Friday Roundtable: Popularity Contests, Snubs and the NBA All-Star Game

An injured Yao Ming and the other 2007 Western Conference All-Stars. (NBA.com)

BDD's Friday Roundtable is a weekly discussion among three of our writers on a trending NBA or college basketball topic.

This week's question: Voting for the NBA All-Star game is almost over (go here if you wish to cast a vote) and the starting line-ups are nearly set. But is the current process of letting fans vote for starters and having coaches choose reserves the right way to set an All-Star roster, or is there a better method?

Kyle Davis: 
I'm usually fine with any sort of fan involvement that makes those who watch the NBA and make it popular feel like they have a voice. But fans have biases and fans don't watch every team play every night. It's not because they are trying to ruin the system, but they'll vote for the names they know and for players on the team they support. It's easy to do. This last MLB All-Star Game was in Kansas City and I voted for a handful of Royals players (yes, it is as painful as you would imagine being a Royals fan) because I wanted to see them play in their city in an All-Star game, even though there were probably more qualified candidates.

The same happens in the NBA. How else do you explain why Jeremy Lin is third in the Western Conference Backcourt category, ahead of his teammate James Harden and Russell Westbrook? Steve Nash is sixth in that category, ahead of Tony Parker, Ricky Rubio and Stephen Curry and he's been injured for most of the season. Somehow Dwight Howard is second in the Western Conference Frontcourt voting and is ahead of the likes of Blake Griffin, Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol and Kevin Love. Yet Anderson Varejao, currently NINTH in the Eastern Conference Frontcourt, leads the league in rebounds and is having a breakout season. Possibly most egregious is that LaMarcus Aldridge is seventh in the league in scoring, only Kevin Durant is a Western Conference forward scoring more, yet Aldridge sits at No. 11 among Western Conference forwards.

Some players who are having great, breakout years will likely be watching the game at home, unless their conference All-Star coach brings them in as a reserve. The system is more of a popularity contest than a reward for great performance, and that should change. Let the basketball writers select the starters. They have watched more basketball than anyone (coaches and players don't have a lot of time to watch games other than their own) and are paid to be unbiased and objective. The coaches can still pick the reserves, and if you want to keep fans involve, let them vote for the first player off the bench. Fans still get a voice and those players who have had tremendous seasons, but aren't household names, can still get the recognition they deserve. 



Alex Skov:
While the current voting system is one of the numerous ways the NBA has built a strong rapport with fans -- especially casual ones -- it has been sitting on a cracked foundation since becoming a rule. See: Yao Ming's starter status on the occasions that he had missed a majority of games due to injury. See also: Tracy McGrady's inclusion on the Western Conference roster as he got a glean of votes from being Ming's teammate on the Houston Rockets.

With Ming, and his worldwide popularity, in basketball retirement, there is no chance of a repeat incident, but the obvious arrow now points to another Rocket. After the explosion of Linsanity in the early half of 2012, the NBA felt compelled to have Jeremy Lin participate in All-Star weekend despite not qualifying or being pre-selected for any of the events. While he is not as visible to viewers in the United States since he downgraded media markets upon leaving New York City, the Linsanity outbreak showed that the point guard is capable of harnessing benefits similar to those received by Ming. Some of that could be due to race (although being of Taiwanese descent is very, very different than being Chinese) and some of it could be because, like Ming, Lin is a talented basketball player.

ESPN LA writer Arash Markazi recently revealed another flaw in the All-Star voting:

"That [Jamal Crawford] is not on the All-Star ballot while players who haven't played this season are, again shows why balloting needs to change."

It is the same Ming Theory, yes, but it also points out that against the popular vote, and likely against coach votes, even the most deserving players who typically fill back-up roles have no shot at garnering the same accolades as their starting counterparts. Some are designated as reserves simply because they perform better when coming off the bench, like Jason Terry during his Dallas Mavericks years and Crawford and the Knicks' J.R. Smith this season.

In response to Markazi's tweet, Crawford expressed his wish for 15-man squads with players voting on the last final three roster spots. That would at least be a start, but some kind of weighted voting between fans, coaches and players with minimum requirements for number of minutes played would make for line-ups that accurately represent the best interest of each of those three demographics. Maybe cater to viewers by giving them a majority of the votes for starters while splitting the remaining votes, including those for second-stringers, between coaches and players.

