- Don't believe the "experts" when they talk about all these upstarts and how the West is this big dogfight.
When it's all said and done, LA and New Orleans will float back to where they belong - 50-54 win teams, and Utah, Portland, Golden State, Denver, and Houston will all be borderline 50 win teams.
And the Big 3 will be (like always) that next tier (58+ wins) that those other teams can't get to. And Phoenix, the media's champion, will be what they always are, a chemistry experiment gone bad, with a no defending, aching point guard, and a team that can't even defend a team like Minnesota.
So bottom line, screw all this ink on the tough West, it will come down to San Antonio and Dallas just like it always does.
Eddie Sefko took Steve Nash's nuts out of his mouth for 20 minutes and wrote something for us.
Dallas Mavericks have no room for error in crowded West
09:44 AM CST on Friday, January 25, 2008
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
esefko@dallasnews.com
Donnie Nelson was talking with another NBA mover and shaker recently, not so much about possible trades, but about the fickle nature of the Western Conference this season.
It was no run-of-the-mill general manager, either. It was the leader of one of the West's top teams.
"He was telling me how, when you lose a game or two, everybody wants to know why things are so bad," Nelson, the Mavericks' president of basketball operations said.
It was a relief for Nelson to hear that other top-echelon teams are getting the same treatment.
The Mavericks have reached the midpoint of a crazy and competitive season. They have navigated 41 games with a 28-13 record and have 41 more trips through stormy water before the playoffs.
On pace for 56 wins sounds good, until you realize that might not be good enough for a home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
"That's what makes the West so neat," Nelson said. "There are 10 or so teams that have a real chance to do damage in the West. And people don't realize how hard wins are to come by."
What the first half has done is set up a march to the playoffs that should provide riveting, daily twists and turns for every team in the West playoff hunt. It will be a fan's delight as the list of contenders goes at least 11 teams deep.
As of Thursday, a 24-18 Utah team would not have been among the eight playoff qualifiers. Of course, the playoffs don't start today, so it's a moot point.
But anybody who believes the playoff bracket come mid-April is going to look anything like it would right now probably is going to be wrong on many counts. Every team is a four-game winning or losing streak away from seeing their fortunes completely change.
"That's what I think is going to be so interesting," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "Everybody's eyes are going to be watching every game earlier in the season. Normally, people get into it a little more after the All-Star break when there's only about 30 games left. But right now, the way things are going, I think it's making things interesting even earlier in the season."
As proof, the Mavericks were barely done licking their wounds after Monday's loss at Washington before somebody in the locker room asked how San Antonio did against Charlotte.
Scoreboard watching has begun.
As Johnson said, parity is a big reason.
"The top 10 teams in the West aren't light years ahead of each other," he said. "And I think that's why there's going to be a 10th seed or ninth seed that could have very well been a fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. There's not enough [playoff] spots."
Owner Mark Cuban believes this is becoming an annual situation.
"It's crazy," he said. "But it was like this last year for a long time, too. Then it cleared up a little."
However, last season the Mavericks were 33-8 at the midpoint and the jumbled part of the standings was all behind them. They cruised to the No. 1 seed.
But this year, going into Thursday's games, the top five records in the West were separated by one game in the loss column. And while the Mavericks have experienced problems in the first half of the season, they have positioned themselves for a second-half surge.
"With us getting off to a 12-8 start and to be sitting here where we are, it's not a bad deal," Johnson said. "Guys are excited, and they're going to be even more excited now because there's not 82 games in front of them, there's only 41."
Injury update: Jerry Stackhouse said he will have an MRI today on his right hamstring, just to be on the safe side.
He doesn't think there's anything major wrong with it, but he tweaked it against Charlotte on Wednesday after just seven minutes of action. He's listed as day-to-day, but said he probably would sit out tonight's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Brandon Bass said he has been told by doctors that there is no risk of injuring his right Achilles' any further and hopes to play tonight after missing Wednesday's game. He said the soreness was getting worse as he continued to play on it.
Turning for home: Johnson said he doesn't expect to alter his approach to coaching the Mavericks now that they have reached the halfway point.
"We try to do whatever is necessary to help our team reach its maximum potential," he said. "I know the players don't want me to change my personality. We made a few adjustments that we think can help us in the short term and long term with the five-game increments.
"We'll just keep trying to get better."
LA Lakers at Mavericks, 7:30 p.m. today (Ch. 21)
EDDIE SEFKO'S WEST PLAYOFF WINNERS (seeds based on today's standings*)
* Does not include Thursday's New Jersey-Golden State game
First-round matchups
No. 1 New Orleans vs. No. 8 Golden State: This time, it wouldn't be stunner it was when Warriors beat Dallas.
