sportsjunkie

2012 NBA All Star Starting Line Up

East

G - Derrick Rose

G - Dwyane Wade

F - LeBron James

F - Carmelo Anthony

C - Dwight Howard

West

G - Chris Paul

G - Kobe Bryant

F - Kevin Durant

F - Blake Griffin

C - Andrew Bynum

Those are your starters based on NBA fan votes. Obviously, the fans have spoken, but we all know that Kevin Love deserves to be in the starting line up in the West. He has been so dominant, putting up Shaq-like numbers. I also disagree with Carmelo purely based on his shoting percentages, but hey, he's Melo! If it was purely based on how players were playing and not on votes the starting line ups should look something like this:

East

G - Derrick Rose

G - Dwyane Wade

F - LeBron James

F - Andrea Bargnani

C - Dwight Howard

Am I crazy? Bargnani? I am a little crazy, but hey, look at the facts. Among all forwards in the East (other than LBJ), Andrea has been playing the best. His numbers are very similar to Carmelo's, however, he is much more efficient. I considered Melo, Bosh, Ryan Anderson, and Paul Pierce, but I think Bargnani has been playing the best, and he just continues to impress me with his overall offensive game.

West

G - Chris Paul

G - Kobe Bryant

F - Kevin Durant

F - Kevin Love

C - Marc Gasol

Kevin Love and Marc Gasol up front would probably the most dominant front court the NBA has ever seen. Griffin sure does deserve to be in the starting line up, but not more than those two bigs. Bynum without question does not deserve it and these two are hands down my picks to be in the starting line up. Honourable mention goes to Lamarcus Aldridge.

But instead, you are going to see what will probably be Team USA's most athletic lineup against the boys from LA plus Durant. Either way, the NBA All star weekend is always excited regardless of what happens or who plays!

Hey everyone,

This column will be a weekly fixture here on Sports Junkie from here on out. Off the top, I will detail new pick-ups with an eye towards the upcoming week in the schedule. Then, I will list my personal top 10 (based on standard categories) for the rest of the season at each position. Think about these lists as helpful references when making trades, offers, and the like. Let’s dive right in.

Pick-Ups (owned in less than 40% of Yahoo! leagues)

Marreese Speights – There have been ups and downs with Speights since he has come over to Memphis, but offensively, the talent is there. He shoots the mid-range jumper extremely well, and with Randolph out of the picture for the foreseeable future, he will definitely see the touches. His biggest problem has been staying on the floor, as he is averaging 2.6 personal fouls per 21min of floor time with Mem. With 5 games in the upcoming week, feel free to roll him with a tad of confidence.

Jason Smith – Another player (similar to Speights) with a lot of range, a diverse offensive game, and limited defensive ability. Now that the Hornets have advised Kaman to stay home until they can find a suitable trade, Smith becomes the de facto starter at PF and will see the majority of minutes going forward. He can contribute in points, rebounds, and blocks, averaging 9, 4, and 1.3 respectively over the last week while shooting 65%.

Tiago Splitter – With the games piling up on San Antonio and Pop dedicated to resting Timmy throughout the season, Tiago has been the main benefactor of late. Over the last 2 weeks, Tiago has averaged 21:30 of playing time, and has been extremely productive with 12.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.5 blocks on a fiery 73.1% shooting over that timespan. His minutes can only rise as he looks to displace Blair, and is a good option going forward.

Rodrigue Beaubois – A little bit more of a pick-up looking to the future here. Kidd has battled injury this season, the Mavs will certainly look to rest some of their vets, and there are minutes for the taking at the back-up PG and SG spots depending on how the West/Carter situation plays out. Keep an eye on Roddy, because his per-min stats are ridiculous, all he needs is the playing time at this point.

Mickael Pietrus (short-term Plug n’ Play) – If you need 3s, look no farther than Pietrus for the coming week. As long as Ray Ray is on the shelf, Mickael is in a great situation. Over the last 14 days he has been averaging 2.7 three-pointers made per contest, and that number should hold in the upcoming week as he has an extremely easy schedule that includes @Cle, Tor, NYK, and Mem.

Best of the Best:

Point Guards

1. Chris Paul

2. Derrick Rose

3. Kyle Lowry

4. Russell Westbrook

5. Deron Williams

6. Stephen Curry

7. Brandon Jennings

8. Ty Lawson

9. Mike Conley

10. Ricky Rubio

Shooting Guards

1. Kobe Bryant

2. Dwyane Wade

3. Joe Johnson

4. Andre Iguodala

5. Kevin Martin

6. Ray Allen

7. Monta Ellis

8. James Harden

9. Wes Matthews

10. Marcus Thornton

Small Forwards

1. LeBron James

2. Kevin Durant

3. Carmelo Anthony

4. Danilo Gallinari

5. Paul Pierce

6. Rudy Gay

7. Luol Deng

8. Gerald Wallace

9. Danny Granger

10. Antawn Jamison

Power Forwards

1. Kevin Love

2. LaMarcus Aldridge

3. Al Jefferson

4. Pau Gasol

5. Chris Bosh

6. Josh Smith

7. Paul Milsap

8. Blake Griffin

9. Andrea Bargnani

10. Dirk Nowitzki

Centers

1. Dwight Howard

2. Marc Gasol

3. Tyson Chandler

4. Greg Monroe

5. JaVale McGee

6. Andrew Bynum

7. Marcin Gortat

8. Spencer Hawes

9. Samuel Dalembert

10. DeAndre Jordan

Written By: Adam Moledina - @em24kobe

Follow us on twitter - @sportsjunki3

Written By: Dvir Elimeleh - @DvirElimeleh

When flipping through the channels, you see on ESPN that the Philadelphia 76ers are number one in the power rankings, you'd think it was 1983 and you were heading out to see a Hall and Oates concert. But no, it's 2012 and one month into the season the Sixers are having their best start since the '00/'01 season. This high powered offense is currently on a two game win streak, winning eight out of their last nine, and undefeated at home. Averaging 101 points a game, and holding opponents to 86 ppg, this team is surging on both offense and defense. At the moment, this team is top ten in the four major categories(ppg, rpg, apg, and pa).

Most of the credit here has to go to head coach Doug Collins. He has an incredible way of bringing out the best in his players and letting them play to their strengths. No better example of this is, Andre Iguodala, the longest tenured Sixer who is quite possibly having the best season of his career. In his 8th season, Iggy is a candidate for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, leading the Sixers with 2.2 steals a game, and a shoe in for NBA All-Defensive team.

This team is about nine deep and has one of the strongest benches in the league, with Lou Williams leading the pack. When Sweet Lou isn't busy in the studio, he's busy leading the Sixers with 16.1 ppg, 86% from the free throw line with 4.2 free throws made a game, and one of the top contenders for Sixth Man of the Year.

Another nice surprise here is sophomore shooting guard, Evan Turner, who has returned this year with an improved game after a mediocre rookie season. In the extended off-season, Turner improved his shot with Philadelphia basketball legend, Herb Magee, and it shows. E.T. is still coming off the bench, but looks to be earning starting minutes with the surging Sixers.

May be pre-mature, but with the Sixers being the 2nd seed in the East, this 9-3 team could surprise the league in the months coming. For once, Philadelphia fans have more to cheer about this season other than getting free Big Mac's every time the team goes over 100 points at home.

Written by: Joey Bertino

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