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January 24, 2008

Linas Kleiza recently scored 41 points to lead the Denver Nuggets to victory over the Utah Jazz. No, it doesn’t matter if you’ve never heard of the forward. In fact, that’s sort of the point. Nuggets’ mascot Rocky the Mountain Lion boasts better fan recognition than Kleiza (don’t believe me? – check out http://www.nuggetsinsider.com/fan_fare/rocky.php, where there’s a poll to determine whether all other Denver sports mascots should be banished in deference to the almighty Rocky).

Yet for one night, in a game featuring Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, Carlos Boozer, and Deron Williams, Kleiza played the best. Is Kleiza a better player than the others? Answer ‘yes,’ and the Knicks’ front office may soon have a job for you… of course, he’s not. But does that mean the morning newspaper story should have ignored his outstanding play? That would be asinine.

The All-Star game, in my eyes, is the same situation magnified. The event should reward players having the most outstanding seasons – not those who sell the most jerseys, have gone to the most All-Star games in the past, or collect the most fan votes. These guys belong in the former group; these guys deserve to be in New Orleans on Feb. 17:

EAST
Point guard: Jose Calderon
Believe it. Putting aside Chauncey Billups – we’ll get to him later – Calderon has been more consistent than any other Eastern point guard this season. Jason Kidd, Gilbert Arenas (HAH!), and teammate T.J. Ford all lead him in voting, which just goes to show how broken the fan voting system is.

Arenas and Ford have been injured for huge chunks of the season, while Kidd’s play hasn’t even been that close. On a team ahead of New Jersey in the standings, Calderon’s shooting 51.3% (Kidd – 36.3%), dishing out virtually the same assists per minute (10.9 per 40… Kidd – 11.4), and doing it much more efficiently (1.95 turnovers per 40 minutes… Kidd – 3.95). It’s true the 34-year-old Kidd is better on the boards and arguably on defense, but not enough to beat out Calderon. The Spaniard, who ironically entered 2007-08 as a candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, deserves to start in the All-Star game.

Shooting guard: Chauncey Billups
Of course, Calderon is only starting because Billups has been moved to shooting guard. The paucity of deserving two-guards is the reason – Dwayne Wade has been great when healthy, but that’s been too rare this season. And fair or not, being the leader of the East’s worst squad doesn’t help Wade.

Billups is 10th in the league in player efficiency rating (PER). His team is an elite one. His smarts and size lead to intangible benefits, which don’t fit, into the box score. And with the threat of the dribble, ability to shoot nearly 40% from 3-point land, and 90.1% ability from the foul line, there’s no better Eastern guard in the clutch.
If you’re concerned Billups can’t guard West shooting guard Kobe Bryant… well, who can?

Small forward: Lebron James
This is a decision even the fans’ votes couldn’t botch. The King is the best player in the league, as 29.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game will attest. If James could shoot more consistently (29.6% on 3-pointers… 69.8% on free throws), Cleveland coach Mike Brown might throw out the playbook altogether.

Power forward: Kevin Garnett
This pick’s not exactly difficult, but it’s closer than you think – Chris Bosh has been lights out for Toronto lately. Yet Garnett’s all-around game and leadership are too formidable to ignore. The Big Ticket’s Celtics have lost just six games entering Saturday, even after a mini-slide that saw them drop two in a row last week. The team with the next fewest losses? The Pistons, whose 11 losses are nearly twice as many as the boys from Boston. A nightly Garnett baseline of 19.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and smothering defense is the largest reason why.

Center: Dwight Howard
Because of Bosh’s superior ability at the free throw line (84.7% to 60.4%) and, therefore, increased value in the clutch, Toronto’s forward-center almost gets the nod over Howard here. But despite his tendency to spike heart rates in Orlando in the fourth quarter, Howard is just too dominant in all other facets to bring off the bench.

The 22-year-old Howard is imposing his will on the rest of the league, to the tune of 22.4 points, a league-leading15.4 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks each game. Those numbers are down since the New Year (20.4, 14.1, 1.5), but even an off-month by Howard is a pretty big headache for opponents.

