I've never been a fan of fan voting to be honest, and the first returns for all-star voting this year have not changed my opinion.

Piston breakdown

Guards
Billups - 6th, behind Iverson, Wade, Carter, Arenas and Kidd. He has no chance of cracking the starting lineup
Hamilton - failed to crack the top 10, being out-voted by both Marbury and Francis (what the?)

Forwards
Prince - 9th, getting some love but still out-voted by Grant Hill and Iguodala.
Wallace - 6th, just behind Hill (!) and James, Bosh, JO and Pierce

Centres
Mohammed - 10th, a fair effort considering. Beaten by the likes of Z, Pachulia, Dalembert and Krstic

Overall, I have to say that the majority of fans still go by 'big names', rather than how well the guy is playing.
ie. Grant Hill is 5th in forwards. Okafor only 8th. C-Webb even makes the top 10.
Marbury (8th) and Francis (10th) make the top 10 despite playing like rubbish.
Mourning 4th in C's. Eddy Curry not in the top 10 but he should if he continues his solid play of late.

Over in the West still some annoying trends.

Marion and Brand still getting no love whatsoever. Marion 7th behind Battier and Odom, Brand not even making the top 10. Gasol is 10th. No Rashard Lewis or Zach Randolph. If they don't get votes this year they never will.
Ginobili still 6th despite hardly playing and even Stackhouse makes 9th beating out the likes of Bibby, B-Diddy, Miller, and Ridnour. But the most shameful thing is Deron Williams not even rating a mention.And I don't know how many people actually live in Dallas but they either hacked the system or have a lot of fans!
Erick 'career mediocrity' Dampier is 3RD out of Centres!! Ahead of Okur, Brad Miller and Marcus Camby. That is absurd. Josh Howard and Jason Terry also doing very well. Stackhouse already mentioned.
It must have been Cuban somehow.

And finally to the 31,833 people who have voted Chris Mihm into 9th place, take a look at yourselves!

Its is strange. Does not make NBA fans seem very informed.

I read today that Iverson and Wade are leading in votes for the EC guards. However, if Iverson is traded to the "Left Coast" he will be in 3rd place.


I forget the two that would be ahead of him....

Stay tuned.....

Its is strange. Does not make NBA fans seem very informed.

Dumb down the game for a broader appeal...

I think the Allstar game is pretty much worthless. It really has much more to do with shoe contracts, softdrink ads, location, and jersey sales than anything else. I mean... Chris Mihm?

who cares about being informed. Its about picking your favs. I like the voting format. Its about who you want to see playing together. The coaches voting is cool cuz when you get to be a reserver, you got the respect of the league...somewhat.

who cares about being informed. Its about picking your favs. I like the voting format. Its about who you want to see playing together. The coaches voting is cool cuz when you get to be a reserver, you got the respect of the league...somewhat.

Lot of those votes are from fans who see 1 game a year and simply pick whatever names
they recognize.

Note to Stern: This type of fan also does not watch TNT and ESPN games to see all the calls Wade and Lebran get.

You guys said it. Fan voting~Bah-humbug! Shaq is injured, but leading....I could go on, but it's useless. Hopefully, the coaches will pick a deserving supporting cast. Otherwise, I'm watching the ABC Family movie.

I think a lot of you are missing the point of the All-Star game from the leagues perspective. It is about money and has become a star studded event. It is like the place to be seen. It is like a fashion show basically. Actually it is sicken.

The All-Star game is a showcase of talent to the casual fan. To be honest most of the guy's that get snumbed their games are boring. The casual fan that has the attention spand of a fruit fly does not want to see a guy post up or block shots or see defense in an All-Star game. So players that do those things don't get much attention. The game is trying to appeal to the casual fan not people that actually enjoy all aspects of the game. So players like Brand and Randolph don't get many votes. The All-Star game is about exciting behind the back passes , dunks and 3 points raining in from everywhere.

I will agree that guy's that are injured and have not played this year or are just playing crappy like Marbury and Francis should not be even on the balot and should not be getting votes.

Sorry, it is just ridiculous that Shaq is leading at center. Not only has ne not played much but there is a good chance he will not even be back in time for the all-star game (caps excluded on purpose). :messer: :hanged2: :confused: :lame: :angrysoapbox: ;

And I don't really care who DOES get that spot.

It is also really funny that AI will probably be in the west. He is going to be one busy player.

