Arenas crashes party as All-Star starters announced

Basketball Betting Lines

01/26/2007 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland forward LeBron James and Houston center Yao Ming were the top vote-getters in their respective conferences as the starters were announced Thursday for the 2007 NBA All-Star game, which will be held on Sunday, February 18 in Las Vegas.

James, last year's All-Star game MVP, received 2,516,049 votes to top all players and lead the East. James' total was the second highest in league history, behind only Yao's 2,558,278 votes in 2005.

Yao didn't do to bad himself this year, despite a knee injury that will keep him out of the game. The Rockets center led the West in votes with 2,451,718, good for the fourth most all-time.

While Yao and James leading their conferences in votes is no surprise, the surge Gilbert Arenas made to crack the East's starting lineup was. The Washington guard, who didn't make the squad last year until being added as an injury replacement, made up over 200,000 votes to pass the Nets' Vince Carter for the second guard spot, joining Miami's Dwyane Wade (2,029,591 votes).

Arenas ended with 1,454,166 votes, a mere 3,010 more than Carter. That total marks the fourth-closest race in NBA All-Star history. The closest ever was A.C. Green's 1,226-vote difference over Karl Malone in 1990.

Despite missing a majority of the season so far due to knee surgery, Shaquille O'Neal received 1,622,446 votes and was selected to his 14th straight All-Star game. That ties him with both Jerry West and Malone for the most consecutive selections.

Rounding out the starters for the East will be first-time starter Chris Bosh of Toronto. Bosh netted 1,091,263 votes to beat out Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal.

Over on the Western side, Yao's teammate Tracy McGrady (1,942,796) will start, and appear in his seventh All-Star game. Joining him in the backcourt will be Lakers star Kobe Bryant (2,138,777), who will be making his ninth trip to the All-Star tilt.

A new-comer to the conference, Denver's Allen Iverson fell over 100,000 votes short of reaching the starting lineup. The former 76er had started the last seven mid-season classics and is a two-time MVP.

Kevin Garnett of Minnesota received the most votes of any Western forward with 1,616,575 while Tim Duncan (1,436,584), who has been selected to every All- Star game since entering the league in 1997, finished second and will join Garnett up front as a starter. Those selections will leave Denver's Carmelo Anthony out of the starting lineup.

Phoenix head coach Mike D'Antoni and the rest of the Suns coaching staff will guide the Western team, having already clinched the best winning percentage among West teams through games of February 4th with a record of 34-8. The Eastern Conference coach has yet to be determined.

Last year, Wade's late basket helped the East rally for a 122-120 win. James ended with 29 points and six boards to become the youngest MVP at 21-years-old in the history of the contest.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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