Pieces Pistons offering not attractive enough

It’s been a month since the Celtics eliminated the Pistons from the postseason and the major deal that Joe Dumars talked about in his press conference hasn’t come. Unreasonable people are getting impatient. It’s only been a month -- and only two weeks since the draft. Detroit is still a good team, it’s just the market value for players that haven’t been able to get it done over the past three years isn’t going to look to attractive to the market. The perception of Detroit is they play well as a team, but don’t have individually talented players that are on par with other stars in the league. That has been their problem over the past three seasons. Their teamwork hasn’t been able to overcome the stars players on the other team. The league is controlled by stars again.

Carlisle needs to make Mavs tougher

With Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitski, there’s no way that Dallas shouldn’t be major players next year and one thing Rick Carlisle had done in previous stops is get his team to play tough on the defensive end. The first Pistons teams he took to the playoffs basically did it with smoke and mirrors on offense and a defense that stayed intense longer than its opponent. The main knock on Dallas is and will continue to be its defensive toughness. The Mavericks just don’t intimidate people. The Pistons had that toughness and so did the Pacers until Ron Artest was traded for Peja Stojakovic, one of the softest players in the NBA and Jermaine O’Neal couldn’t stay healthy. The only issue is whether the team is going to respond to Carlisle better than it did Avery Johnson. Carlisle has been perceived by the media as abrasive.

Chalmers nothing more than a role player

The story today made Mario Chalmers sound like a steal. He won a championship after staying for three seasons, a graybeard by college terms, was the most outstanding player in the Final Four and shut down all the top draft picks when the they faced each other last season. What were all the NBA teams missing about him that allowed him to fail to the second round? He would seem to have the pedigree at point guard. Playing at Kansas there wouldn’t be another team in the country that would have played tougher competition and his team took on all comers and won. The thing is he might not be anything more than a role-playing point guard. A defensive presence to put in the game to pressure the ball. His offensive numbers in college weren’t that impressive for someone that was supposed to be a marquis player. He averaged just over 12 points per game and just over four assists. Defensively he did average 2.5 steals per game, which is evidence of his ball pressure. There’s nothing yet to suggest those numbers are going to go up against NBA players. When Chris Paul came into the league he averaged over 16 points and 6.5 assists in college. That is what a starting point guard looks like coming out of college.

Duhon is upgrade, but point is still Magic's weakness

Chris Duhon would be a nice backup to Jameer Nelson at point guard in Orlando, although Nelson would be a nice backup elsewhere. The way to beat the Magic right now, as the Pistons showed in the playoffs last year, was to capitalize on Nelson’s lack of height and poor defense. Any team that can find a way to post up Nelson will have a definite way to attack the Magic. But post-up point guards are rare. Billups happened to be one. Gary Payton was one. Sam Cassell could also post up. Duhon didn’t like that he didn’t have a role with the Bulls and blames his insubordinate behavior on that. We’ll see. He’s clearly the backup point guard now in Orlando and we’ll see if there was a reason the Bulls were willing to part ways with the former Blue Devil before they had even thought about drafting a point guard.

Heat in trouble at point

The Heat are in trouble at point guard. The names the Herald listed today are stopgap measures at best—Jannero Pargo, Tyron Lue, Kenyon Dooling and Carlos Arroyo among others. One thing the playoffs this year showed was the importance of having strong point guard play. It will get a team into the second round of the playoffs. After that the star power takes over, no matter where the position. The Heat won’t be going anywhere with a backup point guard playing as a starter. Not sure what the real problem is with Jason Williams, considering what the Heat is looking at right now. He can’t be any worse of an option than those other guys, who all are considered solid backups. Also there are some teams with too many point guards, like Indiana, who apparently has fallen out of favor with Jamal Tinsley after once being deemed one of Isaiah Thomas’ pet projects. Thomas had a lot of pet projects in New York and the Knicks now have a lot of point guards with all of them seeming to be on the way out. Any of them are better options than the names mentioned at the top.

Elbow to chest sends Beasley home early

Second overall pick Michael Beasley is hurt and leaves practice early and was unavailable to the media. Probably a good thing on one had that the Heat didn’t throw him in front of the press. On the other, it might have been good practice for the kind of grilling he’s going to take during the season. But it is just one practice in July, probably as insignificant of a practice that the Heat will have all year. It just seems interesting that, of all players, it was Beasley had to leave practice early and the reporters didn’t find out who gave him the devastating elbow in the chest. A description of how it happened would have been nice to see. At least it would have verified if it was true or not. But why wouldn’t it be true? Next week’s summer league games are going to be interesting because for the first time, everyone will get to see Beasley against players that are equally athletic. A lot of them will be taller and quite possibly quicker and stronger. In those five days, it’s going to evident whether or not his height is going to be a hindrance at his position. The second overall pick in the NBA draft should probably dominate a summer league whose rosters are filled mostly with other college players and NBA bench players.

NBA Notes July 2, 2008

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

The Cavs aren’t in position to do anything significant during free agency. They are well over the cap even though they don’t have a scorer that has proven an ability to compliment LeBron James. They do have some trade bait though, especially with forward Anderson Varejao, whose game mimics Ben Wallace’s and whose young enough to have some trade value. If the business aspect of it wasn’t involved the better on-court move would be to deal Wallace, but with his age and the perception that he’s wearing down there wouldn’t be much value for him. Plus, he’s making more money than he’s worth thanks to the Bulls and the ridiculous contract they paid to a malcontent that hardly needs guarded on offense.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

First of all, its crazy to think that guys can reject making more than $10 million over the next five years, which is of course what Andre Iguodala did. But if his agent thinks he’s worth more in the restrict free agent market, that’s his business. He might be worth more but he probably shouldn’t be the highest paid player on his team in most cases. Iguodala would make a nice complimentary player for a star like Lebron, but as the first option, he can be guarded, as Detroit showed in the first round of the playoffs last year. They 76ers are looking to meet with Josh Smith, to me he is the class of the big men in free agency this year if you look at his all-around production and he age. Smith would give teams 17 points per game and dominate defensively with blocked shots. Paring Smith with Dalembert would give them an inside combination defensively that any team in the NBA would struggle inside against.

CHICAGO BULLS

The Bulls top priority this offseason is what they plan on doing with Ben Gordon and Luol Deng. On the court it would be easier for the Bulls to take a loss at guard given the amount of players they have at that position with Kirk Hinrich, Thabo Sefalosha, Larry Hughes, Malik Rose and Gordon. At small forward the number of proven players are far less and there would be a sizeable drop-off with the loss of Deng. Deng, basketball-wise, should remain the priority. But after last season in which the Bulls were in disarray the better route to go here is taking the team member that’s going to cause less chemistry problems as the Bulls move forward with their talented younger players. A Tribune story today raised some issues about paying Deng and Gordon less money since their stats were down, but the environment of the team this season made it tough to succeed. If Jim Boylan was a better coach, they would have removed the interim label.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS

In the aftermath of Baron Davis’ departure, the Warriors have significant room under the salary cap to go after anyone as a replacement. Apparently some feel Monta Ellis is a capable replacement. Ellis is more of a combo guard than one ready to run the team. Still they need to be considering Leandro Barbosa or Kirk Hinrich. Barbosa is rumored to be headed for the Knicks, but Chris Mullins might want to see what it would take to get him to Golden State. The one glaring issue about Davis opting out of his contract and having a deal in place with the Clippers a day later is that it reeks of illegal activity. Contract negotiations take some time and the two sides in this case appear to have made a deal in less than an eight-hour shift. The NBA should investigate this, but won’t.

