MY NBA All-Stars

     The starting lineups for the NBA All-Star game were announced today and seemed to be somewhat decent choices.  There's always going to be a massive amount of debate whenever a list of all-stars is released for any sport and the NBA is no different.  The reserves to the all-star teams will be announced a week from today, but I'll go ahead and include the players I believe should be named.  Instead of spamming Twitter with my choices, figure I could just make a post for it!

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USA Men's Basketball Finalists Named

A list of 20 NBA players was revealed yesterday as candidates for the 2012 Olympics and it is a smorgasbord of top tier talent.  Blake Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers & LaMarcus Aldridge of the Portland Trail Blazers were added to the pool that included the roster from the gold medal winning Olympic team from 2008 and the roster from the 2010 world champions.  The candidates include a slew of MVPs, all-stars, & NBA champions with Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, & Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat, Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, Russell Westbrook & Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, Carmelo Anthony & Tyson Chandler of the New York Knicks, Chris Paul & Chauncey Billups of the Los Angeles Clippers, Lamar Odom of the Dallas Mavericks, Deron Williams of the New Jersey Nets, Eric Gordon of the New Orleans Hornets, Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies, Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves, & Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers.  There will be a final roster of 12 players, with 6 alternates, issued by June 18 and head coach Mike Krzyzewski (also head coach of the Duke Blue Devils) & USA men's basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo will have a heck of a time dwindling it down.  For shits and giggles, here's my personal opinion on who the final 12 & 6 should be...

1 - LeBron James

2 - Dwyane Wade

3 - Kobe Bryant

4 - Derrick Rose

5 - Chris Paul

6 - Kevin Durant

7 - Carmelo Anthony

8 - Dwight Howard

9 - Blake Griffin

10 - Kevin Love

11 - LaMarcus Aldridge

12 - Deron Williams

(Alternates)

1 - Russell Westbrook

2 - Chris Bosh

3 - Rudy Gay

4 - Tyson Chandler

5 - Chauncey Billups

6 - Andre Iguodala

Regardless of their final decisions, this USA men's basketball looks to be dominant and will likely continue their domination of national play.

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LeBron ≠ Clutch

Last night the Miami Heat lost their 2nd straight game, this time to the Los Angeles Clippers.  Some may say the Clippers won this game, but sorry, the Heat LOST it.  Absolutely atrocious play from Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, & LeBron James led to an implosion during the 4th quarter & overtime.  The free throw shooting is what did Miami in as LeBron proved once again, late in a close game, he cannot be relied upon.  James only made 9 of 17 free throws, including missing on several key ones late in the 4th, which basically cost them the game.  It wasn't just LeBron, to be fair, as the big 3 as a whole played terribly.  Chris Bosh (6-16), Dwyane Wade (6-17), & LeBron James (7-19) all had bad shooting nights while Chris Paul played lights out for the Clippers.  This was a big road test for the Heat, playing against a good team and they didn't live up to expectations, often times screaming at the referees for more calls to go their way.  Caron Butler helped carry the Clippers in the 2nd half, lighting it up for a total of 20 points while Blake Griffin fooled around and got himself a 20 & 12 double-double.  Key defensive plays from DeAndre Jordan helped propelled the Clippers to their biggest win this year and Miami is left wondering, yet again, if LeBron's inability to close out games will be their eventual downfall.