Tag: All-Star Game

James Harden maintains voting lead for All-Star Game start

In an updated tally, Rockets guard James Harden is maintaining his big lead in fan votes to be a starter in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.

In the second of three weekly updates from the NBA each Thursday, Houston Rockets star James Harden is maintaining his sizable lead in fan votes to be a backcourt starter in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.

Harden has been an All-Star in all seven of his completed seasons with the Rockets, and a starter in five of them.

Harden currently ranks second in fan voting among Western Conference guards, trailing only Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks. Doncic, who hails from Slovenia and brings a significant international voting presence, nearly leads the entire NBA in early voting results.

The fan vote accounts for half of the voting that determines All-Star starters. Players make up 25%, as does a panel of media members.

While votes from the latter two groups are not yet known, it’s hard to imagine Harden not in the top two of West guards by many voters (if any). The 2018 MVP is averaging a league-leading 38.5 points per game, which is the highest total of any player in the last 56 years and the most by a guard ever. He’s also in the NBA’s top 10 in assists at 7.6 per game.

Fellow Rockets guard Russell Westbrook, who is averaging 24.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game, is fifth in the fan voting among Western Conference guards. However, barring an injury to Doncic or Harden, there wouldn’t appear to be a path for Westbrook to start.

However, Westbrook could still make the All-Star Game as a reserve. All 30 NBA coaches are given a ballot with the ability to select three frontcourt players, two backcourt players, and two wild-card picks from each conference. Westbrook has been an All-Star in eight of the last nine seasons, and he was the game’s MVP in 2015 and 2016.

Besides Harden and Westbrook, no other Rockets player is currently in the top 10 of fan voting totals. Fan voting continues through Jan. 20, with a third interim update to come on Jan. 16. The game’s starters will be announced on Jan. 23, and the reserves on Jan. 30.

The player in each conference with the most fan votes will be named a team captain and subsequently draft his own roster for the game. At the moment, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks are on course for that honor.

The 2020 All-Star Game will be held on Sunday, Feb. 16 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

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Boston’s early All-Star voting surprises, Tacko Fall 6th in frontcourt

With Tacko Mania sweeping the NBA, could Boston have FOUR players in the 2020 All-Star game? If Celtics fans shore up the bids of Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum, it’s not out of the question.

This is…not how most of us envision the Boston Celtics landing three players in the NBA’s 2020 All-Star game.

Boston’s dynamic duo of guard Jaylen Brown and swingman Jayson Tatum seemed poised to secure their first bids to the February contest in light of their recent success.

Driving their team to the league’s third best record behind All-NBA point guard Kemba Walker’s leadership, many presumed the trio of Boston starters would be representing the East.

But as have many thus far, analysts may have underestimated Tacko Mania, with the rookie two-way center recording the sixth-most votes behind teammate Tatum’s 364,137 votes among frontcourt players.

The drop-off after the Duke product is a sharp one, though, with Fall taking 110,269 votes.

There’s still plenty of time for a crowded field of players with much more NBA playing time to overtake the first-year big man spending most of his minutes with the Maine Red Claws as part of his two way assignment with Boston’s G League affiliate.

The Celtics’ Gordon Hayward made a respectable showing among frontcourt candidates with 75,420 votes, enough for eighth among his frontcourt peers,

On the other side of the voting divide, Walker sits in third place with 432,031 votes, a few hundred behind the Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving in third, and not far behind first-place Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks with his 443,412 votes.

Fourth-year shooting guard Jaylen Brown came in a few thousand votes behind the Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons with 156,537 votes to take seventh place in the guard race.

With only 20,000 or so votes separating he and fifth-place holder Zach Lavine, the Cal-Berkeley product could make his way to a reserve slot by the time voting ends.

Should Tacko Mania persevere, having four All-Stars in 2020 would not be out of the question, even if very unlikely considering the impact of media and player voting.

Given the Senegalese center’s sparse experience at the NBA level, it would — by a long, long way — be one of the weirdest teams sent to play a game that probably has a bigger real-world impact on player salaries and Hall-of-Fame bids than it should.

Now, go vote!

Fan votes have Rockets’ James Harden in line for All-Star start

Rockets star James Harden ranks second among West guards in 2020 NBA All-Star Game fan voting, while Russell Westbrook is at fifth.

Houston Rockets superstar James Harden is on course to be a starter in the NBA All-Star Game for a fourth consecutive year, according to the league’s initial release of fan voting totals.

Harden has been an All-Star in all seven of his completed seasons with the Rockets, and a starter in five of them.

Harden currently ranks second in fan voting among Western Conference guards, trailing only Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks. Doncic, who hails from Slovenia and brings a significant international voting presence, leads the entire NBA in early voting results.

The fan vote accounts for half of the voting that determines All-Star starters. Players make up 25%, as does a panel of media members.

