The West

So the Blazers are officially out of the playoffs, which has been obvious since the flurry of injuries and the Jarret Jack experiment, but I was really hoping they were able to squeak out the 8 seed in the playoffs. But damn. Have you seen the Western Conference! It's amazing.

The Rockets are on a 16 game tear and finally moved up a few spots. That's what it takes these days in the West, a win streak of over 10 games to actually make some movement in the standings. I love that Yao Ming went down, not because I hate him, or Chinese people, or Tall Chinese people, but that I absolutely love Tracy McGrady. I will always have a spot in my heart for players who look like they don't care but kill everyone when they want to, ala Vince Carter, JR Rider, Rasheed Wallace...

Currently the Nuggets are in 9th, right behind the Warriors, and I sincerely hope that the Nuggets are able to get in by the end of the year. And who knows, the Mavericks may fall out of the top 8 by then. Sounds crazy, but that's just about how crazy the West is this year. They're 2.5 games out of first but are in 7th! I love it. They can't play D with Kidd, just like Phoenix with Shaq.

If we can package Jack and our lottery pick and maybe that big thing we say is our starting center this year for something that actually helps the team next year, who knows, maybe we'll be able to participate in the Western madness.