Wild Wild West

The West is wide open for anybody to take; every team has its flaws from Oklahoma City all the way down. Here is how I see the contenders.

28-7

The Thunder are one of the most talented teams and have one of the best home court advantages in the league. They are 15-1 at home, and it is not by coincidence. The problem for them is it may come down to coaching. Two years ago, when the young Thunder took the Lakers to 6 games in the playoffs before losing, you chalked it up to being young, inexperienced, and not knowing better. But now, Scott Brooks has no excuse for a lack of execution late in close games. Westbrook is still taking too many shots away from Durant, and being a scorer much more then distributor. They still look horrible at creating good shots when they need them. It seems like Durant and Westbrook go back and forth every possession with who will go 1-1 and usually end up with long jumpers. They hit more then you would expect since they are both elite players, but it is not what you want them to be doing and won't cut it in a 7 game series. Their half court offense is not good and they would probably be better off letting Harden run their offense in late-game, half-court sets.

24-11

Popovich continues to impress. His team gets older but they still remain near the top of the pack. This is especially impressive in this condensed season. The little youth they do have does look good, Splitter and very versatile Kawhi Leonard, but this is still a team that lives and dies with their big three. They are too prone to injuries and also to just tiring out by the end of the season, like what happened last year in the playoffs.

20-12

Billups' injury hurt this team much more then people think. He was playing 30 minutes a game and was able to give Paul much needed rest from running the point. They now have a huge hole and desperately need another point guard. Mo Williams is simply not good--it is not a coincidence that he has the lowest adjusted +/- on the team, Bledsoe is not ready to be in NBA, and Foye is not a PG. The Clippers' starting lineup looks great (minus Foye), and Griffin has started making some needed adjustments on the defensive side, but once the 2nd unit comes in it just gets very ugly.

21-14

Talk about having no depth. The Lakers have the worst depth of any team over .500...maybe even of any team in the league. Once you get past Kobe, Bynum, and Gasol, they literally do not have one single mediocre player. Without a trade they are one of the few playoff contending teams that I think has no chance of getting to the Finals in the West.

21-15

I don't think anyone expected Houston to be good after Adelman left. They seemed like they were overachieving last year and that Chuck Hayes and Adelman were some of the bigger reasons why. Lowry has turned in a great performance so far this year and is in the running for the most improved player of the year award. He is also one of the best defensive point guards in the league. They have gone 19-9 since January 10th with some impressive wins @Denver, @Portland, San Antonio, and Philly. Kevin McHale has done a great job at holding people responsible and has had no problem yanking anyone out at a moment's notice for lack of effort (ask Kevin Martin and Dalembert). This is still a overachieving team that I think has no shot of coming out of the West due to lack of talent, but what they have done so far is still impressive. Credit goes mainly to Lowry and McHale.

21-15

The Mavericks came into the season looking like they thought the regular season was not worth fighting for. Most of the team looked very out of shape and like they had not shot a basketball since game 6 of the finals. But since a 3-5 start they have gone 18-10. For most of the season they have been very streaky and have lost 3 in a row already 3 times this season, while also going on an impressive 6 game winning streak against teams all with a .500 record or better. They clearly still have the skill players to win, just mentally are not where they need to be yet. The surprising part is they have been winning with defense and the best defensive efficiency of any team in the West. This is especially surprising considering that the man considered to be their main defensive stopper, Chandler, left in the off season for the Knicks. Marion has stepped up in a big way on the defensive end in his absence, routinely covering the best offensive player on the opposing team. Nowitzki has been playing much worse then usual and admitted to having a hard time getting excited after finally winning a ring. He is shooting his worst fg% (and true shooting%) since his rookie year, is shooting under .300 from deep for the first time since his rookie year, has his lowest rebound per game average since his 2nd year in the league, and has his lowest PER since his 2nd year in the league. The one good surprise coming from the Mavs this year is the play of Vince Carter. He has been playing good defense for maybe the first time in his whole career. If they go into the playoffs healthy and with the right mentality theycould easily be in the finals again.

20-15

After last year surprise win over San Antonio in the first round and taking Oklahoma City to 7 games a lot of people thought coming into the season Memphis was going to be a real competitor. Injuries have killed them. Zach Randolph has played 4 games this season and Darrel Arthur did not play one. This has left a huge whole in their frontcourt and forced them to trade for Marreese Speights. Speights can shoot, but is terrible at pretty much everything else, including putting effort into the game and being in shape. The one good thing to come of all this is Gasol, who is turning in his best season of his career. When Randolph does return, which should be in a week or so, the starting front court should be great. They still have one of the best defensive wing players in the league in Tony Allen, the very underrated Conley, and Rudy Gay (who was missing in last year playoffs). With Arthur not coming back, the Grizzlies will always be thin up front, but it is not like there are a lot of teams that are deep there anyway. Although it is a small chance, they can make a run again if Randolph plays at the same level he did last year and Gasol keeps up his play.

19-17

The Nuggets are one of the deepest teams in the NBA. Them and the 76ers seem like they were custom built for this shortened season. Both teams are extremely deep and do not rely on one player. The problem for the Nuggets is injuries. Nene has missed a good amount of games and even when he does get on the court he has not been close to 100%. He probably wont be 100% all season. Gallinari has also missed 11 games and Lawson has missed 5. They started out 14-5 before the injury bug really hit. They have gone 5-12 since. When they are healthy it looks like Ty Lawson and Gallinari have taken huge strides. Andre Miller continues to be one of my favorite players, and one who will never get the credit he deserves. People forget he dropped 50 last year. He is one of the more savy veterans in the league. Although Denver is made perfectly for the regular season, it is very hard to win in the postseason without an elite player. The only team to successfully do that is the Pistons, and that team was full of people who were near elite. Denver, when healthy, would be one of the few teams recently who does have a chance. Especially in the West where almost all the teams besides OKC who do have elite players are extremely thin.

18-17

The Trail Blazers are out of the playoffs right now, but of all the teams who are close to being in (Minnesota is 18-18 and Utah is 16-18), the Blazers have the best chance of making a serious playoff run. They are continuing their trend from last year of doing absolutely horrible on the road (24th road record in NBA), but have the best power forward in the league (sorry Love) and can create some scary line ups. Batum can be a superstar in the upcoming years and is built the same way as Paul George--extremely long, athletic, can shoot the 3 or go down low, and can play defense against opposing teams' 1, 2 or 3. When he realizes his potential, and he is on his way, he could be scary. Gerald Wallace seems like the forgotten man, but still contributes and is basically an older Josh Smith (without the atrocious shot selection). He's good at everything, but not great at anything. Add a healthy Camby, big if, and their 2-5 are great. Portlands' problem though is their point guard situation. Raymond Felton, who is notorious for being overweight and not in shape, showed up in worse shape then ever after the lock out. He has played embarrassingly bad and has shot a career low .376 with a true shooting % of .455, and also has the highest turnover rate of his career. The other option they have is Jamal "no shot I don't like" Crawford. He may have the quickest dribble in NBA and one of the more fun highlight reels to watch, but he is not a player I want on my team, particularly at the point. He is averaging 12 shots a game and 14 points. Not good. They also don't have a perimeter player who can create late in close games, so they often rely on Crawford, which usually ends up being a bad contested long jumper. There are rumors that the Blazers are going after Steve Nash. While it's unlikely the Suns give him up, if they do and Portland is able to keep most of the core, watch out.