SALT LAKE CITY — With the All-Star starters for both conferences now official ahead of the NBA descending on the Big Apple in a few weeks, the task of filling out the rest of both rosters falls to the league’s coaches.
And in trying to decide which seven players to choose as worthy of representing the East and West in the game at Madison Square Garden next month, Nets coach Lionel Hollins said it’s a balancing act to determine which players get the nod.
“It’s really difficult, because there are so many deserving players,” Hollins said. “It is what it is. I always tell the players, never really get caught up in the All-Star Game, making the All-Star Game or not, because it has nothing to do with whether you deserve it or not once those five guys are named.
“The coaches have to decide. And some coaches like some guys over others for what their year is like, and then there’s a sentimental vote for some guys that really haven’t had All-Star years but have been All-Stars for most of their careers. So you can’t get upset about it. Just know you had a great year and go ahead and play.”
Trying to decide whether players such as Dirk Nowitzki or Tim Duncan deserve to make yet another All-Star trip or players such as Nikola Vucevic or Monta Ellis should make it for the first time is something Hollins said he would look at on an individual basis.
“[Celtics legend] John Havlicek, his last year not only did he make the All-Star team, but Doug Collins stepped aside and let him have his starting spot” Hollins said. “That’s what the fans come to see.”
Part of the thing that makes life tricky for the coaches is they have to work within positional limits. The seven reserves must consist of two guards, three forwards and two wild cards. Clippers coach Doc Rivers, part of the league’s competition committee, said he has unsuccessfully lobbied to change that.
“The one thing I can say I’ve honestly never done is to help my guys,” said Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who had Blake Griffin named as a starter and likely will have Chris Paul selected as a reserve. “I try to pick the right team. I’m glad we’ve kind of changed the rules a little bit, so we don’t have to pick two centers or whatever. We can pick the best players.
“I argued this, and I lost, in the competition committee. I thought after the starters, there shouldn’t be any positions. If seven guards should make the team, seven guards should make the team. They were worried how the game would look, and I said, they’ll figure it out. But other than that, I’ll just try to vote for the best players.”