Hey! Where did all the people
go? Man, I barely had any room on this thing before the pre-season
and now its darn near empty. Where am I? The Lakers' bandwagon,
of course, which almost tipped over with everyone jumping off of it after
last night's loss to the Spurs. I'm not the only die hard fan left
a bit lonely today. Look over at the Magic's bandwagon. You
can count those guys by hand now. New York, Miami, Milwaukee, Seattle,
and probably most of all, Portland, are all feeling the sting of fair weather
fans. To everyone out there I say: don't fret, they'll be back. You'll
have to weather the storm for a while, especially Laker fans, but the good
thing about seasons is that they're very long and the team that peaks at
the end is usually the team that wins the whole thing. Still, you
can't help but be a bit PO'd about how this thing has started out.
Let's take a look at these 'contenders' and try to figure out what's going
on.
LA Lakers - There's really no reason
to panic where this team is concerned, but everyone will anyway.
The Lakers so far are missing a big part of last year's team. Glen
Rice? No way. (InsideHoops note - Rice would be helping right now.)
The key ingredient the Lakers are missing right now is D. Fisher.
LA is commiting a lot of turnovers lately and having trouble with smaller
guards. Fisher is the back-up ballhandler and defender that they
could have used in their last two losses. Phil Jackson will tighten
this ship up before Fisher's return, but expect the Lakers to keep having
some of these difficulties at least until they figure out how to get the
most out of Horace Grant and JR Rider.
Orlando Magic - Expectations for
the Magic were high to begin with, but they'll still be in the hunt come
April and May. Two points: 1) the Magic could certainly use Grant
Hill, but right now its much better for him to go ahead and fully heal.
2) they're not playing the same team ball they played last season.
McGrady is their star and number 1 option now, but it's still gonna take
a total team effort for them to win games.
New York - Even with Patrick, I think
the Knicks would be suffering with some of the same problems. The
Knicks need an inside presence to help out Camby and a real point guard
to handle and distribute the ball.
Miami - Considering the loss of Mourning,
the Heat are doing well, and took a tough loss to the 76ers. Grant
is becoming a force down low and Eddie's picking up the rest of the scoring
slack. Anthony Mason's the hold-up right now. When he gets
back in gear, the Heat will make a run for Number 1 in the East.
Milwaukee - I don't know if Sherlock
Holmes could figure this team out. They don't have a true big man,
but they've got eveything else and should be better than 1-4. Karl
has got to figure out a way to get his team to play defense or another
lackluster season is on its way.
Seattle - Gary Payton is playing
some of the best ball I've ever seen, and Rashard Lewis is really becoming
a star. It's the inconsistent play of the rest of the team that's
holding them back.
Portland - No chemistry and no go-to
guy is what's holding this team back. Portland really seems to be
just throwing a bunch guys on the court and telling them to win.
This team needs better leadership on and off the court.
