Welcome back, hope everyone is having a good holiday season so far. Mine has been terrific; hard to go wrong when you mix time off of work, seeing friends, getting and giving gifts, and spending time with family. One of the best things I ever did was marry into a family of sweet-tooths.
Let's ease back into things today and take a look at the standings, so we can get reacquainted with which teams are doing what.
Hot Stuff
Quick, name the hottest team in the NBA! Here's a clue: two weeks ago, their fans were busy making noises of a revolt. Ladies and Gentleman, these are your Portland Trail Blazers. They've won five straight, and 8 of 10. What's more, they are only two games out of the third spot in the West, and current sit at fifth. For a team that is "falling apart", they seem to be doing OK on the court. I remember the same thing happening last year, a slow start followed by an extended run. I wonder if this is complicating things in the front office; there was a lot of talk earlier this season about blowing up a team whose players show up as much in a police lineup as on the court. But what do you do if they keep winning? The answer is easy if they are doing the kind of winning that makes you think they could secure home court, or make a long run in the post-season, but I don't think even this latest hot streak is going to make anybody think that's going to happen. At their best, they are a three or four seed. So what does GM Bob Whitsett do? Does he follow through with the community-driven roster dismantling, or try to generate good will with the fans through winning, while risking further PR problems? Sometimes, the best thing for a team is to lose decisively enough to make the path clear. Right now, it's real foggy in Portland.
Who else is hot? New Jersey, winning four straight, and also 8 of 10. They have gained three games on Indiana in the last three weeks, and are now just a half-game out. They have done all of this without Kerry Kittles, as well. I just wonder what role Dikembe Mutombo will play in the playoffs. It's interesting; the Lakers' demise isn't just upsetting to the Lakers' plans. Think about a team like Jersey, that acquired Mutombo ostensibly to match up with Shaq (and to move Van Horn). If the Nets happen to get to the Finals and face a team like Sacramento or Dallas, will the Nets have a roster that was fine-tuned to face the wrong team?
San Antonio's heating up, too. They've won four straight, and are 7-3 in their last 10. Slow, steady, inexorable, boring, effective. Same as it ever was.
Cold, Cold World
Denver is 1-13 in their last 14 games, and traded their best defender and most athletic player in James Posey last week. They're 6 and 22. Double-digits in wins won't happen anytime before pitchers and catchers report. The great thing about a team like Denver, though, is that the few wins they will get will be against teams they have no business beating. Denver is the team you love to look past, and they can burn you. Their wins are over Indiana, Phoenix, the Clippers, Memphis, San Antonio and Portland, who have a combined record of 90-77. Who is their next victim? Don't look now, but the Lakers come to town this Saturday. No, I don't think the Nuggets will beat the Lakers; the Lakers know they can't overlook anybody. Or do they? If the Lakers lose that game, expect All Media and Lockerroom Hell to break loose. Push will come to shove if the Lake Show loses that game. No, the Pipeline thinks the next Denver win will be...Friday, January 3, in Seattle. On ESPN. Mark your calendars now.
Anybody else notably cold? Well, there's Toronto at 3-7 in their last 10, dropping three straight. The quality of Vince Carter's "comeback" is in reverse proportion to the preseason hype that it generated. But Toronto was able to do well late last year without VC; Keon Clark's banishment to Sacramento for cap reasons is surely as big a factor in Toronto's latest swoon. Combine that with injuries to Antonio Davis, and nothing much has gone right up there. The question is: Does anybody care? I mean, you ever met a Raptors fan? Me, neither. Nobody cares about the Raptors. I'm not even able to muster much "tragedy of the potentially lost career" emotion over Carter. Don't get me wrong, I wish he was healthy doing what he does (but doing it better). I guess I was waiting for his game to catch up to his hype, and now it appears that may be in question for some time.
