Big Shot Rob
02-05-2007, 06:42 AM
SPECIAL WEEKEND EDITION Why the West must be wonBy Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Editor's note: ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein supplies each item for this around-the-league notebook edition of the Daily Dime.
Brace yourselves for something really profound: What a difference a year makes!
OK, OK. We can say it with a touch more invention and relevance: What a difference bad starts make!
Imagine, if you will, that the Mavericks and Suns didn't combine to go 0-4 and 1-5, respectively, in the first couple weeks of November. I imagine we'd be dealing daily with 70 Wins Talk, which pretty much never comes up now like it did throughout last season's first half with the Detroit Pistons.
The 38-9 Mavs and 37-9 Suns, after all, became just the third pair of teams in NBA history to enter February with an .800 winning percentage.
The only times that happened previously for two teams in the same season: 1984-85 and 1980-81. The fallen giants from Boston and Philadelphia, in both cases, were the dueling rivals playing .800 ball as they entered the final three months of the regular season.
This season?
Because they both stumbled early, Dallas and Phoenix haven't generated any 70-win projections, even though neither club is far off in spite of their bumpy launches. The Mavs awoke Friday on a 66-16 pace, as did the Suns.
Not that either team gives one whit about trying to win 70.
They're really not even grappling for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, because they know -- valuable as Game 7s at home can be -- that they can win on each other's floor.
So what are the top two teams in the league jockeying so hard for?
Right.
The right to avoid San Antonio in the second round.
Write off the Spurs if you wish. Lampoon their collective age ... or their declining bench ... or their inconsistent shooting. For all the concerns about San Antonio's limited athleticism and dwindling margin of error around the Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, perhaps you noticed that the three-time champs -- on the second night of a back-to-back -- made the rested Suns play at a much slower tempo than they prefer until Phoenix finally sped away in the last two-plus minutes.
"They're kind of like the Lakers were in 2001 or 2002," Phil Jackson says of the Spurs, comparing them to his turn-it-on, switch-flipping teams of the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant era.
"Older players know their limitations. They know what the regular season means. They're running the marathon, not trying to lead the pack. They know they can win on the road. They're comfortable with how they can play in playoff situations. Popovich knows how to do this.
"It's too early to say anything [dismissive] about them. They're still a team that has to be considered very, very dangerous."
This comes from a guy, remember, who has never been a member of any Gregg Popovich fan clubs.
Of course, Jackson also contends that avoiding San Antonio in Round 2 is only a slight bonus. In spite of the Lakers' recent struggles, Jackson regularly volunteers his belief that the Kobe-Lamar Odom Lakers match up well with the Mavs or Suns. Very well.
"You have to remember that those records Dallas and Phoenix are running up right now, when you get in a seven-game series with those teams, [records] don't have anything to do with it," Jackson insists. "When you get to see them two, three, four times in a row, suddenly everything starts to get tight."
Which explains why the Mavs and Suns are looking for any edge they can find, early as it seems to be talking about playoff matchups.
Dealing with the Lakers or physical Utah or the two potent tag teams on the West playoff ladder (Yao Ming/Tracy McGrady and Carmelo Anthony/Allen Iverson) is bound to be a chore in all cases. But you can safely assume that Dallas and Phoenix would still prefer seeing any of those teams compared to playing the Spurs just for the right to be in the conference finals.
Both teams are well aware that the Spurs are likely to hang on to the No. 3 seed in spite of their wobbles, after the Jazz just lost Carlos Boozer to injury and with Yao likely unavailable to the Rockets before March. The Lakers, don't forget, still have six games left on their own eight-game trip before we'll know if they're a legit threat to climb any higher.
The edge for finishing No. 1, furthermore, has to belong to Dallas. The Mavs have better depth than the Suns -- which helps them greatly in the regular season but also with keeping players fresher for the playoffs -- as well as seven fewer games remaining against West opposition.
As a bonus, Dallas already sports a 2-0 lead in head-to-head matchups if seeding comes down to a tiebreaker.
Yet you suspect that the Mavs would be just as pleased as the other half of the .800 Club if the Spurs wind up making Pop sound like a prophet.
The same coach who believes that the Spurs "have more room to improve than those teams" because it's tough to imagine how Dallas and Phoenix "can play a whole heck of a lot better" likewise contends that San Antonio faces "a 50-50 shot we'll go out in the first round" without significantly better D and more urgency.
And soon.
