FOX on the ROX and more

With only 95 percent of the regular season remaining, NBA fans are warming up before jumping to conclusions about what they've seen so far.

How about that Chris Kaman? Should they break up the Indiana Pacers or wait until somebody makes big news outside a strip club? Will the Chicago Bulls use the first pick in the 2008 NBA Draft on O.J. Mayo or local hotshot Derrick Rose?
And so on.

Well, until additional evidence can be obtained, it may be wise to hold off on making any declarations based on four games. This does not mean the Houston Rockets will end up being the easiest stop along the Texas Triangle. Sure, my lack of trust in their point guard platoon makes this a very strong possibility, but an impressive victory over the San Antonio Spurs suggests that first-year coach Rick Adelman has yet to eliminate the Rockets' interest in defense.

If that continues, the Rockets will be nasty.
Let's leave Texas and move on to Los Angeles, where the Clippers have shaken off the loss of power forward Elton Brand and started the season 3-0. Without Brand to hog rebounds and post-up opportunities, Kaman (17.3 points and 14.7 rebounds) has performed like most card-carrying 7-footers should perform. Can the mighty Kaman — who's never averaged more than 11.9 and 9.6, respectively — continue at this rate?

It's doubtful.

The same must be said about the Clippers, whose victims (Golden State, Seattle and Chicago) are a combined 0-12 and have allowed coach Mike Dunleavy's team to rank second in scoring (110.6).

Yeah, this faster pace was by design, but giving Cuttino Mobley and Corey Maggette the green light could get a bit frightening ... for Dunleavy.

Keep an eye on this one.

Moving down the hall, we find the rootin', tootin', shootin' L.A. Lakers, who check in at 2-2 and as the league's fourth-ranked offensive team (108.7).

Do not expect triangle practitioner Phil Jackson to make a full commitment to goosing the tempo, despite the early offensive success. While pushing the ball can work wonders with Kobe Bryant filling a lane, the Lakers are too slow at small forward and center to make this work for an extended period.

They also lack a stellar push man at point guard and the return of point-power forward Lamar Odom — while a seeming boon to a fast-break style — just provides Phil with another player who spends an inordinate amount of time dribbling. Unless your dribbler is Steve Nash, this will impede the caliber of ball movement necessary to sustain a fast-break mentality.

By the way, do not expect Nash to finish seventh in assists. When teammate Amare Stoudemire returns to an established high screen-roll form, the Phoenix Suns' point guard will start stacking the dimes.

The current assists leader is Chris Paul of the unbeaten New Orleans Hornets. While the Hornets probably lack the firepower to earn the home-court advantage in a Western Conference playoff series, good health for Paul, rebounding machine Tyson Chandler and sniper Peja Stojakovic should put them in the postseason.


Our Western swing now takes us to Utah, where the league's top-scoring team (113.5) has split its first four games. Please note that coach Jerry Sloan and the Jazz have not thrown away the 1-4 high series and embraced the Mike D'Antoni philosophy of offense.

Instead, credit the Golden State Warriors' defense, which has coughed up an average of 125 points in two losses to Utah.

Our first Eastern Conference stop is Indianapolis, home of the unbeaten Pacers, who register as third in scoring (109). This three-game binge was done on purpose, because new coach Jim O'Brien thinks the Pacers will be good at it.

Well, if they play the Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies a bunch more, this run-and-gun strategy could work.

I had intended to question the efficacy in putting Jamaal Tinsley in charge of an up-tempo system, but his turnover history is almost reasonable and Mike Dunleavy Jr. may be more effective making threes in transition than attempting to create his own opportunities.

Even with a 2-0 start (followed by a home loss to Phoenix), it may have been a bit premature to eliminate the Charlotte Bobcats from consideration for a trip to Secaucus, home of the NBA Draft Lottery.

With Jason Richardson on one wing and Gerald Wallace on the other, the Charlotte offense features less movement than a wax museum. First-year Bobcats coach Sam Vincent should remind these guys that the only Charlotte employee worthy of firing up off-balance jumpers is the team's co-owner and managing member of basketball operations.


The low-post heavy New York Knicks are 2-1 and fifth in the league in scoring, but history reminds us that energy and teamwork among the likes of Zach Randolph, Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford and their cronies requires more than a three-game sample.

The case for and against the Chicago Bulls (now 0-4) was made in my last column, while Dwyane Wade's return should guarantee that Pat Riley's Miami Heat will not go through the season winless.

Conversely, while they certainly look capable of winning the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics probably won't go through the season without a defeat.

The New Jersey Nets are 3-1, but are one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league. Even more confounding is Vince Carter, who's averaging a measly 13.8 shots per game.

That should be proof enough that some things just have to change.



LINK: http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7418186

 

I like the point guard rotation we have. Yes it would be nice if we had Kidd or that punk Canadian in Phoenix, but we don't. Alston could shoot better I'll admit, but his assist to turnover ratio is good and Yao and TMac are in the game when he plays. Mike James b**** is a good come off the bench guy. Like Vinnie Johnson or Sam Cassell, shoot first mentality. I like it and I think it works...let's just give it a chance.