Champ:
The NBA made a great change this year to the All Star ballot system. Now instead of two guards, two forwards and a center, fans will just vote for three front court players and two back court players. This is a good addition in the age of basketball because positions are not clearly defined as they have been. Players like Kevin Garnett and Chris Bosh spend a lot of time at the center position but don't play like one; meanwhile, Pau Gasol and Tim Duncan spend enough time in the low post to be considered centers, but are often times listed as power fowards because of bigger teammates.


The biggest criticism to this rule is that it takes away from the hard work that centers do every night. Some people, like Dwight Howard, insist that smaller players get flashier highlights than centers who spend most of their time with their backs to the basket, and more people will vote for forwards like Kevin Durant. I don't think this is true, though. Most fans know the value of a true center. Howard has the second highest number of votes among big men in the West and Tyson Chandler is high in the East. It's true that players like Marc Gasol and Anderson Varejao are low on their lists, but that has more to do with being in small markets.


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Thunder Trade James Harden to the Rockets Three Days Before NBA Season Starts

Oklahoma City won't have this beard to trim around any more. (EdmontonJournal.com)

On Saturday evening, James Harden's trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Houston Rockets shocked even Kevin Durant, one of Harden's teammates in OKC and in London with this summer's Olympic gold-medal winning incarnation of Team USA.

Let's set things straight, though:  Harden's was not entirely a surprise. The timing — three days before the start of the NBA's regular season — was unexpected, certainly, but Thunder GM Sam Presti's dream of building a championship team entirely through the draft was inherently flawed.

If the point of participating in the draft (rather than trading away picks for used assets) is to get young players that fit or can be molded to fit into a preset system and thrive in their surroundings — which, by the way, is the point — then the OKC front office did exceedingly well. In all probability, they defied the odds by drafting talents like Durant, Russell Westbrook and Harden in consecutive years (2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively).

Finding athletes that complement each other in such a way that, after playing together for a relatively short amount of time, they are contending for titles is not easy business, so kudos to Presti and his team for doing just that. But the problem arises when this kind of farm system works too well and too many individuals are expecting to be paid like superstars, no matter their actual status.

That's exactly what happened with the Thunder. Too many cooks in the kitchen or what have you. Extending Durant was a must. He's a three-time All-Star, a scoring champion three times over and he competes for the MVP award year in and year out. Westbrook's extension makes sense, too, given his scoring acumen and ability to incorporate others into OKC's game plan, although some critics are quick to decry giving a maximum contract to a sometimes streaky (read: moody) point guard with a ceiling that may be out of reach. Even Serge Ibaka's extension was a no-brainer — he's the sturdiest stanchion in the defense, plus he's young and still very coachable, having only been playing competitive basketball since 2007.

Consider what other contracts the Thunder already had on the books past 2012-13 and Harden's impending unrestricted free agent status next summer, and the Bearded One was left as the odd man out — a position the Rockets became accustomed to after purging the best-known names from their roster to make room for a legitimate superstar, only to be shrugged off by the best of this summer's free agency class, namely Dwight Howard.

Whether or not Houston now has that kind of centerpiece is debatable. Harden won the Sixth Man of the Year award for 2011-12, but has only started seven games during his three years in the NBA. In those games, the Thunder have gone 4-3, counting losses to Miami's newly formed Big Three in '11-'12 and the Chris Paul/Blake Griffin-propelled Los Angeles Clippers last season.

That record does not accurately reflect Harden's overall sterling body of work. In each of his three campaigns, Harden has played increased minutes in successive seasons and produced a better field goal percentage and defensive rebounding numbers each go round. Likewise, the stats in his assists column has improved year-to-year, spiking last year at 3.7 apg — up 1.6 assists from the season prior.

Harden's advanced stats also reveal the damage Harden does to competitors. His win shares per 48 minutes played showed up at .230 last season. To put that into perspective, it more than doubles the league average of .100, eclipses Westbrook's .163 and equals Durant's .230 WS/48. Other than his lanky teammate, only LeBron James and Paul recorded better numbers.

