Thursday, January 8th, 2009 at 9:45 am  |  43 responses

The Paul Millsap All-Star Push Is Well Underway

by Marcel Mutoni

Paul Millsap had another solid performance last night (27/14/5), as he helped the Utah Jazz crush listless New Orleans. The more he does this, the harder it becomes to explain why his name isn’t even on the All-Star ballots.

With a crowded field in the West, everyone (including Millsap himself) knows it’s going to be extremely tough to make the All-Star team.

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

Millsap’s All-Star case gets stronger almost by the game. He had 27 points and 14 rebounds for his 19th consecutive double-double Wednesday against New Orleans. That’s the longest double-double streak by any NBA player since Kevin Garnett and the longest streak by a Jazz player since John Stockton.

Millsap is now averaging 18.5 points and 11.7 rebounds in the 20 games since he replaced Boozer in the starting lineup. He played in the All-Star rookie/sophomore game the last two years, but harbored no illusions of returning for the All-Star Game itself.

“It’s tough to think like that when you’re coming off the bench,” Millsap said. “We never expected what happened to happen [with Boozer]. But it did happen and I’m starting right now and just trying to continue to build off that.”

Not to worry, Paul. You can be sure that you’ll get All-Star type money this summer, regardless of whether or not you make the trip to Phoenix next month.

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  • thesubwayconnection Posted: Jan.8 at 9:47 am
    Yup. I voted for him.

  • Ryne Nelson Posted: Jan.8 at 9:49 am
    Co-sign, subway.

  • Harlem_World Posted: Jan.8 at 9:51 am
    Suddenly Boozer looks less and less relevant…

  • riggs Posted: Jan.8 at 9:51 am
    thats cool and all, but did yall really have to use that picture?

  • Simon S.Y Lawy Posted: Jan.8 at 9:53 am
    trade boozer…

  • Hursty Posted: Jan.8 at 9:54 am
    Yerp. Although with all the amazing forwards in the West right now…
    West, Duncan, Amar’e, Dirk, Pau, Artest, Carmelo, Jefferson, (is Nene a 4?), Durant, Odom, Aldridge, Josh Howard, Stack Jax, the list goes on….
    Where does Millsap fit in?

  • neaorin Posted: Jan.8 at 10:03 am
    I still can’t believe I traded him in fantasy for Leandro Barbosa ONE DAY before Boozer got hurt… I need a drink.

  • TADOne Posted: Jan.8 at 10:04 am
    19 straight double-doubles?! Damn, I didn’t even realize that.

  • Simon S.Y Lawy Posted: Jan.8 at 10:14 am
    how long did KG push he’s double x2 streak?

  • jay Posted: Jan.8 at 10:18 am
    19 double-double? 2d longest since KG? Damn the NBA is bad… I remember in my heyday when guys like Drob, Ewing, Barkley, Mailman, Olajuwon, Kemp and Shaq had double-double streaks Longer than the McGrady Hate-list! I bet if you look it up Olajuwon must have had a streak of like 500….

  • Simon S.Y Lawy Posted: Jan.8 at 10:27 am
    @jay, you’re right… and don’t forget about wilt chamberlain …

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Jan.8 at 10:29 am
    Olajuwon had 26 straight double-doubles spread between the end of the ’90-91 and start of the ’91-92 seasons. That’s the longest streak of his I could find, although I didn’t look at every year. (Basketball Reference dot com has game-by-game figures for every player in every season since ’86-87.) During the championship years of ’93-94 and ’94-95, Hakeem had quite a few single-digit rebounding nights.

  • ciolkstar Posted: Jan.8 at 10:29 am
    Millsap is a beast. I always though Betrayal Skull was over rated and that Sloan’s offense was a perfect fit for him. Millsap is more atheletic and a far superior rebounder than Boozer ever was. I just hope Millsap signs somewhere other than Utah so I can actually root for him.

  • TADOne Posted: Jan.8 at 10:38 am
    I don’t like Utah either, but I still root for Deron. Millsap has a spot in my rooting interests.

  • Orlando Woolridge Posted: Jan.8 at 10:56 am
    Once again, some of you throwing the old(er) guy under the bus because the new guy came in and played well. Boozer was averaging 20 and 12 while carrying the team without Deron before he got hurt, and people around here are going to start talking about how over-rated he is? He may be an ass, I don’t know, but I’d be happy if he were a Bull.

  • Todd Spehr Posted: Jan.8 at 10:56 am
    Think about this. Utah is probably too good of a team (well, close enough), so they’ll have at least one representative. D-Will has been hurt and isn’t himself, and Booz is done, so why not Millsap? It won’t happen, but it sounded good, didn’t it?

