Snubs weaken All-Stars

This essentially ensured that players such as Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki would not be excluded from the team because he could be named as a center, since he started at center a few times this season for the Jazz.

That's all well and good, but it also excluded a player such as Sacramento's Vlade Divac, who is the second-best center in the Western Conference.

We probably would have been complaining about the selections no matter who the choices were because there is always some remnant of disappointment.

That is, in part, what makes the All-Star team fun - debating who should and should not be left off.

But you do feel badly for players who rightfully should be a part of the experience, if for no other reason than it truly is an honor and most players do take it seriously - particularly those named to the team for the first time.

In any case, even if Divac did not make the team because of the league's memo, he should have made it over teammate Chris Webber.

Yes, Webber is the most talented player on the Kings' roster, but he also is the most absent, and the fact that he has missed more than half his team's games should count against him.

If the game has come down to absentee potential, why not just put Magic Johnson on the team every year, because certainly if he was playing, we could speculate he would remain one of the best players in the game.

In the West, the Clippers' Elton Brand also is a player that got hosed and is very deserving, but there is so much talent in the West that it is difficult to say anybody else should have been left off. Perhaps Steve Francis because of his missed games, but he was voted in by the fans, so that argument is moot.

But in the East? Please.

Alonzo Mourning should not be on the team. The guy no longer is an elite player, no matter how hard he tries to play. Yes, his circumstances are unfortunate, but again, are we rewarding players for their potential and for what they used to be, or is the All-Star Game supposed to be about who is having the best season this season?

Baron Davis. Jerry Stackhouse. Ben Wallace. Andre Miller. Those are players who are deserving of an All-Star spot. Not Mourning, who seems to have been chosen for sympathetic purposes.

Here's what Detroit's Rick Carlisle, Charlotte's Paul Silas and Cleveland's John Lucas should have done: After they received the memo permitting coaches to vote for players competing at various positions, Carlisle, Silas and Lucas should have started at least one game with Stackhouse, Davis and Miller, respectively, at center.

Or here's another idea: Take the best players league-wide and split them into two teams with no relation to conferences.

Oh wait, then nobody in the East would make it.

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* Reach staff writer Frank Hughes at 253-597-8742, ext. 6120, or [email protected]

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Around the league: WESTERN CONFERENCE

Here are a few things to watch for in the second half of the season:

* Ruben Patterson to become unhappy with his playing time in Portland.

* The Wednesday rematch of the Lakers and Bulls, which means Shaquille O'Neal is rematched with Brad Miller.

* At the All-Star Game, Dallas coach Don Nelson will coach the Western Conference and be reunited with Chris Webber.

* Denver's Antonio McDyess, out with a knee injury, said he hopes to return Feb. 12 against the Boston Celtics at the Pepsi Center. ...

* In the Central Division, Charlotte's Jamaal Magloire is "really playing well," said coach Paul Silas, a former Sonic. "He's learning this league and where he fits. Compared to last year when I thought he did fine for a rookie, he's really coming around."

Houston's Steve Francis sees the positive aspects of playing alongside Karl Malone in the All-Star Game.

"At least playing with him (instead of against him) I won't get my head beat in," Francis said. ...

When Minnesota's Wally Szczerbiak was named to his first All-Star team, teammate Kevin Garnett, with whom Szczerbiak had a strained relationship last season, pulled the Wolves into a huddle and congratulated Szczerbiak.

"It meant a lot to me,'' Szczerbiak said. "Little things like that really show how much we're together. In a world of playing basketball, where its so competitive, having a close-knit group like this is really, really special. ... This wouldn't have been possible without my teammates and coaches.'' ...

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he thinks the All-Star coaches should be determined by who was in the NBA Finals the year before, similar to what is done in baseball. Currently, the coach of the team with the best record in the conference coaches the All-Star Game.

"Are you going? Are you not going?" Jackson said. "You don't know if you're going. It's the only break you have in the season for four days and you can't even make plans to go to Cabo." ...

Part of Portland's resurgence has been with Scottie Pippen playing point guard and Damon Stoudamire playing shooting guard.

"It has been fun," said Pippen, a seven-time All-Star at small forward during his years with Chicago. "It is a different role. I don't look to do as much from an offensive standpoint as I have done throughout my whole career. I'm content with it. We have guys on this team who can put the ball in the hole. Scoring is not my main concern."

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EASTERN CONFERENCE

LaPhonso Ellis has an interesting take on why the Heat is suddenly resurgent. When talking about the team's five free agent signees, including himself, Jim Jackson, Rod Strickland, Chris Gatling and Kendall Gill, Ellis said:

"All of us have been the best players on our old teams. If you're not careful, when the pressure comes, we tend to go back to our old mentality that we've got to take the game over. We're not doing that now."

For the record, Ellis was not the best player on his old team, Antonio McDyess was; Jackson was not the best player on his old team, Andre Miller was; Strickland was not the best, Rasheed Wallace was; Gatling has never been the best player anywhere; and Gill was maybe the best player on his high school team.

Maybe the fact that they all think they were the best player on their team is why they are now 10 games under .500.

And how about this from Alonzo Mourning, answering criticism that he should not have been named to the All-Star team:

"I don't think I got any sympathy votes," Mourning said. "I got votes because of the work I put in. ... I can't think of any other center in the East that's having the same kind of impact I'm having on my team."

Again, his team is 10 games under .500. ...

This is what the NBA has come to: When Orlando guard Tracy McGrady attended the Florida-Kentucky game in Gainesville, Fla., last week, it was the first college basketball game he'd ever been to in person. ...

In yet another indictment of college coaches moving to the pros, the Atlanta Hawks under Lon Kruger are 14-31, the worst record in modern franchise history, and have lost by at least 20 points nine times this season. "Some of (the players) are not taking the opportunity to compete," Kruger said. ...

When Chicago's Brad Miller had 32 points in a win over Memphis a week ago, it was the first time a center had led the Bulls in scoring with that many points since Artis Gilmore in 1982. ...

In a game last week, Atlanta's Shareef Abdur-Rahim got shoved in the back after he had a bad performance. He turned around to start something, then noticed it was Detroit's Ben Wallace with whom he was about to tussle. Abdur-Rahim walked away. "He must have thought we were the (Houston) Rockets and I was Kenny Thomas," Wallace said, referring to a fight Abdur-Rahim got into a few weeks ago. "I ain't Kenny Thomas." ...

How about this for surreal? Ray Allen is the first Bucks player to make three consecutive All-Star teams since Vin Baker (1995-97).

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Rim shots

SACKMAN COMETH?

Bucks coach George Karl on what the All-Star Game has become:

"All-Star weekend reminds me of the burning of Rome. It reminds me of a celebration of extravagance, and the game needs more fundamental direction and awareness. It's a great weekend. It's a lot of fun, but it reminds me of the decline of Rome."

OK, TRY AN UNCLE

"I liken him to a giant, and everyone else is an ant. You could put a bigger ant or a smaller ant on him, and it won't really matter."

- Orlando coach Doc Rivers on Shaquille O'Neal.

COMING OF AGE

"For him, turning 21 just means he's old enough to drink. In college, you're drinking as a freshman."

- Jalen Rose on Jonathan Bender, who came to the NBA straight from high school.

OH WELL

"I'll spend time with my wife and kids.... Oh yeah, I don't have a wife and kids."

- Elton Brand after being snubbed for the All-Star Game.

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Frank Hughes' Top5 All-Star snubs

Elton Brand, Clippers