NEW YORK KNICKS

The Knicks are showing they clearly need a point guard even though in the last few seasons it seems like they’ve had an overabundance of players at that position. Rumors have swirled this offseason regarding players that might be coming to New York to play the 1 spot. At one time or another the Knicks have been rumored to be interested in Leandro Barbosa, Chris Duhon and Frank Isola said in his blog today that he believed the Knicks were looking for to work a trade with Charlotte for their point guard Raymond Felton.

NBA notes July 1, 2008

MIAMI HEAT

The summer league games always sound like they’re going to be so interesting and then when they're on they seem like a practice, especially when the last basketball that was on television was two teams playing for the NBA championship. Why isn’t Miami’s new coach bothering to coach the summer league team. It’s not like he’s has any experience as a head coach. Both in Chicago and Detroit the head coaches are coaching the summer league teams and the consensus in those places is that it’s a good idea since neither Michael Curry or Vinnie Del Negro have any head coaching experience. Erik Spoelstra, where are you?

DALLAS MAVERICKS

The Mavericks could really use the help of Shaun Foster, the rookie from Vanderbilt. He’s a prototypical size for a shooting guard, but for the majority of these rookies, the sports writers are wasting ink. This may be one of those guys. He’ll have to break through a lineup that has had set rotation at guard with Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse. If today’s story was correct in its assessment of Foster’s shooting, the goal for him next year should be filling the role as a knockdown shooter from the bench. That’s one thing Stackhouse is not. Stackhouse is an explosive player. Unfortunately when those types of guy start to get older, they’re like the power pitcher in baseball that can no longer blow his fastball by batters.

DETROIT PISTONS

James Posey is the type of backup Detroit has been looking for to come in and spell Tayshaun Prince. The only problem is that it is unrealistic to think the Pistons can land the him. The Celtics have come out and said he is the team’s top priority in free agency and they can offer the same amount of Detroit. The Pistons will have to make it worth the hassle of uprooting and leaving a team that won the NBA championship last year and has a team capable of winning it again next year. Detroit would have to offer an attractive star as bait to give him the impression a move to Detroit would give him a better shot at a title. Right now that it doesn’t hold true that the Pistons could beat the Celtics if the teams as they are currently constructed were to meet again in next year’s playoffs. They key will be the length of the contract the Pistons are willing to offer and that will be something that will be easier to grasp once Detroit pulls off its imminent monster trade.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS

The Hornets can’t overpay for Chris Paul. When the terms came out today about his contract extension fans should be hoping they’re talking in the five year range. He’s destined to be an elite point guard for the foreseeable future. He’s arguably the best point guard in the league already and all indications are he stays out of trouble and he has shown an interest in staying with New Orleans when he could have played out his contract and hit the market as a restricted free agent after last season. Then he really could have set the market for his value since he would have been the top free agent to come out that year. The Hornets, like everyone else, is also targeting James Posey. But I like the idea of them going after Corey Maggette. He could add some toughness that is lacking with Peja Stojakovic, who might be more suited to come off the bench at this point in his career as someone that will come into the game to knock down shots. Maggette would give the Hornets another player that can create offense. The biggest need, however, is for a shooting guard. Where are they going to find one of those?

NEW YORK KNICKS

Chris Duhon might fit into the Knicks style of play, but in Chicago last season -- which was disastrous -- Duhon seemed to do more pouting and complaining than actual playing. He didn’t act like professional. His showing up at the Duke NCAA tournament game was a blatant act of insubordination and the more guards that came to the Bulls, the more he complained instead of rising to the challenge and forcing the coach to play him, he simply gave up. After what the Knicks have gone through in recent seasons as far as chemistry problems, why bring in someone with a history of being disruptive. The Knicks need team players right now. New coach Mike D’antoni seems like he’s laying down the law. If Duhon doesn’t like what’s going on, what’s he going to do?

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS

Losing point guard Baron Davis will be huge blow for the Warriors for a long time to come unless they can convince Gilbert Arenas to join the team. The Warriors might have done the only thing they could do here. Davis wanted five years guaranteed. Smartly, the Warriors were only willing to offer him two. Davis has shown no history that he will be able to play in the majority of games over the next five years, most of which will be into his 30s. He’s a phenomenal player and will be for the next couple of seasons, but beyond that is anyone’s guess. If Monta Ellis doesn’t come back the Warriors will be in even bigger trouble. Apparently they’re willing to throw $100 million at Arenas. Maybe they should be looking at Suns guard Leandro Barbosa, who the Suns, inexplicably, are rumored to be shopping around.


CHICAGO BULLS

Hopefully for the Bulls, Derek Rose will not be similar to their No.2 overall pick in 2002 Jay Williams as far as off-court fortune. There are some similarities in the two in they way they were regarded coming into the NBA. Williams came out of Duke the best college player in America. He was on a normal learning curve before the motorcycle accident. Rose will be playing for a better team next year than the team on which Williams played. Next week’s summer league can’t some soon enough. The Bulls are going to have to find out if they want to turn the team over to Rose right away. If that is the case, they’ll have some lucrative trade bait with Kirk Hinrich, a player that Golden State also might want to start thinking about acquiring. A Bulls backcourt of Rose and Larry Hughes is probably they’re best option right now with Gordon coming off the bench, assuming he sticks around. Up front they should make it Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas and a true center. There are a few on the market. Disagna Diop from New Jersey, Andris Biedrins from Golden State. Noah and Thomas seem to repetitive, like the Cavs having both Ben Wallace and Andersen Varajao.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS

The Lakers appear to be set as a team for the next couple of seasons. They are already over the salary cap and still need to sign center Andrew Bynum to a long-term contract. There isn’t much room to upgrade this Lakers team anyway other than getting a better point guard. Derek Fisher is a nice player that is perfect for the triangle offense, but his best attributes are what he brings to the team in terms of leadership and ability to command the team. He understands his role in it and his role on the floor. The Lakers might be able to find a point guard with more individual skill, but they might miss the intangibles Therefore, the Lakers are set. That’s why they’re offseason headlines are about signing backups. They do still have the mid-level exception to play with, which puts them in the mix for James Posey

NBA notes June 30, 2008

Miami Heat
With the addition of new players in Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers the Heat not only got its hands on players that had legendary success in college, it insures they’re adding players that aren’t used to losing. That might be an important factor in turning the team around but not in that they are used to winning. How are they going to deal with losing. The Heat are going to lose right away and either they’ll respond to the competition or they’ll fold. One thing Beasley has going for him is that he’s coming from a program in college that wasn’t used to being a national center of attention. Going to the NCAA tournament and being excepted to do something there was a new thing for Kansas State. He’s going to be used to playing on a team with a losing history.

