The All Non-All-Star NBA Team for the Playoffs

Every year, the NBA announces their All-NBA team for the year, the best players at their respective positions.

And as you would expect, they're all All-Stars. But what of those players who aren't the man on their team? Whose shirt isn't at the top of the sales list all year? How have they impacted the playoffs?

Well what follows is my own list of players not selected for the All-Star Game who have been the best at their position throughout these here playoffs.

(Meaning I will be leaving out: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Chris Paul, Tim Duncan, Yao Ming, Tony Parker, Chauncey Billups, Brandon Roy, and Dirk Nowitzki from the West and Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Mo Williams, Paul Pierce, Rashard Lewis, Ray Allen, and Joe Johnson from the East...but then you knew that already).

Point Guard: Rajon Rondo—Boston Celtics

When you almost average a triple-double throughout a series, you are doing something right. In the series against Chicago, Rondo was beyond amazing.

11.5 APG
2.7 SPG
9.2 RPG
19.0 PPG

Those were his averages against the Bulls. The Big Three may have been important, but Rondo was the heart and soul of this team. He had two triple-doubles in the series, and could have had another two if he had just collected three more rebounds.

His scoring went off the chart like we had never seen before, shooting over 50 percent in four of the seven games.

Rondo wasn't as impressive in the second round against Orlando (it would have been hard to equal the success of the first round) but was still imperative to Boston's success.

He averaged over 10 boards a game for the second series in a row (remember this is a six-footer we're talking about) and recorded another triple-double.

He played through hard fouls and a bum ankle; he showed his true worth this postseason.

Shooting Guard: Hedo Turkoglu—Orlando Magic

An All-Star snub for the second year running, Hedo has been a huge part in taking the Magic all the way to the Finals.

The Magic are a team with many cogs, but Hedo is one of the most important and an unquestioned leader.

He has hit some amazing shots all through the postseason and has used his underrated ball handling skills to create some serious matchup problems and has revealed himself as a great passer.

He has come up big in the important moments for the Magic. In Game Seven against Boston, Hedo recorded 25 points and 14 assists.

And don't forget the huge shots he hit against Cleveland. He hit an incredibly hard teardrop in Game Two, just moments before LeBron James hit an even harder shot to win the game and steal the glory.

He is still playing an incredible part on the Finals team and has shown his true worth so far. Hedo has proven those voters and the coaches wrong time and time again.

Small Forward: Carmelo Anthony—Denver Nuggets

Carmelo Anthony may not be the type of MVP candidate that draftmates Dwyane Wade and LeBron James are.

But he has grown in so many other ways. Under the tutelage of Chauncey Billups, Anthony has become more dedicated on defense, improved his rebounding and more of a team leader.

He has become truly clutch this year and proved it again in these playoffs, the highlight being the now infamous three-pointer in Game Three against Dallas in the second round.

Whether the foul was a foul or not, a swish is a swish, and Anthony was just as clutch either way.

Melo's scoring reached a whole other plateau. He averaged 27 points per game in his 16 playoff games, and scored in double-digits in every one of them (and only below 20 twice).

Relishing the matchup against Kobe Bryant, Anthony helped lead the Nuggets to their first Western Conference Finals in over 20 years.

He showed Kobe what he could do, scoring 39 and 34 points in Games One and Two, even though the Nuggets did finally bow out in six games.

Power Forward: Glen Davis—Boston Celtics

A big deal was made about Big Baby Davis showing some tears on the bench early on in the season; he sure has come on a long way since then.

While Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe were taken out by injuries, and Kendrick Perkins was hampered by a bad shoulder, Glen Davis was the man in the paint for the Celtics.

He surprised everyone by constantly scrapping his way to scoring big baskets for the Celtics, he scored in double figures in every game of the first series and scored over 20 five times throughout the playoffs.

One of his best games was actually one of his lowest scoring; he put in 14 points against Chicago in Game Three, but also added nine boards, six assists, and three blocks.

One of the biggest highlights of the entire postseason was Davis hitting the game winner against Orlando.

Boston would have been in an incredibly difficult situation if not for that shot, and he hit other big shots throughout that series too.

He has certainly generated a lot of interest for himself as a free-agent this summer, and he's proved a lot of his critics wrong this year.

Center: Marcin Gortat—Orlando Magic

This was undoubtedly the hardest spot to fill, as you would expect, as most dominant centers are selected to the All-Star Game.

I actually wrote a slide about Nene Hilario, and just before I published it, I had a thought: What about Marcin Gortat?

His numbers are definitely not anything to get excited about, but he has played a huge part in the Magic's Finals run.

He has rebounded, defended, dunked the ball, and fouled when needed to. He has played his role perfectly.

He comes to work, does his job, and he has been doing it well throughout the playoffs, playing backup to Dwight Howard as well as you could ask.

Nene could definitely be sitting in this spot and it would be well-deserved, but the same goes for Marcin Gortat, who, like many others this postseason, has made a name for himself and generated huge interest from other teams.

Conclusion

No doubt, all-stars definitely influence the playoffs...hence why they're called all-stars.

But every man on the roster of a playoff team can have an impact, and they really have shown themselves this year.

There are many, many candidates for the list that I've made, and I don't think it's a crazy notion to believe that some will be all-stars yet.

Most have gone home, some are still on the Magic and Lakers, proving the point that teams win championships, not all-stars.