No. 4 Denver vs. No. 5 San Antonio: Spurs would own home-court, which means plenty given their road woes.
No. 3 Dallas vs. No. 6 LA Lakers: This would be a tasty matchup, but who wants to see Kobe Bryant in the first round?
No. 2 Phoenix vs. No. 7 Portland: Blazers would lose but gain playoff experience in pre-Oden season.
Western semifinals
San Antonio-New Orleans: The fairytale season that might save the Hornets' franchise in New Orleans comes to an end, but the Hornets' Chris Paul serves notice that he's next in line as the Spurs try to go after that elusive repeat.
Phoenix-Dallas: The Mavericks try everything, but it's another small, run-and-gun team (sound familiar?) that gets a huge showing from Amare Stoudemire, and Steve Nash hits another clutch shot to eliminate the Mavericks.
Western finals
Phoenix-San Antonio: Finally, Steve Nash sets foot on the NBA's biggest stage. He gets a helping hand from Amare Stoudemire, who dominates the Spurs, and the Suns prove that their breakneck pace can lead to the promised land.
NBA Finals
Phoenix-Boston: Boston breezes through the East, but the Suns know how to play Kevin Garnett. And two ex-Mavericks – Steve Nash and Raja Bell – join Michael Finley as NBA champions.
- Cowlishaw....
Dallas Mavericks can't rest in ever-improving West
10:48 PM CST on Thursday, January 24, 2008
The Lakers coming to town was a big deal the last couple of years because of Kobe Bryant.
The Lakers coming to town is a big deal now because it means the Mavericks are playing an elite Western Conference team.
Another ... elite ... team.
If you don't think the window is closing on Dallas' chances of winning an NBA trophy with its current group of core players, you aren't paying attention.
And it has nothing to do with how the Mavericks are playing.
They are playing just fine. Entering tonight, they are one game behind Phoenix and another member of the new elite, New Orleans, for best record in the conference.
They have won eight of their last 10 games. Their home record (18-3) is the best in the NBA, including the Boston Celtics. Coach Avery Johnson may find himself coaching the West All-Stars in his New Orleans hometown because he is that close to having the team with the best record in the West.
Then again, if injuries caused the Mavericks to go into a little tailspin and they dropped 4 ½ games in the standings, do you know where they would be?
Yes. Out of the playoffs.
To get to the NBA Finals, the Mavericks used to have to fight their way through the Suns and the Spurs.
It's more than that now.
Every opponent – as we saw last spring – will be dangerous.
The team that spoiled Dirk Nowitzki's MVP season, Golden State, is five games out of first in the West.
Once again the Warrriors are the eighth seed.
Last year was the first time since 1990 that neither the No. 1 nor No. 2 seeds reached the conference finals in the West. As deep as this conference is, it won't be 17 years before that happens again.
Really, the elite in the West could be as many as 10 teams.
NBA fans know how scary the Houston Rockets can be, even if Tracy McGrady is still looking for that first playoff series victory. McGrady was injured but is back in the lineup. The team is on an 8-2 run.
The Rockets are 6 ½ games out of first, but they are no better than 10th in the Western Conference. That is crazy.
And it's why I have to restate what I said a year ago, because commissioner David Stern and the league's board of governors clearly missed their copy of the newspaper that day.
The NBA would be better off scrapping history and going to a best-16 team format. Forget Eastern and Western Conference playoffs. Get the best teams into the tournament and get the two best teams into the Finals, regardless of geography.
If that turned out to be San Antonio and Phoenix or Dallas and the Lakers, would anyone really object just because there's no Eastern time zone representation?
Despite his appeal, did LeBron James draw big numbers for the league in his first Finals appearance? I don't think so.
The six division winners should be assured of a home-court advantage in the first round. Winning a division should count for something.
But the teams should be seeded by record beyond that, meaning if San Antonio won the division and Dallas finished second but had the third-best record in the league, the Mavericks would be the No. 3 seed in the tournament.
So the two best non-division winners also would be assured of a home-court edge in the opening round.
If the NBA had such a format in place, Utah and Houston would be in the playoffs with their 24-18 and 23-19 records. Atlanta (17-21) and Indiana (19-24) would be out.
Beyond Hawks and Pacers fans, who has a problem with that?
Consider the Jazz. It is an exciting young team. It went to the Western Conference finals a year ago and played the Spurs tougher than Cleveland did in the Finals.
And at 5 ½ games behind the Suns and Hornets, Utah is out of the playoffs right now.
