All-Stars? All-Stars? We don’t need no stinkin’ All-Stars!
The NBA announced its starters for next month’s All-Star Game in Las Vegas and, not surprisingly, the Bulls were shut out again.
The Eastern Conference will start Dwyane Wade and Gilbert Arenas at guard, the latter with a late vote to overcome Vince Carter; LeBron James and Chris Bosh at forward and Shaquille O’Neal, recently returned from being out almost all season, at center.
For the Western Conference, Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant will start at guard, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan at forward and the injured Yao Ming at center, who will have a replacement picked by Commissioner David Stern. MVP front-runners Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash finished fourth in the voting at forward and guard, not so respectfully.
More Top Picks Best Japanese Rice Bowls
The Bulls’ leading vote-getter was Ben Wallace, third among the centers, although he played like an All-Star again Thursday against the Mavericks.
In a national TV game, against the best team in the league, and what do you know, Wallace woke up as the Bulls outhustled and outshot the Dallas Mavericks on the way to a 96-85 victory. His performance bodes well for the playoffs.
Ben Gordon is eighth among the guards in the voting with the coach’s choices for the reserves coming Feb. 1
“It would be disappointing to not have somebody representing this team,” Luol Deng said.
And perhaps historic.
The Bulls are bunched with Detroit, Cleveland and Washington for the best record in the conference, one game behind. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the team with the best record in the conference going into the All-Star game always has had at least one selection.
The Bulls’ coaching staff could go if the Bulls’ record is better than everyone’s but Detroit. But can you just see Scott Skiles at the postgame news conference after all those behind-the-back full-court passes and 360-degree dunks on fast breaks?
Which brings us, as it will be for the Bulls for the next month, to Pau Gasol.
He’s an All-Star, 7-footer, post-scorer, more the half-court player that the Bulls need.
Games like Thursday night’s against the Mavs make you think the Bulls are best sticking with what they have.
After all, they were just too much for the league-leading Mavs to handle for most of the game. Gordon flashed to the basket for a dozen first-quarter points and 30 for the game, Deng too quick for the Mavs’ forwards with 21 points and nine rebounds and Kirk Hinrich distributing and playing aggressively with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Hinrich and Gordon hit big shots and layups down the stretch when the Mavs pulled within three with 4:31 left.
How could the Bulls give up any of them?
You can be sure, they would have to if they want Gasol, even if none of them has been offered in preliminary discussions.
The Grizzlies are shopping Gasol actively, teams officials confirm. The Memphis reaction has been critical of Gasol asking out. Smaller cities get insulted easier.
Make no mistake, Gasol will be traded.
The Lakers didn’t have to give up Shaquille O’Neal, but they did. Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Allen Iverson. Go down the list. Teams simply don’t have the stomach to put up with a player who wants out. My guess is the Grizzlies told Gasol to keep quiet and they will get him out.
It has happened throughout the history of the league: Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Charles Barkley.
The only player I can remember asking out, not being traded and then returning to All-Star form was Hakeem Olajuwon in the early 1990s.
And it’s difficult to see where Memphis is going to get a great offer for a player, even a 20-point scorer, who never has had a major impact on a team that is 0-12 in playoff games with him.
The Bulls were terrific Thursday, their tempo and speed catching the Mavs, at the end of an Eastern trip, a step slow and shooting poorly. Josh Howard was 1 of 15 when he benched before he hurt anyone.
But the Bulls had a lot to do with the Mavs’ performance.
They closed quickly on the shooters, chasing the Mavs into their lowest-scoring quarter and shooting game (31.2 percent) of the season.
They ran out at every opportunity, jumped the Mavs’ pick and roll, didn’t allow the guards easy openings for shots and even were relentless on the boards.
More Top Picks Calming Strategies For A Sensory Meltdown
It was the kind of night where you think that maybe a little tweak here, a little growth there and the Mavs don’t look any more talented, just hardened by maturity and disappointment.
But then there are quarters like the second when the Bulls let the Mavs back in the game. Then it would have been nice to have a 7-footer who could turn inside and shoot.
But how much can you give up, do you give up, should you give up?
———-