The Rest of the West

The Mavericks are good. The Suns are good. The Spurs are good. We know this much. But rumor has it, five more teams are also going to be allowed to play in the Western Conference playoffs this year. Some of them even have a legitimate chance to spoil the fun at the top for those Big Three.

Rocket Power

The Houston Rockets are one of the most dangerous teams in the NBA. The Rockets have fought a treacherous battle with the injury bug all year long. Tracy McGrady, who has become consummate team player (24 points, 5 rebounds, 6.4 assists per game), missed 10 games with back problems and has been playing through the injury all season. On top of McGrady's injury woes, Yao Ming has missed almost half the season--33 games--with a broken leg and back problems. Amazingly, between his injuries and Houston's seemingly unimpressive record, Yao is flying under the radar this year (other than the 6 billion Chinese fans that voted for him for the All-Star game). Yao is putting up an astonishing 25 points and 10 rebounds per game, making him the most productive true center in the league. Yao is putting up considerably more points per game than the likes of Tim Duncan, Elton Brand, Chris Bosh, etc. To put it in perspective, Yao has nearly identical numbers (points, rebounds, blocks) to what Brand put up last year when he was considered a legitimate MVP candidate. On top of those two crucial injuries, Bonzi Wells, who averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds per game in Sacramento last year, has missed 50 games, also with back problems. The Rockets should use their 2007 first round draft pick on a highly touted chiropractor.

While Avery Johnson will most likely win Coach of the Year Honors for the second straight season, Jeff Van Gundy's performance has been far more impressive, and I believe that he is more deserving of the award. Despite coach a team that at times was without a single star, Van Gundy has led the Rockets to a very respectable record (they will finish with upwards of 50 wins) in the NBA's premiere division. Nonetheless, the Rockets are getting healthy at the right time. With Yao, McGrady, and Wells all back on the court, they approach the playoffs at full strength. In addition to the league's best tandem, the Rockets have perfect roll players--Luther Head, Shane Battier, Juwon Howard, Bonzi Wells, Chuck Hayes, and of course, Skip to My Lou! (Rafer Alston). And perhaps the most important roll player come playoff time, Dikembe Mutombo will be essential in guarding opposing big men like Tim Duncan, especially when Yao gets in foul trouble. He also gives the Rockets the option of playing him alongside Yao, which makes them so tall that I've wondered whether they are the Monstars from Space Jam--nobody can enter the paint with the two intimidators both in there. Not only will the Rockets breeze by the Jazz in the first round, but I think the Rockets-Mavericks series in the second round will go 7 games, and the Rockets could come out on top. Don't overlook this team, they have a chance to do big things; but shhhhh, they're still flying under the radar.

The Best Collection of Players Wearing the Same Uniforms

The Denver Nuggets might have the best collection of players wearing the same uniforms of anyone in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have much of a team. With Camby and Nene both healthy at the same time, which is more rare than a lunar eclipse, the Nuggets have an extremely formidable frontcourt. Then you move to the wing players, and oh yeah, they have two of the top scorers in the entire league in Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. The team is rounded off by Steve Blake, who has had a resurgence of his career since getting traded to Denver. He went from seldom-used backup the Portland Trailblazers (evidently he had too clean of a criminal record to make the starting lineup), to very competent starting point guard for the Nuggets--quite the improvement. Reggie Evans, Linas Kleiza, JR Smith, and Eduardo Najera can all make solid contributions as well. This Nuggets "team" is certainly not devoid of talent, but George Karl is faced with the nearly impossible task of getting them to play as a cohesive unit.

Despite their self-centered stars, Coach Karl has the Nuggets playing much better of late. If the Nuggets are successful in the playoffs it will be because of Allen Iverson's desire to win. Iverson realizes that his window to lead a team to the championship is closing. AI turns 32 this June, and everybody knows how badly he wants a ring; he may be willing to sacrifice the spotlight for a chance at sweet victory. Either way, it is safe to say that both the Suns and Spurs would rather face the Lakers in the first round than this star-studded team. I would personally love to see the run-and-gun battle that would ensue if the Nuggets and Suns met in the first round, rather than wasting the exciting Nuggets team against the boring to death Spurs and their appropriately gray uniforms. I would rather sit through calculus class than watch another Spurs-Pistons NBA Finals.

One Gun Short

The Utah Jazz were the hottest team to start the season, and though their position at the top of the West faded, they have not fallen off the face of the Earth like the Magic have after their early success in the JV Conference. Although the Jazz still seem like an underdog small market team, their lineup is quite impressive. Deron Williams has quickly emerged from a pudgy "bust" in his rookie year to one of the league's best point guards. Over the course of the season, Williams has put up 17 points and an almost Nash-like 9.5 assists per game. (Hey, I said almost.) Carlos Boozer is an absolute double-double machine, putting up 21 and 12, and never taking a game off. Mehmet Okur is having another terrific season; he is a dual threat big man who can pull opposing centers out with his three point range. These three players make up the core of a solid team, but it seems their one gun short of being a contender...the AK47.

AK47 AKA Andrei Kirilenko (all those A's and K's are hurting my head) is the top candidate for an award I like to give out each year, the MOIP--Most Opposite-of-Improved Player. After being a bona fide superstar for the last three years, Kirilenko has fallen off the face of the Earth. Last year Kirilenko averaged 15.3 points, 8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 3.5 blocks, and 1.5 steals. This year? He's down significantly in every category: 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2 blocks, and 1.1 steal. He is also currently 16-75 from the three point line on the season (20%). At only 26 years of age, Kirilenko's fall from grace is somewhat inexplicable. I mean, we've come to expect him to turn his ankle on a weekly basis, so had he merely missed 20 games, we would have accepted it; but nobody expected him to play over 90% of the season and just flat out stink! Maybe the Space Jam Monstars from the Rockets stoke his talent?Kirilenko's embarrassing MOIP season puts the proverbial nail in the coffin for Utah's season. I'd be shocked if they last more than 5 or 6 games against the Rockets in the first round.

The Los Angeles Kobe's

I honestly thing Kobe Bryant can single-handedly win two games against one of the Big Three in the first round of the playoffs. I wonder what the most points per game any player has scored over a best-of-seven series...(sorry, I don't have Tony Reali to look it up for me.) Point is, Kobe is absolutely unstoppable, and Lamar Odom is good, but the team is just pathetic otherwise. Their starting lineup includes a guy name Smush, who happens to shoot 65% from the charity stripe and average under 3 assists per game despite playing 30 minutes as the starting point guard each night (Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson are grinning with pride somewhere), a 7 foot center who just graduated elementary school, and Bill Walton's son. OK, Luke Walton is actually pretty good, but you get the point.

Not-So-Elite Eight

Who will the number 8 seed be? The LA Clippers? The Golden State Warriors? The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Nomads?...I mean Hornets
Does it really matter? The Dallas Walmart is already selling out of brooms.