New Orleans Hornets
It’s a legitimate to talk about the strain put on some of these athletes that are going to play for the Olympic team this summer and the story today was right to bring of the fact that the team’s franchise player Chris Paul will have played in 112 games by the time the Olympics are done, assuming the United States makes it to the medal round. There is a lot of money at stake with the ticket sales and all, but that’s not really concerns me. Those millionaires are going to continue to make money whether or not Paul is playing. It’s worse for the fans, who want to root for the team at 100-percent. There is no clear way to solve that problem other than not allowing the NBA players to play or make a team up of less than franchise players. A team of all-stars can be formed that probably would make for a competitive team since there are very few foreign franchise players, but that would be getting away from the idea of sending the best. That might not be that important, but giving the fan something to cheer about every night when the get home from work is important. Maybe even more important that winning a gold medal.

New York Knicks
The Knicks have to get rid of Marbury. He is supremely talented, but too much of a loser. His teams have rarely been successful in the NBA and its too bad because he could have been one of the best players in history if he didn’t cause the demise in his team every year. But what if Marbury is just misunderstood? He’s a player that if he was willing to accept a team role then he could fit in and be a great player. Maybe on a team like the Lakers, whose offense forces everyone to share could be a place where Marbury could make an impact. The problem is that he’s a player like Allen Iverson that needs to dominate the ball in order to be effective. Without the ball in his hands he feels uncomfortable, not a productive and ultimately threatened. This has to change or he’s destined to do the same thing wherever he goes that he did in New York, New Jersey, Phoenix…and the next team.

Orlando Magic
There is a story in today’s Orlando Sentinel talking about the possible return of Corey Maggette to the Magic. How is this a good fit? One of the last things the Magic need right now is another small forward. They have two with Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkolu. The Magic has enough scoring with those two and Dwight Howard. Maggette is also going to command a decent financial package. If they go bring him in to play small forward then the Magic would have Hedo at shooting guard, which isn’t that bad given he has the skill to play there offensively, but then Lewis would be back and the power forward spot for another season. The only way to get it to word would be if Maggette is willing to play the role of a sixth man. As far as the starting lineup, the biggest thing the Magic needs right now is a banger to help absorb some of the inside force that’s was all concentrated on Howard last season.

Phoenix Suns
It doesn’t make any sense that the Suns are looking to lower Steve Nash’s minutes next season as a 34-year-old point guard yet they appear to be willing to part with Leandro Barbosa, who might be the NBA’s best backup point guard. That doesn’t make sense along with the Suns’ apparent interest in 37-year-old Allan Houston. The Suns have figured out a way to go from a team that had a youthful, energetic feel to one that seems to have a geriatric at every position. Steve Nash is getting up there, although players that rely on guile more than athletic ability can play longer. Shaq is clearly on his last leg. He was not able to dominate anyone in playoffs last year and it’s almost hard to believe Grant Hill is still playing. Adding Houston to this collection is laughable.


Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers are talking about the deal they made to send Kyle Korver to Utah, which allowed them to free up cap space for this offseason. In order for it to be considered a good deal they’ll have to get someone in return that is more of an impact player than Korver was. Unfortunately for them this is considered a weak free agent class. One of the players talked about in a story today was the addition of Elton Brand, who will make 16.4 million this season if he doesn’t opt out of his contract with the Clippers. If I’m the 76ers GM it would be difficult to bring in Brand and pay him more money than 16.4 million, which is what he would want. He’s had major injuries and it doesn’t make sense to give someone coming off that kind of injury that type of money, not matter who much they need a low-post scorer. Golden State’s Andre Biedrins is a more attractive prospect. They wouldn’t have to pay him the same amount of money and he would come with a more accurate picture of what he can do.

Bulls Interview Jackson

CHICAGO BULLS

Another reason to interviewing Mark Jackson is because another NBA team considers him their front runner and in some respects their savior. Jackson would bring them the chance to calibrate their own interviews. Maybe they don’t have a shot at Jackson, but by brining them in they’ll know what he thinks about what the Bulls have on their roster and they can decide if a coach that is expected to turnaround the Knick would bring a great approach to fixing the Bulls. Then the next candidates they interview they can compare to Jackson.

What happened to Superman?

Shaq is going to be a good addition for the Suns in the playoffs, but its unbelievable watching how much his offensive skills have diminished -- especially because he still looks like the gargantuan force that he’s always looked like. But now he either doesn’t have the strength or doesn’t give the effort all the time to get wherever he wants on the court. Smaller players are able to push him out of his comfort zone now. He had an embarrassing attempt to make a shot at the end of the third quarter tonight against Denver in which he tried a double clutch shot instead of going up strong for a power dunk. The shot missed and Shaq fell to the ground as time expired. It’s going to have to be all Aristotle and little Superman these days.

Cavs championship recipe

The Cavs are looking more and more to have the components of a championship team. They story today is talking about the rotation, which at this time is thought to have more players than are necessary in a typical playoff game. They have the elder statesman in Ilgauskas, who’s been on the team since they were the worst team in the league. Now they have the enforcer in Ben Wallace, who job it is to police the game and keep people off Lebron James. The thing is the Pistons are probably the team that will be immune to Wallace’s intimidation. They played with him for years and they know his tactics. Likewise he won’t be intimidated by Detroit, but when Cleveland sees that Wallace can’t do against the Pistons what he can do against other teams as far as being the enforcer that could have an adverse effect.

Working in the Cavs favor against the Pistons is that they still have never seemed to regain that fire that fueled the team when they were a group of unknowns and the hardest working team in basketball. That work ethic and determination carried them to the championship in 2004. While their will remains strong when they need it, sometimes they wait too long before they decide to use it. That’s plagued them and had gotten worse. It’s an issue that has become an issue for championship teams.

Grizzles vs. Suns thoughts

Watching some of the Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies game. The announcers keep talking about the Suns starting to look better together. That’s not a judgment that can be made against a team like the Grizzlies, who are playing out the string and, along with Minnesota, are one of the definitively worst teams in the Western Conference. Everyone looks good against the Grizzles.
Having watched the development of Darko Milicic from afar, it’s still clear that he has some skills. This is the final chance he’ll get to prove he’s a star player. He’s on a team that doesn’t put any pressure on the team to win and they’re a team full of young players that are all getting a chance to develop. When the Grizzlies traded Gasol to the Lakers, that opened the floor for Darko. He has good moves. One play in the third quarter, he breezed by Amare Stoudamire with a drop step, but blew the wide open layup. That’s the problem with Milicic. He wows you and brings you back to reality with what my old high school coach used to call a “Million dollar move and a two-cent shot.” It’s 72-41 at halftime.

NBA notes March 10, 2008

MIAMI HEAT
This is the worst season in franchise history for the Miami Heat. If Miami wins less than five of its remaining 20 games, they’ll be able to back up that statement with a record, but this still is the worst season. Only the Heat as an expansion team was worse. But this team this year was built to actually win some games and compete for a championship before things turned South. However in acquiring Marion and with the top draft pick they should get next year -- Michael Beasley might look good there -- the heat have cut some corners it rebuilding process. It won’t be long for Miami.

