Month: April 2006 (Page 17 of 20)

For a long time, the West has been a stronger conference than the East. Shaq’s defection and a couple of great draft picks – LeBron James and Dwayne Wade – have closed the gap considerably, especially amongst the top four teams in each division. Detroit, Miami, New Jersey and Cleveland match up pretty well with San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix and Denver. But the West still holds a big edge in talent and it’s due to the strength of its remaining playoff teams. The Wizards, Bucks, Pacers and Bulls just aren’t as good as the Clippers, Grizzlies, Lakers or Kings. And I guarantee that last team has a few Western conference coaches more than a little worried.

Sacramento has been playing really good ball of late, going 15-7 over their last 22 games. Since the Ron Artest trade on January 25th, they have won 23 of 35 and at press time, they are tied with the Lakers for the 7th spot in the Western conference playoffs. Over the last five games, the Kings beat the Spurs at San Antonio, while also beating the Clippers at home and in Los Angeles. Much of this recent success can be credited to Artest, whose toughminded play has revitalized the Kings defensively.

Sacramento will likely play San Antonio, Phoenix or Dallas in the first round of the playoffs. Despite the presence of Kobe Bryant, I think all three of these teams would rather play the Lakers than have to deal with Artest and the Kings in the first round. Sacramento has a lot of talent with Mike Bibby running the point and Brad Miller manning the middle. Throw in Kevin Martin and Bonzi Wells on the perimeter, along with Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Kenny Thomas inside, and you’ve got a deep, talented team that can match up with just about anybody. Don’t be surprised to see Sacramento still alive in the second round.

Things were looking grim for the Bulls, but after a four game winning streak, including last night’s 99-92 win over the struggling Sixers, the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs is Chicago’s to lose. The Bulls made the playoffs last year, so the team’s play has been pretty disappointing for most of the season. Chicago is loaded with young talent and their recent resurgence has been led by Ben Gordon, Andres Nocioni, Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich.

Four of the team’s seven remaining games are at home, including Saturday’s critical rematch against the Sixers. While games against New Jersey, Miami and Washington remain, the Bulls also face Atlanta, Orlando and Toronto over the last thirteen days of the season.

Think the Knicks are regretting trading for Eddy Curry in the offseason? Curry play this season has been adequate (14 ponts, 6 rebounds in 64 games played), but I doubt the Knicks are too happy with their decision to send their first round pick to Chicago for him.

Since the Knicks have the league’s worst record, their former pick has the best chance of landing the #1 overall pick. Granted, with the way the ping pong balls bounce, that’s never a sure thing, but the Bulls have a great shot at getting a pick somewhere in the top three.

Chicago couldn’t be in a better spot, considering their needs. They’ve been searching for a low post scorer for months, and there are four bigs at the top of ESPN’s draft board right now. Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, LaMarcus Aldridge and Andrea Bargnani, along with small forward Adam Morrison, all could potentially go first in the draft.

I don’t know anything about Bargnani, but of the other four players, Aldridge is probably the best bet for the Bulls if they want an NBA-ready player. Noah and Thomas are pretty rough offensively and will need some work before they are capable of scoring consistently in the post. The Bulls wouldn’t want to take Morrison, as they already have the talented Luol Deng and Andres Nocioni at small forward. Aldridge had a decent low post game and has shown that he is deadly on the face up 15-18′ jump shot.

Would Isiah Thomas still trade away the Knicks’ first round pick if he knew it was going to be in the top 3? I think this is a case where he was hurt by his own optimism.