How big are Yao's all star coattails

[Lurker]

Yao will be voted as the starting center for the all star game.  And that could be debatable from a truly deserving point of view (IMO Amare is having a better year but another discussion).  However the strength of Yao's coattails is seen in the current results.

McGrady is sitting second in votes at the guard position.  And this is after missing a third of his team's games so far.  Besides the simple fact that when he has played his numbers are not better than a host of other more deserving western guards.  Iverson is currently third in voting but only has about 3/4 of the votes that T-Mac has.  Nash, Manu, Parker, Paul, Davis, Terry & Stackhouse round out the top 10.

But the coattail effect is even more evident in the voting for the forward spots.  Both Battier (5th) and Scola (8th) are in the top 10.  Battier is a solid role player but worthy of all star consideration?  Scola is a rookie who averages less than 20 minutes a game.  And to put Scola's accomplishments in context that this board will understand:

minutes   20.9    19.5
FG%       61.1    52.3
pts          5.2      7.4
reb          5.8      5.0
assts       1.3      1.0
turnovers  0.4      1.2

Column 1 is Fabs and column 2 Scola.

[westkoast]

Houston is not even playing that good of ball!!  T-mac did start off playing well but like you said he has been hurt for a BUNCH of games this year.  Now when Detroit had multiple players make the all-star team that made sense given their record.  The Rockets are a whopping one game above .500 right now.   I guess if the Rockets are the only team you can see in China then you vote for all their players lol  Shane Battier getting any votes is a joke and a half.  I won't even address that.

Does anyone think they need to figure out a way to switch up how all-stars are voted for?!  Chris Paul is having a GREAT season, his team is playing very well, and he is behind Tony Parker and T-Mac in voting?  Doesn't make sense.  The Spurs are an awesome team but we all can agree that Chris Paul has far less to work with then Tony Parker and Manu yet I believe they share a pretty similar record.

[Reality]

Hey lurker why in your view were Fabs and now Elsons minutes way down.
Elson cut actually.
Is this some **doghouse** BS of Poppycock?
Sure did work with Beno, ZenPoppy.

[Lurker]

Hey lurker why in your view were Fabs and now Elsons minutes way down.
Elson cut actually.
Is this some **doghouse** BS of Poppycock?
Sure did work with Beno, ZenPoppy.

Go look for today's article in the SA paper.  Pop is quoted as saying that he is starting Horry to accelerate his game conditioning after missing the first 1/4 of the season.  He is taking Elson's minutes.

[Reality]

Already read it.
So who was taking Elsons minutes, ie the smallballs loss to Golden State.  Most entertaining game.  Manu needed to stop cheating o D, doing for the steals.  SJax roasted him.  So did Barron Davis vs Bowen.  But Spurs did some roasting too.  The Tony trey was nice.
Good to see him in the clutch.

[WayOutWest]

minutes   20.9    19.5
FG%       61.1    52.3
pts          5.2      7.4
reb          5.8      5.0
assts       1.3      1.0
turnovers  0.4      1.2

Column 1 is Fabs and column 2 Scola.

So are you saying Fabs should be an all-star? 


I don't know how you can make it any fairer when it comes to fan voting.  IMO there are ways to get votes in for your guy on the net that would overshadow legit Chineese votes, problem is the auto scripts you can run on the all-star voting page are probaly well known in China cause it's not like every Chineese citizen has a PC.  The paper ballots are the more accurate measure of fan favorites.

[WayOutWest]

Already read it.

I got another bridge for sale!

So who was taking Elsons minutes, ie the smallballs loss to Golden State.  Most entertaining game.  Manu needed to stop cheating o D, doing for the steals.  SJax roasted him.  So did Barron Davis vs Bowen.  But Spurs did some roasting too.

 

Why are you asking IF you actually watched the game?  Are you watching but not understanding?  Is that the problem?

The Tony trey was nice.
Good to see him in the clutch.

Tony in the clutch?  I guess I missed THAT game winner, could have sworn GS won that game.

[Lurker]

The Tony trey was nice.
Good to see him in the clutch.

Tony in the clutch?  I guess I missed THAT game winner, could have sworn GS won that game.

Most KNOWLEDGABLE fans would describe a 3 pointer to tie a game and send it into overtime clutch.  But I guess only game winning shots can be clutch in SoCal.   Must have something to do with the air quality. 

[Lurker]

minutes   20.9    19.5
FG%       61.1    52.3
pts          5.2      7.4
reb          5.8      5.0
assts       1.3      1.0
turnovers  0.4      1.2

Column 1 is Fabs and column 2 Scola.

So are you saying Fabs should be an all-star? 

You mean he isn't?   

I don't know how you can make it any fairer when it comes to fan voting.  IMO there are ways to get votes in for your guy on the net that would overshadow legit Chineese votes, problem is the auto scripts you can run on the all-star voting page are probaly well known in China cause it's not like every Chineese citizen has a PC.  The paper ballots are the more accurate measure of fan favorites.

The NBA site only allows you to vote once every 24 hours...not even once a day but a full 24 hours has to pass before you can vote again.  And they allow only one account per e-mail address.  I am sure some really techno savvy geek could get around this limitation but then if you could wouldn't be more fun to really screw the system and vote in Antoine Walker as a starting guard?

[WayOutWest]

The Tony trey was nice.
Good to see him in the clutch.

Tony in the clutch?  I guess I missed THAT game winner, could have sworn GS won that game.

Most KNOWLEDGABLE fans would describe a 3 pointer to tie a game and send it into overtime clutch.  But I guess only game winning shots can be clutch in SoCal.   Must have something to do with the air quality. 

In SoCal, and the rest of the US not including TexASS, there is something called Game Altering Facts & Figures (aka G.A.F.F. to people who have at least half a brain).  Tony parkers shot OBVIOUSLY does NOT qualify for a "clutch" shot under th GAFF standard.  Look it up genius!