While the status of votes from the latter two groups is not yet known, it’s hard to imagine Harden not in the top two of West guards by any of those voting blocks. The 2018 MVP currently averages a league-leading 38.2 points per game, which is the highest total of any player in the last 56 years. He’s also in the NBA’s top 10 in assists at 7.5 per game.

Fellow Rockets guard Russell Westbrook, who is averaging 24.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game, is fifth in the fan voting among Western Conference guards. However, barring an injury to Doncic or Harden, there wouldn’t appear to be a path for Westbrook to start.

However, Westbrook could still make the All-Star Game as a reserve. All 30 NBA coaches are given a ballot with the ability to select three frontcourt players, two backcourt players, and two wild-card picks from each conference. Westbrook has been an All-Star in eight of the last nine seasons, and he was the game’s MVP in 2015 and 2016.

Besides Harden and Westbrook, no other Rockets player is currently in the top 10 of fan voting totals. Fan voting continues through Jan. 20, with updated tallies to be released on Jan. 9 and Jan. 16. The game’s starters will be announced on Jan. 23, and the reserves on Jan. 30.

The 2020 All-Star Game will then be held on Sunday, Feb. 16 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

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How to Watch: 2020 Under Armour All-American Game Featuring Three Notre Dame Signees

Chris Tyree, the No. 1 rated all-purpose back in the nation according to 247Sports will serve as a captain for the “Savage” team.  Tyree was the first-runner-up in the fastest man competition at practices this week.

Right out of the shoot in the new year many of us get a chance to watch some of the future stars of college football in live game-action for the first time as high school all-star games begin taking place.

Saturday will bring us the All-American Game (formerly sponsored by the US Army) that will feature four future Golden Domers.

Thursday night however offers a chance to watch a couple future members of the Notre Dame offense as they’ll be on display in the 2020 Under Armour All-American Game.

Chris Tyree, the No. 1 rated all-purpose back in the nation according to 247Sports will serve as a captain for the “Savage” team.  Tyree was the first-runner-up in the fastest man competition at practices this week.

No. 7 pro-style quarterback Drew Pyne will also play for team Savage.

The final Notre Dame signee who is also a savage, at least on Thursday night is Alex Peitsch who has been graded by some as the best high school long-snapper in the country this past fall.

You can watch all three in action as well as plenty of other future college stars as the Under Armour All-American Game will air:

Date – Thursday, January 2
Time – 6:00 pm E.T.
TV – ESPN2
Venue – Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL

The case for 3 Boston Celtics in the 2020 NBA All-Star game

With shooting guard Jaylen Brown, forward Jayson Tatum and point guard Kemba Walker driving Boston’s success, the case for three Celtics in the 2020 All-Star game is a strong one.

Do the Boston Celtics have a legitimate shot at sending three players to the 2020 NBA All-Star game?

After the Jay Team combined for 64 points and 14 rebounds in their 129-117 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the case is getting stronger.

Just the third trio to play for the storied franchise who have scored 30 or more each while still younger than 23, the young duo of fourth-year shooting guard Jaylen Brown and third-year swingman Jayson Tatum are in rarified air.

Only Bill Russell and Tommy Heinsohn, and Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker decades later are the only other duos to achieve such a feat.

And we should not forget they are doing it alongside a modern-day Walker having a career year wearing the same No. 8 jersey his predecessor did.

That Walker, UConn product Kemba, joined Brown as the first teammates in NBA history to each make five threes on Christmas.

What’s more, he has hit as many in a dozen games already this season, just four games short of the franchise season record held by Isaiah Thomas in 2016-17.

Did we mention there’s more than half the season ahead?

The Celtics are the only team in the NBA with three players averaging north of 20 points per contest, own the league’s second-best scoring differential, third-best record, third-best defense, and fourth-best offense, as related by Celtics play-by-play maestro Sean Grande.

The case only gets stronger when you look at the other options given the former Husky is likely a starter for the mid-season friendly.

Only the Brooklyn Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie and perhaps Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal or the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young the only guards with reasonable shots at stealing away a starting role from the Bronx native.

There’s also few truly transcendent frontcourt players in the East for the fire-and-ice duo to compete with after Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

And, as noted by MassLive’s John Karalis, there are plenty more reasons than counting stats to include the Jay Team in full, such as the fact Brown joins Giannis as the only other East player averaging above 20 points per contest with greater than 50 % accuracy.

The Duke product is second among East forwards in plus/minus, and third in net rating, while joining Brown among the top six in offensive rating.

One might even make the argument it’s hard to not have the Celtics with three players in a wing-starved Eastern Conference. Teammate Daniel Theis, for example, thinks all three ought to make it, though he’s obviously going to be biased.

“I think we’re going to have all three in there,” Theis offered (via MassLive’s Tom Westerholm). “I think they deserve it. Personally they’re playing great, and as a team we have the second-best record [in the East] right now,” he added.