DALLAS MAVERICKS
Not much to say after they waxed New York tonight. There are a lot of teams that can say that. At least the Miami Heat have the New York Knicks to look at for a franchise that’s more dysfunctional. Dirk became the franchises leading scorer and all that tells me is that Dallas has never had great teams through the years. During the Jordan era, they were arguably the worst franchise in all of sports. They had nothing. But to see that Dirk has all these years still left and he’s scored more points than any Dallas Maverick? The Mavericks franchise has largely been a joke. The renaissance that Mark Cuban has brought on this team is still a blip on the timeline for a franchise that has never otherwise been a true contender.

DETROIT PISTONS
The addition of Theo Ratliff right now it looking like a nice move, but so did the addition of Chris Webber at the beginning last year and then Webber broke down towards the end of the season. But one thing different in Webber’s situation, he played a lot more with Philadelphia than Ratliff did in Minnesota. When Detroit picked up the aging shot blocker, he had playing in just 10 games this season.


GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Biedrins is now back for the Warriors and they seemed to have successfully withstood the injuries that threatened to ruin their season last month. They’re on pace to win 51 games although there’s no guarantee that’s going to be enough. That will be interesting to watch, especially since the Rockets have shown no sign of slowing down. The winners of 18 straight games are without their big man Yao and still set the franchise mark for consecutive wins. They team that did it was a pretty good one. They won the championship that year with Olajuwon and Drexler.

CHICAGO BULLS
The seeds the Bulls planted in the garden of the dysfunctional have not only sprouted roots, but a trunk has formed with branches and leaves budding from it. This is what happens when a team has an interim coach and he’s expected to be able to work with a player that an unrestricted free agent, especially one that has had his playing time stripped. Neither side owes the other anything. Only the Knicks and Heat are more dysfunctional than the Bulls right now. The only difference is this team still has a shot at making the playoffs.

NBA notes Feb. 28, 2008

MIAMI HEAT
The NBA needs to just forget about the game between the Heat and the Hawks where Shaq inadvertently fouled out. It was conceivable to play the game again as long as both team were able to put the same players on the court. But now both teams are drastically different and Miami, which lost the game, isn’t playing for the win, but rather they are just learning how to get along together. This one I think the league can just scrap as a mistake and move on. The lineup the Heat used in the last game seems like a no brainer to me -- Shawn Marion at the small forward sport with Wade at the two-spot and Jason Williams, who people were once saying was the second coming of Pistol Pete at the one.

DALLAS MAVERICKS
The Mavs will definitely be getting a test tonight and again in Los Angeles Sunday. Parker is back and that means the game against San Antonio should be a true test. The thing to watch is to see if teams play the Mavericks differently. How much will they respect Kidd’s outside game on the pick and roll. As far as Kidd guarding Parker, he might not have the quickness that a younger Devin Harris has, but he is generally considered, or has been, considered a solid defensive player. That said, there’s no one in the league that’s has been that effective in keeping Parker out of the lane. He’s going to get to the basket. It will also be interesting to see what Magloire can contribute, if anything. He was hardly playing in New Jersey. If he ends up playing a large or consistent role for the Mavericks, then that might say something about the direction New Jersey’s headed and the quality of their coaches and personnel department in using the talent that they have.

DETROIT PISTONS
After leading by 18 points, the Pistons lost their sixth game in a row to the Jazz. The two things that should bother the Pistons are that they squabbled an 18-point lead in the game and they lost to the Jazz again. A team as good as Detriot should feel like they can beat anybody. This current veteran group hasn’t figured out a way to beat the Jazz and for a team that feels it’s the best in the league, it’s hard to say that when you can’t even beat the Jazz, who are a good team, but no one is calling them the best team. Apparently they just match up well with the Pistons. Losing the big lead is a bigger deal than the six consecutive losses though. This was a road game they actually should have won.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
The Hornets are doing to the Suns what the Warriors did to Dallas last year. They seem to have this team’s number. The Hornets beat the Suns for the fourth time this season to sweep the season series and if they run into each other in the playoffs these four games should be on both teams’ minds. The Suns still haven’t figured out a way to play the tough defense that they thought they would have with the addition of Shaq. The story in the Times-Picayune today discredited the win somewhat because the Suns don’t have any real defense. They were also happily reporting Morris Peterson’s 11 points as a pleasing output. They might be the only winning team in the league that’s happy only getting 11 points out of their shooting guard, but I guess when you have big scorers at point guard, power forward and small forward that’s how it is. However Peja at small forward isn’t going to deliver the big scoring performance every night. There’s plenty of opportunity for Peterson to step in there and have a big game every once in awhile. For a shooting guard 11 points is not a big game. Well is still a threat to take that starting spot.

NEW YORK KNICKS
The word is now that Isaiah will stay on as Knicks coach while Kiki Vandeweghe takes over as team president. Thomas seems to be at the center of all the Knicks’ chemistry issues. He brought in all these malcontents and players that need to dominate the ball to be effective and it’s been clear that this will not work. Still even last offseason he’s continued to bring in more pieces that wont fit and the players don’t seem to be playing for him, including the franchise player Stephon Marbury. This team needs to be dismantled, including the coach. It just doesn’t seem possible to keep Isaiah as coach and keep the same player. If it’s true that Vandeweghe gets the job and Thomas stays, hopefully Vandeweghe will know enough to get rid of everybody. It just doesn’t seem like its possible to change the culture of losing and keep the same players.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
The Warriors are still discussing ways to make up for the absence of Andres Biedrins. The story today discussed to big men in Patrick O’Bryant and Kosta Perovic that have been camped out at the end of the bench this year. There as no mention today of Austin Croshere, who seemed to be a savior yesterday. Even though the Warriors didn’t play tonight, it seems like Brandan Wright will still get the opportunity to get the bulk of the minutes. Nelson will continue to look at Chris Webber with Croshere also getting time at center. Of the two guys that are buried at the end of the bench, Nelson appeared to have more nice things to say about Perovic, who is 7-foot-2.

CHICAGO BULLS
Tyrus Thomas is a better option down low than Joakim Noah, but Noah is considered the starting center and Thomas the power forward, the position that Drew Gooden plays. Gooden will eventually get into the starting lineup because the Bulls need more of a threat to score there. Thomas and Noah are basically the same type of player. They have length and can rebound and don’t have a developed array of offensive moves yet. Gooden isn’t the greatest power forward in the game and will often get abused by the better players in the league, but he can put the ball in the basket from the mid-range on the floor, which is more range than Noah and Thomas have -- probably combined. Hughes is also probably the best shooting guard the Bulls have right now, but there still a lot of untapped potential in Thabo Sefolosha. The Bulls will have to make a decision on which one of those players they’re willing to keep. For that reason Hughes will enter the starting lineup regardless of how Sefolosha plays, unless he turns into a player like Kobe Bryant. The Bulls brass will want to see how he looks alongside Kirk Hinrich, who is entrenched as the starting point guard despite inconsistent performance. Ben Gordon will never be anything more than a sixth-man. He’s too short to be a starting shooting guard and he’s instant offense off the bench. If someone likes Gordon enough to be a starter that they’re willing to give up something in big in return, they’ll trade him and then keep the loser of the Hughes Sefolosha battle.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS
The MVP award is Kobe Bryant’s to lose right now, but there is still the question of whether he deserves it. Is the most valuable person to his team in the league? The Lakers didn’t become true contenders until the development of Andrew Bynum and the recent addition of Pau Gasol. But one of the biggest reasons that the Lakers are back to where they should be is the addition if Derek Fisher at point guard. He gives the team that steadying influence it needs there. Fisher was on all of those championship teams with Bryant and played significant parts. He’s a huge upgrade from what the Lakers have had there since he left. Jannero Pargo anyone? Fisher is the type of player the triangle offense was built for -- cut to the open spot and if the ball comes and you’re still open, shoot it. That all said, Bryant is the best player in the league and if the Lakers finish with the best record in one of the most competitive Western Conference races in league history, he’ll the MVP award.

