All-Star Reserves - Congratulations DeMar DeRozan!

[ebrian]

Yea, I didn't see it as a snub but more like a travesty. He deserved it more than DeRozan. That's probably the saddest part of it. I just hope there's no resentment for the rest of the season.

Oh wait, I hope there is, I'm a pro-tanker!

Anyway, I don't know if this will motivate him or not. I hope that's not all it takes, y'know? Being a professional basketball player.. that should be enough motivation. He's really playing as well as you could ask for though.

[Scraptor]

It's a terrible snub, but given that Lowry's never made it before and has only been with the team a year and a half, I suspect public perception had Demar as the face and leader of the team. There's a sort of transience about a guy who's been shopped and whose future is up in the air, so the coaches went with the known quantity.

Hopefully this keeps Lowry's fire burning and he doesn't view it as a casualty of him being in Canada.

As for JJ, I think we can all agree that he is one of if not the very least deserving All Stars of all time.

[iblastoff]

seriously. how the fuck did he 'destroy demar'. laughable.

[Jangles]

I can't even find the words to describe this voting. We think the fans voting the starters is a joke, the coaches aren't any better. Kyle Lowry as an all star was a no-brainer this year. Im still shocked at what a joke this was.

[Jangles]

Joe Johnson blows. The ASG is a joke

[JawsGT]

I was very surprised that the TNT guys said little about Lowry. Kenny had a little rant about what Teague has been doing in ATL. Now, Lowry's basic stats aren't much more impressive than Lowry's, but as mentioned above he has some of the best advanced stats in the East. What's disapointing the most for me is the lack of recognition of what Lowry has been doing here this year. He should have been a lock, but with Irving being voted in by fans, and Johnson being selected by the coaches it was a robbery. Too bad for Kyle, but I am very surprised that the East's coaches haven't recognized just how important he is to this team and his contribution to the Raps success. Maybe that's why we are winning so many games. Keep up the ignorance East coaches, we want to hold on to that 3rd seed!!

[stooley]

Not to be completely clueless but is "Cpt T.o" an amalgam of Compton and toronto?

no, its not lol. how did so many people agree? its captain TO. cpt is the short form of captain lol

[Nilanka]

That reinforces to me that stockpiling draft picks does not guarantee you anything.

Nobody said it did guarantee anything.

[mcHAPPY]

Says the guy with a DeMar bobblehead firmly lodged up his butt.

Still needs 18 shots to score 21 points.

I wonder what would happen if everyone was given 18 shots per game.

I'm happy for him... really am. I never thought he would make it. Glad I'm wrong. Only haters around here are those shoving crow down others throat when the crux of the criticism remains firmly in tact: he is an inefficient volume shooter.

[Nilanka]

Still needs 18 shots to score 21 points.

I wonder what would happen if everyone was given 18 shots per game.

Not to turn this into yet another DeRozan debate, but we can blame special1 for that.

Despite being selected as an all-star, DeMar is still low efficiency scorer.

Despite being selected as an all-star, DeMar can't shoot 3s.

Despite being selected as an all-star, DeMar is still a poor defender.

Despite being selected as an all-star, DeMar still has weak handles.

Despite being selected as an all-star, DeMar still takes too many long-twos.

And one final note: DeMar was selected over a more deserving teammate, by a group of people who thinks the rotting corpse of Joe Johnson is worthy.

As a Raptors fan, I'm happy for DeRozan. He's definitely a hard worker (probably the hardest working draft pick we've ever had), and any notoriety for the Raptors on a global stage, is a good thing for all of us.

But to that loudmouth/fanboy/groupie, special1, you haven't "proven" anyone wrong.

[planetmars]

So how do you think that happens? The league tells the coaches who to vote for? Or the coaches just vote for the league's best interests rather than who they think deserves to be in? Or the league looks at the ballots and then just adjusts the ballots as they see fit? I'm not saying that these things aren't possible, I'm just curious about how you think this conspiracy is set up. I think it's more likely that coaches are voting based on reputation, but with the NBA I wouldn't rule anything out.

I don't think it's a conspiracy.. I just think most coaches voted based on trying to get as many guys from different teams as possible. It's probably as simple as that. I'm sure they look at the Eastern conference and go - Atlanta (Millsap) check, Toronto (DeRozan) check, Washington (Wall) check, Chicago (Noah) check, Brooklyn (Johnson) check, etc...

The only bummer was the Wade selection but that was done by fans.. if fans didn't get a chance to vote I don't see Wade making it. I still see Kyrie making it though. And if Wade didn't make it I'm sure we would have seen Afflalo or Drummond over Lowry instead. This could explain why Stephenson didn't get in either.

I could be wrong.. but I just think it's too coincidental for so many different teams to be represented out in the East.

[stooley]

ESPN on the biggest snub in the east:

Tom Haberstroh: Kyle Lowry. That's easy. We complain that the fan vote is a popularity contest. Well, it appears the coach vote is one as well. That's the only explanation I can come up with for putting Joe Johnson in the game over the prickly Kyle Lowry, who has my vote for best point guard in the East.

Kevin Pelton: Kyle Lowry. The term "snub" is in danger of losing all meaning from overuse, but it might be appropriate with Lowry. The Raptors guard ranks third in the East in WARP (8.7), ahead of everyone who was chosen as a reserve. And with Toronto atop the Atlantic, team performance doesn't explain his omission.

Ethan Sherwood Strauss: Kyle Lowry, who likely missed the cut because he plays in Canada and he's notoriously salty. Setting aside how that description makes Lowry sound like poutine, the Raptors point guard clearly deserved to go based on merit. He's first among East point guards in player efficiency rating and, unlike so many other point men, he defends doggedly.

Justin Verrier: Kyle Lowry. DeMar DeRozan is actually the better player for this format, but Lowry is the more deserving player based on regular-season performance. He's sixth in PER at his position in a golden age for point guards, and his bulldoggedness is the driving force of this Toronto turnaround. But, hey, all those defensive centers will be fun in a shooting contest.

[planetmars]

Kenny Smith played for the Hawks, and I'm sure he still follows them.. probably way more than the Raptors. He goes by what he watches and believes Teague was robbed. I wouldn't listen to what he says.

[JimiCliff]

And one final note: DeMar was selected over a more deserving teammate, by a group of people who thinks the rotting corpse of Joe Johnson is worthy.

The strangest part of the whole thing. For my money, Lowry has been the second best point in the entire league behind Chris Paul, and he isn't an All-Star. Whoever's responsible for this either hasn't been watching, or has an axe to grind.

Enjoy the beach Kyle.

[3inthekeon]

TNT is the anagram for Turner Network Television, started by Ted Turner (former owner of the MLB Braves) and is based in Atlanta.