WS/48 encompasses a player's contributions over an entire game, but against Basketball-Reference.com's league-standardized per-minute production of 15, Harden shines again with a 21.1 regular season PER.

Harden's ratings in the majority of these and other notable categories dip slightly during the playoffs, with his WS/48 dipping significantly to .184 last season and .188 for his career during postseason play.

Still, that's more than what the Rockets had in the stable after jettisoning premier forward Luis Scola and point guards Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic. Their offseason addition of former New York Knicks pointman Jeremy Lin comes complete with its own questions, but Lin is also capable of putting up almost-All-Star numbers while incorporating his teammates. While that will behoove Harden, the Thunder transfer is also capable of creating his own shot, having made 309 baskets throughout all of last season and only being assisted on approximately 50 percent of them.

Harden's going to get his baskets regardless. Given his scoring prowess, there is even a chance that he rivals Durant for a scoring title. The Rockets are young — the franchise's oldest player is 30, and no one else is over 27 —and there are other players who can score, but they don't even approach Harden's ability to fill the bucket.

Harden, creating. (NBA.com)

A starter's role is different than a sixth man's, and being cast as a leader is another beast entirely. The bench squad in OKC accepted Harden as the go-to guy and perusing Houston's roster, there is no reason to believe any Rocket will question His Beardness.

Point blank: the Rockets had to make a move like this. Lin is a good, potentially great pick-up, but Harden is a proven talent that was ready to ascend from a reserve to be one of the first players on the floor every night. 

There are few players worthy of the maximum contract Houston has promised to deliver Harden. That gesture alone speaks volumes, however, and if Harden delivers he could stand as bait to draw other notable free agents to the Texas town that is now his home base.

That likely hinges on several seasons, but the early months of 2012-13 will assuredly be a test for the Rockets. Lin is coming off knee surgery and Harden has less than half a week to become acclimated with his teammates, coaches, playbook and surroundings. It takes time to develop the chemistry that worked so well for Harden and his Thunder cohorts.

In fact, the team Harden leaves behind is expected to take the brunt of the force from this seemingly instantaneous trade. According to NBA.com writer John Schuhmann, OKC head coach Scott Brooks entrusted Harden to lead the charge without Durant or Westbrook for 7.5 minutes per game last season. That is a big chunk of time — undoubtedly enough to affect the outcome of a contest. Whether or not Brooks can find anyone on the bench to command that kind of time as the on-court focal point is a question. 

Veteran shooting guard Kevin Martin, obtained from Houston in Saturday's deal, is a logical option but he is not nearly as efficient as Harden. Fellow trade acquirement Jeremy Lamb has upside as a two-guard, but is just entering his rookie season, as is OKC-drafted small forward Perry Jones III, who recently starred at Baylor. Backup point guard Eric Maynor has been good in the preseason, although the fact remains that he had knee surgery in January, although he knows the system and was a reliable chemistry guy before the injury.

There's that word again. Chemistry.

The combined impact of Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward heading to Houston cannot match the fact that the Thunder traded away their third — second, some would argue — best player, an offensive firecracker that will see more touches this year, as scary as that may be for opponents. They could have held onto him longer, until the trade deadline or next summer, when another franchise would have almost certainly offered him a maximum contract if he avoided in bumps in the road as he rode out '12-'13 with OKC.

But the front office sold high, before the season even started, getting two players, two first-round drafts picks and a future second-rounder for someone touted as one of the league's best shooting guards.

It's a mastermind move, really, the more I think of it. The Thunder will grab a high seed in the Western Conference playoffs on the strength of Durant and Westbrook, even if it falls outside of the top two, in which they were projected to land. The trade leaves Houston satisfied, but scrambling, dropping games early because of a new addition that happens to be a major cog in the Rockets' machine still getting used to his environment. That will not last forever, and the Rockets should win some games coupling Harden's offense with head coach Kevin McHale's sermons of defense.

At best, the Rockets grab a mid-seed in the playoffs — a seed the Thunder more than likely can avoid by landing higher in the bracket. That sounds preferable to racking up regular season wins, swinging the same deal just before the trade deadline and letting Houston sneak into the postseason with a 7- or 8-seed, set to face a Thunder team that Harden knows front and back. And, who knows? Maybe Harden's a little disgruntled and comes into the contest firing at free rein. It has the makings of an upset scenario.