Unbiased eyes are coming around as well, with basketball fanatics like actor Michael Rapaport seeing the argument for three being sound as well.

Of course, none of this will happen without the fan vote lifting the trio into the event with fan voting, a fact noted after Boston’s Friday afternoon win over the Cavs by outspoken center Enes Kanter.

“Please don’t forget to vote for Tatum and Brown for the NBA All-Stars,” admonished the Turkish big man, who has been on something of a tear of his own over the last few games Boston has played.

“Please, vote for them,” he continued, noting it was their play making everyone around them better.

Brown has kept his eyes on the prize, however, prefering to take each game in front of the team as a chance to hone their skills further. “We have to continue to have the right balance. Make the right plays, the right reads, and continue to get better,” noted the Georgia native.

“We have to get better,” he added. “We’re looking to be a team playing deep into the postseason this year so every game counts, every game is a chance to get better, every game is an opportunity and we’ve got to make sure that we seize it.”

“We still have our best days in front of us, so as a team we have to continue to strive, less about the opponent and more about us,” he continued.

The prospect of this version of the Celtics as incomplete and growing stronger has to strike fear into the hearts of rival teams around the league, because this trio of scoring menaces has already put the league on notice.

Are we really still debating whether they should be in the All-Star game?

Actor Michael Rapaport on board for 2 Celtics in 2020 All-Star Game

The popular film and television actor thinks there’s a case to be made for three of the Boston Celtics’ players to make the game, though.

Popular actor and basketball aficionado Michael Rapaport thinks the Boston Celtics have a legitimate case to get three players in the 2020 NBA All-Star game.

Appearing on NBC Sports Boston’s Boston Sports Tonight show, the former cast member of Boston Public and currently starring in the Netflix-only show Atypical believes the Celtics are more likely to end up with a pair of their players in the midseason exhibition game.

More is not out of the question for the New Yorker, however, as reported by Yahoo Sports’ Justin Leger.

“I would have to go [with] — just because Kemba’s my guy and he’s been underappreciated — I say Kemba and Jaylen,” Rapaport offered on his Celtic picks for the tilt. “But you could almost — I mean, if you keep going on the way you’re going, there’s going to be an argument for the three of them.”

Third-year swingman Jayson Tatum would be the unsurprising third Celtic for the actor, who related his mother Brandy Cole was a fan of Rapaport from his four-episode stint with the 1990s series Friends when the pair first crossed paths two years ago.

“I met Jayson Tatum when he was in the Rookie All-Star game his rookie year in L.A. … The way I met him is he introduced — and this made me feel old — he introduced me by saying, ‘how you doing, I’m Jayson Tatum … my mom’s a big fan of yours.”

While that might feel like just yesterday to the actor (and, truthfully, many of us), that series — and Rapaport’s time with it — are now a full two decades past, nearly all of the Duke product’s life.

Watch the full episode linked here to hear the rest of Rapaport’s thoughts on the Celtics, his basketball doppelganger in Brian Scalabrine, his upcoming plans in Boston, and more.

Notre Dame Football: Four Former Domers Headed to Pro Bowl

Finally, Ronnie Stanley who we discussed more thoroughly just a few days ago because of his truly elite pass blocking grades is headed to his first ever Pro Bowl. 

Tuesday night brought news of the 2020 Pro Bowl rosters in the NFL and as a surprise to none, Notre Dame was well-represented as four former Fighting Irish football players were named to the NFL All-Star rosters.

Perhaps the least surprising news is that three of the four players to earn a berth to the Pro Bowl make their living on the offensive line.

It’s becoming a late December tradition but Nick Martin, right guard of the Dallas Cowboys was named to his sixth straight Pro Bowl on Tuesday.  Martin has made the game each of his six years in the league.

Joining him at the guard position will be Quenton Nelson of the Indianapolis Colts. Nelson has transformed the Colts from having one of the poorest offensive line units in the league to one of the better ones and will be participating in his second Pro Bowl of his two-year NFL career.

Finally, Ronnie Stanley who we discussed more thoroughly just a few days ago because of his truly elite pass blocking grades is headed to his first ever Pro Bowl.  He is one of a record 12 Baltimore Ravens to be selected for the game, a game he very well could miss since his Ravens appear to be the best thing going in the NFL right now and could very well be getting ready for the Super Bowl on Pro Bowl Sunday.

And defensively Harrison Smith of the Minnesota Vikings is headed to the Pro Bowl for the fifth season in a row.  Smith has again been a bright spot on a Vikings team that has seen the rest of it’s secondary begin to a look a little long in the tooth this season.  Smith has picked off three opponents passes this season while forcing and recovering a couple of fumbles each as well.

The 2020 Pro Bowl will take place at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on January 26.