A Look to the West

Western Conference

(1) LA Lakers vs (8) Oklahoma City

Dangit I really like Oklahoma City. The Thunder have a good roster. Their young players play well together and Kevin Durant is awesome. I like what Russell Westbrook brings to the game. Jeff Green, James Harden, and Thabo Sefolosha have proven to be valuable role players capable of stepping up and having big games. This is a good team. It really is.

Too bad they finish fourth in their division. Wait, is it possible to win 50-games and still be fourth in your division. In the West, more specifically the Northwest apparently yes.

The Thunder have a great season and how do they get rewarded? A trip to LA against the city’s good team in the first round. Poor Thunder.

With the third best record in the league, the defending champs enter the playoffs with more question marks than last season. Showing inconsistency at times this year, the Lakers seemed almost indifferent at times. But their roster is too good to be ignored. And despite some struggles, they still are the number one seed in the brutal Western conference.

Did you know Kobe has FOUR championship rings? Kobe Bryant is a masterful playoff artist. And this year, he probably has the best overall team on either side of the bracket. The Lakers are going to be tough to beat in a seven-game series.

Because I like the Thunder so much I’ll give them two games, but LA is too good.

Lakers in 6

(4) Denver vs (5) Utah

What makes the Western conference so difficult is the miniscule separation between playoff teams. The top-seeded Lakers only won seven more games than the eight-seeded Thunder. Denver and Utah? Same record. So your saying advantage Denver because of homecourt advantage? Considering the Nuggets finished tied for the second-best home record in the NBA, I could agree. The Nuggets are just so blasted inconsistent.

Carmelo Anthony is a top-flight NBA player. Though he’s gotten better with his attitude, he still doesn’t bring it every night. JR Smith is an explosive scorer who, when hot can put up 40. Or when not, shoot Denver right out of games. I really like Chauncey Billups, Chris Anderson, and Nene Hilario (I thought he didn’t have a last name, when did that change?). But those three are complementary guys. Maybe they can change the pace of a game, but with the exception of Chaunce, it’s unlikely they’ll alter a series.

Utah, on the other hand, is a great team. Typical of Jerry Sloan coached teams, the Jazz play well together and are getting hot (and healthy) at the right time. Deron Williams is one of the most impressive players in the league. And a revitalized Carlos Boozer has been carrying the scoring and rebounding duties for the club. I love this team’s tenacity and killer instinct, led by Williams. They have role players. They have scorers. They play hard. But will it be enough?

Denver is a tough matchup for any team. Carmelo can hurt you from in or outside. But, defensive stopper Wesley Matthews, CJ Miles, and Andrei Kirilenko theoretically have the size and speed to bother the superstar (especially in combination). Billups often uses his size to overpower opposing pg’s. He can’t do that to Williams. Tough matchup, but the Jazz have the pieces in place.

Tough call, but because of the Kyle Korver alliance (I may or may not be friends with his brother) we’ll go Jazz stealing one in Denver.

Jazz in 7

(3) Phoenix vs (6) Portland

For the first time in years, we’re finally seeing a different Phoenix team. Yes, they still lead the NBA in scoring with 110.2 PPG. Yes Steve Nash is still running the show. But, somehow watching them play is different. They run-and-gun, but are better in the half-court. They even play better defense (yes Amare Stoudemire and Nash and still liabilities, but defense is a team thing).

For the first time in the Nash-era, The Suns’ bench has an identity. Newbie Goran Dragic’s presence allowed Nash to limit his minutes to his lowest as a Sun this season. Three-point specialists Jared Dudley and Channing Frye are among the league-leaders in three-point shooting and give a big spark off the bench. The loss of Robin Lopez hurts interior defense and makes the Suns thin on the inside, but it allows more minutes for Frye. They’ll need big minutes from him against Portland.

The Trail Blazers have completed their transition from the Jail Blazer past. Resident good-guy Brandon Roy is a fan favorite. The face of the franchise is a fantastic player to boot. Too bad a partially-torn miniscus will keep him away from the Suns.

While Marcus Camby has been a big addition, I just don’t see enough on the Blazers’ roster without a healthy Roy. Andre Miller and LaMarcus Aldridge can have big games, but are not marquee players.

Suns in 5

(2) Dallas vs (7) San Antonio

I hate the Western conference. How is a team like San Antonio, a team with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobli, a seven-seed? Oh yeah, didn’t they add Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess this offseason too? How is this a seventh-place team?

I forgot. They’re not. Its just the West.

The Mavs exploded after trading for Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood. Finally having a center other than Erick Dampier (second best center in the West – self-described years ago despite Shaq’s insistence he was really Erica Dampier in the WNBA – see trivia), maybe its the Mavs time. Jason Kidd is approaching the end, but is still effective. Butler fits well as a third scoring option, while Shawn Marion provides hustle-plays. This is a balanced team, and if Dirk Nowitzki can stave off the playoff demons they have a shot.

I just can’t ignore the Spurs. They’re top-five are too good. They’ve been good for a decade (This hurts a little. It doesn’t seem like five years ago that the Pistons and Spurs fought for supremacy with physical defensive styles. Now the Pistons have Ben Gordon. Times have changed).

Honestly, I like Dallas’s roster better (other than Dampier). But, Gregg Popovich, Duncan, and the Spurs are playoff masters. This is my big (kinda) upset pick.

Spurs in 6

My other favorite D-team.

