West All Star Team

Popovich has been named head coach for the Western all star team. This is upsetting due to the fact that the Warriors have a better record and since no coach can coach the team in back to back years that makes Steve Kerr ineligible. The thing is Luke Walton has coached the warriors through 43 games this season. That is more than half the season and he deserves to be in Toronto. What could make this even more controversal is if Tyronn Lue coaches the East all star team. Blatt had coached the Cavs to the top of the East and now Lue might make the trip to Toronto when he will only have coached 12 games as head coach by the time All Star break arrives.

Not only from a coaching perspective are things unfair, but for the players things unfair as well. DeMarcus Cousins has played very well this season and right now the Kings sit in 8th in the West. Without a doubt Cousins is the best center in the West and maybe the whole NBA. He has earned a starting spot on the West team and he won't get that. The voting has changed in recent years and forwards and centers have been lumped into the same category. With Cousins being listed as a front court player he has to compete with Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Kobe Bryant for votes. And those who are confused, Kobe is now listed as a front court player, not back court. One of the greatest shooting guards of all time has recently been moved to small forward for his team and that allows him to be listed as a front court player. This is just taking a spot away from someone who deserves it.

In the end all star appearances are just accolades. I'm sure every player would love to make the all star team, but ever players goal is to win a Championship because that is how players are remembered.

Laughing at Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin has been out since December 26 with a partially torn left quadriceps. With each passing day Griffin has been nearing a return. But today Griffin faced a set back and it had nothing to do with the injury he currently has. In fact it had nothing to do with Basketball. Blake Griffin reportedly broke his hand after getting into an argument with a member of the teams equipment staff. He underwent surgery today and will be out 4-6 more weeks with this injury. This is such a dumb injury. It makes Griffin bad and quite frankly it makes the Clippers look bad. It is something that could have easily been avoided and there is no reason for Griffin to be fighting an equipment manager. There is just too much drama that surrounds this franchise. And this incident just reflects why the Clippers won't be a championship contender any time soon.

Luke Walton Should Coach in All Star Game

Luke Walton has been moved back into the assistant coach spot on the Golden State Warriors with the return of head coach Steve Kerr. Steve Kerr took a leave of absence from the team after under going back surgery in off season. Walton was named intern head coach and lead the Warriors to a 24-0 start, best in NBA history, as well as a 39-4 record. Walton wasn't awarded any of the wins the Warriors obtained under his guidance. In fact his record is 0-0. Even without being given credit Walton was named coach of the month for November.

With all that said the Warriors sit atop the Western Conference with a record of 40-4. Whether people want to admit it or not, Luke Walton has done a lot for this team. He was the one that is court side and making the play calls, substitutions, calling timeouts, and much more. He is the one responsible for running the team while Kerr is away and he did an excellent job.

The coach for each all star team is decided by the team at the top of each conference at the mid way point. The Warriors are at the top right now. But the rules also state that a coach can't coach in back to back years. But since Kerr isn't eligible that means Popovich would coach the team. Now Pop doesn't necessarily care about coaching the game at this point in his career. I think it makes sense that Walton coaches the game. He has earned it and I'm sure all other coaches would be in favor of Walton making the trip to Toronto. In the end it will be up to the NBA to decide what will happen. Walton is in a bizarre situation that no other coach has really ever been in.

The Warriors May Actually be Mortal

NBA.com

The Warriors suffered their second loss in three games last night to the Detroit Pistons. After losing a close game in Denver on Wednesday it seemed like the Warriors would be looking at another win streak before their next loss. But on Saturday the Pistons came to play and they would beat the Warriors by a convincing margin. The Pistons won the game 113-95. Even Stephen Curry's 38 points weren't enough to get the win against a middle of the pack Pistons team. Not to take anything away from the Pistons, who played well as a team, but the Warriors have to win games against teams like this. And it's not like the Denver game where they lost by 2. They lost by 18 to the Pistons. The last time the Warriors lost by double digits was exactly one year ago from last night.

This might be a wake up call for the Warriors to start playing better and not laying off the gas. Or maybe the Warriors started the season so strong that they might not be able to live up to expectations they set.

Either way the Warriors need to shake off this loss and begin to prepare for a meeting with the Cavaliers tomorrow night in Cleveland. Tip-off time is 8:00 and the game can be seen on TNT. This game will be a must watch for fans.

Nets Finally Restarting

The Nets fired coach Lionel Hollins today and reassigned GM Billy King today. It is about time that the Nets realize they need a fresh start. Lionel Hollins has not done the best job coaching the Nets posting a record of 48-71. And while Billy King seemed like a master mind back in 2013 bringing in Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to create what could have been a big 5, he ultimately destroyed the Nets future, which is now. Only two players remain from that 2013-14 team and that's Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez. Lopez will be the franchises corner stone going forward while Joe Johnson will most likely be on his way out after this season or at the trade deadline.

With the poor performance of the Nets as of late it was inevitable that there would be changes coming soon. The Nets are hitting the rebuild button and this coming summer we will see whether the Nets will look for a quick rebuild through free agency or take the long route and possibly trade some of their best players for young talent and draft picks. For now the Nets are stuck in a season that doesn't have much to look forward to.

With the trade line approaching expect the Nets to get on the phones and look around the league for a player that has a low risk high reward factor. The Nets should attempt to trade for Lance Stephenson, but it will be hard considering they don't have much to offer. Joe Johnson's contract is too large and Jarrett Jack being out for the season makes him impossible to trade. Even if Jack was healthy the Clippers probably would not be looking for another guard. The Nets will most likely stand pat at the trade deadline because anyone that would consider the GM job now could become less interested if the Nets make a move that the person considering the job doesn't like.

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The upside to all this is that things cannot get much worse. Soon enough a free agent will want to come to Brooklyn and if that does not work the Nets still have Lopez and Young locked up. The Nets have the option to either try to build around those two or trade them to contending teams for younger players with high potential or even draft picks.