Of course, those last two paragraphs are merely machinations from my mind. Those ideas? All hypothetical. But it is certain that after striking out more than once, Rockets GM Daryl Morey is happy to have a young scorer to build around and that Presti is having machinations of his own about how to cultivate those draft picks into proper pieces to surround Durant and Westbrook once they reach their respective primes.


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Houston's Jeremy Lin Quandary

Would it be a surprise if Jeremy Lin's production fell in Houston? (Eric Kayne/AP)

Jeremy Lin.

That's all that needed to be said in February to start a borderline frenzy, or in April after his success as a starter produced borderline all-star statistics.

As it is with most cultural trends in America, New York was the epicenter of Linsan... Lin's whirlwind performances. Unlike the reputation of a big city, Lin offered understated humility, a squeaky clean past rife with religious affiliation, and a degree from an Ivy League institution — characteristics atypical of most professional athletes, as well.

It endeared him to the public, the city, and drew ire from sects of fans who appreciate good basketball regardless of a player's race.

Then the New York Knicks changed things up, letting the Houston Rockets turn a signed offer sheet into a full-blown contract after the Big Apple club reneged on repeated statements that it intended to keep Lin in blue and orange.

Knicks GM Glen Grunwald confirmed on the Monday that skittish feelings emerged when the Rockets' backloaded their offer to Lin, which gives the guard a $14.8 million paycheck in the final season of a 3-year contract worth a total of $25.1 million. Initial reports pegged Houston making a pitch that, presumably, was more reasonable to front office personnel in New York — a hypothetical contract that dealt out $28.8 million over four years.

Lin's mere presence will be a financial boon for the Rockets. After all, Lin is one of few Asian-Americans to ever play in the NBA and the only one to have ever started a game in the Association. As little as it has to do with the actual game, that fact that his race gives Lin a major global appeal cannot be denied. His playing for the same franchise as Yao Ming and a potentially Tim Tebow-esque following of diligent Christians add extra dimensions to the fanbase inherent in bringing Lin to the Lone Star state.

Even the traditionally German car company Volvo is cashing in on his star, releasing a commercial featuring Lin driving a Rockets-red SUV earlier this month. The vehicle's plates show it being registered in California — thus capitalizing on Lin's Palo Alto roots and the state's large Asian-American population — even though Lin played only sparingly during his 29-game run with the Golden State Warriors and otherwise has never suited up for a home team in his native state.

For marketing purposes, Lin is one of the most valuable assets in professional sports. The ruling on his worth as to a basketball team is still out, however.

After being booted by both the Warriors and Rockets, Lin found himself on the Knicks bench at the beginning of 2011-12, posting inconsistent numbers through nine games before logging 25 points and seven assists against the lowly New Jersey Nets, who finished 28th out of the NBA's 30 teams in defensive rating last season.

That being said, Lin became a starter after that performance and, afterward, produced a high level more often than not. He assisted on 41 percent of his teammates' baskets while on the court, leading to an average of 8.3 dimes per game. Along with his 19.3 points per contest, Lin's numbers warranted .140 win shares per 48 minutes, a mark well above the league watermark of .100.

Things aren't looking as hot this preseason, though. Exhibition numbers are rarely indicative of what is to come during the regular season, but Lin is shooting just 25 percent from the field through four games. That's actually an improvement from the 21 percent, 4-for-19 lines that he accumulated over three games.

If this is indicative of what Lin will do in a Rockets uniform, the Houston brass sorely overpaid. Lin could prove it all to be preseason fodder, too, by returning to form or even putting up better numbers than he did in his 25 starts for the Knicks.

So goes the story of investing in small sample size.

Lin is now expected to be the focal point of a young Rockets team whose talent is less than that of what inhabited Madison Square Garden in last year's march to the playoffs. The 2011-12 incarnation of the Knicks finished with two more wins than Houston. What chance do the Rockets have now that Luis Scola, Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic — who all played pivotal roles as the team fell just short of the Western Conference playoffs — are gone?

