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5 hours ago

Jason Terry’s 2012-13 Final Grade

  Acquiring any player, whether it’s via trade, free agency, or the draft, comes with an air of uncertainty. The NBA has no guaranteed covenant and all sales are final, no matter how talented, proven, or productive the player may have been in year’s past. But these memories—especially recent ones—often clouds the judgment of a [...]

3
9 days ago

Painful Reminders (Part I): The Celtics Drafted JaJuan Johnson Instead of Jimmy Butler

On June 23rd, 2011, Brian Robb and I stood around a high top bar table in Tommy Doyle’s in Kendall Square.  Before us lay one of the biggest mounds of buffalo chicken wings I had ever endeavor to make disappear.  These 25 cent flappers- one of the few indulgences afforded to the participants of our [...]

19
9 days ago

Chris Wilcox: 2012-13 Final Grade

There are a number of contextually-appropriate ways to craft this post. One would be to forgo words entirely, and represent Chris Wilcox’s entire season with a series of videos. That would involve one part of this: For every eight parts of this: Note the headline on that second clip. Someone was so amused/enraged by Wilcox’s [...]

12
10 days ago

Rajon Rondo’s 2012-13 Final Grade

Here’s a sweeping general statement involving super specific statistics that may or may not mean anything: In the 1423 minutes Rajon Rondo played this season, the Boston Celtics were outscored by 1.3 points per 100 possessions. When he sat (including all contests after he tore his ACL), Boston was better than their opponents by 1.8 [...]

94
11 days ago

Avery Bradley Elected to NBA All-Defense Second Team

Avery Bradley has been a standout defender for the past couple seasons…in the regular season anyway. Now he has a trophy to prove it. The NBA announced this afternoon that the third-year guard has been elected by coaches around the league to the second-team all-NBA defensive team for the first time in his career. Bradley [...]

13
14 days ago

Paul Pierce’s Contract: Dispelling The Myths and Stating The Facts

The first domino to fall this offseason is Paul Pierce’s contract. Until Danny Ainge figures out what he’s doing there, little else matters. As we wait for this decision, we also must face the rest of the offseason, which means it is also rumor season. With that time of year, comes plenty of information floating [...]

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Around The NBA: All-Star Picks

The NBA All-Star starters were announced on Thursday night. No real surprises as reigning MVP Derrick Rose of the Bulls, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James of the Heat, Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, and Magic center Dwight Howard were all named as the East five. They will be opposed by Chris Paul (Clippers), Kobe Bryant (Lakers), Kevin Durant (Thunder), Blake Griffin (Clippers) and Andrew Bynum (Lakers) from the Western Conference. The two sides will square off in Orlando at the end of this month.

The fans did a pretty solid job picking the starters this year. There wasn’t any popular injured guys (Yao Ming) or veteran fan-favorites who got in undeservingly (Allen Iverson). Carmelo isn’t having the best season and is on a disappointing Knicks team, but he’s still an All-Star. I’m not going to argue with any of the 10 selections. Every year there are arguments over those last 14 reserve spots. And this season is no different. Here are my picks, Western Conference first.

West Reserves:

Forward: Kevin Love, Timberwolves (25 points, 14 rebounds)
Forward: LaMarcus Aldridge, Trail Blazers (23-9)
Forward: Rudy Gay, Grizzlies (18-6.5)
Center: Marc Gasol, Grizzlies (14.5-10.5)
Guard: Russell Westbrook, Thunder (22-5-6)
Guard: Monta Ellis, Warriors (21.5-3-7)
Guard: Tony Parker, Spurs (17-8 assists)

Some of these are obvious (Love, Aldridge, Westbrook) but the others are all debatable. I believe Ellis is finally deserving this year, despite the Warriors still not being a Top 8 team in the West. Steve Nash and James Harden have great cases, but with the success of the Spurs I give Parker a slight edge. He is quietly having another great year. Hard to leave the Nuggets without a selection, but the truth is they are a very solid team, not relying on any one player to carry them. Nene, Gallinari, or even Lawson or Harrington could represent Denver. Tough choices.

East Reserves:

Forward: Chris Bosh, Heat (20-8)
Forward: Paul Pierce, Celtics (18-5.5-5.5)
Forward: Amare Stoudemire, Knicks (18-8)
Center: Roy Hibbert, Pacers (14-10)
Guard: Deron Williams, Nets (20.5-8.5)
Guard: Brandon Jennings, Bucks (20.5-3-6)
Guard: Joe Johnson, Hawks (19-4-4)

Toughest omissions included Rajon Rondo, Danny Granger, Josh Smith, Greg Monroe, Kyrie Irving, and Ryan Anderson. If Rondo has a great week (coming back from his wrist injury) he could crack the roster. I feel that Jennings is deserving this year. Hibbert likely gets in because of the lack of depth at center in the East. Al Horford and Andrew Bogut are hurt and the rest of the teams don’t even really have a center, so Hibbert’s 14-10 combined with being on a good Pacers team gets him the honor.

Let the debates begin.

Rich Keefe is the Celtics Reporter for 98.5 The Sports Hub.  He writes the “Around The NBA” and “5 Questions With…” columns on CelticsHub.com.  You can follow him on twitter: @Keefe21

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