Shaq an All Star?

[Celtics4ever]

Lots of folks countrywide like Shaq.   He might sqweak in on a fan vote.

[pearljammer10]

Dont get me wrong I love Garnett and think he has been playing phenominal basketball so far this season... However, Amare deserves the starting spot on the roster by a long shot. He is playing like an MVP and should be starting the All Star game.

[pearljammer10]

And to further address, I think that Stoudemire should be listed in the Center category... Maybe thats just me though...

[BballTim]

Dont get me wrong I love Garnett and think he has been playing phenominal basketball so far this season... However, Amare deserves the starting spot on the roster by a long shot. He is playing like an MVP and should be starting the All Star game.

  Lots of guys play like MVPs in Knicks games. Aside from Rondo (24 assists) you have Love's 30/30 game, Blake Griffin's 44/15 and, just last night, 41 for Bargnani. He plays more like an all-star (no D) than an MVP.

[Fafnir]

Dont get me wrong I love Garnett and think he has been playing phenominal basketball so far this season... However, Amare deserves the starting spot on the roster by a long shot. He is playing like an MVP and should be starting the All Star game.

Amar'e played AWFUL ball for the first 10+ games of the season.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stoudam01/splits/2011/

He's on a hot streak right now feasting on the weakest schedule the association. Lets see if he can keep up his improved play.

I'll also add that if he's a "MVP" he should have been one last year, his numbers are slightly worse currently after all.

[PosImpos]

Bogut hasn't really played at an All-Star level so far this year, either (not played enough, started slow). He's rounding into shape recently, though, and may be good enough to make it.

Other East All-Star caliber centers include Howard, Noah, and Horford.  Hibbert is on the cusp but doesn't rebound well enough (though he's probably in the lead for MIP at this point).

I think Amare may be listed as a center, in which case he'll be voted in as the starter.  Otherwise, he's an All-Star PF, along with  Garnett and basically nobody else.  All the other All-Star forward slots should go to SFs; Lebron as starter, then Pierce and Granger.  Perhaps Josh Smith will get voted in by the coaches, too.

  You think Amare will beat out Howard for the voting? I've never paid a ton of attention to the votes but Dwight prancing around in a cape during the dunk contests probably counts for a lot with the voters.

NY voters are ridiculous.  I have no doubt all of them would vote for Amare over Dwight Howard, and there are a lot of them nationwide.

[mgent]

Bogut hasn't really played at an All-Star level so far this year, either (not played enough, started slow). He's rounding into shape recently, though, and may be good enough to make it.

Other East All-Star caliber centers include Howard, Noah, and Horford.  Hibbert is on the cusp but doesn't rebound well enough (though he's probably in the lead for MIP at this point).

I think Amare may be listed as a center, in which case he'll be voted in as the starter.  Otherwise, he's an All-Star PF, along with  Garnett and basically nobody else.  All the other All-Star forward slots should go to SFs; Lebron as starter, then Pierce and Granger.  Perhaps Josh Smith will get voted in by the coaches, too.

  You think Amare will beat out Howard for the voting? I've never paid a ton of attention to the votes but Dwight prancing around in a cape during the dunk contests probably counts for a lot with the voters.

NY voters are ridiculous.  I have no doubt all of them would vote for Amare over Dwight Howard, and there are a lot of them nationwide.

Yeah, but what about everyone else?

[Who]

(1) Dwight Howard
(2) Joakim Noah
(3) Andrew Bogut -- not enough games to move ahead of Noah
(4) Al Horford
(5) Anderson Varejao

(6) Shaquille O'Neal -- low minutes per game hurt Shaq, others make more of a contribution due to that.
(7) Roy Hibbert -- Disclaimer: I have barely seen Indy play this season, I might be undervaluing Hibbert.
[8] Ben Wallace
(9) Brook Lopez -- started the season poorly but he'll pick up, probably move above Shaq by the time the All-Star game rolls around

I would think that Andrea Bargnani's high scoring ways might garner some attention too. Especially if Toronto can hang around those bottom playoff seeds ... but I doubt they manage that.

Edit: I thought Bogut missed more games than he has. Might have to re-think that 2-3 rankings.

[Who]

Amare Stoudemire is listed as forward on the All-Star ballot

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/11/18/all-star-ballots-unveiled/index.html