NBA All-Star Reserves

Eastern Conference:

Guards: Deron Williams (NJ), Joe Johnson (ATL)

Forwards: Andre Iguodala (PHI), Paul Pierce (BOS), Luol Deng (CHI), Chris Bosh (MIA)

Center: Roy Hibbert (IND)

Western Conference:

Guards: Tony Parker (SA), Steve Nash (PHX), Russell Westbrook (OKC)

Forwards: Dirk Nowitzki (DAL), Kevin Love (MIN), Lamarcus Aldridge (POR)

Center: Marc Gasol (MEM)

How the hell did _____ not make it?!

This spot is usually a glaring hole, but I don't see anyone vehemently screaming their lungs out. New York fans will scream for Amar'e, Los Angeles fans will scream for Pau Gasol, and Boston fans will scream for Rajon Rondo. Two guys come to mind for me. One, Tyson Chandler. I was surprised Hibbert made it over him, but there's no room for both and I have no real issue with Hibbert over him. Seems like a coin flip that I thought Chandler would win based on his name. The other guy that comes to mind for me is Paul Millsap. Utah is supposed to rebuilding, yet they are above .500, in the playoff hunt, and doing so in the toughest division in basketball. He doesn't have the big name, but he's the reason Utah felt confident letting Boozer go and he's the reason they are playing so well right now and he's done so with very little help from the PG position. He's in the top-15 in PER and is having a career year.

I can see how he didn't make it, but ____ will definitely be there next year!

Brandon Jennings takes this one. The kid is 22 years old and he's leading Milwaukee in ppg (19.1) while dishing out nearly 6 apg. He's become the clear star on that team and even when Bogut returns, he will maintain that spot. Despite his recent thoughts of leaving, he's got Milwaukee thinking playoffs. He's also improved his 3-pt% and is shooting 37% on the year from distance.

Finally _____ was left off.

Yao Ming.

Wait ____ is an all-star? Hmm I suppose he is..

Luol Deng. This by no means means I don't think he's an all-star. This just means that if you asked a casual fan to list the all-stars, I doubt anyone stumbles past Luol Deng's name. He's been crucial to Chicago's success both for his defense on the wing as well as his clutch shooting. He's also rebounding at over 7 per game, which is extremely impressive given the fact that this team has Boozer and Noah down low.

I can't wait to see ______ at the all-star game!

Blake Griffin. Put him in a 5 on 5 lackadaisical game where lobs come easier than drunk sorority chicks, he's gonna be awesome to watch.

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For the record, here's some guys I thought had a chance: Greg Monroe, Tyson Chandler, Lou Williams, Rajon Rondo, Pau Gasol, Kyrie Irving, and Kyle Lowry.

All He Does is LIN

Jeremy Lin had yet another epic night in NYC as he explodes for 38 points and 7 assists and leads the New York Knicks to a win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Aside from being a worldwide trend on twitter, rejuvenating the Garden, and bringing 4 straight wins to a desperate NY team that is without its 2 superstars (Melo/Amar'e), Jeremy Lin is just a normal guy (or so he says).

It's hard to fathom that both Golden State and Houston passed on this guy and that given 10 minutes per game - yes he played 10 mpg for 29 games last year - for GS, that he couldn't have showed this kind of flash even ONCE. His season high was 13 last year, and he only ever reached double digits in scoring twice (12 points the other time). The statistics clearly show that he can't keep this up (prior to tonight, he was shooting just 27% from outside 5 feet), but until it does, he's certainly worth the watch. His dizzying array of drives to the hoop (he's still doing spin moves around Fisher), and his deceptively quick first step have given him a ton of early success and allowed him to win over New York City in a way unseen in a long time. Heck, there were M-V-P chants at the Garden tonight! I'm the first person to sit here and tell you that he's not nearly as good as he's been the past week, but I'm the same one that is tweeting out "HOLY CRAP, JEREMY LIN!". Enjoy the moment, because whether or not you are a Knicks fan, there are few things better in basketball than when a player is lighting it up in the Garden with the fans blowing the roof off the place.

#LINNING

Will Ferrell Announces Starting Line-ups

This is a couple days old now, and I had meant to post it earlier but it slipped my mind. If you haven't already seen this, you have to. Hilarious.

http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2012/02/will_ferrell_announces_startin.html

Chauncey Billups

Billups is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. Tough break for the Clippers and of course for Billups who is one of the class-acts in the NBA.

According to Yahoo! this could be the end of Billups career. Depressing.

Kevin Love

I don't know how to possibly defend him. He's one of my favorite players, and up until the other night, I thought one of the classiest. It's inexcusable what he did to Luis Scola, though. You cannot let your emotions get the best of you, no matter how physical the game is getting. Partial blame goes to the refs for letting it as out of hand as it did, but that doesn't begin to excuse what Kevin did. I'm sure a suspension is coming.

Link to the stomp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=F1yjlnYjido

Update: Love has been suspended 2 games.

L.A. Clippers: Free Agency Edition

After recently signing Kenyon Martin (great pick-up), the word is that the Clippers are pursing J.R. Smith.

Can you imagine Lob City with J.R. Smith there? I can't think of a better fit. A swingman to split time with Caron Butler and co. at the 3 and drill 3's and run some backdoor cuts for ally-oops? Going to be interesting to see if they are able to secure him. I would guess the Knicks and Heat will be going after him hard.

The Knicks lead the NBA in Moral Victories

Mike D'Antoni and Carmelo Anthony are conspiring to get D'Antoni fired. (Yes, you read that right). D'Antoni's big play to tie the game was running Amare off a double screen to attempt the game-tying 3 (Uhhh..) and Melo, after the Knicks were handed another 3 point deficit due to the Bulls inability to put the game away at the line, decided to chuck up a 3 from 30 feet when he still had a couple seconds to dribble it closer (Ummmmmm!!)

Needless to say, neither shot went in and the Knicks dropped a home game to the Chicago Bulls (coming off a blowout loss to the Philadelphia 76ers) 103-100. The Knick fans will tout this as a feel-good loss as they competed with the Chicago Bulls, in their eyes proving they "can hang with the big boys". I beg to differ. They are now 2.5 games out of the playoffs. Yes, the playoffs. They are in 10th place and are battling with the Nets and Raptors to avoid last place in the Atlantic division (all 3 teams separated by 1.5 games). This game proved nothing. The Knicks still don't have a point guard, they still struggle to stop elite scorers (to be fair, who doesn't..) and they have yet to prove that the Melo "point-forward" method can work.

I'm not ready to write this team off as a playoff squad, because it's unfair to assume that Baron Davis can't come back and spark this team with better than average point guard play, but by no means do I think this team can make any impact in the playoffs, especially if they enter as a 7/8 seed and have to play Miami or Chicago in round 1.