All Crazy on All Stars
And now your starting members of the 2010 All Star Game...
"At Guard, in what must be the greatest post-retirement 18 game spree ever, averaging a Gentleman's 14 points and 5 assists per game, ALLEN IVERSON!!!"
Sorry to all you guards out there with superior numbers and have probably played 20 more games (not naming any names, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Danny Granger, Derrick Rose, Andre Iguodala, Stephen Jackson, Brandon Jennings, Rodney Stuckey, Mo Williams, Jamal Crawford, Luol Deng, Caron Butler). Not to mention, Vince Carter, Devin Harris and Ben Gordon, who have had very disappointing seasons yet still have better numbers than Allen Iverson!! The "FANS" have voted...Yes, I may be dripping with sarcasm and maybe I am a little bitter (I blame reality TV) but I'll be damned if this ridiculous voting system needs an overhaul. How Allen Iverson (and almost T-Mac) are the first players running onto the floor as the starting members of the All-Star game is beyond me? What kind of accolade is becoming an All-Star when you clearly are anything but. What kind of message is this sending?
Hey, if you have a good marketing team, YOU TOO CAN BE AN ALL-STAR!
Now, for all you pro-Iverson people out there (and clearly there are still a lot of you), let's remember I am not talking about the Allen Iverson who crossed over MJ or took his team of misfits to the NBA Finals. I am talking about the Allen Iverson that was pretty much unwanted by 29 teams at the start of the season, the same Allen Iverson that was then let go 3 games into his season by the only team that showed interest in him. This same Allen Iverson is now starting in the All-Star game. That sure as hell ain't right any way you put it. Now the defense that "Well, the fans voted him in so clearly the fans want him."
My question is, why are these people voting for him because it surely isn't because of the way he is playing? There is something else going on that clearly I am just not getting...
Now as I step off my soapbox and ride my high-horse off into the distance, I propose that this "Only the Fans vote in the Starters" nonsense cease immediately. Like that guy who is in the White House (I forget his name), use to say, I feel a change is needed. I have come up with a way which could replace the current method adopted by the NBA. Try and stay with me with on his, it involves mathematics, relatively simple mathematics, but... well... a lot of mathematics... ewwww.
First off, I agree that having the fans vote in the starters is a great marketing tool and should not be abandoned entirely. However, I think that some of the power should be shifted, so that we stop having players in there for their image rather than their game.
Put simply, I propose a rankings system which involves, the Fans, the Coaches, the G.M.s and our beloved media (there's that sarcasm coming in again). Sure this method might seem excessive, but I feel there should be a betterr way of determining the starters other than who has the most tats or commercials. I don't really care for people voting for players solely because they like that players shoes.
So what happens here is, an amalgamation of 4 separate entities involved in the NBA, all with equal weighting, determining the starters for an All-Star game. However it is the Fans which ultimately get the final say.
But more on that later.
The Fans, G.M's, Coaches and the selected Media each vote a starting 5 for both the East and the West. 2 Guards, 2 Forwards and a Center for those playing at home unaware of what I mean (by the way, why are you reading this then?). The Fans will vote in their starters through the current method (no point in reinventing the wheel there) whilst the Coaches, G..M.'s and Media are asked to place 10 players in descending order. With reference to the Coaches, G.M.'s and Media, once all the votes have come in from everyone, it is then tallied and ranked according to how many votes each player got with an emphasis being on having a higher place.
For example, Joe Johnson received 20 votes for 2nd place in the Eastern Guards whilst Derrick Rose received 10 votes for 2nd place and 10 votes for third place. Therefore, Joe Johnson would be ranked higher than Derrick Rose.
After the rankings have been completed, each player is then awarded points for what rank they have come in, based on a 1-10 point scale. So, if you were the Number 1 ranked player, you get 10 points, Number 2 ranked gets 9 points, Number 3 gets 8 points and so forth. Each group then has their top 10 players ranked and the points are taken from every group to give a player an overall points total. The two players with the highest overall points total are your starters.
I will use a table or two to further illustrate my method/madness.
EASTERN CONFERENCE GUARDS
|
Fans
|
Coaches
|
GMs
|
Media
|
|
1. D. Wade (10pts)
|
D. Wade
|
D. Wade
|
D. Wade |
|
2. A. Iverson (9pts) |
J. Johnson |
J. Johnson |
B. Jennings |
| 3. V. Carter (8pts) |
D. Rose |
D. Rose |
J. Johnson |
| 4. R. Allen (7pts) |
R. Allen |
R. Allen |
D. Rose |
| 5. D. Rose (6pts) |
S. Jackson |
R. Rondo |
R. Rondo |
| 6. G. Arenas (5pts) |
R. Rondo |
A. Iguodala | A. Iverson |
| 7. J. Johnson (4pts) |
D. Harris |
D. Harris | V. Carter |
| 8. R. Rondo (3pts) |
B. Jennings |
S. Jackson | R. Allen |
| 9. J. Calderon (2pts) |
V. Carter |
V. Carter |
D. Harris |
| 10. M. Bibby (1pt) |
C. Karl |
B. Jennings |
A. Iguodala
|
TOTAL POINTS FOR EASTERN CONFERENCE GUARDS
|
Player
|
Total Points
|
|
1. D. Wade (MIA) |
40 |
| 2. J. Johnson (ATL) |
30 |
| 3. D. Rose (CHI) |
29 |
| 4. R. Allen (BOS) |
25 |
| 5. R. Rondo (BOS) |
20 |
| 6. V. Carter (ORL) |
16 |
| 7. A. Iverson (PHI) |
14 |
| 8. B. Jennings (MIL) |
13 |
| 9. D. Harris (NJ) |
10 |
| 10. S. Jackson (CHA) |
9 |
So we see that D Wade and J Johnson are your starters based on the overall points total from the Fans, Coaches, G.M'S and Media. Now in the event of a tie, (and here is where us, the fans have the final say) the tiebreaker would be which ever player was ranked higher by the Fans.
So say, Derrick Rose and Joe Johnson were both on 30 points, well since Derrick rose was ranked 5th by the fans whilst Joe Johnson was ranked 7th, Derrick Rose would then get the starting nod. Simple as that.
Now you could release the rankings leading up to the All-Star with the final rankings coming from the fans. That way, players might feel better about themselves (after all, NBA players aren't known for their GINORMOUS egos now are they?) if they see that the coaches and G.M's respect them as players.
Since your head is most likely hurting as much as mine, I suggest you go outside and play on the swings or something.
Maybe pick some daisies, laugh at an old person, perhaps send Jessica Alba another provocative photo, I don't know, just rest assured that sitting in front of a computer all day is not good for you. Especially if you are reading some confusing idea for All-Star Starters that someone who clearly has way too much time on his hands.
Oh and p.s.?
Apparently Brian Scalabrine (yes that big fat-ish, ginger-headed white guy in Boston) somehow got 250,000 people to vote for him. Yes, 250,000 people out there think that Brian Scalabrine should be the starting forward for the Eastern Conference!
Oh yeah, the system isn't broken...
