duncan228
02-28-2008, 11:11 AM
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/23380867/
West playoff picture gains some clarity
Yao’s injury, struggles of others, give edge to Spurs, Lakers
By Sam Smith
NBCSports.com contributor
Perhaps it was Yao Ming's stress fracture, the cruelest of blows to one of the classiest people in the world of basketball, that may finally be giving some clarity to the blazing Western Conference playoff race.
Because I had the Rockets a top three team before the season, and man was I looking dumb again. But coach Rick Adelman did what he had to do: he adjusted to the half court strengths of the team he had, which continues to make Adelman one of the better — if least appreciated — NBA coaches.
So that winning streak, 12 when Yao went down, was no fluke. The Rockets were brutalizing teams, and with Carl Landry developing and Luis Scola getting comfortable they had the look of a team that could seriously compete for a championship, even if Tracy McGrady's goal remained just getting out of the first round of the playoffs. Please!
But with Yao out, and even though the Rockets have played well without him, they are an early playoff victim now, assuming they make it, which I believe they will.
So the pieces are beginning to fall into place.
It's the Spurs and Lakers moving ahead of the rest for what seems like a revival of their great battles of the early 2000's. Then the Hornets, Jazz, Suns and Mavericks line up a step behind. The latter two aided by their major trades, which clearly were provoked in part by the Lakers' steal of Pau Gasol from the Memphis Hibernators.
Thus far the Kidd trade looks better for Dallas than the Shaq deal looks for the Suns.
The Jazz remains curiously inconsistent, a high scoring Jerry Sloan team. What is wrong with that picture? The Hornets remain the mystery team. Could Chris Paul be that good? Yes, he is being talked about for league MVP.
Portland, which had that wonderfully uplifting start, is out, and you begin to wonder about the future of Brandon Roy with all the injuries he seems to have, most of which don't seem to come from any particular incidents. I think the Rockets make it, which leaves the Warriors and Nuggets to fight it out for the last playoff spot with. In the end, I believe the Nuggets will be on the outside given they don't run quite as well as the Warriors and defend with an equal level of indifference.
The Lakers have been the flavor of the month choice of late following the acquisition of Gasol and the shadow of Andrew Bynum returning from injury. Once he does, with Kobe Bryant playing marvelously despite his finger injury, the Lakers look to be back. It was always said that to give Bryant a sniff of being competitive again and he'd be the difference. And he looks like it. There's no better closer in the game.
Except perhaps Manu Ginobili of late. Though he's no Bryant, he's played like No. 2 lately. Though the Spurs’ quiet pickup of Kurt Thomas could be the biggest midseason move other than Gasol. Thomas gives the Spurs an active, big body, and coach Gregg Popovich has been terrific this season in buying time for all his top players while remaining competitive. The Spurs should come into the playoffs more ready than anyone.
They are defending champions and are the team to beat for more than history.
The most publicized move, of course, was the Suns for Shaq, and they've struggled to find their way, both Shaq and the Suns. Their offense, a thing of beauty for years, is undergoing a major overhaul as the season progresses, which never is a good thing. They appear in the most trouble, at least for now. Shaq is trying, but chemistry is delicate and the formula seems all wrong. Their story is this is all about the playoffs, so we'll see. But if they fall well into that second division and land a bad first round matchup, well, that will be ugly.
The Mavs aren't quite doing anything so dramatic, but they're really a small team now and will try to drive teams into that game. It didn't work for the Suns, who have been more talented. Though I never underestimate Kidd. He makes big plays at big times.
Right with them, and it's a crucial spot for that first round home court edge, are the Hornets and Jazz. I don't think the Hornets — without much big game experience — can hang in there come playoff time. But they've been doubted all season and won't seem to go away. And Paul is truly transcendent. The Jazz' Deron Williams is right there, but the Jazz also is a team that isn't there all the time. They got the break last season when the Warriors knocked out the Mavs. This time they will have to really earn it.
And then come the first round eliminations.
It seems the Nuggets could be the big disappointment with the big payroll and Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. They are All-Star starters and Olympians. Could they miss the playoffs? It's possible in the loaded West. These Nuggets still don't play off one another well, and for all his talk of defense, George Karl always has been an offensive oriented coach. Yes, they lost Nene, but the Nuggets should be better than this.
The most fun to watch? Probably the Warriors now with the Suns in postup remedial school. Even more fun? The Western Conference playoffs, though it seems finally to be coming into focus.
