All-Star Starters Revealed: We Did Not Do Our Jobs!

You see that picture everybody? Yes, folks. We did not do our job voting for somebody else and this is what we got. Allen Iverson being the first person to be ever seen in the new (and sweet-looking) all-star threads.

It honestly seems similar to the Philippine elections. We have to vote for somebody but there's no one person that stands out, so all the bad people in the world get to elect their bid into power. Aside from Wade, there isn't any real stand-out all-star guard in the East anymore. Alas, we all couldn't unite to find that guard that could oust Iverson. Now, our crime will stare us in the face on Feb. 14 (Feb. 15 Manila time) when the all-star starters get introduced in Dallas. Thankfully, the game is in the West and Iverson will be part of the "visiting" team.

So, for those who haven't read the internet, the following people will be the starters:

East: Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard
West: Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan, Amare Stoudamire

We can't do anything about the stars joining the teams now. It's all in the experts hands, but I have my opinions as to who should be there in Cowboys stadium in front of 80,000 people. Unfortunately, we must follow the traditional 1 center, 2 forwards, 2 guards and 2 utility slots. So here goes!

East:
Joe Johnson (ATL) - Joe is the #1 guy on the East's #3 team. That should speak for itself.
Mo Williams (CLE) - It's sad he's injured, but he should get redemption from the almost-snub last year.
Chris Bosh (TOR) - He's the top 20-10 guy in the NBA right now, enough said.
Paul Pierce (BOS) - Pierce has been the East's best closer this year. Truth be told.
David Lee (NYK) - He's taken the ball D'Antoni gave him and double-doubled with it.
Rajon Rondo (BOS) - Pierce has closed games, but Rondo's been keeping them in games all season.
Gerald Wallace (CHA) - Crash has been with the 'Cats since Day One and should be the first one in an all-star game.

West:
Chris Paul (NOH) - CP3 is the top PG in the NBA in spite of the in juries this season.
Brandon Roy (POR) - Probably the unluckiest star here as his bigs are all down with something.
Dirk Nowitzki (DAL) - Best Non-American player ever? Top 3 at the very least.
Kevin Durant (OKC) - We all knew it was coming. But he has finally arrived.
Pau Gasol (LAC) - The big man getting close to 20-10 on the best team deserves a slot.
Zach Randolph (MEM) - Personally, I hate him. But the Griz are winning because of him.
Chauncey Billups (DEN) - The Nuggets, especially Melo wouldn't be West Elite without him.

I agree with people that say that winning is a major part of being an all-star. True enough, most playoff teams (as of the moment) have at least one all-star. Only Chicago and Utah being missed out on. Some teams with good records do have a shortage of all-stars such as Dallas, but that's just because more members of the team are producing while lower teams such as Phoenix were lucky to have 2 all-stars. Luckily for Stoudamire, David Spade helped and he was voted in.

Snubs:
Chris Kaman (LAC) - You're a Clipper. That should be reason enough already. Being the #1 team in LA matters because of the record. That's why Pau gets the nod over him.
Deron Williams (UTA) - As much as I love D-Will, he's been hurt a lot this year, and Denver's better record pushes Billups ahead of him.
Josh Smith (ATL) - blame Allen Iverson
Jamal Crawford (ATL) - blame Allen Iverson
Derrick Rose (CHI) - blame Allen Iverson
Stephen Jackson (CHA) - blame Allen Iverson

Fantasy NBA: Players of the Week 7

I'm slipping out of playoff contention in 1 league, so I had to shift from playing big to relying on 3's and steals. Let's wait and see...

The Director
Raymond Felton (CHA) - 1.3 3FGM, 14.0 PPG, 5.3 APG, 3.7 SPG [1]

Felton's 6 steal game is the primary cause of his jump up this week. We see that his numbers are not really that impressive, but he's pretty efficient. It also helped that Nash had no defense this week and Rondo was throwing up bricks.

The Skywalker
Kevin Durant (OKC) - 29.7 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.3 SPG, 1.3 BPG [3]

With Kobe dealing with a broken finger, Granger out 4 weeks and Wade missing lots of court time due to blowouts, we could see Durant here for a while. His numbers are stabilizing now and balancing with his defense.

The Triggerman
LeBron James (CLE) - 3.0 3FGM, 36.8 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 6.5 APG [4]

LeBron stays ahead of Durant for the most appearances in this list. He posted these averages over a span of 4 games, clearly establishing himself as the #1 fantasy pick this season so far.

Captain Lionheart
Dirk Nowitzki (DAL) - 31.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG [2]

It's been a slow week for the often-considered carries of fantasy basketball - the power forwards. Dirk bests them all with these numbers, but they aren't reall that impressive overall.


Tower of Power
Pau Gasol (LAL) - 17.3 PPG, 17.3 RPG, 5.3 APG, 1.0 BPG [1]

Finally, Pau gets to crack this list. He's actually been posting pretty monster numbers the past few weeks, but Camby's defense got in the way. Gasol gave you 52 rebounds this week in head-to-head leagues. We can expect these numbers to be pretty consistent though as Kobe will have less touches due to that finger.

Other notes:
Yahoo actually posted Maurice Evans and Troy Murphy pretty high this week due to their percentages. Now, I'm not really a fan of those stats since it's a weighted average that is used in the head-to-head mode.