clutchness and the pacific division

if you check yesteday nite's score board, there were at least a few upsets, so to speak. i thought spurs was invincible but maybe they took the nite off at dallas? it's still early in the season and spurs generally take a while to warm up. i'd say by january they'll be racking up wins like me at a buffet.

then there's the 6ers/pacers sighting. somehow 6ers got their first win in the season against a Final hopeful. that's nba for ya. pacers looked great against the heat a few nights ago. they basically have all the pieces in place now. defense is already there, and the players are gelling together as a cohesive offensive unit. i'm not convinced they will come out the east though. i mean, who is their clutch shooter? artest? stephen jackson? c'mon. right. can you count on nutcases (so much entertainment value though) on last second shots? with the season on the line? maybe tinsley but he's still too erratic. JO is great, but it's hard for a post player to be a clutch shooter. it's far too easy to collapse the defense on them. much like i don't think KG is a good clutch scorer, even though he's my favorite player and can do about a million things on the court. speaking of which, wolves lost to clips last nite by a point in OT, and KG missed a good looking 8 footer. cassell must have been ecstatic.

i honestly dunno if wolves will make the playoff. a lot depends on their learning curves, if they can find an identity to play with. relying completely on KG is not a strategy nor is it a team identity. another factor is how the pacific division plays out, simply because everything is a mess there.

suns are... well. not bad because they still have last year's MVP steve nash. but the whole team is basically blown up, though they still have the run-n-gun mentality, without amare they are only a slightly better than average team, not much better than lakers or kings. kings are in a transition state and no one knows what their roles are. they have enough talents to finish on top of the division or miss the playoff entirely coz everyone's lost. poor shareef. if only he went to the nets, he'd be in playoff for sure.

clippers are capable of going to playoff also because they finally have a clutch scorer in cassell. their starting 5 is pretty impressive, if that alone can get you to the playoff. last but not least in the division is the warriors. as evidence by last year's end of the season run, warriors are nothing to mess with when they are on their game. it is highly possible for them to win the division IF baron davis play all the games, but he won't so the warriors won't. realistically, i see them finishing second in the division and making the playoff as the 7th seed. but the pacific division is so unclear that almost anyone can be on top or bottom. suns will make the playoff for sure, everyone else is a scratch on the head.