On The Sidelines 4.09.08: Final Playoff Spots, New Age Limit Rule, Dirk and Brand are Back, and More

Posted by Porfirio Diaz on 04.09.2008

Hawks, Nets, Pacers, Mavs, Warriors, Nuggets. Which one of these teams will emerge and make it into the postseason? The battle continues. Plus why I think the new possible age rule would benefit both the NBA and NCAA. BRAND! MARION! It’s the new sports column on 411!

Welcome to the first edition of On The Sidelines, an in-depth look at all the important (and unimportant) NBA news coverage throughout the week. I am your host, Porfirio Diaz. Hopefully I would be able to give out some insight on even the smallest piece of news that is coming out of the Association. I will do my best in proving research on all the news and giving you the most accurate information around. The format of the column will be simple enough. The "Inside the Lines" section, the meat of the column, will have NBA news and opinions from yours truly. The "Out of Bounds" section will deal with news outside of basketball that pecks my interest and the "Final Seconds" section will deal with my closing comments with a Game of the Week pick. Clever, isn't it?

So the NBA is having its most memorable season in a long time. The league has seen the Boston Celtics goes from terrible to incredible with the biggest single season turnaround in league history (37 more wins than last season), blockbuster trades galore, the Houston Rockets winning 22 straight wins, a close MVP race, and an awesome Western Conference battle where a 50 win team might not even make the playoffs. There's only a week and half left in the regular season, so let's jump to it and take a look at the news from around the league.


Inside The Lines

The Final Playoff Spots

As of Tuesday, April 8th, the Eastern Conference already has seven of the eight playoff spots filled, with three teams still fighting for the last spot. The Atlanta Hawks are currently in the final spot, with 3 games above the Pacers and 4 games behind the Net. Meanwhile in the Western Conference, six teams have earned playoff entries, with three teams left to battle for the final two spots. Dallas currently is in the 7th spot, two games above both the Nuggets and Warriors. Even though both teams are tied, the Nuggets hold the 8th spot over the Warriors because Denver holds the head-to-head tiebreaker (2 to 1).

Ok, I'll just get the East of the way first. I think the Hawks are going to make the playoffs, their first trip since the 1998-1999 season. They are also going to be dog chow for Boston, but at least they didn't lost 50 games this year again. That's pretty much an accomplishment by itself. However, it wouldn't surprise me if Hawks choked and Nets snuck into the playoffs. But with Vince Carter on the team, I doubt it. Carter's best years are already behind him, with people labeling him as "lazy" and "selfish". My opinion is that he doesn't deserve some of the flank he gets (what Shaq did to the Heat this year is what Carter did to the Raptors years ago, only Shaq is beloved by most people because he's a big goofy Aristotle) and he's still a solid player. He's just not a leader anymore, nor will he ever be again. And I also don't think the Pacers have enough to put together a consistent hot streak enough to make it in.

Now it's time for the good stuff. Sunday was a big day for all three of these West teams, but it was the Mavs that came out as the best team of the three. They held the Suns to 9 points in the 4th quarter to come back and win 105-98. With Dirk back, the Mavs are finally coming together at the best time possible. When I heard of Dirk's injury two weeks ago, I thought the team would rest Dirk for the rest of the season in preparation for the playoffs, but then they might not have even get into the playoffs, so Dirk came back earlier than expected. And you know what? Dirk showed a side of toughness that I have never seen from him before. People may point out to Kobe and his toughness for playing with an injured finger, but Dirk is not too far from that as well. Kudos Dirk. I may dislike the team, but kudos anyway.

The Nuggets and Warriors, however, are going in the opposite direction at the worst possible time. The Mavs are playing well and they are going to make the playoffs after all, so it's going to come down to these two teams for the final playoff spot. Both teams have 5 games left and both have 3 of those 5 going against non-playoff teams. It's a shame that one of these teams have to miss the playoffs. The Warriors came off of a year where they unseated the best team in last year's playoffs and the Nuggets have the best scoring combo in the league in Iverson and Carmelo. In any other year they would have been in the upper echelon group of NBA teams, but not this year. One thing, both lack defenses. Mavs do too, but they find ways around that to win. Nuggets and Warriors haven't. But in the end, I believe the Nuggets will win enough games to hold onto the final spot over the Warriors.


NCAA and NBA agree to install new age limit

NBA commissioner David Stern and NCAA president Myles Brand came to an agreement of a rule that would require players to stay in college for at least two years before leaving early for the NBA draft. The proposal of the new rule would still need to be approved through the NBA Players Association. The NBA already has a rule through the collective bargaining agreement that requires players to stay in college for at least one year before entering the league, which expires 2010-11. If passed, the first year the rule will be in full effect will be the 2011-2012 season.

