JackCentral

How stacked is the Western Conference this year? So stacked that you go on a three-game losing streak and suddenly you are no longer in the playoffs. So stacked that there are 10 — and possibly by the end of the season, 11 — legitimate playoff contenders, compared to the Eastern Conference, which only has five teams with winning records.
One thing is for sure, the last third of the NBA season is going to be, well, scintillating.  Every game for Western Conference teams vying for playoff spots truly matters, which does not happen too often in the drawn-out 82-game season.
A great example is our beloved Phoenix Suns. Six games ago and pre-whatever his nickname is now — let’s go with The Big Shaqtus — the Suns were leading the Western Conference, and at press time they find themselves in sixth place. Don’t get me wrong I’m not distancing myself from my column a couple of weeks back. I, like the rest of the Suns’ faithful, am definitely worried but I still think it was the right move to make. It will give the Suns a few more games before I start pulling out of my hair and longing for the good ol’ days.
Quick what-if though. Why didn’t the Suns go after Pau Gasol? He would fit in perfectly with the Suns. The Lakers were able to get him for pretty much nothing, meaning the Suns could have possibly got him without giving up Marion. I would have been willing to part with Boris Diaw, Marcus Banks, and Alondo Tucker for Gasol, which is a lot better package than the Grizzlies got from the Lakers.
Remember a few weeks back when all the experts were ignoring the Spurs as one of the favorites to come out of the West because they were enduring a tough stretch? Guess who’s back? They’re back on cruise control after that little stretch of turbulence and once playoff time comes they’ll put it in landing gear. Hopefully my four faithful readers enjoyed that little metaphor.
The other most dangerous team in the West is the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe is playing the best basketball of his life and will likely shed the tag of best player to have never won an MVP award at season end, even though I think Lebron James deserves it. If Andrew Bynum returns and can regain the level of play he was at before the knee injury, the Lakers will be a very scary team come playoff time.

Western Conference
Top 10

1.    San Antonio Spurs
2.    Los Angeles Lakers
3.    New Orleans
Hornets
4.    Phoenix Suns
5.    Utah Jazz
6.    Dallas Mavericks
7.    Houston Rockets
8.    Golden State
Warriors
9.    Denver Nuggets
10. Sacramento Kings

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.