Well, we're about two hours from finding out that answer. My hunch is that the answer will be a resounding 'No.'
I truly hope that isn't the case. Big Al has been tremendous during the first half of the season and is certainly deserving of being an All-Star. He has 24 double-doubles on the season and 20 games of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. He had that little 39-point night against the Bulls. And he has done it all while being the clear focal point of the Timberwolves offense.
Imagine how much better he would be if he always got help from a couple of teammates, something that didn't happen until more recently.
Why don't I think Al will make it? Because of the Shaq factor. Shaquille O'Neal often takes of one half of back-to-backs, has more help and worse numbers than Big Al. But this, after all, is the NBA. With the game in Phoenix, the NBA is going to want O'Neal and his mega-watt smile in attendance. The league is going to want to create even more buzz. And maybe more importantly, the league isn't going to want any lingering chatter in Phoenix about how O'Neal deserves to play.
And the best way to ensure that is to screw Big Al.
I pretty much always thought that Big Al was going to have a tough time making the team -- and the team's GPS idea is totally lame as Portland did it a year ago to pump Brandon Roy -- but seeing what happened to Love makes me more certain Big Al will have the weekend off.
A case can be made against Big Al, especially when you factor in players from all positions. Being an All-Star in the NBA isn't easy. This isn't Major League Baseball or the NHL where you can be an All-Star just because you're the best player on a crap team.
But that Kevin Love isn't in the rookie-sophomore game is, in the words of McHale "utterly ridiculous." The UCLA rookie himself reportedly called the move "bullshit."
John Hollinger of espn.com clearly isn't pleased either. I am clearly not a super stat geek and know how to figure PUR and the like. But I do know this: The assistant coaches in the league should know better.
How many times a game to assistant coaches bark at their players about rebounding? How often do they get on their own guys about the importance of boxing out? The number is too high to count.
So what do they do? They leave out the player who leads all rookies in rebounds per game and rebounds per 48 minutes. Love, without question, had a rough first six weeks or so this season. But he has totally come around of late.
To me, the whole thing is a moving target. Consider:
If this is about sheer performance, then shouldn't 9.0 points and 8.4 rebounds and playing in every game be worth more than 9.0 points and 7.4 rebounds and missing six games? Those, by the way, are numbers comparing Love and Portland rookie Greg Oden.
If it is about contributing to a team's success, then why the hell does Memphis have two players on the team and Love not make it?
Who shouldn't have made it? I'm going to go with either Marc Gasol (11.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 30.4 mpg) or Eric Gordon (13.8 ppg, 32.2 mpg). Both are simply the products of being on teams that are so bad that they have to play rookies extended minutes.
Maybe I'll be wrong, but I think Big Al is going to have the weekend off. And if the Wolves aren't represented in Phoenix, it will be a shame.
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