Re: relevance of all-star game

[Kestas <kkv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

One way to make them care would be to have an American vs. Foreign-born 
All-Star game. It may be a bit easier to get on the Foreigner All-Stars, 
especially as a guard, and it may be grossly unbalanced (very 
center-heavy), but it would a fun and very competitive game, especially 
after what happened last summer. MLS tried it a few years ago and it worked 
really well.

Here are some possibilities for the Foreigners, in alphabetical order:

C - Divac, Ilgauskas, Ming, Mutombo, Olowokandi, Sabonis
By far the strongest position. The Americans have pretty much the O'Neal 
"brothers" and that's about it.

F - Gasol, Kirilenko, Kukoc, Nowitzki, Stojakovic, Turkoglu
These guys can hold their own, especially on offense, not so much on D.

SG  Fox, Ginobili, Giricek, Jaric.The weakest position by far. Not a Drazen 
Petrovic or a Sarunas Marciulionis among these guys, although Ginobili may 
yet develop into a Marciulionis-type of player. He's very physical and has 
great court sense. Giricek apparently can fill it up.

PG Nash, Parker.
Not quite Kidds and Payton, but pretty good, Nash especially.

Note that none of the current and recent Celtics' foreigners could even get 
a sniff of a berth on this team. Sundov, Wolko, Pot, Moiso? Gimme a break. 
The only guy that could, in the mid-90s, was Dino Radja. There are lots 
more contributing, good foreign centers and forwards in the NBA that don't 
make this team. What's disturbing is that the Celts' selections don't even 
come close to the second echelon. Direct consequence of BDT's disdain for 
foreign players and scouting? You decide.
Kestas