Did everyone see this story? The All-Star reserves will be announced tonight, so that decision, as of now, is not formal, but it will assuredly be later on this evening. This has to be the most ridiculous NBA All-Star snub I've encountered in years. Hell, maybe even decades. Gilbert Arenas, the point guard for the Washington Wizards, is fourth in the league in scoring. His assist totals are up this season, while his turn overs are down. He has helped the Wizards back into contention, and thus, back into the middle of the Eastern Conference pack, where a team like the Wizards could go from the eighth to the fifth seed inside of a week.
Washington was freefalling earlier in the year. They fell to 13-19 after a 97-89 loss to lowly Utah. Since then, the Wizards have won 11 of their last 15 games to stand at 24-23 after a 129-124 victory against the Warriors last night. This recent success -- especially last night's win -- has a lot to do with the team's improved defense mainly from mainstays Arenas and Antawn Jamison. The fact that Arenas is playing better D and still scoring 28 points a game makes him the Wizards most valuable player and certainly deserving of a spot on the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Flip Saunders, the coach of the Detroit Pistons and the gentleman responsible for selecting the reserves, has made an awful mistake by not taking Arenas. The All-Star game is about who's playing at the highest level. Who, on any given night, can dominate a basketball game. This isn't the All-Star Team game. If that were the case, then you could argue that every Pistons starter deserves to be there. But in terms of individual talent, only one Pistons guard deserves to be on the team ahead of Arenas, and that's Chauncey Billups.
I hope David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, selects Arenas to fill the spot of injured starter Jermaine O'Neal. Arenas has earned the right to play with the Eastern Conference squad. Maybe Saunders is still ticked that Arenas and the Wizards handed the Pistons a defeat in double overtime earlier in the year. I don't know. But I do know that if Arenas isn't going to Houston, then the rest of the league should watch out, especially the Pistons. Arenas won't soon forget this ludicrous turn of events.
I'm adding something now at 8:22 p.m. Central Standard Time. The reserves have been announced, and I'm similarly disheartened that Paul Pierce is on the team and not Arenas. Talk about ri-goddamn-diculous. There's no excuse for that. Not in the least. Arenas is having a better year, and even if you think team success should play a role, Pierce has "led" his team to an 18-31 record. Give me a break. Paul Pierce ahead of Gilbert Arenas? Just awful.
Here's an update.
(I'll continue with my album reviews in my next post.)
1 comment:
I've seen the link you provided me in your comment, and I understand the Wizards have underachieved. Big time. But despite that, they are a better team than the Celtics. I don't know exactly know what that link was supposed to prove. Furthermore, I don't know where you heard that the rest of the Wizards hate playing with Arenas. Just because Bill Simmons says something doesn't make it true. Most of his stuff is commentary. That's his schtick. All the players hold Arenas in the highest regard. They enjoy playing with him, and they understand they need him to be successful if they want the team to be successful. He's not Kobe East.
And he hasn't frozen Jamison out. Jamison's scoring numbers are down because for the first part of the season, he was shooting about 30 percent from the field. He put up a number of 6-for-20 shooting nights. That's not because Gilbert didn't get him the ball. Now he's playing better, and Gilbert's finding him. Not to mention, Arenas is averaging six assists per game, the highest assist total of his career. He may not be a dish-first point guard, but he's a helluva player, and he makes that team go. He's shown some leadership recently, and he's involved his teammates, which is why they've won 11 of 14. I've seen Pierce help the C's lose a bunch of games late, which is how they've earned their 18-31 record. This is an all star game, and Arenas is clearly more deserving of an All-Star spot than Pierce. He's the first player since World B. Free in the '70s not to make the All-Star team despite averaging 28 points a game. Maybe the coaches took Pierce because he has a track record. This is fifth All-Star game, and he's consistently played a high level. All-Star games generally reward prolonged consistency, and Pierce has provided that. But my argument is that Arenas is more deserving than Pierce.
Post a Comment