NBA All-Star Game 2009

Before we talk about what a great event the 2009 NBA All-Star Game was i would like to pre-empt some grumblings that will occur and may have been raised previously but who's true impact has not been explored in its entirity. If you look at the two rosters the biggest thing you will notice is that the West, once again, has an abundance of players over 6-10, while the East only have two players over this mark. How many minutes can Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett play for the East squad? Sure this should create some entertainment with maybe LeBron James forced to play some minutes at the five, but all we will see is players having fun. Sure thats great if you want to promote the NBA as a fun product, but I would prefer to see a bit of competition thrown into the game as well. Who wants to see East small forwards blow by a Dirk Nowitzki repeatedly? or see the West score all their points off offensive rebounds? And there in lies one of the biggest problems in the game - rarely do you see the best at their position go head to head with a player from the opposite conference who is also the best at that same position. The All-star game should be filled with Kobe and LeBron going head-to-head, Garnett backing down Amare Stoudamire, Dwight Howard vs Shaq, CP3 vs Harris. While we do have some of these matchups Amare Stoudamire playing small forward to open against LeBron James? Gimme a break! Is that a true test of LeBron's skills? And it only gets worse when both teams go to their bench. Rashard Lewis is the only player off the bench who plays power forward or centre for the East - and he is actually a small forward. I say there are 3 things that need to be changed in the selction process: 1. Pick players by true position to create equal matchups throughout the game 2. Why shouldnt the all-star game be filled with A+ talent from whichever team. The All-star game is the best chance for other teams and talent not part of regular national broadcasts to receive media exposure. Lets see how good Al Jefferson is. 3. Minimise the China vote. So many people voting for so few players. Its not as if Americans are voting for 2 or 3 American born players in the NBA. They are selecting from a pool of hundreds. The weight of votes should be proportionate to the number of players in the league if a voter is choosing a player from their homeland. The All-star game is the showcase event for the NBA. Commissioner David Stern is not doing all he can to ensure his league is represented as the best product possible. A great 25 years thus far, but still some work to do. I'll have more on the other events later.. In the meantime I look forward to Shaq banging bodies with Chris Bosh's All-Star replacement Mo Williams.