No Nowitzki in 2013 All Star Game

The All-Star game is officially not worth watching this year.

To me, at least.

Due to Dirk's preseason knee surgery, and the games he missed while recovering and conditioning, it will be the first All-Star game the NBA has held without him since 2002.

Yeah, he had been voted in 11 straight years. Only Kobe Bryant has a longer streak, which he just extended to 15 in a row.

Now, Dirk Nowitzki is not the only thing worth watching at most All-Star games, so I might catch a little bit of the game or a few of the skill contests. However, I have no vested interest in watching the superstars from every other team play while the superstar from my team will be sitting on his couch at home. Also, I'm not saying he was slighted, it is just an unfortunate year that the big German will not be recognized as an elite force from the Western Conference.

Here's a look at the Eastern Conference and Western Conference rosters:

East (listed by number of votes received)

1. LeBron James
2. Carmello Anthony
3. Dwayne Wade - C
4. Kevin Garnett
5. Rajon Rondo (Injured & replaced by Brook Lopez)

Reserves: Chris Bosh, Tyson Chandler, Luol Deng, Paul George, Jrue Holiday, Kyrie Irving, Joakim Noah

West (listed by number of votes received)

1. Kobe Bryant
2. Kevin Durant
3. Chris Paul - C
4. Dwight Howard
5. Blake Griffin

Reserves: LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan, James Harden, David Lee, Tony Parker, Zach Randolph & Russell Westbrook

Coach Carlisle Collects 500th Win

Dallas Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle hit the 500 win milestone against Portland on February, 6 2013. Confetti didn't fly, Carlisle didn't even acknowledge it, and Mavs fans like me consider it, for the most part, business as usual. However, I'm still going to brag on what "business as usual" means to a guy like Rick Carlisle.

Coach Carlisle has been nothing short of a great addition to the Dallas Mavericks organization. His career coaching record stands at 500-353. Perhaps what is most impressive, is the fact that he generated much of his success in his first six years with the Detroit Pistons (2001-03) and the Indiana Pacers (2003-07) before coming to Dallas in 2008, and being granted the opportunity to coach a true superstar player like Dirk Nowitzki.

As far as Carlisle's coaching philosophy is concerned he focuses 100% on defense, which has proved to be effective all throughout his ten year career. Through ten years as a head coach, his teams have only finished outside of the top twelve in overall defensive rankings one time. Additionally, in seven of his ten years, his teams ranked inside the top ten. Even further, three of those years, his teams finished inside the top five in the overall defensive ranking.

You get the picture don't you? It's all about defense. You've heard the phrase a million times, "offense wins games, defense wins championships." As a Mavs fan, and a Carlisle fan, one can only hope that his defensive mindset leads to one, two, three, or ten more championship rings.

Coach Carlisle with the 2011 Championship Core

Having surpassed the 500 win mark, Carlisle becomes only the 28th NBA coach to reach that milestone. At the ripe age of 53, and with three more years left on his current contract with the Mavericks, it is conceivable that Carlisle will continue to navigate his way toward the top of the coaching charts by the end of his career (which will likely extend beyond his current contract). Doing so will surely put his name in the inevitable discussions revolving around who the best NBA coaches and champions are, or have been, in the history of the game.

Just like Dirk, he's not done yet, but already he's done so much. Mavs fans from Dallas, TX to Wurzburg, Germany will continue to show outstanding support for these winners, and for good reason, too.