NBA Western Conference Review

Phoenix (43-13)

   The new royalty. They were First Round and Outers as the season started,...but then they started kicking the Holy Hell out of people. Soon, they were the class of the NBA. Nash and QRich have been spectacular pickups, with Nash becoming an MVP candidate. With the hockey strike ongoing, he just may be Canada's Greatest Athlete. Amare has been immense, appearantly upset by his Olympic benching. Marion has seized Top 20 status.

   We'll see how good they are in the playoffs, when they get into a seven game war somewhere.

 

San Antonio (42-13)

   They have been one of the NBA's rocks for a few years now, and are the smart money bet to take the whole enchilada. They have Tim Duncan, a fact which makes me think back on the day when the Lottery balls went wrong and I started to read with enjoyment of the brilliant military victory of General Santa Anna when he battered those rascally San Antonians. Sorry about the run-on sentence,  but I may still be a tad bitter about it.

   If they watched the Shaq/Kobe Lakers fall apart and don't go out and win a title this year.... Coach Pop will be so mad that he will go out into the street and beat Mexicans.

 

Seattle (38-15)

   They were the biggest shock to my system this year. They were awful the year before, made few changes, drafted a little-used rookie....and simply dominated the first half of the season.

   They win by a simple strategy....Allen and Lewis hang out on the perimeter and steady bomb. Danny Fortson mauls people ("He thinks of every missed shot as a pass to him." says Rick Pitino about Fortson). They can score on anyone, but they have yet to win a playoff series when a good team is making a solid defensive effort on them.

 

Dallas (37-17)

   They can put points on the board- they have a 20ppg scorer stuck on the bench. While the Diggler is the center of the effort, they have other players (Howard, Terry, Finley, Stackhouse, Van Horn) who can take over a game. The Dampier signing has failed to stiffen the team defense, and they will simply have to outshoot whoever plays them in June.

 

Sacramento (35-21)

   They chewed off their leg to get out of the trap. They were tied to Chris Webber's $60 million/4 year rape of a contract...but instead of working around it, they gave him away for some magic beans. You can find a worse team than one built around Bad Brad, Peja and Bibby, but they seem so Northern California.

   They also blew a chance, when dumping Webber, to get Van Horn or LaFrenz and have the elusive All White Frontcourt. They could have got Raef some of those Mikan glasses.

 

Houston (32-23)

   Yao and Tracey look like Rush Hour III, but the team is starting to gel around them. Bobby Sura has been a good pickup. The addition of Wesley couldn't hurt. Juwan is holding off Dwight for the NBA's best Howard title, and Mike James was a good pickup. They still look to be a player away, though.

 

Memphis (31-25)

   If poor Hubie had held up, he'd probably have had a heart attack trying to hold off Kobe or Garnett for the last playoff spot. They play smart ball, and Jason Williams actually playsblacker than most of the And One touring team. With a healthy Gasol, they have a chance of advancing in the playoffs...but they are a dark horse, at best.

 

Los Angles Lakers (28-26)

   It wasn't so long ago that they were the cream of the crop. Now they are Kobe's team, and they are a Garnett rampage away from becoming a Lottery Darling. Still, if I had to pick a number eight seed to knock off a number one...they're my money pick.

 

   Several of the Bubble teams could be a top East seed....or they just suck. Judge for yourself:

 

Minnesota (27-29)

   They may still hold some sort of Karma with the old Minneapolis Lakers, because they went into the tank as soon as LA did. KG has been playing hurt, and he can't carry the bunch of losers McHale has saddled him with. Olowokandi has been awful, although he at least got shot with a Tazer. Cassell hit the wall like a first wife. Spree's game fell off like he suddenly quit steroids or something. They just may have the NBA's best player...but they have to rebuild.

 

Denver (26-29)

   They were supposed to be in the mix. They had a good core, built around the impressive Carmello Anthony. They added Kenyon Martin, and they looked to be hunting big game. Instead, they have sucked all year, and can only hope that George Karl can turn it around.

   When Kobe has a better year in Colorado than a promising Nugg squad, it's time to roll some heads.

   If your fantasy league has a category for "threatening to kill police informants on a DVD," try to get Carmello inked early.

 

Portland (22-31)

   You could smell the trouble on this team. Too many bad apples. We've had dogfighting, black-on-black racial slurs(was one of them called high yellow?), drugs, angry outbursts, poor shot selection, a draft dictated by a shoe company, and enough bickering to make Melrose Place look like an Up With People halftime show.

   Portland needs to rip this team apart like a starving NFL team set loose at a salad bar.

 

Utah (17-37)

 They nearly made the dance last year. They made huge free agent scores. They drafted well. They might have the best European in the NBA. They looked to make a serious stand in the Rockies....instead, they suck like Heidi Fleiss- frequently, and for high dollars.

 

 

 

 

Los Angeles Clippers (24-31)

   Damn...we're still the worst team in LA.

   They should either learn to play NFL football, or they should move to some other city and break this lousy curse.

 

Golden State (16-38)

   This is a whole new team once the Baron gets healthy. For now, they are what the record says they are...they suck. Next year, with a Baron/JRich backcourt, they can make some noise. They need to have a SUPERB draft...next to Charlotte, theirs is the most important pick in the Lottery.

 

New Orleans (11-43)

   Once the Baron went into the tank, they sucksucksucked. Magliore's injury didn't help, and the Mash trade for a retiring player has assured the Big Easy of being a doormat for the next several years. They will have huge free agent money...but who in their right mind would sign on with this bunch?