Earlier today, the WebMaster sent me a link to a very interesting article. As many of you know, I am a Piston’s fan, though I’ve been more die hard in recent years. That does not mean I’m a fair weather fan, but I do not enjoy watching this year’s team play. A lot of that is because of team personnel. Team personnel is one of the responsibilities of Joe Dumars, President of Basketball Operations for the Pistons.

Now I have always been a big Joe D fan. I loved the Bad Boy Pistons teams who scrapped and fought for every victory in the late-80’s early-90’s. I remember Isiah, Mahorn, Laimbeer, The Microwave, John Salley, Dennis Rodman, and Joe D’s rainbow jumpers. That team locked people down defensively and even though they were controversial, played the game the right way. After that team aged and disbanded, we were blessed with Grant Hill and a few more good years. However, we did not reach the pinnacle again until Joe D reached his current position.

Taking over in 00-01, Dumars revitalized the franchise. He dealt the beloved but increasingly injured Grant Hill and brought in a new wave of talent. It started with Ben Wallace, then adding Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups, drafting Tayshaun Prince, and making a deadline trade for Rasheed Wallace. Dumars built a defensive-minded roster that dominated the Eastern Conference for 6 years. In this era, keeping a team together like that for so long, and earning that much success without having a “superstar” player is almost unheard of. But, all good things come to an end.

It started with the Chauncey trade – trading Billups for Allen Iverson. Chauncey was a fan favorite and the heart and soul of the team. Trading him cemented the end of the Pistons dynasty. But, as fans, we knew something need to chance because the players were getting older. It was time to retool and reload. We could see the possible benefits of trading for Iverson – one of the greatest individual players of all time (notice I said individual), a great scoring threat, and a guy who plays as hard as anyone (when he starts and gets a lot of minutes). Maybe the team needed a jolt to move in the right direction. Plus, Iverson’s contract expired at the end of the year. If the experiment didn’t work, he would be released to free agency and the Pistons could go in another direction. I didn’t like the trade, but I could see how it might work.

But, this past offseason I was skeptical to say the least.

Positives: Sign Richard Hamilton – has been the team’s leading scoring for years, fans love him, may have overpaid a little, but good move. Let Sheed sign elsewhere – needed more production from the 4-spot than Sheed’s body and mind could offer on a consistent basis.

Negatives: Sign Ben Gordon – I’ve talked about him enough already. I hate this signing as much as anyone. Especially such a long and large deal. Ugh. Trade Afflalo – read the article. The 2009 draft – Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, and trading Chase Budinger. That article shows the possibilities. But not only that, these were questionable picks at the time. Joe D’s picks came as a surprise to many. (While many point to picking Darko overall as a terrible decision in 2003, I will still defend Joe D for that pick. The obvious top-3 picks in that draft were LeBron, Carmelo, and Darko. If you are the Pistons at number 2 and cannot get LeBron, already have Tayshaun Prince and a great nucleaus, you can afford to take a risk on a foreigner like Darko. Plus, if he drafted Melo, I don’t think the Pistons make it to 6 straight conference finals, and probably don’t even win a championship. Sure, I would rather he drafted D Wade or Chris Bosh, but those two were not listed in the same breath as the top-3.)

The 2009 draft gave them very little value and didn’t address team needs. The Pistons need a backup point guard to change the pace of the game, you’re telling me Ty Lawson couldn’t fill that role and play more than Austin Daye?

Anyway, read the article and let me know what you think. But I agree with the author, as long as the Pistons are built around Rodney Stuckey, Ben Gordon, and Charlie Villanueva, they will be destined for mediocrity.

Das Mailbag

“Hey Adam,
Glad to hear that you are enjoying the experience in Germany. Good luck to you and your teammates in the up coming playoffs.
 My son Nile and I went to one of your father & son camps last summer and had a great time. Nile was able to talk to Leonard Houston before one of the Iowa Energy games while he was w/ that team, and he wondered if you guys had plans for another camp this summer?? We’d love to see you or hear from you if you come back to DSM this summer.
 Best wished,
 Lars & Nile”

Thanks for the comment Lars and Nile! I do remember both of you from our father-son camp. The camp was a lot of fun. Hopefully both of you found a few things to help improve your game. Sadly, being overseas severely increases the difficulty in planning a camp. It would be hard for me to do all the little things necessary to get one set up. Though I do not have one in place for this year, I am hope next year I will get some help and have one. I will be sure to let you two know. Thanks again!

“Nice blog. I will say you’re much better about keeping current on yours than I ever was on mine. It was good to talk to you this morning. I see you online a lot, we should talk more often. As far as the Relays are concerned, you missed one really nice day and one really crappy day, but it was fun. Once again, good luck in your final game and then the postseason. I’ll be watching the NBA playoffs and cheering for my Nugs; if I knew where or how I could watch your games, I would. Greg”

Thanks to Greg, my freshman roommate, for the wall post. And yes, since the Nuggets now have former Detroit Piston Chancey Billups, I am a Nuggets fan. I don’t normally get to watch the games due to the time difference, but occasionally I can catch a quarter or two. I really like the way the Nuggets are playing. You gotta love Bird-man. They play hard, they play together, and they play good defense. They remind me a little bit of the Pistons of old (sniffle, sniffle). At least the Red Wings seems to be holdin’ it down for Detroit Sports. No matter what has happened with the rest of Detroit, Hockeytown always shines.