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Dynamic division Central shakeup is sign of playoff stretch to come
Updated: Thursday January 25, 2001 12:35 PM
Once the playoff stretch starts, the Central race is going to be a good one to watch. Only six games separate the top five teams in that division. At the top, offensive-minded Milwaukee has taken the lead away from slumping Charlotte. The thing that's going to make the Bucks tough to beat is their abundance of good shooters. They have more shooters than anybody else in the league (Sam Cassell, Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen, Lindsey Hunter and Tim Thomas) . Most teams have one; if they're lucky, they have two. And George Karl has them playing defense now. Meanwhile, the Hornets have lost five in a row and are four games off the pace. Charlotte's fatal flaw is the lack of a bench. Derrick Coleman has to take part of the blame for his team's woes, but he is only part of the problem. The Hornets have to play their starters a bunch of minutes, and it's finally caught up with them.
As Charlotte has fallen off, Toronto and Indiana have gotten better. Acquiring Keon Clark and Tracy Murray from the Nuggets gave the Raptors such a boost that they've won seven of their past 10. And Indiana's Isiah Thomas has finally found a lineup that works. He put veterans Derrick McKey and Sam Perkins in the starting lineup in place of the younger Jonathan Bender and Al Harrington. Bender and Harrington are still getting a lot of minutes, but there's less pressure on them when they come off the bench. It took a while before they started producing, but now that they've settled on a lineup, the Pacers will play good basketball the rest of the year.
Portland blazing down wrong trailThe Trail Blazers dropped a bad one Monday night. For them to go into Cleveland and score only 58 points is almost impossible. The Cavs are good defensively, but that still shouldn't happen. Portland is one of only two teams in the league with at least 30 wins, but that kind of loss is a bad sign. For example, Dale Davis could easily get traded before the Feb. 22 deadline. Shawn Kemp is getting in games ahead of Davis now, and his minutes have been limited. That doesn't work for a guy who made the All-Star team last year and has played a lot of minutes throughout his career. He can't be happy in that role. There are only one or two power forwards in the East who are playing decent basketball, so there are a lot of teams who would like to have his services.
Recognizing the quiet contributorsThe midway point is upon us, so it's time to mention a few guys who don't get to hear their names bellowed over the P.A. system to the cheers of the crowd. Before Houston's Cuttino Mobley was given the chance to start, he was the best sixth man in the league -- he makes some big baskets. But since Mobley is getting some recognition, Sacramento's Scot Pollard comes to mind. Pollard is a good player who does it quietly. He's intense; he has high energy; he's a terrific defensive player. He's as good coming off the bench as anybody in the league. A few other guys who deserve to be mentioned here are Milwaukee's Lindsey Hunter, Seattle's Ruben Patterson and Utah's Donyell Marshall.
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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