NBA: ALL STAR GAME, 2012 // MLB: COLORADO
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“SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.
NBA: On Sunday, February 26, a curtain will lift for the annual NBA All Star game, a mix of hoopla and hoops, one part Grammy and Oscar event, three parts high challenge in that the NBA’s best athletes will attempt to perform together with zero defects and against one another feverishly, a happening since 1951, minus the 1999 NBA lockout.
The All Star event will, of course, suggest which of the two NBA conferences puts up the better fight, though a single game probably isn’t the best indicator for finding that out. And while an award will be handed to an MVP selected from what will likely be less than 30 minutes of his time on the floor, there will be glimpses of who may be the association’s best player at individual skill-sets, for instance, scoring off of regular field goals, 3-pointers and/or lay-ups, and who’s best at passing, rebounding and blocking, again the single competition a less than precise indicator.
Anyway, some background:
From 1951 until year 2000, the Eastern Conference dominated, accumulating more than 30 All Star wins, but from year 2000 until the present it’s been nearly equal.
Since 2000, the West has won the All Star game three years in a row: 2002, ‘03 and ’04, while the East has won two years in a row, 2005 and ’06.
Only two coaches have had winning All Star teams twice since 2000, Phil Jackson (L.A. Lakers) and Stan Van Gundy (Orlando Magic).
Teams represented by an All Star MVP more than once since 2000 are the L.A. Lakers, five times, and the Cleveland Cavaliers twice, also the Philadelphia
Four players have been selected as MVP’s more than once since 2000, Allen Iverson (76ers), 2001 and 2005; Kobe Bryant (Lakers), .2002, ’07 and ’09; LeBron James (Cavaliers), 2006 and ’08; Shaquille O’Neal (Lakers), 2000 and ’09, along with Kobe Bryant.
Since 2000, there have been only two “blowouts,” the West beating the East 153-132 in 2007, and the West shellacking the East 146-119, in 2009. During these two games, the Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was the selected as the All Star MVP.
From year 2000 on, and except for 2000 and 2009, the All Star MVP would not be from the franchise that would later win the NBA finals and be crowned the NBA championship team.
Only twice has the All Star winning team won with fewer than 100 points, in 1953 and 1954.
Only in seven of the All Star games since 1951 has the winning team finished with more than 150 points, which occurred twice since 2000 (2003 and ’07)
PROJECTION: Below find the starting lineups for Sunday’s All Star activity:
EAST: Forward Carmelo WEST: Gd.
And from reserves of the East, we can expect Chris Bosh (Miami Heat), Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics), Luol Deng (Chicago Bulls), Roy Hibbert (Indiana Pacers), Andre Iguodala (the 76ers), and Deron Williams (New Jersey Nets), and from the West, Russell Westbrook (the Thunder), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks, his 11th All Star appearance), Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns---Nash is 38 years old, this will be his eighth All Star showing), Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers), Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies). Rumored: Jeremy Lin (Knicks---presently, Lin’s a selectee for pre-game action).
All told, 16 of the NBA’s 30 franchises will be represented by players during the 2012 All Star game. Oddly, a Division’s second place team is without an All Star player this year---the Denver Nuggets. Yet Division third and fourth place teams have players rostered for Sunday night.
For winning, a lot will depend on who hits the floor when and why, therefore much of the All Star victory will have a great deal to do with “rostering” from start to finish, not just with who starts but also with regard to who comes off the bench, and when. Surely the NBA All Star event is a coach’s game, though it can seem only a showcase for the players.
Coaching for the East will be Tom Thibodeau, head coach, Chicago Bulls, and for the West, Scott Brooks, HC, the Thunder. This website’s take is that proper game entry and right extension of minutes for Bryant, Durant and Westbrook could make the difference for the West, though it may not happen if Anthony, James and Rose are at their best and Howard soars as blockmeister, spurring a high rate of turnovers for the East.
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MLB: The MLB season is less than two months away, and spring training for the Colorado Rockies at Scottsdale , Arizona L.A. Colorado team’s chance to create a big lead by dominating each series, while failing to do so could put the Rockies into a catch-up position hard to escape from.
The intensity of April’s challenges could be the best way for Rockies manager, Jim Tracy, to know the trust that he can place in hurler Jhoulys Chacin as a starter and Rafael Betancourt as a closer instead of the mid-game reliever that he’s been in the past, confirming whatever data Tracy can garner during spring training. And, the Rockies will know by May 2 just where corrections and re-rostering will have to be made for a season that fans hope will be better than the last, which the Rockies finished below .500, at 73-89.
A related question here is, “Will spring training include enough hours for the much-altered and reinforced Rockies to develop sufficiently for the April challenges?”
Other questions beg the early response, among them---
Could LHP Jorge De La Rosa possibly return to active duty prior to now-reported June, especially if newcomer Jeremy Guthrie fails to be the desired surrogate?
Can Todd Helton prove again that he’s reliable “above the margin,” if not as a long ball hitter as an on-base contributor and still as one of the game’s better first basemen?
Will C. Ramon Hernandez be the Rockies numero uno catcher for the full season and reach expectations at the plate that former Rockies catchers couldn’t?
Can Carlos Gonzalez achieve the long ball consistency that he delivered prior to the 2011 season? Could this be prevented by his wrist injury?
Might Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki be all of a mid-roster power-hitting duo that the Rockies will need throughout the 2012 season?
Which of the other NL-West teams will be the Rockies toughest challenge for a playoff contention?
Will there be enough talent within the Rockies minor league clubs for big league replacement should primary players accrue injuries or show harmful weaknesses at the plate, in the field, on the mound?
END/ml
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