NBA notes Feb. 27, 2008

MIAMI HEAT

The Heat broke an 11-game losing streak last yesterday with a 107-86 win over the Kings. The math is quite simple in this one. Marcus Haslem, the team captain, returned from injury and scored 17 points. Haslem has an exceptional mid-range game, the kind expected from a prototypical power forward. With Haslem back, Shawn Marion moved to the small forward spot, where he didn’t play in Phoenix, but should have been. That move forced the previous small forward Dorrell Wright to the bench. Wright had been averaging 8.1 points per game. By moving Marion and inserting Marcus Haslem into the lineup, last night there was an 11-point production difference in the new lineup. The Heat have lost 25 of its last 26 games. Fifteen were decided by less than 11 points. Even if they win all 15 of those games, they’re still not in the playoffs, but the postseason is at least in the conversation.


DALLAS MAVERICKS
Watching a guy that passes a lot can be contagious because it is human nature to think ‘whatever you can do, I can do better.’ Seeing Kidd do what he does might rub off on Dirk. But today Sefko’s article is trying to relate them to the Nash-Dirk relationship, which offensively was unstoppable. At this point Kidd might be an even better fit for the Mavericks than Nash was simply because Kidd will play better defense and he’s one of the best rebounding guards in the league. With that all said the Mavericks are 3-1 with Kidd and are winners of their last three straight. But that one loss was to New Orleans and the three wins come against Chicago, Minnesota and Memphis, which are playing out the string.

DETROIT PISTONS

There was a story today on Juan Dixon. Not sure how he’s going to fit into the Pistons’ plans. They have a couple of young backup guards that they’re working with almost exclusively during the regular season. So exclusively, in fact, that Lindsey Hunter hasn’t been dressing. Hunter’s days are definitely numbered and Dixon must be one to be considered to fill that roll as a veteran that can come in off the bench at guard. But something like that wouldn’t take place until next season. This year I don’t believe they’ll be much use for Dixon unless one of the rookies get too scared in the playoffs or Hunter has no intentions on returning. But if it’s the latter, then why did he play so much in the early part of the season.

NEW YORK KNICKS
The Daily News has already hired Kiki Vandeweghe to replace Isaiah at seasons end as president of the Knicks. I really have little interest in who they hire. Anybody with a fresh plan seems like a better option right now than Thomas. The coach that has to take over this rag-tag bunch of malcontents will have his hands full. Larry Brown couldn’t work with this group and I would be surprised if Jeff Van Gundy, Doug Collins or Rick Carlisle would fare any better. All three will bring in big egos have having done it before with some success and having coached some of the legendary players in the NBA.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
With Brendan Wright getting the start last night the Warriors struggled until they dusted off 10-year veteran Austin Croshere. He played effectively and Don Nelson can breath a sigh of releif knowing he doesn’t have to rely on a rookie for the next two weeks if he doesn’t have too. He can go with a Croshere/Webber combination if he wants to. That’s only a stopgap though. Croshere has the mentality of a small forward in a power forwards body. That will probably work well in Nelson’s system. It makes me wonder how long it will take him to consider starter Croshere. He was a consistent play for a year or two in Indiana and then just disappeared -- until yesterday.

CHICAGO BULLS
Just two weeks ago Chris Duhon had over 30 points in a game, now he can’t even get on the floor. Duhon is gone next season, no question. He was rumored to be going to the Cavaliers and that’s probably wasn’t the only team interested. But now that the trade deadline has passed and the Bulls couldn’t unload the player that will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, he’s been relegated to sitting on the bench, having not played for two consecutive game. This is even more evidence the Bulls are in the evaluation process, even though they are just two games out of the final playoff spot.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS
There was a story today touting the Lakers’ bench after Jordan Farmar scored 21 points last night to help the Lakers to a come from behind win over the Trailblazers, who didn’t have their best player. I don’t know too much about the Lakers bench but it will be something to watch over the next few weeks because everyone knows what the starters can do. They might be the best in the west, they might not be. It’s hard to go against that group in Dallas and Phoenix, or even Utah. The Lakers bench will get better once Bynum returns. That will move Walton and Radmanovic to the bench. With those two in reserve, that looks to be a nice reserve unit.

NBA notes Feb. 26, 2008

HOUSTON ROCKETS
The Rockets season is officially over. It walked out the door and is heading for the surgical table. Houston survived tonight against a hapless Wizards team that everyone seems to be beating lately. But the Western Conference is historically competitive this year and something like losing your franchise all-star center easily crosses that slim margin for error. Yao can come back from this injury next year, but it is a foot injury and those tend to linger for awhile. Big Z in Cleveland dealt with foot injuries and missed a lot of time and also Bill Walton’s NBA career was largely enigmatic because of foot injuries. He apparently is going to be able to play this summer in the Olympics though. Tough to blame him for wanting to play in his home country for the national team, but the thing he will need to do in August is rest. If Yao plays this summer, the Rockets are probably going to have to severely limit his minutes next year in November and December. NBA players have long complained about burnout when they play for Team USA during the summer, especially if playing for that Olympic team comes just a few weeks after playing for an NBA title.

ORLANDO MAGIC
With Boston sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference and Detroit playing well as well as Cleveland looking like they’re trying to make their team better. The Magic are starting to look at themselves and wonder if they have a legitimate shot at the title even though it is sitting third in the Eastern Conference. One good reason to gauge the team’s confidence heading into the end of the season is the play of their own big free agent acquisition Rashard Lewis. The story in the Sentinel says today that his numbers are down from last season. But the team is winning and it’s normal when big name players go to championship teams that their numbers go down. That’s the sign of a good team. People share the ball. The only thing that might concern the Magic at this point is that they he hasn’t taken over the game with a Kobe-like effort. Also, he’s playing out of position at power forward. The Magic have two small forwards right now and they’re both effective. That’s going to be a problem. It will be clear in the playoffs this year that the Magic still need an enforcer.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
A win against the Orlando Magic tomorrow night just got a little bit more improbable. The Inquirer is reporting today that Samuel Dalembert is nursing injury. Dalembert is underrated as a defensive player. He’s the one player in the front court that the 76ers can’t afford to lose. He might not light it up offensively, but as a shot-blocker and a presence in the paint, he’s pretty solid. They’ll need him against the Magic.

