A first look at the potential Eastern Conference All Star starters
Toronto’s own Drake will be courtside for the first All Star game in his hometown With voting opening up last week for the All Star game, it is time to take an early look at who might be the 12 who represent the Eastern Conference in the game in February. The team will consist of two backcourt and three frontcourt starters. Position distinctions were dropped a couple of years ago, as well as seven reserves that can come from any position.As it looks right now, the East is going to have some interesting competition in the backcourt, while the centers will have to duel it out to see if they can get three representitives from that one postion.The forwards’ spots seem to be almost decided already, as there doesn’t seem to be anyone who will come up with a season good enough to challenge the usual suspects. At this time, I will only be looking at each group by position (point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center), while not making any call on who I think should or will be starting. So, with further ado, let’s take a look.
#5 Center
The center spots, while not as juicy as either of the backcourt positions, will offer some intrigue over the next two months as we get closer and closer to All-Star weekend. There seems to be four players vying for no more than three spots that could go to centers, especially if each of these four are in top six Eastern Conference teams.
What makes this race very unique is that each of the players represent a different type of player. Hassan Whiteside is the late bloomer who took the league by storm last year with an array of dunks and blocked shots. He still isnt totally fundamentally sound, and sometimes seems to look like a square peg (destined for a wide open attack) trying to fit into a round hole (the Heats tight, slowed down offense).
Al Horford, is continuing his steady two-way play, able to punish defenders from all over the court, while providing solid rim protection despite being a little undersized for a center. If the Hawks start playing a little better as a team, he could be a shoo-in.
Nikola Vucevic of the Magic is leading one of the better turnarounds in the conference, helping anchor the offense and providing some defense inside. He is the classic post player who has developed a decent mid-range game, but still needs to improve his defense to become asurefire All-Star.
The lone lock of this group is Andre Drummond, who has taken to coach Stan Van Gundys four out/one in offense and thrived. With pick and roll partner Reggie Jackson, they have helped turn the Pistons around and seem to have them primed for a playoff spot.
Drummond has been a devastating athletic force, throwing down dunks and grabbing rebounds at an incredible rate. If he can refine his defense and learn to hit foul shots even close to 55%, he is going to be unstoppable.
1. Andre Drummond
2. Al Horford
3. Nikola Vucevic