May 8, 2008 11:46 PM
Nuggets' big scorers snubbed
CHRIS TOMASSON ON THE NUGGETS
Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony scored, scored and then scored some more.
Media members around the NBA were not impressed.
It was a snubbing of historical proportions when neither Iverson nor Anthony, the two Nuggets stars, were selected Thursday to any of the three All-NBA teams.
Iverson finished third in the NBA in scoring (26.4) and Anthony (25.7) fourth. Since the league went to three All-NBA teams in 1988-89, the only other time a player ranked in top three in scoring did not make one of the teams was Detroit's Jerry Stackhouse, second in 2000-01.
The only other players ranked in the top four in the past 20 years to not make one of the teams were Portland's Clyde Drexler (fourth in 1988-89) and Vancouver's Shareef Abdur-Rahim (fourth in 1998-99).
Consider, though, Stackhouse's Pistons went 32-50 during his season of snubbing. Drexler's Trail Blazers went 39-43 and Abdur-Rahim's Grizzlies a brutal 8-42 during a lockout-shortened season.
The Nuggets went 50-32. So both Iverson and Anthony became the first top-four scorers from a winning team to be snubbed in the 20 years the NBA has named three All-NBA teams.
Both came close, Iverson finishing as the leading remaining vote-getter at guard and Anthony the leading remaining one at forward. But, ultimately, the voters apparently didn't believe the Nuggets, the West's No. 8 playoff seed, won enough.
Not one of the 15 players selected for the three teams came off a losing team, and all but Cleveland's LeBron James came off teams that won more games than Denver. And James' Cavaliers at least were the East's No. 4 seed (So you don't have to call up another file, the All-NBA teams are listed below).
It's hard to complain about the last two players picked ahead of Iverson and Anthony at guard and forward, respectively. With 127 media members voting and players getting five points for a first-team vote, three for second team and one for third, San Antonio's Manu Ginobili was the last guard honored, besting Iverson 123-116. Boston's Paul Pierce was the last forward honored, a whopping 62 points ahead of Anthony.
Anthony didn't do himself any favors by being arrested on suspicion of drunk driving just before votes were due at the NBA office. One highly respected NBA writer told me he pulled Anthony off his ballot after the incident.
Still, due to Pierce's wide advantage, it's highly doubtful the incident cost Anthony a spot on the third team. Anthony, by the way, had made the third team in each of the precious two seasons.
A third Denver player also was the first runner-up at his position. Nuggets center Marcus Camby finished with 59 points, 12 behind third-teamer Yao Ming of Houston.
This looked to be the year Camby, who led the NBA in blocked shots and was second in rebounding, finally might get his first nod on an All-NBA team, with Yao having played in just 55 games due to injury. But Camby couldn't overcome his unimpressive scoring average of 9.1.
So when was the last time a player finished in the top two in the NBA in rebounding and didn't make one of the three All-NBA teams? Let's go to the record book.
Well, you don't have to go back too far. The Hornets' Tyson Chandler, considered by many a young Camby, was second last season, and got no love from the voters.
ALL NBA-TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
Forward: Kevin Garnett, Boston
Forward: LeBron James, Cleveland
Center: Dwight Howard, Orlando
Guard: Kobe Bryant, Lakers
Guard: Chris Paul, New Orleans
SECOND TEAM
Forward: Tim Duncan, San Antonio
Forward: Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas
Center: Amare Stoudemire, Phoenis
Guard: Steve Nash, Phoenix
Guard: Deron Williams, Utah
THIRD TEAM
Forward: Carlos Boozer, Utah
Forward: Paul Pierce, Boston
Center: Yao Ming, Houston
Guard: Tracy McGrady, Houston
Guard: Manu Ginobili, San Antonio
May 12, 2008
12:38 PM
Anonymous writes:
forget all them because allen iverson should be on one of those three teams
May 28, 2008
1:19 PM
Tony writes:
RANT WARNING!!
Melo disrespected?! Hmm, gee, what else is new?
You will recall that it took until THIS season for Melo to be selected initially to an all star team (remember, he was added only as an injury reserve in 2007)
In 2006, Melo was averaging more than 26 points per game... No all-star selection
In 2007, Melo was the LEADING SCORER IN THE NBA... and was only added when someone else (forget whom) got injured....
And yes, I realize that was partly because of his 15-game suspension... which was ALSO ridiculous by the way. but even if you want to argue it was justified, he was still the LEADING SCORER IN THE NBA and was left off the All-Star team.
And now, the Nuggets get swept by the Lakers and Melo gets basically all the blame in the sports media. And people are talking about trading him; frankly, they deserve what they are asking for.
Hey! Sports Media! Make up your mind. You cannot treat the Lakers like this invincible juggernaut all year long , yet assail Melo when his team gets clobbered by that same supposed juggernaut.
I will admit that Melo did not have a good series, and I understand the frustration. But this leads me to another question:
How in the world does GEORGE KARL keep getting the kid-gloves treatment by the national sports media?
Of course he has a mammoth number of coaching victories-- because an NBA season is 82 games long, and teams keep hiring him and NOT firing him when his teams underachieve. If you coach 20-some seasons in a league where the season is 82 games long, you're gonna win a lot of games!
And yes, his winning percentage is above .500 -- because he consistently has above-average talent: Payton, Kemp, and Schempf in Seattle; Allen, Big Dog, and Sam I am in Milwaukee; AI and Melo in Denver.
NONE of this proves that Karl doesn't underachieve. I will give him 2 seasons -- 1995-1996, when the Sonics reached the NBA Finals and took a 72-win Bulls team to six games... and 2000-2001, when the Bucks took AI's Sixers to seven games and nearly made the NBA finals.
Other than those 2 years, name me anything of significance that Karl has done his entire career! Oh, other than choke the 1st round of the playoffs against the Nuggets in 1994, and lose again in the 1st Round to the Lakers in 1995. And stare very confusedly on whatever sideline he roamed.
But let's not hold the past against George Karl, because there's plenty to complain about in the present... People went crazy in NYC when Isaiah Thomas kept his job for so long despite no meaningful improvement.
Shoot, at least Thomas had the excuse of bad talent (although Thomas the GM did NOT have that excuse, since he assembled the team, but that's another matter).
What is Karl's excuse? His team has demonstrated ZERO significant improvement in 3 and a half seasons, despite the fact that Melo has gone from promising but inexperienced second-year player to bonafide veteran; despite the addition of a future Hall of Famer in Iverson; and despite the emergence of two young stars in Kleiza and Smith.
The Nuggets blew it --they could have (and should have) fired Karl and hired Avery Johnson.
Then again, isn't this the same Nuggets franchise that once released Avery Johnson the player, before he became a solid point guard on a multi-championship team?
Hmmm......
June 13, 2008
10:14 PM
Anonymous writes:
Great comment
June 27, 2008
12:10 PM
Rosetta Smith writes:
This was very unfair voting. It's clear that the nuggest have been blackballed by the organization. Iverson should have been on the all NBA team list. He never should've been left out. This is very disapointing, and disgusting. Iverson is one of the best and more exciting players in the NBA. He is still my all time favorite. no player is better.