DALLAS MAVERICKS
Dallas picked up Jamal Magloire, who sat the bench in New Jersey. He’s expected to give Dallas another big man since they lost Diop in the trade that brought over Kidd. New Jersey, even though they struggled to find a big man that could play, still were willing to ship of Magloire because he wasn’t worth the playing time. Magloire has been an all-star. Diop played significant minutes for the Mavericks so if Magloire doesn’t have anything left, the Mavericks could still be looking for a big man. But one thing, at least, Magloire brings is six fouls.

DETROIT PISTONS
Sure George Karl missed the game last night, but the important thing for the Pistons in that win was that it was in Denver on the second night of a back-to-back. That’s a combination that has been brutal for opponents in that franchises’ history. To make that an even more important game for Denver, they were in the night spot in the Western Conference and had just had back to back losses in Milwaukee and Chicago. They came home wanted to right the ship and stay competitive in the West, but couldn’t get it done.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
The Hornets are saying the Peterson is banged up at shooting guard and Bonzi Wells is also not 100 percent. The Hornets have to get something out of their shooting guard position. It seems like one place where they are not happy. All of the other starters on the floor have already earned a reputation for having solid seasons. Peterson is averaging around nine points per game and Wells came in already averaging more than that as a bench player for the Rockets.

NEW YORK KNICKS
Frank Isola got Hall of Fame guard Earl Monroe’s opinion on the Knicks’ season and it was, as expected, a less that glowing review. The only real nugget of insight that I took from the story as far as the Knicks were concerned was them inconsistency in the Knicks’ style of play. They started the season as a half court team that wanted to pound the ball down low, and now they try to use an up-tempo pace. They have landed two free agent big men in the past three years and they even start the game together, but the Knicks want to run. They have big men, but are a guard-oriented team with a guard-oriented coach.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
The pressure has been taken off the Warriors a little. With the Rockets surging, the Warriors were in a battle to hold onto the eighth playoff spot ahead of No. 9 Denver. Houston was pulling away at No. 7, but now that Yao Ming is done for the rest of the year, there’s no way the Rockets will be able to continue their marathon winning streak -- which currently stands at 12 games. Now the Warriors will have more room to develop rookie Brendan Wright over the next two weeks until Biedrins can return from an appendectomy. Wright practiced with the starters today, but he won’t start because the Webber can’t sit down between the pre-game warm-up and the opening tip or he’ll lock up.

CHICAGO BULLS
What happened to Luol Deng. He just cracked the starting rotation against Dallas on Monday. He was a player that people were comparing to Tayshaun Prince and he was considered one of the Bulls’ franchise players because of his all-around game. It is a crowded frontcourt with Gooden, Thomas and Noah each needing minutes, but Deng should be starting no matter what. Gooden, Noah and Thomas should be fighting for those other two spots. With Boylan also admitting that he’s experimenting with using Gordon and Hughes in the backcourt, it’s obvious that the Bulls are in the evaluation process. Deng, though, should not be thrown onto the scrap heap.

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Sam Cassell apparently wants to leave the Clippers and Boston figures to be one of the top suitors out there. Cassell is a nice player, but he’s not what he used to be and I think people fall in love with what he’s done in past years. His resurgence with the Clippers and his molding of Shaun Livingston has always looked like his final challenge as an NBA player. Should Cassell go to Boston, he better be happy sitting on the bench at tip-off. Cassell would be nice as a player that can come in as an insurance policy, but I can’t see him coming in and leading this team the way that Dallas expects of Kidd. Cassell has two rings, but he was a role player. Will he be happy to come in there and play a lesser role on a team with teammates he once considered himself equals with? That is Garnett, who he played with in Minnesota -- getting to a Western Conference final -- and Ray Allen, who he played with in Milwaukee and played in an Eastern Conference final.

NEW JERSEY NETS
The Nets are in a strange situation in that they are complete garbage and just traded away their best player, but yet they’re still in the playoff race -- seeded seventh right now. They should be playing out the string right now, but the bottom of the Eastern Conference is worse than garbage. The story today was how Carter and Jefferson -- once thought to have “redundant” games -- would now each have to be more productive than before…well, no shit. The real question is how are they going to do that? When is Harris going to finally play. Maybe Carter and Jefferson won’t have to do as much as they originally thought they would have to do.

NBA Notes Feb. 25, 2008

MIAMI HEAT
There was a story today that the Miami Heat were interested in making some deals for Mike Miller and/or Wally Szczerbiak. Nice that this information would come out after the fact, but it doesn’t change the fact that Miami is a bad team right now. How long until the Miami fans go before they start looking at Riley as a potential problem. Nothing should be made of the words today that said Miami is still a team that’s adjusting to playing a new tempo. Sure they are, but they they weren’t winning in the old style either. The Smush Parker situation does hurt them because they’re paying money to this guy and thought he would be a big contributor to the team this year and they’re getting as much out of him as they’re getting out of me.

DALLAS MAVERICKS
Jason Kidd had a big fourth quarter in leading the Mavs to a victory over the Timberwolves last night. The knock on kid is that as good as he is in every facet of the game, the thing that gets scrutinized most is his outside shooting. Kidd may not be the type of player to run a play for that gets him an open spot-up shot, but if the shot clock is running down or it’s a tight game in the fourth quarter, Kidd will make shots. He’s a clutch shooter. He makes them when there’s a compelling reason too, otherwise he’s more focused on getting other people the ball. He was like that in New Jersey. You can leave Kidd open for three quarters of the game, but if its tight in the fourth quarter, put a hand in his face.

DETROIT PISTONS
The win in Phoenix was impressive because of the margin and that Boston couldn’t do the same just a few day earlier. But what showed up in that game is how much it can mean to a team to have been playing together for as long as the Pistons starters have. Also, the youth off the bench provided a spark that Phoenix had trouble matching. Watching that game, Phoenix looked a little old. They have Shaq now and added Grant Hill last summer. Both have been around the block. Steve Nash isn’t exactly a youngster either, but he’s not the problem yet. Hill and Shaq together…That might be a bit too old. Detroit is starting to look like they have a nice mix there between old and young, although Wallace and McDyess will continue to need a lot of rest until the playoff. Amir Johnson is starting to make a believer out of me. He was a priority for Detroit to resign in the offseason and I really didn’t know the reason why other than he dominated a few D-League games. Now he’s starting to make the progress that Maxiell did last year. It was kind of sad to see the Pistons didn’t mind sticking the rail-thin Johnson on O’Neal.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
John Reid wrote in a little more detail what most are thinking about the Hornets at this point. They’ve done well at the beginning of the season, taking the best record in the NBA into the all-star break. Last season the Raptors had a breakout season, getting the third seed and winning the Atlantic Division, but couldn’t get past a more seasoned New Jersey team in the first round of the playoffs. That’s the way people are expecting the Hornets to finish the season. There aren’t many teams out west that don’t already have the experience of going deep into the playoffs. How does the game change? That’s what Reid was trying to explain. It gets a lot more physical and teams are going to see if the Hornets can stand up to that physical pounding. Chris Paul is a smaller guard and Tyson Chandler is skinny. David West looks to be built to last, but Peja, although he has size, likes to hang out at the 3-point line...and who is going to play shooting guard anyway?

