Can Baron Make the All-Star Team?

by Fantasy Junkie on Dec 26, 2006 10:23 AM PST in Links

Baron is in the midst of having his best season ever by averaging 21.3 points, 8.3 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 2.1 steals, to go with just 2.8 turnovers. Those are All-Star numbers. There are not many guards who score and distribute as much as he does. Combine that with his nearly 3-1 assists to turnover ratio and it's hard to keep him off of the Western squad. But Geoff Lepper has some bad news, Iverson's arrival could kill Baron's All-Star hopes.

with the Denver Nuggets bringing Iverson, the NBA's second-leading scorer, across conference lines, what was already a difficult task for Davis -- keeping the Warriors' All-Star drought from reaching 10 seasons -- is one step closer to impossible.

Leading the pack in fan balloting as of the first tallies released on Dec. 14 were the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant and the Houston Rockets' Tracy McGrady. That leaves another incumbent certainty, two-time reigning league MVP Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns, to be selected by coaches as a reserve.

Add to that group a guy with seven appearances as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star squad in Iverson, and you've filled all four of the West's starting and reserve guard spots.

So if Davis is going to make it, it will have to be as one of two wild cards that coaches use to fill out the roster. That means Davis must not only beat out other guards such as six-time All-Star Ray Allen of the Seattle SuperSonics, but also forwards such as the Phoenix Suns' Shawn Marion and Los Angeles Clippers' Elton Brand.

Yikes. It's not like it would be easy to make it in the East, but the West guard talent is so ridiculous. There are 4 potential future Hall of Famers taking up the 4 guard spots: Kobe, Tmac, Nash, AI. But Baron knows what he's up against and he simply states how to improve his chances:

"Right now, it's all about winning games," Davis said. "The more we win, the better my chances are."

Does Baron deserve to make the All-Star team?

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Tmac

as much as I love the guy, dude doesn't deserve an allstar spot if he doesn't even play. Baron > Tmac.

by mistererickk on Dec 26, 2006 11:00 AM PST reply actions

Man it's too bad

Neither TMac nor Ray Allen deserve spots. They've missed too much time. I like them both, but BD should be a sure thing over them. He's carried this banged up and mismatched Warriors roster to a near .500 record.

by Atma Brother ONE on Dec 26, 2006 11:09 AM PST reply actions

The coaches know how well Baron's been playing

They'll pick him if he keeps up the good work. Is Tmac even playing? He'll need a replacement if he's not able to go. AI will not have enough western conference stats to warrant allstar consideration out here.
Hope everone had a nice christmas. I see some more players got tweaked while I was away! WTF is going on here?
Also I see Yao has a broken leg which spoils my prediction that the rockets will win the NBA finals!
and Life goes on.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Dec 26, 2006 11:35 AM PST reply actions

Allstar rules

I really think they need to start making rules about injured players starting or even making the Allstar squad. Yao has been great and will get the most votes, but he's going to miss SIX weeks. T-mac and Ray Ray have missed a ton and they'll probably get in. Then Shaq in the east whose played in a whopping 4 games and he's a shoe in. That ain't right for people who've played all season and put up the numbers to back it up.

by dirrty on Dec 26, 2006 1:05 PM PST reply actions

The real solution

I've been thinking about this today. I think the real solution is the Warriors need to try as hard as they can through trade to pick up one of those automatic All Stars who get in no matter how games they've missed or bad they've played. AI would've been ideal.

Haha I'm half joking of course and I know we all complain with good reason about those injured stars going to the All Star game, but wouldn't it be fun if we actually had one of those automatic All Stars on the Warriors?

by Atma Brother ONE on Dec 26, 2006 2:32 PM PST reply actions

wouldn't it be fun if we actually had one of those

"automatic All Stars on the Warriors"
Only if you like allstar games better than real games! I'd rather have a player who plays to allstar level all season. I'd also prefer an allstar selection process that's stat based so the best players are chosen and not just the most popular.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Dec 26, 2006 4:22 PM PST reply actions

TMac plays SF spot

TMac has played the SF spot since going to Houston hasn't he? He did last season for sure and though Battier is there now, TMac could be picked as a SF for allstar game.

Baron really has been huge the last 4 weeks especially. He really does deserve to be allstar

by migya on Dec 27, 2006 5:41 AM PST reply actions

It's Tough

To get in, BD's got to break thru Kobe, TMac, and Nash, for openers. Now he's got to get by AI, too. And then there's even Ray Allen and Tony Parker. But there're only four guaranteed spots.

Now, we're all extremely prejudiced, especially since we see and root for BD every game. But, that aside, it's hard for me to see how BD doesn't deserve it, at least on the basis of his play thus far this year. OK, put Kobe and Nash ahead of him, but for me, that's it. I'd much rather have BD the way he's been playing than any of the others -- tho it's a very close call with TMac, since that guy always seems to come thru in the clutch against the W's.

My guess, if BD can keep it up -- and I see no signs to suggest that he can't (tho an injury in this injury-plagued NBA year is always possible) -- people nationally are going to start recognizing just how well he's been playing. Thus, I surmise his best chance is to make it as one of the coach's selections -- and I think he will. He certainly deserves it, not only because he's been playing so well but because of the kind of game he's been playing this year, leading, pushing, talking, moving -- and, recently, when the streaky W shooters get cold, driving to the hoop like it's nobody's business. And even his end game is showing dramatic improvement. About the only thing he really needs to work on now is his FT shooting.

by johnl on Dec 27, 2006 2:01 PM PST reply actions