(Q & A that ended the column)
Q: I heard a national TV announcer say that the top 16 teams regardless of their conference should make the playoffs. Since the West is so strong, does that make sense to you?
— Dom, Philadelphia
A: No. This is the whining that goes on when there's an imbalance. Baseball has two leagues; so does football. It will even out. Throughout the 1980's teams in the West were making the playoffs that wouldn't even have qualified in the East because the East was so strong. The commissioner is right on this one. The college tournament is different because teams do not play one another during the season for the most part. The NBA works fine with conferences, and if you can't make it to eight, you don't deserve to be in the playoffs anyway.
Q: Do you think the Jason Kidd deal makes Dallas better, worse, or the same come playoffs time? Right now it looks like they are more likely to be knocked out in the second round.
— Derek, Fayetteville, Ark.
A: I believe that's the toughest one to figure because it appeared the Mavs needed a big guy more than a point guard. But I have great regard for Kidd. He dominates games without scoring and is the best intangibles player in the league. I feel he makes them better in the short run, but still puts them behind the Lakers and Spurs to maybe fourth or fifth in the conference.
Q: What players will get traded during the offseason since they weren't moved by the trade deadline?
— Randy Henry, Brooklyn, N.Y.
A: That's a tough one as there figure to be a lot of deals. The Pacers will try to move Jermaine O'Neal. Ron Artest probably goes in a sign and trade. Maybe Al Harrington, Ben Gordon, Charlie Bell, Andre Miller, Nick Collison, Jarrett Jack, Mike Miller, Tim Thomas and Nene. Though there'll be more.
Q: What do you think about the minor trade between the Raptors and the Pistons? Do you think Primo Brezec can get back to how he was playing before?
— Matthew Fairweather, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
A: How was he playing? Where was he playing? He had a couple of decent statistical seasons with a bad Charlotte team, but never had much impact. I think he's probably better off in Europe. I believe it was just a deal for teams to take a look at different players with expiring deals since the Pistons didn't want Brezec and the Raptors didn't want Dixon. I don't see either having any impact on their teams and then being gone after the season. I'm sorry, by the way, but I can't resist and I'm sure you have heard this one before. But you have to be the ultimate Fairweather fan. Where I imagine the weather is rarely fair. Sorry about that, chief.
West playoff picture gains some clarity
Yao’s injury, struggles of others, give edge to Spurs, Lakers
By Sam Smith
NBCSports.com contributor
Perhaps it was Yao Ming's stress fracture, the cruelest of blows to one of the classiest people in the world of basketball, that may finally be giving some clarity to the blazing Western Conference playoff race.
Because I had the Rockets a top three team before the season, and man was I looking dumb again. But coach Rick Adelman did what he had to do: he adjusted to the half court strengths of the team he had, which continues to make Adelman one of the better — if least appreciated — NBA coaches.
So that winning streak, 12 when Yao went down, was no fluke. The Rockets were brutalizing teams, and with Carl Landry developing and Luis Scola getting comfortable they had the look of a team that could seriously compete for a championship, even if Tracy McGrady's goal remained just getting out of the first round of the playoffs. Please!
But with Yao out, and even though the Rockets have played well without him, they are an early playoff victim now, assuming they make it, which I believe they will.
So the pieces are beginning to fall into place.
It's the Spurs and Lakers moving ahead of the rest for what seems like a revival of their great battles of the early 2000's. Then the Hornets, Jazz, Suns and Mavericks line up a step behind. The latter two aided by their major trades, which clearly were provoked in part by the Lakers' steal of Pau Gasol from the Memphis Hibernators.
Thus far the Kidd trade looks better for Dallas than the Shaq deal looks for the Suns.
The Jazz remains curiously inconsistent, a high scoring Jerry Sloan team. What is wrong with that picture? The Hornets remain the mystery team. Could Chris Paul be that good? Yes, he is being talked about for league MVP.
Portland, which had that wonderfully uplifting start, is out, and you begin to wonder about the future of Brandon Roy with all the injuries he seems to have, most of which don't seem to come from any particular incidents. I think the Rockets make it, which leaves the Warriors and Nuggets to fight it out for the last playoff spot with. In the end, I believe the Nuggets will be on the outside given they don't run quite as well as the Warriors and defend with an equal level of indifference.
The Lakers have been the flavor of the month choice of late following the acquisition of Gasol and the shadow of Andrew Bynum returning from injury. Once he does, with Kobe Bryant playing marvelously despite his finger injury, the Lakers look to be back. It was always said that to give Bryant a sniff of being competitive again and he'd be the difference. And he looks like it. There's no better closer in the game.