Backups, in order of deserving play:
Chris Bosh (second-best PER among NBA power forwards at 24.81), Dwayne Wade (a starter if healthy all season, 24.5 ppg, 6.7 apg), Caron Butler (keeping Washington competitive in Arenas’ absence, notching career-bests in nearly ever major category), Josh Smith (can guard four positions when focused), Richard Hamilton (gets nod over Michael Redd because of defense), Antawn Jamison (enjoying best season as a Wizard, the ‘other’ reason Washington has third-fewest losses in the East), Paul Pierce (sacrificing personal stats for wins).

WEST
Point guard: Chris Paul
Paul is playing better than anyone in the West right now. Better than Steve Nash, better than Tim Duncan, and better than Kobe Bryant (and certainly better than Deron Williams). In case you’ve been hibernating the last few months, here’s the short version of Paul’s game – he scores efficiently (21.2 ppg on a 57.8% true shooting percentage), creates scoring for teammates efficiently (10.5 apg, 2.8 turnovers per game), and wins efficiently (New Orleans’ 27-12 record entering Saturday was just a half-game behind Phoenix for best in the West). Any questions?

Shooting guard: Kobe Bryant
Though he’s still second in the league in scoring, at 27.7 ppg, Kobe’s numbers are actually slightly down this year. This is partially due to Los Angeles’s improvement, as Phil Jackson can rest him more (Bryant’s 36.7 minute average is his lowest since 1998-99).

But he’s still basketball’s best 2-guard since you-know-who, as is evidenced by an all-around game which includes 5.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 2.11 steals. Oh yeah, plus the scoring, which at season’s end should be good enough to move him past guys like David Robinson and Bob Pettit on the career list (http://www.nba.com/statistics/default_all_time_leaders/AllTimeLeadersPTSQuery.html?topic=4&stat=1).

Small forward: Dirk Nowitzki
If the East is the All-Star game’s version of Golden State, with two 6-3 guys starting, the West is now officially the event’s version of… well, an abnormally tall team. Nowtizki gets moved over to play the three because Duncan and he are so much more deserving than the other contenders (Carmelo Anthony, Josh Howard, etc.).

After struggling early in the season, the German is heating up, filling the bucket with 24.1 points on 50.0% shooting from downtown in January. It’s a good thing the All-Star game is on Sunday, though – this is admittedly one of those quirky little stats that probably can’t be taken at face value, but in nine Saturday games this season, Nowtizki is averaging just 19.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, on 21.4% 3-point shooting. It’s what he does the other six days that makes him worthy of this position (22.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists on the season).

Power forward: Tim Duncan
Duncan doesn’t get much pub because he plays on the most boring winner this side of duct tape, and has to play just 33.5 minutes a game, but he keeps getting it done. The Wake Forest alum has worked his free throw shooting back to respectable form (69.2%) and still pours in 18.7 points and 10.9 rebounds each night. He seems to have less lift than in years’ past though– might the athleticism finally be slipping? Duncan turns 32 in April – as is evidenced by a career-low 1.8 blocks per game. But the majority of his game isn’t athleticism-based anyway; he rivals Billups as the most intelligent player on this list.

Center: Amare Stoudemire
Amare’s the anti-Duncan – hellacious dunks and freakishly athletically blocks are his calling card, while grumbles about his defensive fundamentals are seemingly always in the throats of Phoenix fans. Still, Stoudemire’s a ridiculous talent.

He can shoot jumpers, go off the dribble, finish lobs, make free throws, or score in just about any other way you’d want from a center. There’s no doubt he benefits from playing with Nash, but that’s not the only r eason he and Dwight Howard are the only players in the NBA averaging over 20 points (22.4 for both) and above 57.5% shooting.

Backups:
Steve Nash (ho-hum averages of 17.0 ppg, 12.1 apg, 45.5% 3-point shooting, all one month before he turns 34), Manu Ginobili (fifth in the league in player efficiency rating, including ahead of Kobe… ), Carlos Boozer (highest rebound rate of any non-center, excluding Philadelphia’s one-dimensional Reggie Evans), Shawn Marion (surprisingly low free throw rate at 67.4%, but every other facet of game humming), Yao Ming (worst season since 2003-04 is still better than most others’ best campaigns), Baron Davis (eeks out Tony Parker and Deron Williams because health has held up), Kevin Martin (played four fewer games than Tracy McGrady, but 25.1 ppg on 62.7% true shooting percentage is superior to 22.8 ppg on 51.5 TS%).

E-mail HoopsCorner writer Tyson Wirth at Tyson-wirth@uiowa.edu.

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