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By Josh English

Carmelo Anthony openly questioned whether Andrei Kirilenko deserves to be an All-Star ahead of him. True, Carmelo scores about three more points per game as Andrei, but Andrei averages more rebounds, assists, steals and blocks than Carmelo. The coaches took that into account, otherwise they'd just pick the top seven scorers in the West after the starters and send them. Which would have still left Carmelo out, because Zach Randolph and Corey Maggette would've snuck in ahead of him. Don't worry, Carmelo. There's no doubt you and LeBron will get in next year.

The Cinderella season of the Jazz is starting to fade. At least it appears so. As soon as enough people believe it's over, they'll go one another streak. They just won two on the road, and Keon Clark should be back in another week or so. His timing couldn't be better. Sasha Pavlovic is showing he needs more time to develop off the court before he can get more minutes on the court, and with Matt Harpring, Ben Handlogten and Curtis Borchardt all out, they need Clark's body and skills in there. They need Clark to start at power forward. Michael Ruffin is their current starting power forward. "Who?" you say. He's a great rebounder but he can't shoot, and defenses are figuring that out, resulting in more double-teaming on Andrei Kirilenko.

Watching the Portland game was interesting. In the first quarter, Jerry Sloan was upset with his starting five, so he benched them for the entire second quarter. In the third quarter, there was that much more effort, and it gave them the momentum to pull off a win. Carlos Arroyo being 10-for-10 in free throws in the final three minutes helped too.

There hasn't been much speculation about trades. The rumor with the most longevity is Utah getting Tom Gugliotta and a second-round pick from Phoenix for a can of Spam and a toenail clipper, but Phoenix is apparently pushing for some ballpoint pens to be thrown in to sweeten the deal. The Jazz don't have much to offer in trades. They will not part with Kirilenko or Harpring (nor should they, unless a fantasy deal like Webber for Harpring comes their way) and there's no motivation to get rid of promising players like Carlos Arroyo who are playing for such low pay. Their main bargaining chip is trying to find a team desperate for cap relief, like the way they were able to get Houston to take John Amaechi off their hands for Glen Rice, whom they promptly waived.

For Utah to have a shot at the playoffs this year, they'll need Keon Clark to be a factor right way, but they'll also need some help from other Western teams. Portland and Seattle need to not figure out what it takes to stay above .500, and they'll need either Houston, Memphis or Denver to go on an uncharacteristic losing streak. Portland's been to the playoffs 21 straight times, and Utah has been 20 straight times. Both streaks could realistically end this year.