They may as well put in that 50-point basket like MTV Rock n Jock used to have. People like high scoring games, so it's amazing that RnJ didn't become the dominant league. I guess it was a VHS vs. Beta kinda thing.

i agree with what you are saying winless, and the all-star game may be all about the money and hoopla and glitterati to the nba itself, but to the players and anyone who follows the game, it has also become a recognition of player success.
the players sure care a hell of a lot more about making the squad than actually playing the game.
remember extremely disappointed guys like chauncey, rip, arenas and redd who felt snubbed when they missed the squad? arenas actually had a vendetta against the pistons because we had 4 guys make it.

i think they could maybe split it up. have a purely fan based voting all-star game, and then also a coaches, players, hall of famers, and broadcasters voting 'best squads' without the actual game. that way there would be the recognition part as well.

i dunno. i guess thats why they have end of season awards, player of the week awards, player of the month awards, and championships. haha

i agree with what you are saying winless, and the all-star game may be all about the money and hoopla and glitterati to the nba itself, but to the players and anyone who follows the game, it has also become a recognition of player success.
the players sure care a hell of a lot more about making the squad than actually playing the game.
remember extremely disappointed guys like chauncey, rip, arenas and redd who felt snubbed when they missed the squad? arenas actually had a vendetta against the pistons because we had 4 guys make it.

i think they could maybe split it up. have a purely fan based voting all-star game, and then also a coaches, players, hall of famers, and broadcasters voting 'best squads' without the actual game. that way there would be the recognition part as well.

i dunno. i guess thats why they have end of season awards, player of the week awards, player of the month awards, and championships. haha

Everyone wants to be recognized as an All-Star. They want to experience the parties and want to benifit from the bonus money that most have in their contracts for making the All-Star team. Also lets not forget a lot of these guy's are friends and have played each other in high school and college. There is a lot of competition along with ego and pride involved.

Being named 1st team All NBA I think should mean more but hey I can't blame a guy for wanting to go to the All-Star game as a starter and getting his picture taken with Beyonce and rubbing elbows with Donald Trump.

i can't believe darko is getting so snubbed!!

Can't think of a single Piston that is more deserving than all the other players at their position.
It was after the allstar brek that we started to slide (they all got a fat head poster made of themselves).

BTW, you can get a free preview of ESPN Insider (http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/sportindex?sport=nba)this weekend

i can't believe darko is getting so snubbed!!

You have to be kidding me! That does it. I'm boycotting the allstar game this year. :)

As fans of the Pistons, we have absolutely nothing to gain from All-Star selections. I'd be happy to see someone else party all weekend and feel compelled to try risky dunks to show off.

As fans of the Pistons, we have absolutely nothing to gain from All-Star selections. I'd be happy to see someone else party all weekend and feel compelled to try risky dunks to show off.

Uh, which 'un would that be? Didn't CB get a tech for hanging on the rim last year after his annual dunk because he got up there and couldn't figure out how to get down?

But you're right - better to have them tucked away in bed at home and stewing over the injustice of it all.

Looks like we will have ZERO players going to the all-star game this year. What a difference 12 months makes.

Rip might still have a chance.

And of course Flip does.

That would be weird if Flip were coaching again and no Pistons players made it.

Rip might still have a chance.

And of course Flip does.

That would be weird if Flip were coaching again and no Pistons players made it.

I don't think the same coach can coach two years in a row.

So...

I obviously voted all Pistons with my all-star ballot, but I thought it would be cool to list who I really think deserves to go to Las Vegas.

East

C - Dwight Howard
F - Grant Hill
F - Lebron James
G - Dwyane Wade
G - Gilbert Arenas

West

C - Yao Ming
F - Carmelo Anthony
F - Carlos Boozer
G - Kobe Bryant
G - Allen Iverson

East
C - Dwight Howard
F - Jermaine O'Neal
F - Lebron James
G - Dwyane Wade
G - Gilbert Arenas

Bench
C - Ben Wallace
F - Paul Pierce
F - Emeka Okafor
F - Caron Butler
G - Michael Redd
G - Joe Johnson
G - Richard Hamilton


West
C - Yao Ming
F - Dirk Nowitzki
F - Kevin Garnett
G - Steve Nash
G - Kobe Bryant

Bench
C - Marcus Camby
F - Lamar Odom
F - Carmelo Anthony
F - Shawn Marion
G - Allen Iverson
G - Baron Davis
G - Chris Paul

I don't think the same coach can coach two years in a row.

I don't think it's possible neither. I can see Scott Skiles coaching the East this year, telling players to tape their ankles and take off their headbands.

"Hey Lebron! Lebron! I don't care who you are! I hold the record for most assist in one game - what have YOOOOU done?"