Columnists :: The Boston Sports Beat
All Star chatter and NBA notes by Brandon Simes
Managing EditorMonday Dec 21, 2009 For All Star purposes, the starting lineup has less to do with ability and more to do with popularity (thus Tracy McGrady has received hundreds of thousands of votes as a starter this season). In the East, the fans have (mostly) gotten it right. Dwight Howard will start at center, Kevin Garnett and LeBron James at the forward spots, and Dwayne Wade and Vince Carter at guard. I would substitute Chris Bosh (27.07 PER) for KG, but they’re both good choices. Carter is the mistake. The man fans missed is Rajon Rondo. He leads all Eastern point guards in PER and is the best defender at his position in the conference. Unless coaches decide not to give Rondo the nod in deference to the unworthy Ray Allen, who has slumped to a below-league-average PER of 14.84, the young man with the big hands will be selected as the first point guard on the roster.
Paul Pierce, ever the consistent cog in every aspect of Boston’s resurgence, is third in the conference in PER at the three. Since Danny Granger is ahead of him by a small margin (19.88 to 18.99) and Pierce is a Hall of Famer, I’m going to give him the edge, as the coaches surely will. That’s three All Stars for the C’s right there. The next guy is a bit trickier.
Kendrick Perkins has played exceedingly well. He got himself into better shape this off-season, and the hard work has paid instant dividends. Perk has added scoring and upped his field goal percentage, all the while playing perhaps the best defensive center in the game. Howard will start, as he should, but the next selection is tougher. Al Horford has played great, and since his team also has done its fair share of winning, he’ll probably get the nod over Brook Lopez of the hapless Nets as the back-up center. The problem is Perk ought to be next. I’m not sure coaches will look to select three centers, but if they do, Perk should be an All Star. His contributions shouldn’t be overlooked, although I fear they will be. Add another year of the same level of play, however, and Perk may find himself playing under the bright lights next winter.
Eastern Conference Centers by PER:
Dwight Howard: 23.86
Brook Lopez: 20.94
Al Horford: 19.97
Kendrick Perkins: 18.04
Emeka Okafor: 17.75
Andrew Bogut: 17.70
Jermaine O’Neal: 17.51
Eastern Conference Point Guards by PER:
Rajon Rondo: 20.10
Jameer Nelson: 16.62
Jose Calderon: 16.60
Devin Harris: 16.15
Mo Williams: 15.91
*I love Kevin Love. I thought he was overrated in college, but he’s underrated in the pros. He’s a stud. He might even be the best rebounder in the game. With his shooting range and heady play, he’s a guy I wouldn’t mind seeing play for Boston after the Big Three Redux fade away.
*Tony Allen looked great last night. Great. He dropped a 15/6/3 line with a steal and a block in just 25 minutes. He sports an 18.33 PER for the year (albeit in just six games) and has looked his best in his last couple of games as he shakes off the rust of two mostly-lost seasons. If you read this space often, you may have noticed I have a bit of a man crush on TA, but he really does have the talent to be an impact player. I’m not sure he’ll ever reach it, but games like the one he played last night keep me on his side. Rondo, TA, Pierce, Love, and Perk wouldn’t be a bad five to add Carmelo Anthony to in a few years as a free agent when the C’s might have cap room. Yep, I’m getting quite ahead of myself.
*I’m a huge fan of Marreese Speights. Philly should play Speights and Elton Brand at the four and five, slide Thaddeus Young to the three, Andre Iguodala to the two, and trade a for a shooting point guard a la Steve Blake (at least until Lou Williams returns). If I were in charge in the City of Brotherly Love I’d see if I could somehow convince the Warriors to give me Steph Curry. Throw in Allen Iverson and Jason Kapono for offense off the bench and Samuel Dalembert as a big enforcer and the 76ers might sneak into the playoffs and give a top seed a good run. I think Williams might be trade fodder in the future, however. There are some good pieces in Philly, they just don’t really fit together at the present time.
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