San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Wiggins’ play should make him All-Star
According to the latest fanvote tally, the Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins should be a starter in the All-Star Game. That’s a bit ridiculous, but not terribly far off. He definitely belongs in the game.
On a 12-man roster — and there’s no good reason why it isn’t 15 — the most sensible breakdown would find six backcourt players and another six in the frontcourt, where the league lists all forwards and centers. Figure LeBron James and Nikola Jokic as no-argument starters for the Western Conference, and I’d add the invaluable Draymond Green, surely with little resistance from the cognoscenti.
So let’s drop Wiggins out of the voting’s third slot and consider not reputations or longtime bodies of work, but the league as it stands right now. Add centers Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, lock in James with Jokic, factor in Wiggins with Green, and that’s your six.
This excludes Anthony Davis, normally an automatic starter but a man plagued by injuries and motivational issues on a fractured Lakers roster; maybe next year. Beyond that, Wiggins’ status is surprisingly strong. In pointsper-game scoring, and allowing that LeBron plays a lot of center (not to mention point guard), Wiggins trails only New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram among Western Conference forwards (22.9 to 18.6, through Friday). With Paul George possibly out for the season with an elbow injury, I’d have no problem making Wiggins a frontcourt All-Star ahead of Ingram, Mikal Bridges, Deandre Ayton, Carmelo Anthony or anyone else in the mix.
As Wiggins’ stock continues to rise, it’s worth noting the recent comment from Warriors teammate Andre Iguodala: “We had a common teammate, Jimmy Butler. Jimmy had nothing but great things to say about Wiggs, liked playing with Wiggs (in Minnesota). That’s all I needed to hear, to be honest. Because Jimmy doesn’t like anybody. So when Jimmy say he likes Wiggs, I started looking at it different.”
As for details on the Feb. 20 game in Cleveland: The fans’ vote (ending next Saturday) accounts for 50% of the tally to determine the starters. Current NBA players and a media panel will account for 25% each, and the NBA head coaches will select the All-Star reserves. At that stage, before a nationaltelevision audience, the team captains (leading vote-getters in each conference, currently Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant) will select their rosters without regard to conference or position.
Tone it down a bit
The Warriors get a look at Towns in Minneapolis on Sunday night, surely recalling his recent proclamation that, “I’m the greatest big-man shooter of all time. That’s a fact. You can see the stats. I ain’t got to play like no one else. Everyone trying to find themselves to be the second version of me when I’m the first version.”… Take a tip, KAT:
Especially because you blurted it out yourself, instead of getting credit from others. On the real side, you’ve done nothing in this league. And we’ve seen way too much of the 7-foot Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant, who is at least 6-10. Maybe Towns ranks tops among centers, but hell, I’d take Dave Cowens over him in a big game. … The Giants have long been aware of Rachel Balkovec, named by the
Yankees this week to manage their Low-A team in Tampa, Fla. President Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler knew she was gaining notice around Major League Baseball for her work as a strength-andconditioning coach in the minors for Houston and St. Louis, and they interviewed her in the fall of 2019 for a job described as “quality control” coach. She fit the bill — Kapler called her “super-dynamic, incredibly smart, incredibly confident” in an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area — but she decided to stay with the Yankees, and she’s about to become the first woman to manage an affiliated minorleague team. … Meanwhile, the Giants reportedly denied permission to allow pitching coach
Andrew Bailey to interview for the Mets’ bench-coach vacancy under new manager
Buck Showalter — realizing that this wouldn’t necessarily be a big step toward Bailey becoming a manager. The Mets did hire a new hitting coach, former A’s All-Star Eric Chavez, who had previously been on the Yankees’ staff. That gives Chavez a chance to work with Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Robinson Cano and former A’s outfielders Mark Canha and Starling Marte.
This column always found it
disturbing that Pacifica-raised Keith Hernandez, one of the most accomplished and influential first basemen in history, didn’t get voted into the Hall after his great career with the Cardinals and Mets. But don’t rule out him getting elected by an “era committee” in the future. His case got a big boost this past week with the news that he will become only the sixth man to have his number (17) retired by the Mets, joining Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Mike Piazza, Casey Stengel and Gil Hodges. … Interesting
that the independently operated Atlantic League — baseball’s test-case venue for new ideas — didn’t take to a pitcher’s mound 61 feet, 6 inches from home plate and will move it back to 60-6. Good call (probably worth a look, but just too weird). The league also abandoned the computerized strike zone, although “robot umps” will still be employed in other minor leagues. … Jon Lester retired this past week, calling to mind his memorable performances for the Red Sox and Cubs (4-1, 1.77 ERA in three World Series). The only glitch: Getting traded to Oakland, in the Yoenis Cespedes deal, for a two-month stint in 2014. Lester started the wild-card game in Kansas City and took a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth, but after a single, a stolen base, an RBI single, another stolen base and a walk, he was replaced by Luke Gregerson. That game descended into such a terrible mess (four more relievers followed as the Royals won 9-8 in 12 innings), it goes down with the most depressing losses in A’s history.