The format won't change any time soon, which is what makes the Lakers' trip to Dallas tonight so intriguing and important.
With eight teams within a handful of losses of each other in the West, every game matters. Forget the notion that the Mavericks have nothing to prove until they get to the playoffs.
This year in the West, getting to the postseason itself has meaning.
- I wish Ranger fans had Liverpool's passion about Tom Hicks.
Hicks, co-owner to keep control of Liverpool soccer club
09:34 AM CST on Friday, January 25, 2008
Associated Press
LIVERPOOL, England - Liverpool's American owners completed a $682 million refinancing package Friday that keeps the Premier League club in their hands despite a growing backlash from fans.
Co-owner Tom Hicks,who also owns baseball’s Texas Rangers and hockey’s Dallas Stars, also expressed "continuing and enthusiastic support" for manager Rafa Benitez, whose position has been in doubt following disputes with the Americans over player transfers.
The money package was reached with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia Bank, replacing a previous financing arrangement that was due to expire next month.
The new deal is expected to help Hicks and Gillett repay the money borrowed for their takeover of Liverpool in March 2007.
The move follows weeks of speculation that the two would sell the club to Dubai-based consortium DIC, which lost out to Hicks and Gillett last year.
The refinancing deal and a revised design for Liverpool's new 71,000-seat stadium were announced by Kop Football, the holding company headed by Hicks and co-owner George Gillett Jr., who owns hockey’s Montreal Canadiens. The owners hired Dallas-based architectural firm HKS Inc. to build the new venue based on “an improved stadium design that meets the objective of a cost-effective, supporter-friendly design.”
The sleek, asymmetrical design originally envisaged in July 2007 was scrapped last month because of rising costs. The stadium is scheduled to open in August 2011 and will feature an 18,500-seat single tier stand for the Kop, which hosts Liverpool’s most loyal and vocal supporters. The current Kop seats 13,500.
Liverpool is moving from the 115-year-old Anfield Stadium, which seats 45,300, to the new venue in the adjacent Stanley Park. The project is expected to cost $807.5 million.
Hicks said the new stadium design was more efficient and “just as stunning.”
“Liverpool supporters should have high expectations for the future: a premier sporting experience at their new stadium at Stanley Park and a winning club on the pitch for years to come,” Hicks said in a statement.
Liverpool had fallen well below its top league rivals in facilities. Manchester United’s expanded stadium seats 76,000, and Arsenal moved into a 60,000-seat venue in 2006.
- Was in attendance last night for this game. Power play is awful. No scoring chances at all when they're 5 on 5. The goal tenders have to be out of their minds to keep it competitive, which Turco did last night. They have lumbering defenseman like Norstrom and Daley trying to initiate offense. They turn the puck over in their zone like crazy, furthering the pressure on Turco.
While I'm not an expert on hockey, I'm learning more and more as I go to these games. From doing that and listening to Razor, I'm picking up on the strategy of the game. And I know this, they are not as good as their record indicates. They need youth, scoring, and better puck handlers. And they need Zubov, Lehtinen, and Boucher back. BAD.
Dallas Stars squander chances in loss
11:51 PM CST on Thursday, January 24, 2008
By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News
mheika@dallasnews.com
Squandered points.
That's how the Dallas Stars saw their last two games, and they will have a long weekend to ruminate over exactly what that could mean in the greater context of the season.
For the second consecutive game, Dallas fumbled a winnable game – losing Thursday 2-1 to the Buffalo Sabres. They'll take three days off for the NHL All-Star break before returning to practice Monday.
"It's discouraging and frustrating to head into the break like this," Stars center Mike Modano said.
As in the Columbus game Tuesday, when the Stars blew a two-goal lead, Dallas had plenty of chances to seize control against a struggling Buffalo team.
"When you go into the third period and you're tied 1-1 and you get a couple of power plays, and then you don't get a quality scoring chance on goal, something is wrong," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "You're relying on people to create stuff, and they're just not getting it done."
The Stars' power play went 0-for-6 and is 1-for-28 in the last six games. That lack of success is costing the Stars in the standings. Dallas fell to 28-20-5 and is 3-4-1 in its last eight games. Buffalo won for only the second time in its last 14 games (2-7-5).
"We could have played a lot better tonight," goalie Marty Turco said. "There was lack of desperation on our part, which is both confusing and a little embarrassing. We're at our best when our leaders are on top of our game, and it's most evident when we're playing desperate hockey."