Except perhaps Manu Ginobili of late. Though he's no Bryant, he's played like No. 2 lately. Though the Spurs’ quiet pickup of Kurt Thomas could be the biggest midseason move other than Gasol. Thomas gives the Spurs an active, big body, and coach Gregg Popovich has been terrific this season in buying time for all his top players while remaining competitive. The Spurs should come into the playoffs more ready than anyone.
They are defending champions and are the team to beat for more than history.
The most publicized move, of course, was the Suns for Shaq, and they've struggled to find their way, both Shaq and the Suns. Their offense, a thing of beauty for years, is undergoing a major overhaul as the season progresses, which never is a good thing. They appear in the most trouble, at least for now. Shaq is trying, but chemistry is delicate and the formula seems all wrong. Their story is this is all about the playoffs, so we'll see. But if they fall well into that second division and land a bad first round matchup, well, that will be ugly.
The Mavs aren't quite doing anything so dramatic, but they're really a small team now and will try to drive teams into that game. It didn't work for the Suns, who have been more talented. Though I never underestimate Kidd. He makes big plays at big times.
Right with them, and it's a crucial spot for that first round home court edge, are the Hornets and Jazz. I don't think the Hornets — without much big game experience — can hang in there come playoff time. But they've been doubted all season and won't seem to go away. And Paul is truly transcendent. The Jazz' Deron Williams is right there, but the Jazz also is a team that isn't there all the time. They got the break last season when the Warriors knocked out the Mavs. This time they will have to really earn it.
And then come the first round eliminations.
It seems the Nuggets could be the big disappointment with the big payroll and Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. They are All-Star starters and Olympians. Could they miss the playoffs? It's possible in the loaded West. These Nuggets still don't play off one another well, and for all his talk of defense, George Karl always has been an offensive oriented coach. Yes, they lost Nene, but the Nuggets should be better than this.
The most fun to watch? Probably the Warriors now with the Suns in postup remedial school. Even more fun? The Western Conference playoffs, though it seems finally to be coming into focus.
(Q & A that ended the column)
Q: I heard a national TV announcer say that the top 16 teams regardless of their conference should make the playoffs. Since the West is so strong, does that make sense to you?
— Dom, Philadelphia
A: No. This is the whining that goes on when there's an imbalance. Baseball has two leagues; so does football. It will even out. Throughout the 1980's teams in the West were making the playoffs that wouldn't even have qualified in the East because the East was so strong. The commissioner is right on this one. The college tournament is different because teams do not play one another during the season for the most part. The NBA works fine with conferences, and if you can't make it to eight, you don't deserve to be in the playoffs anyway.
Q: Do you think the Jason Kidd deal makes Dallas better, worse, or the same come playoffs time? Right now it looks like they are more likely to be knocked out in the second round.
— Derek, Fayetteville, Ark.
A: I believe that's the toughest one to figure because it appeared the Mavs needed a big guy more than a point guard. But I have great regard for Kidd. He dominates games without scoring and is the best intangibles player in the league. I feel he makes them better in the short run, but still puts them behind the Lakers and Spurs to maybe fourth or fifth in the conference.
Q: What players will get traded during the offseason since they weren't moved by the trade deadline?
— Randy Henry, Brooklyn, N.Y.
A: That's a tough one as there figure to be a lot of deals. The Pacers will try to move Jermaine O'Neal. Ron Artest probably goes in a sign and trade. Maybe Al Harrington, Ben Gordon, Charlie Bell, Andre Miller, Nick Collison, Jarrett Jack, Mike Miller, Tim Thomas and Nene. Though there'll be more.
Q: What do you think about the minor trade between the Raptors and the Pistons? Do you think Primo Brezec can get back to how he was playing before?
— Matthew Fairweather, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
A: How was he playing? Where was he playing? He had a couple of decent statistical seasons with a bad Charlotte team, but never had much impact. I think he's probably better off in Europe. I believe it was just a deal for teams to take a look at different players with expiring deals since the Pistons didn't want Brezec and the Raptors didn't want Dixon. I don't see either having any impact on their teams and then being gone after the season. I'm sorry, by the way, but I can't resist and I'm sure you have heard this one before. But you have to be the ultimate Fairweather fan. Where I imagine the weather is rarely fair. Sorry about that, chief.