Phoenix is the place to find All-Stars

Sporting News, The, Jan 30, 1995 by Shaun Powell

Filling out an All-Star roster is almost like doing your taxes in April: You haggle over numbers and make your deductions as the deadline is tick-tick-ticking toward you.

The All-Star Weekend is in Phoenix this year, and the easiest way to draw up the West squad is to suit up the home team. Charles Barkley is deserving. Danny Manning has sacrificed plenty - like money, number of shots and his starting position - and yet has been the best Suns player. Dan Majerle was ahead of most guards in the latest fan voting. And Wesley Person will play in the Junior All-Star Game, euphemistically known as the Rookie Game.

Here is who deserves to play in the desert on February 12:

Starting East guards: Penny Hardaway, Magic, and Reggie Miller, Pacers. Miller, surprisingly timid on offense, isn't having the breakout year that many expected, but he is still the class of the East when it comes to shooting. Hardaway has a distant lead on a weak group of East point guards.

Starting East forwards: Larry Johnson, Hornets, and Scottie Pippen, Bulls. Johnson says he should be a starter. "My personal goal was to get back to my true form," he says, "and my true form is an All-Star player." Johnson put in a summer of rehab on his back and improved his conditioning He isn't the Grandmama of two years ago but he's close. Real close.

Starting East center: Shaquille O'Neal, Magic. What we want to know is this: Are the Shaq Rules still in effect? In last year's game, Shaq drew more triple-teams from the West defenders than the media.

East reserves: Mark Price, Cavaliers; Kenny Anderson, Nets; Joe Dumars, Pistons; Tyrone Hill, Cavaliers; Glen Rice, Heat; Patrick Ewing, Knicks; Alonzo Mourning, Hornets.

Some will ask, "Where's Grant Hill?" Well, we've been asking the same thing since December. After the Pistons rookie's remarkable start, defenses wised up and gave him the outside shot; Hill's scoring average took a hit More damaging was the painful injury to Hill's left arch january 5, which sent him to the bench and the Pistons to the bottom of the standings.

Starting West guards: Gary Payton, Sonics, and John Stockton, Jazz. Payton has toned down his act and toned up his game, especially his scoring. As for Payton's backcourt mate, well, there are two things you can count on in the All-Star Game. One is an appearance by Stockton. The other is an appearance by Karl Malone.

Starting West forwards: Karl Malone, Jazz, and Charles Barkley, Suns. Malone trails Shawn Kemp in the fan voting. That's not as bad as '90, when he was elbowed out as a starter by A.C. Green, but it shows that the public is taking his 25 points and 10 rebounds for granted.

Starting West center: Hakeem Olajuwon, Rockets. The 88 points Olajuwon dropped on David Robinson and Dikembe Mutombo on consecutive nights sealed his starting status.

West reserves: Clyde Drexler, Blazers; Jim Jackson, Mavericks; Mitch Richmond, Kings; Danny Manning, Suns; Cedric Ceballos, Lakers; Shawn Kemp, Sonics; David Robinson, Spurs.

Latrell Sprewell will probably go to Phoenix at the expense of Richmond, who is having a comparable season. But even when things were at their absolute worst in Sacramento, Richmond never refused to show up for practice. That's the sin Sprewell committed against a slumping Warriors team that needs all the positive reinforcement it can get.

Owning up

David Gerstein, one of seven principal owners of the Nets, tossed votes of confidence in every direction of the franchise last week.

"I'm not saying the owners and players here are the greatest," Gerstein says, "but I'm saying we really give a damn."

If the Nets' owners really do "give a damn," they would quit with the soft-glove treatment when their renegade players violate basic team rules. G.M. Willis Reed hasn't suspended a player yet.

Jazz's tune

Before you get too worked up over the Jazz, remember that 18 of their first 28 victories were accomplished against Eastern Conference teams. The Jazz won't even play an Eastern when it truly counts - in the NBA Finals - until they show the same kind of dominance against the Seattles and Houstons and Phoenixes.

And with center Felton Spencer gone for the year with a torn Achilles' tendon, the Jazz would be wise to acquire a functional center before the February 23 trading deadline.

Around the

league

Some monster losing streaks have been broken against the Bulls in Chicago. The Nets had lost 19 straight in Chicago before winning at the United Center, followed by the Clippers (17 straight), Bucks (16), Bullets (15), Mavericks (12) and Pacers (eight). How bad have things gotten for the Bulls? Their coach, Phil Jackson, says: "There's no such thing as teams the Bulls should beat. It's a misnomer." ... Two months after they gushed about his improved attitude and leaner body, the Bullets are trying to unload center Kevin Duckworth. Maybe, by talking him up, they were really trying to sell him to the league before he reverted back to form.... Doc Rivers, the former Knick now with the Spurs, says New York is the team to beat in the East. "Call me crazy," Rivers says, "but Orlando and Charlotte still don't know how to make decisions with a few seconds left in a playoff game. The Knicks have been there before." .... Dennis Rodman was wrong when he said Shaquille O'Neal, given his size and strength, should average more rebounds. Rodman conveniently forgot about the Horace Grant factor. "Me responding to Rodman is like talking to a Bugs Bunny doll," Shaq says. "I don't like to talk to Looney Tunes."