The Stars' leaders have struggled in recent games as Brenden Morrow, Mike Ribeiro and Modano have not been able to get the power play going. But the difference between wins over San Jose and Anaheim last week and this week's losses might be breakdowns on defense. In recent games, the Stars' defensemen simply made fundamental mistakes at key moments.
That was the case on both Buffalo goals Thursday. On the first, at 1:51 of the first period, defensemen Mattias Norstrom and Matt Niskanen were on the same side of the ice, allowing Derek Roy to slip behind, and forward Steve Ott failed to cover.
The score remained 1-0 until the 17:08 mark of the second period when Stu Barnes finally solved Sabres goalie Ryan Miller by crashing the net and one-timing a pass from Norstrom.
It was Barnes' eighth goal, his seventh in the last 17 games.
The Stars, however, once again found themselves trailing early in the third when Thomas Vanek and Roy broke in on an odd-man rush. The two skilled forwards passed the puck back and forth, confusing Niskanen and creating an easy tap-in from a foot away.
Dallas made a late push but couldn't get the job done.
"The last two games, we needed to be a lot better than we were," Ott said. "The worst part is when you give away points you thought you should get. We were in situations where we could have taken control of each game. Those are games that good teams win."
- This should keep the NFL-mentality out of the program and raise the IQ level of the team. Callahan's players were all about the "League." They had no passion for playing the college game. They viewed College as an extended combine. Bo Pelini will eliminate that, get kids into the program that actually want to go to college (or at least more than Callahan did, I can't be naive about this, not all the kids will be this way), and play the college game. And with passion.
Pelini can snag academic bonus
Coach to earn $250K if Huskers reach academic goals
Posted: Thursday January 24, 2008 3:13PM
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Bonuses rewarding academic achievement are nothing new in college football coaches' contracts.
They are, however, new to Nebraska.
Bo Pelini's contract, released this week, calls for him to earn up to an additional $250,000 a year if his program reaches all academic milestones listed.
That's the second-highest maximum in the nation -- behind the $300,000 Ohio State's Jim Tressel could receive -- but less than a third of the $800,000 Pelini would get for winning a national championship.
"You want a contract that fairly compensates the coach and signal what's important to the university," Chancellor Harvey Perlman said Thursday. "If you're going to put incentives in for winning, then you should balance those with incentives for academic performance."
One sentence in former coach Bill Callahan's contract was devoted to academics. He was required to "adhere to the university's standards and policies for the academic performance of its student-athletes in his recruitment, supervision and coaching of players."
At least 60 of the 119 schools in the NCAA's top football division are known to offer academic incentives for head coaches, according to research of public records and media reports.
Pelini would be paid $125,000 if the program's graduation rate is equal to or greater than that of the general student body at Nebraska.
According to the most recent data, which measured freshmen who enrolled in 2000-01, the football graduation rate was 65 percent and the general student body's was 62 percent, athletic department spokesman Randy York said.
Pelini also can earn bonuses based on the program's Academic Performance Rating, which the NCAA uses to measure athletes' progress toward graduation. The NCAA's minimum allowable score is 925. Nebraska's most recent score was 935, York said.
Programs under 925 are subject to NCAA sanctions, such as scholarship reductions.
Pelini would get $25,000 for a rating of 930 or higher, $75,000 for 940 or higher and $125,000 for 950 or higher.
Athletic director Tom Osborne said he expects an academic bonus payment to Pelini to be "fairly automatic" each year.
Osborne pointed out that 25 of the 29 seniors on the football team last fall have their degrees in hand, and three of the remaining four are on track to graduate this spring.
The athletic department boasts a nation-leading 252 Academic All-Americans.
The football team put 12 players on the Big 12's 2007 all-academic first team last fall, second to Texas' 16.
Pelini did not return a phone message from The Associated Press.
How coaches are rewarded for academic performance varies. Most schools pay amounts based on specific graduation rates, and some pay amounts based on where a program's graduation rate ranks in its conference.
Kansas coach Mark Mangino's contract calls for him to be paid $1,000 for every player who receives a degree.
Osborne said Pelini would stress academics with or without the bonus incentives.
Pelini, an Academic All-American at Ohio State in the late 1980s, was widely reported to have walked around the Nebraska campus on the first day of the spring semester to make sure players were attending classes.
"He values education, and I think he and I both agree that's part of the job," Osborne said. "I think if that clause wasn't in there, I don't think it would make a bit of difference in how Bo does his business."
But the bonus shows the university is putting its money where its mouth is, Osborne said.
"It sends a message that the institution you're serving is interested and concerned about academics, and a major part of what is expected is that players graduate and that their education is a major part of the mission."
- NFC Championship Recap
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