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Exchanging of the guards Hawks, Cavs bettered themselves with trade
The deal that sent Jim Jackson to Cleveland and Brevin Knight to Atlanta really helps both teams. The Cavs needed outside shooting badly, and Knight was expendable because of the play of Andre Miller. Meanwhile, the Hawks needed a point guard -- Matt Maloney is a nice backup -- and Knight had a nice career going until he hurt his knee. The move should help the Hawks immediately. The one potential problem is that it gives them a very small backcourt. Their undersized guards are alright as long as Dikembe Mutombo is there, because he protects the players with his shot-blocking and interior defense. But if they don't re-sign Mutombo, that could be a problem. In Cleveland, the Cavs deserve a lot of credit for what they've been able to do this season. Their front office has done an outstanding job of moving players they didn't want: Shawn Kemp, Bob Sura and Knight. They were able to get rid of those contracts and still win.
Wide-open West makes for great playoff stretchEveryone knew the East would be a wide-open battle this season, but the situation in the West is something of a surprise. While mediocrity has led to an open field in the East, the West has so many contenders because the conference is so deep.
The defending champion Lakers are down defensively, and San Antonio (which I picked to win it all) has really had difficulty winning on the road. That means other teams have been given the opportunity to step up. After watching the way Portland won in L.A. -- in a close, tough, hard-fought game -- they're definitely going to be in it, and the Sonics have played really well under Nate McMillan. Sacramento has the best record in the league -- their only two home losses have been in overtime to Philly and the Lakers -- and Dallas is coming on. Phoenix has overachieved to this point, because they don't have the horses to really contend, but they'll win some games. The playoff stretch is going to be very exciting out West.
Open letter to David Stern: Change is goodThe new ABA is a couple of weeks into its season, and I'm sure the NBA is watching closely. David Stern and company aren't worried so much about the success of the league as they are about the success of the rules. The NBA game really needs some changes, because the coaches have taken over and defense is stressed too much. This was a free-flowing game, and now it's too slow, particularly considering the amazing athletes in the league. When I coached in the ABA, the NBA laughed at the 3-point shot. Now it's a big part of the league, so you never know what they will adopt. And the NBA has such a good working relationship with the CBA that they could try a few things there first: getting an extra point for a basket that comes off a steal in the backcourt; getting an extra point if you pull down a defensive rebound and score within six seconds; a 20-second shot clock. There's also been a lot of talk about bringing in the zone defense, but that would be a terrible mistake -- we'd see game scores in the fifties and even forties. Some say it would open up outside shooting and force the coaches to run, but I don't buy it. If you put Mutombo or Shaquille O'Neal or Kevin Garnett or Theo Ratliff -- any good shot-blocker -- in the middle, no one would ever score a layup. But they have to try something. We have great athletes out there playing a half-court game; they have to open it up.
Kevin Loughery is a former NBA player and head coach. He appears each Sunday on CNN's This Week in the NBA.
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