Suns Sparkle On All-Star Weekend

Redick, Porter, McGary, Bennett Win Honors

J.J. Redick dominated the 3 point contest Final

What a thrilling All-Star Weekend it was for Phoenix Suns fans, as no less than four of their players earned All-Star recognition.  Some of the selections were controversial, but cases can be made for their selections.  There was also controversy in the 3 point contest's first round, where J.J. Redick tied with Kyle Korver and Stephen Curry for second place, but it was Redick and Korver who advanced to the final, with Curry missing out.

Once he got to the final round, however, Redick absolutely obliterated Korver and Mike Dunleavy, with a rout-inducing 20 to Dunleavy's 15 (who had the highest score in the entire contest with 22 in the first round), and Korver's 14.  The victory was a nice feather in the cap for the 29 year old shooting guard, who has been heavily involved in trade talks leading up to the deadline, his name linked to numerous contenders and playoff teams.

Then it was on to the Rookies-Sophomores game that saw three Suns pulling on representative jerseys.


Anthony Bennett made the Rookie team

It's a testament to just how weak this rookie class is that Anthony Bennett made the All-Star Rookie team as a reserve, despite posting awful numbers in his first half-season.  That said, he was quietly efficient in his 17 minutes of the first years' rout at the hands of the second years, scoring 5 points with 2 steals on 2/3 shooting.  AB15 is still trying to find his rhythm, and his rawness could spell his sitting deep on the bench next season, given Phoenix's massive amount of cap space and holding of three first round picks in another weak draft class - including one that's lottery-bound in the San Antonio Spurs.

Mitch McGary started for the second years and put on a dominating performance - 24 points, 15 rebounds, and a block on a sizzling 11/17 shooting night, and reserve Otto Porter was flawless in his 15 minutes of action, making all 4 of his shot attempts for 11 points, 4 assists, 0 turnovers and 0 fouls.  The Sophomores routed the Rookies 167-131 on the back of McGary's sensational game, and rightful MVP Marcus Smart's near-triple double.

And then came the controversy in the All-Star game proper.


Mitch McGary - popular All-Star

Many were shocked to find not one, but two Suns on the West's roster, with numerous outlets deriding the selections.  That didn't matter to Mitch McGary though, as fresh off his stellar showing in the Rookie/Sophomore showcase, he stepped in for Dwight Howard, who fouled out after 6 minutes and had 18 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 27 minutes of court time, hitting 7 of his 12 efforts from the floor, another accurate shooting night.

As for the controversy surrounding his selection, take a look at these numbers for centers in the league:



#5 in the league in PPG for centers, and the top 3 are all in the East.



#6 in the league in RBG for centers, and 4 of the 5 guys ahead of him are all from the East.



#10 in the league in FG % for centers, and while he's the 4th best West center, it's quite clear that as the #2 point scorer and rebounding center in the West, and #4 shooting accuracy C in the West, he rightfully deserved his spot in the All-Star game, particularly with the production he put in while he was there.



One more piece - Top 5 overall in center double-doubles, and #2 in the West.


Otto Porter's All-Star nod outraged many on the Internet

But the selection that *really* stuck in the craw of watchers was Otto Porter, who shrugged off the haters for a beautiful 5 of 6, 2 of 2 from 3 point range for 12 points in 13 minutes, meaning that combined, Porter missed just one shot all All-Star weekend long.  Despite all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Georgetown alum's pick, once again, when you look at the numbers, Porter's place becomes easily defensible.



#8 in the league in SF scoring And #2 in the West?  Check.



#9 in the league in SF FG shooting % and #2 in the West again?  Check.



3 point shooting is where it gets more interesting, given the rare trend of the West dominating this category for SFs, but Porter is still a Top 7 ranking here, and above the magic 40% line.



#4 in the league in SF double-doubles and #1 in the West? Double that of the #2 West SF, even? You don't say!



Oh what's that?  #1 in the West in efficiency for small forwards?  Game.set.match.  Mic drop.  Walk out.

On a serious note, Porter made the All-Star team and very defensibly so, because most of the SF talent is in the East, and in the West, it's quite weak.  And all of this, of course, goes without mentioning Porter's excellent defensive numbers, when adjusted for the bend-don't-break defensive scheme of the Suns.

Updated. Forgot to add in the DD position charts like I planned to.

Porter has come a long way, given where he was last season.

I'm in Vegas until Sunday, and I want to get a UNLV teacher drunk, what say you Jestor?

Good article. This also shows cousins deserved the all star nod big time with drummond possibly. Also, didn't realize players in the rookie sophomore game could play in the all star game too.

Great read. Selections were weird but make sense based on your research