  • jay Posted: Jan.8 at 11:11 am
    What about Mailman…he always had 10 rebs 10 points right…like from since de days of watergate and reagan?

  • Pve84 Posted: Jan.8 at 11:13 am
    I don’t think there’s anyway that Millsap can make it. There are too many superstars at the forward positions out West. Earlier in the season, I also thought there was no way that Millsap can ever replace Boozer, but it looks like I was wrong there. Millsap is still developing and is definitely competing with Devin Harris for MIP. It’ll be interesting to see how far he can go this season.

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Jan.8 at 11:17 am
    Orlando: Boozer’s skills are well-documented. Unfortunately, so are his injuries. I’d rather not see the Bulls pay max money to a guy who misses 30 games a year. And he’s not even that old yet!

  • TADOne Posted: Jan.8 at 11:29 am
    Co-sign Russ. Hopefully, Joe D. agrees with me.

  • Josh D Posted: Jan.8 at 11:30 am
    He’s a great player, an All Star Caliber player, but the West Forward spot is too packed, with Tim Duncan,STAT,Carmelo,West,Dirk
    etc

  • SLAM ONLINE | Posted: Jan.8 at 11:35 am
    [...] Millsap an All-Star? [...]

  • matt the jazz fan Posted: Jan.8 at 11:39 am
    millsap as an injury replacement all start for melo stat and nene are centers for all star purposes aren’t they?

  • matt the jazz fan Posted: Jan.8 at 11:40 am
    all star not all start; and there should have been a comma after melo.

  • | NBA Rumors Posted: Jan.8 at 11:54 am
    [...] Slam Online [...]

  • NBK Posted: Jan.8 at 12:05 pm
    the jazz should trade kirelinko for stephen jackson since millsap is giving them so much. They would be mighty dangerous come the playoffs

  • Mario Posted: Jan.8 at 12:29 pm
    Sorry Milsap not enough room thanks to amare, david west and tim duncan

  • Todd Spehr Posted: Jan.8 at 1:06 pm
    Is Melo a lock to make it though?

  • NBK Posted: Jan.8 at 1:41 pm
    no

  • Z Posted: Jan.8 at 2:21 pm
    Russ : do you prefer basketballreference dot com (now known as database basketball) or basketball-reference dot com ??? They both seem to be pretty thorough

  • underdog Posted: Jan.8 at 2:24 pm
    In other Jazz related news, aliens stole Deron Williams’ basketball talent.

  • blackice87 Posted: Jan.8 at 4:08 pm
    underdog please don’t tell me that Michael Jordan is playing for the toon squad again.

  • Brad Posted: Jan.8 at 4:59 pm
    He isn’t an all star.

  • j-smoov 5 Posted: Jan.8 at 5:26 pm
    @ under dog, NBK, & Brad Are you guys blind? Paul Millsap is only 6’8 and he’s banging down low with the best of the best in the league. Its just not Deron Williams year…Paul Millsap does deserve some regocnition.

  • davidR Posted: Jan.8 at 6:14 pm
    been thinking of millsap as a beast ever since he hit that lucky-@ss (but clutch) three during the warriors’ playoff push at the end of the season, and when he tore them up in the second round

  • Moose Posted: Jan.8 at 7:05 pm
    @ Hursty: Big Al’s a center on the all-star ballot. Don’t ask me.

  • what Posted: Jan.8 at 7:24 pm
    Trade idea — Boozer for Wally Z and a couple of first round picks. Extra player to get the Cavs over the hump, while Utah gets something for Boozer before he opts out.

  • Kid Presto Posted: Jan.8 at 7:49 pm
    he deserves it man. he is a workhorse like no other and he is just a likeable dude.

  • KBDWILL Posted: Jan.9 at 12:40 am
    let booze leave and lets make a move for bosh or STAT in two years yeah? Millsap is a beast, a total work freak, definatly deserves it but he aint goin’ but should win MIP!!

  • T Money Posted: Jan.9 at 5:18 am
    Two guys I’d least like to get in a fight with? Paul Millsap and Matt Harping

  • a_whiteman Posted: Jan.9 at 9:00 am
    All star forwards will be melo duncan amare and dirk

  • nothin personal Posted: Jan.9 at 12:17 pm
    Steroids are a nice way to make your tendons break. So, maybe we should change “injury prone” “to cheater in every way” treacherous skull!

  • Kevin Posted: Jan.13 at 4:46 am
    yeaaaaaaaaaaa, no.

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