Kleeman's Last Word

After Vegas, What Now?

The dazzling party in Las Vegas has ended and NBA players must now go back to playing in games that matter, where pride and a playoff worthy record are always on the line.
Phoenix and Dallas have so much breathing room from the teams chasing them, they decided to fly Jet Blue home. The hot Mavericks are so far ahead, they're backpedaling in the same mocking way that Charles Barkley did in Saturday night's historic foot race. The difference is, it doesn't look like the Mavericks will fall flat on their asses when they cross the finish line.
With less than 30 games to go in the regular season, here's why it's still a race and the Mavericks' huge lead in the standings means nothing.

The Reality: The Dallas Mavericks will finish with the top seed at the end of this season. No team, especially the Phoenix Suns, will have anything to say about it. For the San Antonio Spurs or the Houston Rockets to catch up, the Mavericks would have to crumble in a St. Louis Cardinals-esque collapse. Anybody who has even the laziest eye on Avery Johnson's ballclub knows that Bambi (the Disney character) has a much better chance of being in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame. Kevin Federline will be a multiple grammy winner before this Dallas ballclub drops its paramount lead. The bottom line for the 29 other NBA teams? Get over it, get focused and show some vital signs in the second half of the season. The Celtics will be lucky not to be disowned by Bostonites, The Bobcats, despite some impressive victories against title contenders, will finish with a miserable losing record and the Hawks are still the best butt you can put on the end of a basketball joke. The terrible teams will continue to perform terribly, but the mediocre squads still have an opportunity to get their acts together and make a run.

Might Make Playoffs, But No Chance At a Deep Playoff Run: New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Hornets, Sacramento Kings, Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors.

The Biggest Joke Not Including the Hawks and Why: The Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets are second in the league in offensive rebounds, a top 10 shot blocking team and yet they have no defense to speak of. They're in the low 20s in OPP FG percentage and OPP PPG allowed. When you can rebound like this team and you're only interest is getting the ball back to jack up a shot, that's pathetic. Halfcourt defense wins championships and this team couldn't be farther from it. The addition of Allen Iverson, which has been lauded as the best trade so far this season, will make it easier for this team to reach 100 points. However, Iverson adds no new dimensions to a team that has never won when thety score less than that.

Three Teams You Might See in the Finals Other Than Dallas: The Miami Heat, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs.
The Heat have the exact same team that won them the trophy last season (including the BEST player in the NBA), plus best three point shooter in the league (Jason Kappono) and Eddie Jones. Sure, this Heat team has been embarrasing at times this season, but this team will be in the Eastern Conference Finals whether they obtain any home court advantage or not.

You know my spiels about Houston and San Antonio. I shall not repeat them for the sake of not beating my thoughts into the ground. Expect a post about the Rockets roster later this week.

My MVP list:
1) Steve Nash
2) Dirk Nowitzki
3) Kobe Bryant
4) Tim Duncan
5) Dwyane Wade
6) Kevin Garnett
7) Gilbert Arenas
8) Carlos Boozer
9) Tracy McGrady
10) (insert player here)

6th Man:
1) Ben Gordon-this is his to lose
If not, then Luther Head gets my nod.

Best Trade of the Season:
1) Shane Battier-not negotiable; see my gazillion posts on this matter throughout my blog

The Came Out of Nowehere Award
1) Jason Kappono-who saw this three point assasin coming? Three disappointing seasons and finally a click with the Heat

Rookie of the Year
1) Brandon Roy
2) Randy Foye
3) Rudy Gay
4) Paul Millsap

posted by Robert Kleeman @ 2:08 PM