duncan228
02-07-2009, 10:40 PM
Stern pick only fuels paranoia (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Stern_pick_only_fuels_paranoia.html)
Mike Monroe - Columnist - Express-News
Orlando's Jameer Nelson suffered a badly dislocated right shoulder last week, knocking him out of next weekend' All-Star Game and giving David Stern opportunity to right a wrong.
Naming Cavs point guard Mo Williams to take Nelson's spot as a backup point guard seemed like a no-brainer.
The way things worked out, Clevelanders now believe Stern has no brains.
Instead of making Williams the second Cavaliers player on the Eastern roster, joining LeBron James, the commissioner named a third Celtics player. Ray Allen replaced Nelson on the Eastern Conference roster, where he joins teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
Make no mistake: Allen's season is All-Star worthy. He is averaging 18.2 points and making 41 percent of his 3-point attempts for a defending champion Celtics team that is 40-10, second in the East.
But Williams is averaging 17.1 points and 4.2 assists and making 39 percent of his 3-pointers for the Cavs, who have the best record in the East, 39-9. Plus, his presence has helped James elevate his game.
Along the shoreline of Lake Erie, Stern's choice of Allen was cause for disappointment, anger and mistrust. Some Ohioans, including a few in the Cavs organization, are convinced the league has a stake in diminishing Cleveland as a destination for future free agents. That could allow the Cavs put a lineup around James capable of setting the Finals in Ohio for years to come.
Failing to reward Williams for his outstanding play on the team with the conference's best record plays into the civic paranoia of a self-loathing city.
Nothing gets Stern quite as agitated as any suggestion there is a conspiracy inside Olympic Tower to give a competitive edge to teams in the largest media markets.
It isn't Stern's fault the Lakers and Celtics drive TV ratings through the roof. Thursday's Finals rematch from Boston gave TNT its highest ratings for a regular season game since 1996. Try as he might, Stern can't keep this fact from feeding Clevelanders' fears that the playing court is tilted towards Boston.
During his playing days in San Antonio, Cavs general manager Danny Ferry heard plenty from his neighbors about the league favoring the Lakers. Now, he hears about the NBA's Celtics bias.
Boston and Orlando each wound up with three All-Stars. James will be the lone member of the Cavaliers playing in Phoenix next Sunday, and he called Williams' second snub a “slap in the face ... disrespectful to our team.”
I've always wondered why replacing injured All-Stars falls to the commissioner. Why not fall back on the ballots cast by head coaches and name the player who got the next-highest vote total at the vacated position? Not only are coaches closely attuned to which players merit inclusion on the All-Star roster, they tend to value a players' impact on his team's record over fan appeal.
Voting for the starters, the fans usually make a couple of mistakes. Bad calls by the coaches are rare.
It may be that Allen got more votes from the Eastern coaches when they voted for the reserves a couple of weeks back, and perhaps Stern took this into account. If so, it would have soothed some feelings in Cleveland if he had made this clear when he announced Allen as his choice to replace Nelson.
If not, well, he just oiled up the workings of the conspiracy machine.
Mike Monroe - Columnist - Express-News
Orlando's Jameer Nelson suffered a badly dislocated right shoulder last week, knocking him out of next weekend' All-Star Game and giving David Stern opportunity to right a wrong.
Naming Cavs point guard Mo Williams to take Nelson's spot as a backup point guard seemed like a no-brainer.
The way things worked out, Clevelanders now believe Stern has no brains.
Instead of making Williams the second Cavaliers player on the Eastern roster, joining LeBron James, the commissioner named a third Celtics player. Ray Allen replaced Nelson on the Eastern Conference roster, where he joins teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
Make no mistake: Allen's season is All-Star worthy. He is averaging 18.2 points and making 41 percent of his 3-point attempts for a defending champion Celtics team that is 40-10, second in the East.
But Williams is averaging 17.1 points and 4.2 assists and making 39 percent of his 3-pointers for the Cavs, who have the best record in the East, 39-9. Plus, his presence has helped James elevate his game.
Along the shoreline of Lake Erie, Stern's choice of Allen was cause for disappointment, anger and mistrust. Some Ohioans, including a few in the Cavs organization, are convinced the league has a stake in diminishing Cleveland as a destination for future free agents. That could allow the Cavs put a lineup around James capable of setting the Finals in Ohio for years to come.
Failing to reward Williams for his outstanding play on the team with the conference's best record plays into the civic paranoia of a self-loathing city.
Nothing gets Stern quite as agitated as any suggestion there is a conspiracy inside Olympic Tower to give a competitive edge to teams in the largest media markets.
It isn't Stern's fault the Lakers and Celtics drive TV ratings through the roof. Thursday's Finals rematch from Boston gave TNT its highest ratings for a regular season game since 1996. Try as he might, Stern can't keep this fact from feeding Clevelanders' fears that the playing court is tilted towards Boston.
During his playing days in San Antonio, Cavs general manager Danny Ferry heard plenty from his neighbors about the league favoring the Lakers. Now, he hears about the NBA's Celtics bias.
Boston and Orlando each wound up with three All-Stars. James will be the lone member of the Cavaliers playing in Phoenix next Sunday, and he called Williams' second snub a “slap in the face ... disrespectful to our team.”
I've always wondered why replacing injured All-Stars falls to the commissioner. Why not fall back on the ballots cast by head coaches and name the player who got the next-highest vote total at the vacated position? Not only are coaches closely attuned to which players merit inclusion on the All-Star roster, they tend to value a players' impact on his team's record over fan appeal.
Voting for the starters, the fans usually make a couple of mistakes. Bad calls by the coaches are rare.
It may be that Allen got more votes from the Eastern coaches when they voted for the reserves a couple of weeks back, and perhaps Stern took this into account. If so, it would have soothed some feelings in Cleveland if he had made this clear when he announced Allen as his choice to replace Nelson.
If not, well, he just oiled up the workings of the conspiracy machine.