[Lurker]

The Tony trey was nice.
Good to see him in the clutch.

Tony in the clutch?  I guess I missed THAT game winner, could have sworn GS won that game.

Most KNOWLEDGABLE fans would describe a 3 pointer to tie a game and send it into overtime clutch.  But I guess only game winning shots can be clutch in SoCal.   Must have something to do with the air quality. 

In SoCal, and the rest of the US not including TexASS, there is something called Game Altering Facts & Figures (aka G.A.F.F. to people who have at least half a brain).  Tony parkers shot OBVIOUSLY does NOT qualify for a "clutch" shot under th GAFF standard.  Look it up genius!

Obviously you missed the capitalized word in my first reply.  Lack of reading comprehension must be a requirement for those who believe in the GAFF standard.

[WayOutWest]

The Tony trey was nice.
Good to see him in the clutch.

Tony in the clutch?  I guess I missed THAT game winner, could have sworn GS won that game.

Most KNOWLEDGABLE fans would describe a 3 pointer to tie a game and send it into overtime clutch.  But I guess only game winning shots can be clutch in SoCal.   Must have something to do with the air quality. 

In SoCal, and the rest of the US not including TexASS, there is something called Game Altering Facts & Figures (aka G.A.F.F. to people who have at least half a brain).  Tony parkers shot OBVIOUSLY does NOT qualify for a "clutch" shot under th GAFF standard.  Look it up genius!

Obviously you missed the capitalized word in my first reply.  Lack of reading comprehension must be a requirement for those who believe in the GAFF standard.

OBVIOUSLY the GAFF standard is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over your head.  The rest of the the bball-non-rock-throwing world understands it pretty well, sorry that knowledge has not trickled down to Drone Star State.

[Lurker]

The Tony trey was nice.
Good to see him in the clutch.

Tony in the clutch?  I guess I missed THAT game winner, could have sworn GS won that game.

Most KNOWLEDGABLE fans would describe a 3 pointer to tie a game and send it into overtime clutch.  But I guess only game winning shots can be clutch in SoCal.   Must have something to do with the air quality. 

In SoCal, and the rest of the US not including TexASS, there is something called Game Altering Facts & Figures (aka G.A.F.F. to people who have at least half a brain).  Tony parkers shot OBVIOUSLY does NOT qualify for a "clutch" shot under th GAFF standard.  Look it up genius!

Obviously you missed the capitalized word in my first reply.  Lack of reading comprehension must be a requirement for those who believe in the GAFF standard.

OBVIOUSLY the GAFF standard is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over your head.  The rest of the the bball-non-rock-throwing world understands it pretty well, sorry that knowledge has not trickled down to Drone Star State.

So let me try to understand the messed up world of SoCal...

It is a tight game with the Lakers down by 3 and time running out.  Odom drives from the wing and spots Kobe open outside the arc and passes to him.  Kobe rises up and hits the 3 as the clock expires.  You then turn to your friend and say:

A) Did you see that clutch shot Kobe made!!!!!
          -----------OR----------
B) Let's grab a bottled water and wait for OT to finish so we know if that shot was clutch or not.

IMO most true fans will see A as the choice.  But according to you, SoCal residents routinely pick B.

[Joe Vancil]

I don't know how you can make it any fairer when it comes to fan voting.  IMO there are ways to get votes in for your guy on the net that would overshadow legit Chineese votes, problem is the auto scripts you can run on the all-star voting page are probaly well known in China cause it's not like every Chineese citizen has a PC.  The paper ballots are the more accurate measure of fan favorites.

How about eliminating electronic ballotting?  

Pass out ballots at all games - paying NBA fans get them.  In addition, send out a ballot to anyone who requests one with a self-addressed stamped envelope.  When non-attending fans end up paying $1.23 to vote ($.41 cent stamp for the letter requesting the ballot, $.41 SASE to mail the ballot back, $.41 to return the ballot), that'll fix a lot of the problems with the system.  If your vote is worth $1.23, then I'm okay with you getting to vote.

[Lurker]

I don't know how you can make it any fairer when it comes to fan voting.  IMO there are ways to get votes in for your guy on the net that would overshadow legit Chineese votes, problem is the auto scripts you can run on the all-star voting page are probaly well known in China cause it's not like every Chineese citizen has a PC.  The paper ballots are the more accurate measure of fan favorites.

How about eliminating electronic ballotting?  

Pass out ballots at all games - paying NBA fans get them.  In addition, send out a ballot to anyone who requests one with a self-addressed stamped envelope.  When non-attending fans end up paying $1.23 to vote ($.41 cent stamp for the letter requesting the ballot, $.41 SASE to mail the ballot back, $.41 to return the ballot), that'll fix a lot of the problems with the system.  If your vote is worth $1.23, then I'm okay with you getting to vote.

Eliminate electronic ballots?  Posted on a board...from now on Joe you should only communicate with the rest of us by letter.  And include a SASE for replies.

In a global world where more and more things happen electronically you are asking for something to return to the stone age.  The NBA wants to market to the world but then you want to eliminate everyone but US residents from voting (check the price of international mail - including Canada).  The issue isn't the electronic voting system...the problem is the ballot.  Even the paper ballots list Antoine Walker as a guard...because the NBA says every team must have at least 3 players listed on the ballot.

IMO there are 2 ways to improve the ballot.  First eliminate half of the players listed on it.  There are 60 players listed for each conference...there are only 75 starters in each conference (15 teams x 5 players).   Second is to put in some sort of minimum performance to be included.  Players who are producing at less than their career averages (Shaq, Kidd) should be disqualified.  Players who miss more than 15-20 games should not be included (Arenas, T-Mac).