembles favored by many of his peers, the volume of which I haven't seen since I attended a Tom Waits concert soon after RUSHMORE came out.Sunday night should be more fun. Actual basketball will be played. Fully one-sixth of the Eastern Conference roster is made up of Atlanta Hawks. Joe Johnson, in what would have been a fantastical idea even for the most optimistic person within or outside the organization to consider in the summer of 2005, will start and hope to end his personal All-Star game scoreless streak* quickly.*Currently 32 minutes and 53 seconds.Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game thoughts.
I quite enjoyed the discussion that lead to this post about constructing a team of non All-Stars that could defeat the All-Star teams. I think we, collectively, came up with a good squad but, for me, it was more fun to argue about how such a team should be constructed* and I'd like to open the discussion here should anyone be interested.*Some argued for gunners and rebounders, some for defense, some for length and athleticism to force turnovers and runMy theory, which is excerpted in the post, in full: It would be impossible to out-score a team of All-Stars. They're on the team largely because they score a lot and can do so efficiently. Especially if you give them extra credit for the ability to create shots. The guys who are left over are, for the most part, less able to create their own shots and/or convert scoring opportunities as efficiently as the All-Stars.
Defense and rebounding would thus be vital, both to limit the efficiency of the All-Stars and to rebound as many missed shots as possible. If the non-All-Stars give the best offensive players in the world many second shots, it's hopeless.
Finding 5 guys left of the All-Stars with a reasonable combination of efficiency, shot creation, and defensive ability both before and after a shot goes up is tough. I'd go with...
PG: Jason Kidd
SG: Arron Afflalo
SF: Corey Maggette
PF: Josh Smith
C: Andrew Bogut
Given a full 12-man roster, I'd add Tyreke Evans, Manu Ginobili, Mike Miller, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Kevin Love, Carl Landry, and Kendrick Perkins*.
*Clearly this should have been Anderson Varejao but I'm not going to go back and make myself look better than I am. I just blanked on my pick for Defensive Player of the Year.
Since I wrote that, and since the post went up at TrueHoop, the NBA has stolen our point guard away to the Western Conference All-Star team. They're scared.
Al Horford: "It’s like a dream come true for me. When you’re playing basketball as a kid, you envision yourself making it to the NBA. And once you make it to this level, you work so hard to get to an All-Star level. It’s just a blessing for me to take part in this game."
Joe Johnson: "It means a lot to me to be selected as an All-Star again. It’s really a tribute to the Atlanta Hawks organization, and my teammates and coaches. I’ve put in a lot of hard work over the years, and over the summers, and it’s always nice to see it pay off."
See if you can spot where in this quote Stan Van Gundy gives a tacit admission that he and I don't hang out and talk about basketball: "I think he's a really good player, and everybody agrees he's pretty much a power forward that's playing center. He's learned to use his quickness. I don't think there's any negatives with him."
John Hollinger (HT: TrueHoop): Horford and Johnson made the All-Star team and Josh Smith didn't. I guess nobody actually watched the Hawks this year.
Always with the attendance jokes.Mark Bradley: Got no problem with Joe Johnson. Got no problem with Al Horford. They’re both deserving. But they’re no more deserving — maybe not as deserving — as Josh Smith.
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And I’m not the only one who’s disappointed. Here’s co-owner Michael Gearon Jr.: “Josh Smith is an All-Star and he deserves to be there. He deserves to make that team as much as any of the players who were selected. He is an All-Star, and he’s the heart and soul of our team. He deserves to be there.”
From general manager Rick Sund: “There area lot of players in the NBA who put up All-Star numbers, and then there are players who are All-Star players. Josh is an All-Star player.”
The Human Highlight Blog: Looking at the numbers between the two and you can see why they are compared to each other. Why then Wallace then over Smith, hypothetically?
One reason could be that Wallace's raw stats are better, more points per game, more rebounds per game, etc--a product of his (9) MPG advantage over Smith. Basketball has come some way in appreciating the finer aspects of the game rather than just looking at PPG, but not all the way, and if coaches were looking at Wallace's stats over Smith's, a difference of (3) PPG and (3) RPG might have tipped the scales for the Bobcats' first All-Star.
But that line of reasoning doesn't compute when you look at the selection of Horford over David Lee. Lee's advanced stats and raw stats are higher than Horford's, but so is his overall Usage Rate. Still, if raw numbers were what led to the selection of Wallace over Smith, why wouldn't Lee have been selected over Horford?
No, what I believe what ultimately led to Smith's exclusion this season, in addition to the smaller things already listed, was Smith's perpetual demeanor on the court and to his head coach.
Drew at Peachtree Hoops: If Al Horford is the rower, the guy who always will keep the team moving through sheer force of will, and Joe Johnson is the motor who consistently powers the team through at a steady pace. Well Josh Smith is the sail. When the wind is blowing right for him, this team flies, and it looks effortless. And this season, it has been a constant damn wind gust. Josh Smith takes over games. He changes games. Josh makes horrible games worth going to. He almost single-handedly makes Mike Bibby and Jamal Crawford's defense a non factor most nights. Read that sentence again. It is true. Josh Smith is having a career year, and he should be an all-star. Hell, the all-star game was created for people like Josh Smith. God is not happy. In the end, the fans voting for KG screwed Josh. Lets hope he takes that anger out on Friday.
Also at Peachtree Hoops, Bronn makes the case for Josh Smith over Paul Pierce: While Paul Pierce does one thing very well-score, and score efficiently-it's tough to build an argument based solely on that for his All-Star inclusion.
Secrecy is no match for the combined efforts of Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears: Point guards Deron Williams of Utah, Chicago's Derrick Rose and Boston's Rajon Rondo will make their All-Star Game debuts next month in Dallas, sources said Thursday.
Williams, Rondo and Rose top the list of reserves chosen by the league's coaches to participate in the Feb. 14 game at Cowboys Stadium. The names won't be made official until Thursday night, but Yahoo! Sports has obtained the list of reserves.
Besides Rondo and Rose, the East roster includes Boston's Paul Pierce, Toronto's Chris Bosh, Charlotte's Gerald Wallace and Atlanta's Joe Johnson and Al Horford.
The West includes the New Orleans' Chris Paul, the Lakers' Pau Gasol, Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, Memphis' Zach Randolph and Portland's Brandon Roy.
Among the notable candidates left off the team are the Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Kaman, New York's David Lee and Denver's Chauncey Billups.
Josh Smith has not been quoted as saying the Eastern Conference are a bunch of "goddam phonies" but it'd be a reasonable sentiment given his performance this season.
UPDATE (3:29pm): In my experience the only four-letter words Kevin Pelton uses are actually acronyms. Josh Smith's absence from the All-Star team inspired him to use consciously strong language at Basketball Prospectus: "snub."