If nothing else, Lin's stay in Texas could be an interesting study in the importance of a newly minted star's personal marketability and individual performance on what may be a subpar team.


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Land of the Free & Home of the Hoops

The biggest feather-rumpling incident in basketball this week concerned Kobe Bryant asserting that he and the rest of Team USA 2012 would beat the team fielded by the States in 1992 – the famed Dream Team that *ahem* united the first year NBA players were allowed to compete in the Olympic games then proceeded to decimate any and all challengers by an average margin of 43.8 points en route to winning the gold medal.

Kobe Bryant's playoff beard grew late this year. (NBCOlympics.com)

Various members of the ’92 squad have weighed in on the discussion – largely doubting Bryant’s claim – and Kobe, in his usual fashion, refuses to stand down. While there’s never going to be a definite answer about who would win this hypothetical rivalry, one conclusion is safe to draw:

No other country plays basketball like the United States.

Sure, that statement reeks of jingoism. It’s a chest-beating, chain-rattling declaration of dominance. But it’s not a lie.

Since basketball was introduced on the Olympic level in 1936, Team USA has 16 medals total. Thirteen of those are gold, one is silver and two are bronze. Only at the 1980 games in Moscow has Team USA finished outside of the top three.

Everyone knows how good the Dream Team was, even opponents from 1992. Everyone knows LeBron James and Bryant brought home the top prize with the Redeem Team in 2008. However, less than half of these medals were won after professional athletes filled the national team’s roster. College athletes and amateur ballers residing stateside beat out pros from other countries routinely before ‘92.

The USA women’s team is no joke, either, having medalled eight times, claiming a bronze and a silver to accompany six first-place finishes.

There are plenty of stones to throw about the United States’ connection to basketball, the heaviest being that the game was invented in America. So, what? A sport’s origin and history is mostly meaningless during competition, especially in the modern era. Basketball is now one of the most popular sports worldwide, and seems to be trending upward given the popularity of international superstars such as Bryant, Marc and Pau Gasol, and upstart Jeremy Lin, not to mention the now-retired Yao Ming.

The 2012 version of Team USA already lacked size in the post, and Blake Griffin tore the meniscus in his left knee yesterday. But it still has the world’s best basketball player in LeBron, and Bryant is one of the fiercest competitors in sporting history.

No one knows for sure if this year’s group could beat the Dream Team, but after absolutely crushing the Dominican Republic by 54 points in an exhibition yesterday, it wouldn’t be wise to discount Team USA against anyone they may face in the 2012 Olympics.


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NBA Social Media Awards: Winners & Watermarks

 The New Jersey Nets' Gerald Green throws down -- and snags The Social Slam Award.

The digital carpet rolled out this week for nominees of the NBA’s inaugural social media awards. Honors were doled out for 13 categories by hosts Rick Fox and Shaquille O’Neal, with additional entertainment coming from SLAM magazine’s Lang Whitaker and stalwart Canadian bloggers J.E. Skeets and Tas Melas of The Basketball Jones.

Marked by a one-hour telecast on NBATV, the official NBASMA press release states that nominations were dependant upon “which [moments] resonated with fans and sparked the most social engagement this season” – meaning which plays received the most attention on Twitter and numerous other social networking avenues.

The Los Angeles Lakers were the night’s biggest winners, claiming “The Social MVT (Most Valuable Team)” award as Kobe Bryant received individual recognition by winning the “#Trendsetter” and “Thumbs-Up” awards, which both tallied mentions and likes on their respective social networks.

The Lakers did have to revisit their Feb. 12 meeting versus Jeremy Lin, though, as the sophomore’s 38-point performance was named “Epic” by fans voting for their favorite regular season game.

A full list of winners can be seen at the official NBA website, and while the awards are a fun addition to The Association’s programming, they’re also something more. They’re a watermark for social media and how pervasive it has become to society. As athletes become increasingly willing to share personal thoughts, daily routines and behind the scenes peeks with fans – and as the NBA continues to be the savviest sports league in social media – how far behind can other organizations be?

Whether it’s brilliant or merely the beginning of equalization between national sports leagues and, say, the local Lion’s Club, the NBA Social Media Awards are definitely one thing right now – unique.

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