Add Feedback | Send this Article | Published 4/11/03

Graphic By: Matt Witherow

EAST
New York - The Knicks did not make the Playoffs last year for the first time in years, but they decided to make some drastic changes. They traded perennial disappointment Marcus Camby for the rugged yet overrated Antonio McDyess and expected to be a threat in the East. The problem with that is he got injured before the season even started. Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell had their usual solid seasons, which included two 50-point games from Houston. However, their biggest problem was that they had no serious inside presence. Kurt Thomas is only 6'9" and has played out of position at the center spot. McDyess would have been expected to do the same thing on a lot of nights had he not been injured. Sprewell was a distraction earlier in the season, but he came back and put up good numbers, even though it was not nearly what Knick fans had hoped for. The Knicks battled back strong in the second half of the season to get almost within fighting distance of the last playoff spot, but their slow start has been too much to overcome. Management has to get rid of a lot of the dead weight on this team and build the team around Allan Houston in the next few years. Hopefully they can land some youth to make the team competitive again in the near future.

Washington - It hurts me to say this, but the Michael Jordan experiment may have failed. Attendance is up, and the value of the franchise has no doubt increased. However, this won't mean much next year when Jordan isn't on the floor. It has been thrilling and nostalgic this season to pay homage to the greatest player to ever step on a basketball court, but the team failed to develop any sort of identity in his comeback. Kwame Brown is a certified first round bust and looks completely shell-shocked on the floor. Doug Collins is virtually ineffective as a coach, because everyone knows who his boss is. This year there were many opportunities for the Wizards to make a serious impact in the East, but they never turned the corner. I've looked at the Wizards through rose-colored glasses, but now as the season winds down it's kind of sad to watch Jordan spend his last days in mediocrity.

WEST
Golden State - When you look at this team's roster, it looks like a college All-American team from the mid to late 1990s. They remind me of the Mavericks a few years ago, before they started making the playoffs. They're young and they run. Also Eric Musselman is a great, passionate coach. They probably won't make the playoffs this year, but no one even expected them to be in the hunt for a berth. Gilbert Arenas is the most important player on this team, and it's easy to see that he has stepped up his game since he is in the final year of his contract. If they can re-sign him and keep everyone playing together, this team could be the Mavericks in a couple of years.

Dallas - Sure, they have already clinched a high playoff spot, but who expected the Mavericks to have the best record in the league? Owner Mark Cuban doesn't count. The Mavericks are still one of the softest teams in the league, and their defense is still improved but not championship-caliber. They are still one of only three teams capable of winning it all. Cuban has taken the corporate structure and attitude from his old business days and applied it to a basketball team with amazing results. He has two great assistant coaches on his staff who could be head coaches anywhere and one future hall-of-famer as the man in charge. If more owners took his no-nonsense, money-is-no-object approach, the league would be a lot more exciting. This is THE team to watch this postseason.

Those are the shocks and low spots in the league this year. I never thought I'd see the day where "disappointment" and "Michael Jordan" were used in the same sentence, but this year it fits. The playoffs are just about ready to begin, and only one of the teams mentioned will be there. I'm kind of disappointed that the league expanded the first round to best of seven, because it ruins the chances of there being a Cinderella sneaking into the second round like eighth seed Denver did in 1994. However, this rewards the better teams who may be susceptible to a few quick losses. The most important day of the playoffs is May 22 when we all find out who wins the Lebron James Sweepstakes or, as the league likes to call it, the Draft Lottery. [an error occurred while processing this directive]