NEW YORK KNICKS
In the Daily News the big men are getting the brunt of the punishment today, especially center Eddie Curry, who signed a $56 million contract when he came over from the Chicago Bulls. He’s 25 years old and been in the league seven years already. He can’t get on the floor in the fourth quarter. The Knicks brought him there to be a dominating big man although he never was that at Chicago. Curry looks like a monumental bust. But if you had a bad heart and grew up hearing stories about players dropping dead on the court, how strong would that be hanging in you're mind? Maybe Curry's not lazy insomuch as he wants to see days past basketball. That unfortunate fact of human nature is the crowbar that has pried the door open for Zach Randolph. But the malcontent is tripping over his own feet. I would like to be on the inside there with the Knicks this season. That could be one of the best non-championship season book ever written.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Golden State will play against Seattle on Tuesday and the last game the Warriors saw a glimpse of promise in rookie forward Brendan Wright. The big thing here is that coach Don Nelson hates to play rookies. The thing to watch against Seattle is how much he intends to play Wright. Will he play the rookie or will he devise some crazy lineup of guards and go with that? The Warriors should be able to get past Seattle even banged up and Seattle is a young team whose two main players are rookies in Jeff Green and Kevin Durant. Seattle might be a good team for Nelson to test Wright against since he’d be going against players with barely more experience than he has.

CHICAGO BULLS
Chicago lost to Dallas in a battle of teams that made some drastic changes before the trade deadline. The only difference is the Mavericks made moves to make noise this year. Chicago is setting up whoever they decide to hire as the permanent coach. The Bulls, once thought of as Eastern Conference favorites, are now just playing out the string. Maybe this shows some naiveté , but I was surprised to see the great Chicago Tribune rely on the associated press to cover the game tonight. Where is the beat writer? I was hoping to get a reaction pertaining to the Bulls and I ended up with a balanced game story.....Boooorinnngg!!

LOS ANGELES LAKERS
The story today in the LA Times by Mike Bresnahan looked at the Lakers’ road record as a big part of their turnaround. While that is certainly true the real reason is the addition of the personnel. It was an interesting way to look at the same old subject -- the Lakers are much better than they were. People used to talk about a Shaq-court advantage when the big fella played for the Lakers. The thinking was it didn’t matter where the game was because Shaq was such a dominating force that his team invariably had the advantage. It was like that with Jordan and it’s like that this year with Kobe. He’s the best player in the league right now and when he’s on the floor, no matter where the game is being played, his team has the advantage. The Kobe court advantage. That’s the reason the Lakers win two out of every three road games.

PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns desperately covet, Brent Barry, a 36-year-old swingman that can shoot, but has been suffering from a strained calf since Jan. 26. The Spurs knew what they were doing when they offered Barry for a serviceable big man in Kurt Thomas. Barry is an old man and if he could still play to the level the Spurs wanted, why was he expendable? Even with Barry the Suns aren’t going to be able to cure their spacing issues anytime soon. Whoever was providing the color for the televised game against the Pistons last Sunday made a great point about the Suns now having Shaq and Stoudamire on the floor at the same time. Stoudamire has developed a better outside shot, but unless he hangs around the 3-point line in the corners, he’s not going to spread the floor like Marion did. Both Shaq and Amare still primarily play in the paint on offense and that does, like the analyst said, clog up the paint for Steve Nash a lot more than it did. Another thing the Suns will still have to deal with is Shaq can be a liability as a perimeter defender and so can Nash. Detroit had some success involving those two on the pick and roll, especially Nash, who was lazy fighting through picks.

NBA Notes Feb. 23, 2008

MIAMI HEAT
There has to be a big change in mentality going from a winning team to a losing one. Perhaps that’s where Marion can help this team the most is just reversing that mentality. Wade knows what it’s like to win an NBA championship, but in the past two seasons his mentality has been more one of trying to get back to the pre-injury Wade. Just who is the leader of this Heat team. It should be Wade simply because of his superstar status, but maybe Shaq was actually the leader of this team and with him hardly playing this year, it disrupted the leadership structure. As good as Wade was two seasons ago, he still needed Shaq to win the title. Maybe Shawn Marion will become that leader, but its hard to look at him as long as he has the option to leave the team after the season. This team, actually, might be leaderless out on the floor -- at least Haslem is due to come back Saturday. After all, he is the captain.

DALLAS MAVERICKS
Sefko’s story in Dallas was basically a gamer on how the Mavericks were able to manhandle the lowly Grizzlies. Well, at least the Mavericks know they’ve averted disaster, because if they would have lost that game to a team that has purged its roster and is basically packing it in for the season, a negative wave would have flushed through Dallas. As it stands now the win over the Grizzlies last night and the game with Minnesota tonight should actually be more like glorified practices as the Mavericks mark time until they can test themselves against worthy foes. Dallas plays Chicago Monday and San Antonio Thursday. I would normally say the San Antonio game would be the test, but without Parker in there, I don’t think you can judge the Spurs. They play the Lakers in a Sunday afternoon game March 2. They have four games between now and then and that will-be a day the Mavericks truly find out what their trade for Kidd meant.

DETROIT PISTONS
Detroit needed a couple of games to get over the All-Star break hangover. The bench grabbed the headlines in this game, especially the play of Amir Johnson. That’s a good sign since Detroit released Brezec and basically said that they had the confidence in Johnson to be that fourth option as a big man in the playoffs. Last night’s performance might be a sign that he’s ready, but he did it against the second unit of the Bucks. The Pistons found their winning stride again , but the need to get a solid road win against a quality opponent. They’re in Phoenix Sunday.


NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
The Hornets got little production from an undermanned bench in their 20-point loss to the Houston Rockets last night. Peterson and Stojakovic had off games while Yao and McGrady flourished. Right now I would just chalk this up to New Orleans being in transition and it was their first loss in five games. But the Hornets are going to need a win over the Spurs tonight -- a Parker-less Spurs team -- to make sure the rumblings don’t start about the team losing focus after the all-star break. That is only because the Rockets and Spurs have both been to the playoffs before and have the experience of making a playoff run. As good as New Orleans has been throughout this season, this is still uncharted waters for them. The Rockets -- and especially McGrady -- are desperate for a playoff series win. New Orleans will have to learn to match the intensity of a team like that. Peja’s been there before -- although he’s best know for throwing up an airball against the Lakers in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals in 2002, but Paul, West and to a lesser extent Peterson haven’t really been through it.