• Talk back to … Marc Stein | The Daily Dime gang
ESPN.com
Editor's note: ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein supplies each item for this around-the-league notebook edition of the Daily Dime.
Brace yourselves for something really profound: What a difference a year makes!
OK, OK. We can say it with a touch more invention and relevance: What a difference bad starts make!
Imagine, if you will, that the Mavericks and Suns didn't combine to go 0-4 and 1-5, respectively, in the first couple weeks of November. I imagine we'd be dealing daily with 70 Wins Talk, which pretty much never comes up now like it did throughout last season's first half with the Detroit Pistons.
The 38-9 Mavs and 37-9 Suns, after all, became just the third pair of teams in NBA history to enter February with an .800 winning percentage.
The only times that happened previously for two teams in the same season: 1984-85 and 1980-81. The fallen giants from Boston and Philadelphia, in both cases, were the dueling rivals playing .800 ball as they entered the final three months of the regular season.
This season?
Because they both stumbled early, Dallas and Phoenix haven't generated any 70-win projections, even though neither club is far off in spite of their bumpy launches. The Mavs awoke Friday on a 66-16 pace, as did the Suns.
Not that either team gives one whit about trying to win 70.
They're really not even grappling for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, because they know -- valuable as Game 7s at home can be -- that they can win on each other's floor.
So what are the top two teams in the league jockeying so hard for?
Right.
The right to avoid San Antonio in the second round.
Write off the Spurs if you wish. Lampoon their collective age ... or their declining bench ... or their inconsistent shooting. For all the concerns about San Antonio's limited athleticism and dwindling margin of error around the Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, perhaps you noticed that the three-time champs -- on the second night of a back-to-back -- made the rested Suns play at a much slower tempo than they prefer until Phoenix finally sped away in the last two-plus minutes.
"They're kind of like the Lakers were in 2001 or 2002," Phil Jackson says of the Spurs, comparing them to his turn-it-on, switch-flipping teams of the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant era.
"Older players know their limitations. They know what the regular season means. They're running the marathon, not trying to lead the pack. They know they can win on the road. They're comfortable with how they can play in playoff situations. Popovich knows how to do this.
"It's too early to say anything [dismissive] about them. They're still a team that has to be considered very, very dangerous."
This comes from a guy, remember, who has never been a member of any Gregg Popovich fan clubs.
Of course, Jackson also contends that avoiding San Antonio in Round 2 is only a slight bonus. In spite of the Lakers' recent struggles, Jackson regularly volunteers his belief that the Kobe-Lamar Odom Lakers match up well with the Mavs or Suns. Very well.
"You have to remember that those records Dallas and Phoenix are running up right now, when you get in a seven-game series with those teams, [records] don't have anything to do with it," Jackson insists. "When you get to see them two, three, four times in a row, suddenly everything starts to get tight."
Which explains why the Mavs and Suns are looking for any edge they can find, early as it seems to be talking about playoff matchups.
Dealing with the Lakers or physical Utah or the two potent tag teams on the West playoff ladder (Yao Ming/Tracy McGrady and Carmelo Anthony/Allen Iverson) is bound to be a chore in all cases. But you can safely assume that Dallas and Phoenix would still prefer seeing any of those teams compared to playing the Spurs just for the right to be in the conference finals.
Both teams are well aware that the Spurs are likely to hang on to the No. 3 seed in spite of their wobbles, after the Jazz just lost Carlos Boozer to injury and with Yao likely unavailable to the Rockets before March. The Lakers, don't forget, still have six games left on their own eight-game trip before we'll know if they're a legit threat to climb any higher.
The edge for finishing No. 1, furthermore, has to belong to Dallas. The Mavs have better depth than the Suns -- which helps them greatly in the regular season but also with keeping players fresher for the playoffs -- as well as seven fewer games remaining against West opposition.
As a bonus, Dallas already sports a 2-0 lead in head-to-head matchups if seeding comes down to a tiebreaker.
Yet you suspect that the Mavs would be just as pleased as the other half of the .800 Club if the Spurs wind up making Pop sound like a prophet.
The same coach who believes that the Spurs "have more room to improve than those teams" because it's tough to imagine how Dallas and Phoenix "can play a whole heck of a lot better" likewise contends that San Antonio faces "a 50-50 shot we'll go out in the first round" without significantly better D and more urgency.
And soon.
• Talk back to … Marc Stein | The Daily Dime gang