Point guards Deron Williams(notes) of Utah, Chicago's Derrick Rose(notes) and Boston's Rajon Rondo(notes) will make their All-Star Game debuts next month in Dallas, sources said Thursday.

Williams, Rondo and Rose top the list of reserves chosen by the league's coaches to participate in the Feb. 14 game at Cowboys Stadium. The names won't be made official until Thursday night, but Yahoo! Sports has obtained the list of reserves.

Besides Rondo and Rose, the East roster includes Boston's Paul Pierce(notes), Toronto's Chris Bosh(notes), Charlotte's Gerald Wallace(notes) and Atlanta's Joe Johnson(notes) and Al Horford(notes).

The West includes the New Orleans' Chris Paul(notes), the Lakers' Pau Gasol(notes), Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant(notes), Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki(notes), Memphis' Zach Randolph(notes) and Portland's Brandon Roy(notes).

Among the notable candidates left off the team are the Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Kaman(notes), New York's David Lee(notes) and Denver's Chauncey Billups(notes).

oohah wrote:Lee certainly could have made the team, but that would have been based solely on offensive numbers and ignoring defense and wins.

So many on this forum have battered Zach Randolph for being a player who puts up offensive numbers on losing teams and plays no defense. How is this case any different except we like David Lee?

I would probably have to put Bogut on the team ahead of Lee as well. Bogut and Jennings have been playing basically by themselves this year.

oohah

ignoring wins?

i think that's an overly strong statement.

can we not argue that the knicks are that much better this year because of lee's improvement this year over last?

i am not certain that a player's team must be "winning" (i.e. with a winning record) in order for a player to be selected, but how they affect the outcomes of games.

nate has been criticized by some here because he is not consistent enough in helping win games. lee is ridiculously consistent, and his weaknesses are even less of an issue because he has improved in other areas, even defense.

why did devon harris make the team last year? the nets weren't THAT good.

i think if lee was putting up bigger numbers it would matter. his are very good, but not AMAZING. The perception that the Knicks play at a higher pace, inflating his stats also seems to be a bit weak, since the Knicks are apparently the 8th fastest paced team now.

it isn't so much lee's fault that we don't have joe johnson to help our team win games.

i'm not saying it's 100% certain he should go over horford (who i am guessing was his competition), but the criteria for choosing the players is not consistent. i also think they should expand the roster to 15.

Moonangie wrote:I feel badly for David, but on a positive note it means we will get to resign him for slightly cheaper than if he made the squad. That's a good thing for the Knicks.

Excellent silver lining right there.

jazz74 wrote:

Finestrg wrote:Man, no good. Lee deserved to go over Al Horford. Sorry...

i agree with that. and i dont want to hear that bull@#$ that he is not on a winning team. durant is there and last year granger was there on the sorry @#$ pacers. haters!

Yeah, it is the first year that coaches started to care about wins as a big factor. Still doesn't explain why come KG got in those lonely Minny days when they stunk up the joint.

kam77 wrote:Look .... If AI had stayed retired, or in Memphis, Lee would be an All Star today.

Nah, AI was going to get voted in. I actually know a couple of idiots who openly admitted voting for him. I don't get it but they tried to convince me that AI is still an All-star but it is some great NBA conspiracy against him. If AI played in China with Marbury he would still be getting write in votes. JSMH. That's the good and bad with NBA fanbases. The league promotes players vs. teams so you will get this from time to time. I fully expect KG to keep getting votes even when he starts to average 10points, 5 rebounds. And you can see it coming.

kam77 wrote:

Pharzeone wrote:

kam77 wrote:Look .... If AI had stayed retired, or in Memphis, Lee would be an All Star today.

Nah, AI was going to get voted in. I actually know a couple of idiots who openly admitted voting for him. I don't get it but they tried to convince me that AI is still an All-star but it is some great NBA conspiracy against him. If AI played in China with Marbury he would still be getting write in votes. JSMH. That's the good and bad with NBA fanbases. The league promotes players vs. teams so you will get this from time to time. I fully expect KG to keep getting votes even when he starts to average 10points, 5 rebounds. And you can see it coming.

You're half right, he woulda been an All-Star out WEST.

Lee would be an All-Star today.

oh I see your point. It is joke. I am surprise that AI is going. I thought he was more proud than that. He is entering Shaq territory.

The conspiracy theory is that the other coaches and GMs in this league did not want the Knicks to have an All-Star as a selling-point in free agency.

kam77 wrote:Nobody on a sub .500 team made it (except for AI who the fans voted in). So Lee really has his explanation right there.

The conspiracy theory is that the other coaches and GMs in this league did not want the Knicks to have an All-Star as a selling-point in free agency.

That's my only problem, why did it start this year? Granger made it last year on a sub .500 team and as I mentioned Garnett made it numerous years on a piss poor T-Wolves team. It was never held against him and I remember analysts arguing it isn't his fault that he plays on a poor team. There are favorites in the league. I also believe coaches believe that Lee is a byproduct of D'Antoni's "gimmick"(several coaches call it that) system.

PresIke wrote:

oohah wrote:Lee certainly could have made the team, but that would have been based solely on offensive numbers and ignoring defense and wins.

So many on this forum have battered Zach Randolph for being a player who puts up offensive numbers on losing teams and plays no defense. How is this case any different except we like David Lee?

I would probably have to put Bogut on the team ahead of Lee as well. Bogut and Jennings have been playing basically by themselves this year.

oohah

can we not argue that the knicks are that much better this year because of lee's improvement this year over last?

Well, no we can't because we're not.

2008-2009 - 20-25
2009-2010 - 18-27

You may like how we're playing, you may like the direction we're heading in (I do as well), but we're not better. We're WORSE.