December 29, 2008 1:07 AM
Karl not hopeful about Nene being All-Star
By Chris Tomasson
Rocky Mountain News
Nuggets coach George Karl doesn't believe Nene will be stepping on the court in Phoenix on Feb. 15.
"I'm sure he's probably not going to make the All-Star team, but he's close to an All-Star player,'' Karl said Sunday about his center.
Karl probably is right. But if loose balloting wasn't permitted in All-Star voting, he'd have more of a chance to be wrong.
NBA coaches, who vote for All-Star reserves, are instructed to select two guards, two forwards, a center and two players at any position. They can't vote for their own players.
Coaches used to adhere to the letter of the law and vote for centers who actually started at center. The drawback was that, in some years, there were no true centers worthy of being All-Star backups.
So some recent All-Star Games have featured the likes of Jamaal Magloire, Antonio Davis and Rik Smits making it as centers, and Brad Miller actually has earned two trips. The all-time head scratcher came in 1988, when Dallas' James Donaldson made the All-Star team during a season in which he averaged 7 points and 9.3 rebounds.
In recent years, though, NBA coaches have grown tired of freshly starched big men getting All-Star trips or more deserving power forwards being left home. So they've been voting for big men who don't start at center, but sometimes play the position.
That's allowed in All-Star voting. It's unlike in media voting for the All-NBA teams, when players must get votes at the position they play regularly.
Houston's Yao Ming will be the West's starting center in the Feb. 15 game in Phoenix. If coaches adhered to the letter of the law, then Nene would have a shot at being a reserve.
If only players were considered who started at center, it likely would come down to Nene and Phoenix's Shaquille O'Neal for the second spot (forget Minnesota's Al Jefferson because of his team's record and the Lakers' Andrew Bynum is still a year away from being an All-Star). O'Neal, averaging 16.4 points and 8.6 rebounds is at this point a better pick than Nene, averaging 14.1 points and 7.8 rebounds and shooting an NBA-best 60.6 percent.
But who's to say that, with the Nuggets (20-11) surging, they wouldn't have a much better record than Phoenix (16-12) when All-Star votes are due? And perhaps Nene could get his numbers up to O'Neal's range, although Shaq's Hall of Fame resume can't be overcome.
But what might happen that really would hamper Nene would be coaches voting for players who sometimes slide to center. Even though Bynum is the Lakers' starting center, Pau Gasol will get votes there. Even though Greg Oden starts, Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge could get votes at center. And, even though Erick Dampier starts, Dallas' Dirk Nowizki could get center votes.
So perhaps all of this is why Karl is a being a realist, rather than a cheerleader for Nene's All-Star hopes.
Of course, Nene doesn't really want to be an All-Star anyway. He's getting married Valentine's Day, and has sidestepped questions about what he would do if selected for the team as a reserve.
December 29, 2008
3:18 PM
brian writes:
I am a huge fan of Nene and I am happy to see him playing so well. However, I'm not sure he is playing at an all-star level yet. Offensively he has been great but in my mind an all-star center should average double digits in rebounds especially if his scoring average is under 20. I think Beidrins deserves consideration, aside from free throw shooting he has nearly identical numbers as Nene except he is grabbing 11.6 rebounds a game.
December 30, 2008
12:12 PM
Jay writes:
Nene is playing awesome this year and does deserve to be an all star at center. His rebounds should be up a little more but his field goal % is great. He could easily average over 20 per game but with Melo, JR and Chauncy thats gonna be hard. He is also playing great defensively with his blocks and steals.
January 5, 2009
6:02 PM
YJ writes:
Why isn't Nene listed as a center on the All Star ballots? He is only available as a write-in.