THE WIDE OPEN WEST ONCE-DOMINANT EAST MUST TAKE A BACK SEAT.Byline: Steve Dilbeck Staff Writer And at the break, the East rested. It needed to, of course. Bruises take time to heal. The NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= roared through the first half of the season, or at least half of it did. That would be the half that resides near the left coast. As the league pauses this weekend for its annual midseason All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league. The players are often chosen by a popular vote of fans of the sport and the game often occurs at the halfway point of the regular season, although this is not the case for some all-star games , the Western Conference has turned out to be just as dominating as feared in the preseason. The mighty dwell in the West these days, evident by the standings, conference records, number of dominating players and rising stars. ``There's no easy teams out here,'' said Portland's Scottie Pippen Scottie Maurice Pippen (born September 25, 1965 in Hamburg, Arkansas) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). . ``We can't just mark up W's when we walk into arenas. We have to come out and play well. We lost to Houston. We lost to Dallas.'' Only Indiana and Miami regularly crack those weekly listings of top-10 teams by most NBA followers. The three best - Portland, Lakers and San Antonio San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. - are all West teams. Alas, the beast is out of the East. ``It was obvious the first week of the season that the majority of the power would be in the West just based on the talent that was out here, the depth of the teams and the dominating players,'' said Minnesota coach Flip Saunders. ``You have more dominating players who can potentially carry a team in the West than in the East.'' The West is home to Tim Duncan Timothy "Tim" Theodore Duncan (born April 25 1976 in Christiansted, St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands)[1] is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6'11" (2. , Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (pronounced "shak-KEEL") (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey), frequently referred to simply as Shaq, is an American professional basketball player, generally regarded as one of the most dominant in the National Basketball Association (NBA). , Karl Malone
The West has not been shy about flexing its superior muscles, either. Entering the final week of the first half, the West held a 134-102 advantage against the East. And the Clippers are still in the West. ``The West is very good this year,'' said Lakers guard Ron Harper
Ronald Harper (born January 20, 1964 in Dayton, Ohio) is a retired American professional basketball player whose career spanned from 1986 to 2001 with four teams in . ``There are at least six, seven teams out here that are high-caliber basketball teams now. It has come up from a long ways. You just don't get a break.'' Explanations for why there has been such a power shift are hard to come by. Some would rather not even try. ``You can't ever find a reason why those things happen,'' said Lakers forward A.C. Green. ``It's the better weather in the West,'' offered Portland coach Mike Dunleavy Mike Dunleavy is the name of two notable persons in basketball, father and son:
Yet it's an advantage West cities have always had, and 10 years ago the East was the most respected conference. The Bulls may have been ringing up six titles, but they went through a tough playoff road. ``The East was really tough at one time,'' said Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. , then the Bulls coach and now leading the Lakers. ``We had some really good teams when Charlotte was in its fourth or fifth year. There was Indiana, Orlando, Detroit was just starting to slide a little bit. Atlanta was good. The East was a very tough conference in the early '90s. It's turned around in the last three years.'' It could be cyclical, or simply something of a chain reaction. One team in the conference improves and the others are compelled to answer or be left in the competitive dust. So if the Lakers add Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, the Blazers are answering with Damon Stoudamire, Rasheed Wallace and Pippen. ``Teams see that the conference is so tough, that they really have to step forward and make huge changes to win,'' Jackson said. ``Portland the last couple of years has upped the ante a number of times. San Antonio, just by virtue of getting Tim Duncan when David Robinson was injured that year, suddenly had themselves a gift horse. Everybody had to jump into the money and make a run for it and strengthen their rosters to try and meet it.'' The conference is so tough, that even when the Lakers went on their 16- game winning streak, they couldn't put any real distance between themselves and the Trail Blazers. ``We were tracking them,'' Dunleavy said. ``We knew what they were doing and had to stay close behind.'' Yet when the Lakers then stumbled, they quickly slid into second place behind Portland. When the season started, Minnesota was the team getting off to a slow start. Now the Timberwolves have rallied, which has only been good enough to leave them eighth in the West. ``A month ago, we couldn't see our division leaders with a telescope,'' Saunders said. ``Now we're only three games behind San Antonio and 3 1/2 behind Utah. ``What I think happens is, if you can win some games and put together a string, because everyone in the West is so equal, teams are going to beat each other.'' What this all means come playoff time, could become particularly noteworthy. If Garnett and the Timberwolves end up the eighth seed, or if it's the Suns now with a health Penny Hardaway, any upset is possible. ``A lot of teams with the ability to jump up and get you,'' Dunleavy said. ``I don't think anybody can feel relaxed in the first round, second round, any round, with the talent some of the teams out here have. There are such quality teams, you could face anybody in be in a tight spot.'' ``It's going to be pretty interesting in the playoffs,'' said Minnesota guard Malik Sealy. ``For so long, there's been that one team that was dominant. There is no dominant team now.'' For now, there's another half of a regular season for the West to get fat on the East, and to beat up on each other. It can be an eye-opening experience, particularly for those just going through their NBA indoctrination in·doc·tri·nate tr.v. in·doc·tri·nat·ed, in·doc·tri·nat·ing, in·doc·tri·nates 1. To instruct in a body of doctrine or principles. 2. . ``I knew it would be tough in the West,'' said Clippers star rookie Lamar Odom. ``But I didn't know it would be this tough.'' NBA'S BEST IN THE WEST Here's a quick look at the teams with the best records in the NBA. W L Pct Portland 38 11 .776 Lakers 37 11 .771 Indiana 32 16 .667 San Antonio 32 17 .653 Miami 30 17 .638 New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of 29 18 .617 Sacramento29 18 .617 Utah 29 18 .617 Seattle 31 20 .608 Phoenix 28 19 .596 CAPTION(S): photo, chart Photo: (color) no caption (basketball players, with drawing of wagon train) Chart: NBA's best in the west (see text) |
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