HoopWatch

In this year’s All-Star game, I pick the East over the West. With the injuries marring the West, they now lack the firepower needed to topple the best of the East, plus Shaquille O’Neal is back, and he is the biggest walking mismatch, ever. The West does not have Yao Ming, perhaps the only man who can stop Shaq one-on-one. Shaq has been having a hard time against Yao at the post ever since his rookie year.

Other injury-befallen stars for the West are guards Allen Iverson and Steve Nash, and forward Carlos Boozer. These four guys have been having career years. Yao Ming before his injury was a monster for Houston, helping the Rockets placed sixth in the highly-talented West even without Tracy McGrady for a significant duration. Iverson is second in scoring, and Nash leads the league in assists for the third straight year. Not to mention that Steve averages a career-high almost-20 points per game. Boozer, after missing most of the past two seasons, has been norming double-doubles for Utah, and helped the Jazz secure the league-best record for a time which has now been assumed by the Mavericks.

The East has lost only Jason Kidd to injury, and is replaced by well-deserving Joe Johnson.

On the other hand, the original Eastern selection is almost intact. And most of these guys are having career and break-out years as well. As I mentioned, Johnson leads the Hawks out of the cellar, and is the complete package contributing in almost every category conceivable e.g. points, rebounds, assists, steals and threes. Dwyane Wade averages over 30 in most of their wins, and is leading the Heat back in the playoff hunt. Lebron James has become more versatile than ever. Chris Bosh is leading the Raptors to the number one spot in the Atlantic, and back in the play-offs in the franchise’s post-Carter era. “Agent 0” Gilbert Arenas has been dropping 30, 40 and even 50 points against his unfortunate opponents. And Dwight Howard has come out and played like a man this season. He has been phenomenal, even throwing down buzzer-beating alley-hoop dunks. Just ask Tim Duncan, and the Spurs.

Plus, the East stars have balance. They have good distributors in Johnson, James, Chauncey Billups and Arenas. They got good rebounders, shot blockers and post presence in their big men in Shaq, Bosh, Jermaine O’Neal and Howard. Those four are monsters underneath. And Jermaine and Bosh can shoot those perimeter bombs as well. And did I mention that their guards can create shots on their own. They have Wade, James, Arenas, Vince Carter and Johnson, guys who are lethal in isolation plays. They have a scoring hustle player in Caron Butler, who turns garbage into gold with his offensive rebounding, saves, loose ball pick-ups and put-backs. And he defends real well, he once led the league in steals, last season. They have good set shooters in Billups and Rip Hamilton, who is relentless in coming out of screens, and burns you with his flawless jump shot.

And they can run and run and run. Their big men can run too. They can finish fast breaks and alley-hoops. They are so versatile, that Eddie Jordan can opt to slow down the pace as well. He can run some plays from the post.

In contrast, the West does not have two-time MVP Steve Nash, who went down with a shoulder injury. No one in the league right now has the same basketball IQ as Nash does. He knows when to slow down the pace, or to run up-tempo ball. He knows when to shoot or pass, and he does make passes that are against fundamental basketball. The West needs Nash, and it will be a lot different without him. Just ask the Phoenix Suns.

Sure, the West has great scorers, size and talent, but in a game where players are not used to each others’ games, a good point guard, a great distributor is what a team like this needs. The West has only one legitimate point guard in Tony Parker. Parker is good, quick and fast, can finish on breaks, makes a good occasional pass, but he is NO Nash or Kidd, not even a Billups or an Arenas yet. The West will be in for a long night. (pics courtesy of yahoo sports)