The West, Better than the Rest
by Rob
You've seen what I have to say about the East (and if you haven't, you'd better go read it right now) so I suppose I need to a hack at the West. As with the East, I am not going to attack these teams in any particular order partially because as I'm writing this no team has completely locked up their position. We can start with the teams that everyone considers to be the top 4 in the NBA: Wolves, Kings, Lakers, and Spurs. For all that was said in the off season about the upgrades that Kevin McHale pulled off, we still have to consider these guys an after thought. They have the best record in the West and second best in the NBA, but try to remember that they have NEVER won a playoff series. Personally, I'm pulling for these guys because I think that KG is going to wind up being a Hall of Famer and he finally has the supporting cast to allow him to win. Hudson and Wally are still here and starting to understand that they are no longer front of the rotation players. Sam and Spree are disliked by the public but are true gamers on the court. The glaring hole that is going to determine how well these guys do is the Kandi Man. He's been awful, but if he finds a way to earn his money, they could do really well. The Kings are the team that I'm pulling for on the wrong coast. It isn't just because I'm the only person outside of Sacramento that loves Webber, but these guys play a brand of basketball that we should all be glad to see. In a day and age when the goal of most players is to make SportsCenter with a highlight dunk, these guys pride themselves on their passing. They have the 3 best passing big men in the game and everyone on that team can score. When it's all said and done though, they aren't going to pull it off. Miller and Divac just aren't going to be able to shut down Duncan, Shaq, KG, Gasol, or Yao, mainly because they don't like to play D. Speaking of Shaq, the Lakers are finally starting to play together. This team has four Hall of Famers (assuming Kobe can stay out of jail) and two of them are hungry for their first rings. The only problem with this team is that they only have four Hall of Famers. The other great teams in the league are built on depth and not having any holes, but the Lakers are one injury away from going back in the tank. For all the talk of Shaq and Kobe being able to turn it on once the playoffs start, we're a bad toe from a team without an inside presence. Anyone think that they can win with just Malone inside? Don't kid yourself, there's a reason that he doesn't have a ring yet. And we finally get to the team that best exemplifies its best player's nickname: The Big Fundamental. These guys don't do anything spectacularly but they don't have to. When you play good D and you can come back down and score from any spot on the floor, you have a great chance of beating anyone. With that said about the Spurs, I think they could get upset in the first round by the Memphis Grizzlies. Jerry West built a team that essentially has interchangeable parts. Hubie Brown has done an incredible job of making sure that everyone of these guys is ready to step up if they are called on. Point in case, James Posey has turned into one of the most important players on the team. And yes, this is the same James Posey that the Nuggets discarded (you know, that would have been a lot more powerful before Kiki turned this franchise around). The best part about this team is that they have even more talent just waiting for a rotation spot to open up. Ugh. The Mavericks. My favorite part of this team is owner Mark Cuban's Blog. Who could possibly really cheer for a team that is working to be the Yankees of the NBA? They brought the best player from Golden State in to be their 6th man. You know what they haven't done? Address that gaping hole in the middle of the floor that is Danny Fortson and Shawn Bradley. Personally, I think that Fortson is underrated and should be a starter, but not as a center on a team that doesn't have a defensive stopper. When they can learn to play a little D, they might scare someone, but for right now, they have a bunch of scorers that aren't playing well together. I think we all had high hopes for Houston when this season started. Stevie Francis is one of the most dynamic and exciting player in the league, but now we've learned that he's a whiner. Big Cat Mobley is one of my favorites because he keeps his mouth shut and plays hard. Yao is going to be one of the best players in the league as soon as he consistently decides to assert himself. The one thing missing: no one knows. For some reason they just can't seem to get it done. They have a dominant back court, a powerhouse in the middle, and a decent bench, but they just can't seem to win. My guess is that Van Gundy has these guys buying into his system by the time the season opens next year and they wind up in the top half of this article. The Suns and Clippers are both inexplicable and predictable. Two more lottery picks and another losing season anyone? For the homestretch, I am going to take you through those teams out West that aren't in that upper echelon. Things don't look nearly as bleak with these teams because almost every one of them has something going for it. Let's take a look. The Denver Nuggets squeezed into the playoffs but let's not pretend like they are going to knock off the team that finally settles into the top spot. This team deserves to be here and Jeff Bzdelik and Kiki Vandeweghe should take home top honors from the sports writers. How can you not love two guys that quickly rebuilt the worst franchise in the league and have these incredible names! With Andre Miller, Carmelo Anthony, and Nene Hilario we have the makings a great team for the next few years. Here's the sad part of the review: Portland and Utah. These two franchises saw long play off streaks end this season, but there is reason to be optimistic. As much as we should hate the Blazers of the last few years, John Nash has done a remarkable job of revamping this team during the season. There are still a few bad attitudes and contracts left to go, but they have brought in talent and people that you can let your kids cheer for. As much as everyone says that Dumars made the deal of the year to get Rasheed, I think Nash did just as good a job while getting rid of him. Abdur-Rahim can serve as a role model and tutor to Zach Randolph and we are finally seeing what a healthy Ratliff can do. Utah lost one of its best players (some say the best but we should all love that skinny Drago look alike) early in the season and that was after they were predicted to be the worst team in the league. Jerry Sloan almost managed to get them back into the play offs with a bunch of cast-offs. There are rumors Jason Terry is going to be headed this way after all and that would give this team a number of players that you can really lean on. In my opinion, people are just now starting to understand what a stud Matt Harpring is and that he can be a leader if you want him to be or come off the bench to support your superstar (and no I'm not biased because he played his high school ball around the corner from my house and with friends of mine…well, yeah I am). I can sit here and praise just about any franchise if they have something that stands out as promising. The Warriors seem to shine is finding ways to ruin what could be a promising future. The GM has been handcuffed and blamed for trades made by others. The coach is being blamed because draft picks have been used poorly and the team's best player was traded away for a head case. What on earth is there to be excited about here? Well, Mickael Pietrus looks like he can turn into something special, so we should see him traded to a quality program in the next three years. I don't really like what Seattle has done with itself, but they do still have Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. Maybe they will finally find the 4 they've been searching for or perhaps Calvin Booth will finally play up to that large contract. Well, since that isn't going to happen, maybe they will get lucky. By the way, if there is an NBA god, Vladimir Radmanovic will find himself on a team that actually wants to let him play; mark my word, he's a keeper. The Suns and Clippers are both inexplicable and predictable. Both have a ton of young talent and neither can find a way to dig its franchise out of the basement. Two more lottery picks and another losing season? Phoenix has done a great job of ridding itself of bad contracts (see Penny in NYC) and has stock piled young talent. If they do this right, they could be the next Grizzlies (has anyone ever muttered those words in praise before?). The Clippers only hope is that Kobe decides he wants to shove it in the Lakers' face, but that isn't going to happen, so we should get more finger pointing on Donald Sterling's watch. Read Rob's take on the East.
Discussing Adleman's retirement gift.