2014 NBA All-Star Weekend Preview: Sports With Biers feature

All-Star Game Winner

PA: I’m going with the West. While the starters may be a coin flip, I feel like the West’s bench would be a pretty good starting group. While I’ll save who I think the MVP is going to be until that question… He’s on the West. I see a stretch with CP3 and Blake on the floor throwing lobs like they did on Philly, a stretch where Durant scores 28 in 14 minutes, a stretch where Aldridge and Dwight are too much inside for the East, and Curry has the possibility of hitting a few heat-check three’s that are sure to be shot in this game.

What scares me about the East is their starting front-court. Paul George, the King, and Melo are all potentially going to have 30+. But someone to keep an eye on is Anthony “The Brow” Davis. Davis was a unanimous snub when the teams were first selected – its in his hometown, he’s a young, defensive player… Don’t expect him to go “soft” for an All-Star game. The highlight I see him wanting to make is swatting a Carmelo dunk into the 4th row and waving the Mutombo finger.

RR: I wonder what Parker has against Melo to throw an unwarranted potshot at him right there? It’s like people love to poke at him because he’s not KD or LeBron, even though they forget that most people aren’t. I guess he should apologize for not being one of the best of all time instead of just really, really good. Anyway, there will be no uncalled for jabs from me here, just a winner based on clear cut analysis of these two rosters. Well actually, this is the All Star game, so no analysis will be done because you can’t predict this game, no matter what the perceived talent disparity might be. My pick is done simply on which team has more players that I like and that is the West team.

It doesn’t help the East’s case that they have Joe Johnson (not really sure how the coaches justified this selection) or Roy Hibbert (too weird for me, plus I went anti-Hibbert when people started using the Heat playoff series from last as the reason he was so dominant. When you cite 7 games against the perfect match-up as signs to why he can average more than 12 points a game, you have a problem). Plus, the West has two point guards that are tailor made for this game (CP3 and Steph) and that always goes a long way in games where lobs and command of the court can set a team apart. As long as this is a close game in the fourth quarter, causing the players to truly bring their A game, I will be a happy person.

JB: I’m going to go against the grain here and say the East is going to win the All-Star game. Frankly, I’m surprised none of these LeBron-loving fools chose the East, but honestly, if no Kobe Bryant or Los Angeles Laker is playing in the All-Star game, I can’t bring myself to root for the West. But is predicting the East winning really that far fetched? You have the best player in the game in James, as well as the best scorer in Carmelo Anthony (KD who?)(see 62-point game at MSG). Throw in “The Sheriff of the Paint” protecting the rim, and there’s no way those losers playing for the West are going to win. John Wall, DeMar DeRozan, and Paul Millsap are first time selections and I imagine they’ll want to prove their worth, meaning they will put more of an effort than perhaps Tony Parker and a recently healthy Chris Paul.

MT: Does Josh realize that Kobe Bryant isn’t even a top 10 player in the NBA anymore. The All-Star game is all about offense, which made this is an easy choice for me. I am going with the sharpshooting Western Conference squad. Not only do they boast 3-point shooting at every position except the power forward, but they may have the two best 3-point shooters in the NBA in Durant and Curry. What I am most excited about is to see a possible back-court of Chris Paul and Steph Curry, my two favorite guards in the NBA. Letting Chris Paul create open opportunities for Steph Curry could allow him to go off for about 30 points on 10-15 from the 3-point line. Not to mention if Paul penetrates and the East take away Curry then Paul can kick it to Durant as well. Pair those two with the deadly pick and role combinations of the high flying Blake Griffin and the outside sharp shooting of K-Love and this Western Conference team is an offensive powerhouse.

All-Star Game MVP

Kevin Durant

PA: My MVP is KD. The guy is on a mission right now, and it’s just KD’s year. I honestly can see him going for 50 in this game, even while playing even minutes with everyone else. And here’s the other thing, his coach for the game is Scotty Brooks. While if it’s clearly not his (say Steph comes in with a chip on his shoulder and goes 15-16 from 3), I think Brooks would pull KD for rest, Brooks knows that KD can take over this game and earn OKC this award. I foresee him taking over, I foresee Scotty Brooks trying to help him get it, and I foresee KD not taking this game lightly. KD’s “not nice” attitude he has right now makes me think he won’t. He knows that no one in the world can guard him. Why is he going to let them? While there are many potential MVPs in this game, I think the most likely has to be Kevin Durant.

RR: As much as I’d love Melo to win the MVP, with my winner being the West, that isn’t going to happen. Now if the East wins, I can see him taking out his frustrations of playing with his horrible Knicks team on the All Star game, morphing into Olympics Melo against Nigeria, and pouring in threes. However, for my prediction, I have Steph Curry winning the MVP. Hot off his loss to Damian Lillard in the 3-point contest, I think Steph will be brooding the rest of Saturday night and all day Sunday, come out firing, and bury the competition under a barrage of threes. Parker says 15-16 from three, and even though we all know that is not going to happen, I think 8-12 is definitely on the cards. And with CP3 still coming back from injury, Steph should get the crunch time point guard minutes, and thus, leave the last impression of dagger threes in the voters’ mind to propel him to MVP in his first All Star appearance.

JB: Sure, simpletons might choose KD because he’s the leading scorer in the NBA, or Steph, because he’s a decent 3-point shooter. I guess they could win. However, my vote is going to Paul George. The All-Star game was created for a player of George’s talent. He has the showmanship, the skill, and the swagger to beat out anyone else for MVP honors. I see George wowing the crowd with spectacular dunks, lighting it up from beyond the arc with his three-point range, and wreaking general havoc. This is George’s breakout year and the momentum he’s generated all season with the Indiana Pacers is going to reflect in the All-Star game and ultimately land him the MVP award.

MT: Ryan had the right idea going with Steph Curry to win the MVP. This award goes to the most gaudy stats or the best shooting performance and since Steph is the best shooter I think it’s going to him. I already said how Chris Paul will allow Steph to get wide open threes all game and since he will be hot coming off his 3-point contest victory you know he is going to make them all. That combined with the fact that he may be the most exciting to watch player in the NBA and this feels like a shoo-in to me. Its hard for me to go against KD who could easily put up ridiculous numbers and is on a mission this season to score as many points as humanly possible, but Steph is my boy and I want as many reasons to root for him as possible.