NEW YORK KNICKS
Crawford had 43 points in a win over the Raptors last night and that’s what I think has been Isaiah’s biggest flaw in his talent evaluation process. He was scoring point guard and its like he’s looking for a version of himself. But the thing is it’s tough to build a team with a scoring point guard if you’re not willing to reign him in. The Pistons won in the 80s with team play. Isaiah was the best option offensively, but his talent ability to make those around him better was still his dominant feature. How can he have guys that need the ball to be effective at every position? Someone has to move the basketball. Curry truly is worthless. You would think he’d be happy that the Knick gave him a chance to play again despite his heart condition, but obviously he’s not with it. He’s collecting a check and protecting his future. Randolph appears the at least have a little more fire.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Let the turbulent ride begin. The Warriors struggled at home last night and dropped a game to the Hawks 117-110. Atlanta had lost 12 of its last 13 games and isn’t considered a threat even in the Eastern Conference. Two things here. One is that without Biedrins its safe to say the Warriors are now the favorite to be the odd team out when the playoffs start. They also need Stephen Jackson back. Maybe it will be different when he returns. But in the report today one of the most notable things is that rookie forward Brendan Wright made a positive contribution. Coach Don Nelson detests having to play and rely on rookies. Well, he probably needs to spend more time developing the rookie players just in case you need them. The NBA season is a one. Why not try to get something out of you’re rookies just in case you need them in big games. The Warriors are 55 games into the season and the return of their starting center is questionable during a hotly contested playoff race and Nelson acted like he was surprised to see what Wright offered last night. This late into the season, is that responsible coaching? By the way Rusty Simmons’ story made no mention of backup center and key free agent acquisition Chris Webber.

CHICAGO BULLS
The Bulls got caught up in the Nuggets style of play, but won last night’s game 135-121. Joakim Noah at center would have been a good matchup for Marcus Camby in that game, but there’s no way he can be the answer at center, unless the Bulls’ plans are to adopt that running style. Although on second thought there is a dearth of back-you-down centers in the league, which is the type of player Noah would have trouble with. The “logjam” in the backcourt could be a potential source of discomfort all season as well. The Bulls will have to decide if they’re moving forward with Sefolosha or not. It’s clear they’re stocking up for the offseason. They could probably afford to trade two of three of those guys in the backcourt. In my opinion Gordon is expendable. He had 37 points last night, but I just don’t see how a team can win with a short shooting guard. In the league now you need two-guard that is at least 6-5 or he’s going to be a liability on most night. Wade at 6-4 is probably the smallest you want to go and he makes up for it with incredible athleticism. Gordon is a bench player only. The starting spot will come down to Sefolosha or Hughes. Hughes was playing out of position as a point in Cleveland, but ultimately having that responsibility makes him a valuable asset. As a two guard he’s going to have to prove once again that he’s capable of matching points with the other 2-guards in the league.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS
If Bynum comes back and is really going to be considered the third option on the Lakers at that point, then they easily have the best fourth option in the league with Lamar Odom. His state line since Gasol showed up -- 14.6 points, 12.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists -- is impressive. But right now the thing that hasn’t been talked about much lately is the bench. I’m not ready to crown the Lakers over the Spurs yet, but the starting five they’ve put together is impressive and will only get better as the team continues to jell. The Lakers should probably win their next five games before they go against Dallas on March 2, but the future matchup that intrigues me most is the one with New Orleans in March 14. They don’t play the Spurs until April 14th in the second to last game of the season. By then things could already be decided, but if they’re not, I would expect that to be a telling game going into the playoffs. By the way in those next five games the Lakers play Portland twice and bottom feeders in Seattle, Miami and the Clippers.

PHOENIX SUNS
After a 1-1 start the early reviews are in after the big trade for Shaq. It was a good one. The Suns showed they can win in the knockdown-drag-out style by beating the Celtics 85-77 last night at home in a defensive oriented game. If I had to pick two teams in the Western Conference finals it would be the Lakers and the Suns. Late into the fourth quarter Shaq had just two points, but 11 rebounds and dominated the middle defensively. Teams that don’t have a post player that can draw Shaq out of the paint are going to have trouble beating the Suns. His presence doubles they’re defensive effort. Now they have two shot blockers in there with Shaq and Stoudamire. O’Neal is also a great on the defensive boards. Making matters better for the Suns is that Stoudamire has been developing a perimeter game that is more suited for a power forward. He fits right in with Shaq underneath. It was a possession-by-possession game in the fourth quarter and that made Shaq’s presence key. This team can beat the Spurs. I see them having more trouble with Utah, who has a center that likes to camp outside the three-point line and a power forward that is quick and athletic like a small forward. Utah could take Shaq out of the game defensively.

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
The Clippers are excited about their two-game winning streak. There’s really little explanation for the Jazz giving away that game. A 114-104 loss in which Utah missed all 13 of its 3-point attempts. The game had more to do with the Jazz not winning it than it did the Clippers doing something well. Corey Maggette scored over 20 points for the fourth straight game. They also won the game without Sam Cassell, which makes me wonder if they even want him around for the rest of the season because he clearly doesn’t want to be there and I would be surprised if he stays with them next season. The only way that happens is if one of the elite teams doesn’t work out a deal with him this summer. At this point Cassell won’t go to a good team, he’ll latch on to a team like the Lakers or Spurs and be content riding their coattails to the championship. I take pleasure out of that not working, like when Karl Malone went to the Lakers and they lost in the finals.

NEW JERSEY NETS
The story today by Dave D'Alessandro was that a deal was in the works to send Kidd to New Jersey for Jarrett Jack and that Kidd speaking out against playing with the Nets ruined the deal. Apparently it was news to Portland that Kidd wanted to play for a contender. He had been rumored in trades for the past two seasons at least. All summer the Lakers were talking about getting him. I thought it was understood that Kidd wanted to play for a team that would be competing for a championship immediately. With that said that would have been an intriguing fit in Portland. With Jason Kidd, they would have been a playoff team by next year. They were on pace to compete for that spot this year, but then everyone in the west took off and left Portland in the dust. The Nets are in dangerous territory now of becoming one of those aimless franchises. Carter wanted out of Toronto as soon as they Raptors fell back to earth and it shouldn’t be long before he’s making his demands public in New Jersey. The only problem is do team really think he can still play anymore or did Carter top out long ago. With the Nets barreling downward there’s no reason that Carter can’t at least get his number now and show people that he can still be a scorer if anything else.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
There was a hint of optimism following the all-star break. The 76ers came off the break with a 40-point win over a Knicks team plagued with chemistry issues. Also in the days following the all-star game, Maurice Cheeks received a contract extension in part for guiding a team with bee-bees instead of bullets into a position where they are contending for a playoff spot. The loss to the Magic last night was a wakeup call. No one’s claiming that the Magic are the “Beasts of the East” and its clear that there is a big difference between the names -- namely the Magic has weapons and the 76ers don’t. The observation of Andre Miller walking off the court is an interesting one in that point guard was a heavily sought after position.


CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
That was pretty impressive for the Cavs to win a game with only six regular players and two D-leaguers. LaBron James is the wild card of the Eastern Conference playoffs. He’s getting to be such a single-handed load that it will take a gargantuan effort from any team to beat them in a seven-game series. There’s no reason to think the Cavs can’t be back in the finals once they get the new pieces. Damon Jones was once a starter for the Miami Heat and one of the most accurate 3-point shooters in the league. He was buried in the Cavs rotation and with the new pieces that are coming in, will that mean more minutes for Jones? Who cares really? Also who cares about the last game. That wasn’t really the Cavs. We don’t know what the Cavs look like yet.