The East coaches got it right. Partially right, anyway.

Not sure why they felt the need to pick two backup centers in a conference dominated by a 6-foot-8 power forward who masquerades as a center ... but they had the foresight, intentional or not, to omit Ron Artest.

Coaches' votes for All-Star reserves were due at 1 p.m. Monday and Indiana's Artest snagged the seventh and final slot on my pretend coach's ballot. Then the Pacers played the Miami Heat a few hours later and made me wish I could take my pretend vote back.

	Ron Artest, right, needs to raise his on-court conduct to an All-Star level.

Sorry, Ron. You can't be going to Atlanta, as a coach pick no less, if you slink over to the opponent's bench to bump into Pat Riley with no apparent cause.

Twice.

It was inexplicable behavior even on the Artest Scale of Zaniness, and not because of Riley's standing as an all-time coaching great. The same would hold for any coach he approached in that manner.

This is not to be confused with Karl Malone and Byron Scott, two former playing contemporaries, going nose-to-nose early last season. Or the unforgettable chest-to-chest connection at midcourt a couple years back between Mailman and Don Nelson, when Nellie charged onto the floor to confront Malone because no one on his team was willing to stand up to him. Or the unforgettable sight of Jeff Van Gundy clinging to Alonzo Mourning's leg, during a Zo-Larry Johnson playoff scrap.

In each of those cases, the coach willingly entered the fray in a brawl or near-brawl situation. Coaches aren't supposed to do that, either, but this was different. This was Artest making a point of taking a long walk from the middle of the lane all the way to the Heat sideline with his right arm flexed. He stopped right in Riley's face to turn and jaw with Heat assistant Keith Askins, when Artest should have been at the free-throw line readying to shoot his and-one. This was encounter No. 2, incidentally, after Artest had interjected himself in Riley's earlier argument with a referee.

Together -- even separately -- these offenses are the biggest smudges on Artest's fine season. We all know he thrives on the fear his unpredictability inspires, and that the Pacers secretly want the other team to be worried about what Artest might do next, but there's a line for everyone. Even eccentrics. And Artest, initiating clashes with Riley with no heat-of-the-moment defense, just crossed it.

He's had an All-Star year, no question, helping the Pacers amass the East's best record. Just as impressively, Artest is challenging Detroit's Ben Wallace for Defensive Player of the Year honors from a swing position, where it's harder to get noticed without all the rebounds and blocked shots.

Of course, getting noticed these days is the last of Artest's troubles.

"I wish he didn't go over and flex his muscle to their bench," Pacers president Donnie Walsh said Tuesday. "... I wish he wouldn't have done that and I think he wishes he wouldn't have done that. The focus is always on Ron, and anything that defocuses from how good a basketball player he is is not good for him and not good for the team. But I think he's a great kid. I understand that he spills over emotionally here and there, (but) by and large he's playing the best basketball of his career."

Until Monday night, there was no argument here.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here. Also, send Stein a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.