I think this is a win-win situation for both parties involved. Let's first look at the NCAA side of things. Not only would coaches wouldn't have to worry about freshman stars leaving so early (i.e. Rose, Love, etc.) but coaches would also built a team around them and use that as a recruiting purpose. This rule will have college teams actually gaining experience from playing with each other instead of having players play for one year and leaving.

Just look at what Florida did in the two back to back national championship years. After winning the title in 2006, all the players in the starting lineup (Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Al Horford, Lee Humphrey, and Joakim Noah) decided to come back for one more season and try to win the title again, which is what happened. Now look at what happened to the Gators. Their starting five left, and the team was left with seven freshmen, 3 sophomores, two juniors and no seniors. So it wasn't any surprise that the team didn't even make the tournament. Experience is vast, but scarce nowadays. This rule will fix that. If players like Rose, Love, Hansbrough, and OJ Mayo (especially him) stay for another year, they can continue to become a dominate force in the college scene, still help out their respective programs, and improved into better overall players.

Now as for the NBA, I think this rule would be much better for them as well. First off, they would have a better product on the floor. For every one or two great players that come out of their first year, there are 10 players that wish they were back in college. Then when they wish they could go back, they can't. The NBA has a flood of young players that are diminishing the product and team more so than actually helping it. There are too many players right now where they would have benefited from having another year of playing in the college level. By staying longer in college, players would be more mature, professionally and financially as well. Maybe they can learn how to save some money for once they retire and live off of that instead of buying large expensive house, cars, and yachts. They could also have more time to prepare for a backup plan in case this basketball thing doesn't work out for them. It will hopefully see more finished products on the floor rather than busts.

Of course, there are flaws. Guys like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Tracey McGrady came out very early (after high school actually) and are doing pretty well. Not to mention the NBA having a new wave of young superstars such as Amare Stoudemaire, Dwight Howard, and LeBron James, thanks to them coming out early. There is also this question: what happens if a player gets hurt during another year of college? If Oden had stayed in college instead of declaring early and still got hurt, would he still be the number one pick this year? Then there is also the financial issue of denying players getting the maximum amount of money possible, the issue of both leagues wanting to make more money with this rule by keeping kids in school longer and the issue of players having the option of going back to school later on for their education.

I'm sure there are more positives and negatives, but this is one of those issues where you are completely for it or against it. Either way, its makes an interesting debate for sure.


Clippers' forward Brand makes return for first time this season

The date was April 2nd when Elton Brand came back on the court for the first time this season against the Seattle Sonics, in which he contributed 19 points and 5 rebounds. The star forward has missed the entire season with an Achilles tendon injury. He tore his Achilles tendon on August 3, 2007 during a workout. In his three games back since the injury, Brand has average 17.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 2.3 APG.

I question why Brand would want to come back when it's so late into the season. Why risk yourself getting hurt again? I don't get the point of returning to a team that's obviously not going to make the playoffs, especially after being out for the entire season. It's not like the team is going to win any more with him in the lineup than without. I would say why not just wait until next season when Brand can be completely healthy but he might not even come back. He has the option to opt-out of his contract after the season, as well as Corey Maggette. If I had to guess, he's going to go balls out in the few games left of the season and see what offers he can get. Like the past great seasons he had wasn't enough for him to show teams that he deserves max money.

For the three games he did play, he's playing pretty well for a guy who came off a major injury. The problem I have is that he has averaged 30 minutes in those three games. If I had to play Brand, I would have had him come off the bench for ten to fifteen minutes. The Clippers don't want to risk ruining their investment while they still have him. Plus, Al Thronton is playing tremendously well for the Clippers in that starting role. Luckily, Brand coming back isn't taking away playing time from Thornton.

I think the Clippers have been a little unfairly bashed this season. Their star player was hurt, Cassell left them high and dry, and their promising point guard was involved in a freak accident (which I still haven't seen and will not plan to see soon. I cringe at stuff like that, though I did see Joe Theisman's injury. Never again). So let's say Brand comes back next year with Maggette and Livingston is healthy again (last I heard his knee was improving very well, so that's some very good news for him and Clipper fans). Can you imagine Brand and Thornton clogging up the lane? Can you imagine a possible starting lineup of Brand, Thornton, Kaman, Livingston, and Cuttino Mobley? Not to mention having a possible top 5 draft pick to boot. That's a playoff lineup right there. Of course, it's the Clippers, so none of this will happen. Sorry.


Matrix out for the season

News came in on April 3th that Miami Heat forward Shawn Marion will sit out for the rest of the season after suffering a left foot injury. He also suffered back spasms that forced him to miss 11 of the past 12 games before the leg injury. Marion has only participated in 16 games for the Heat after being acquired as part of the Shaquille O'Neal to Suns trade.

Funny, but Marion wanted to become "the guy" on his own team. So Suns sent him out to Miami, where he became the first player in the history of any sport to happily accept being traded from a championship contender to the worst team in the league. Once Wade was injured and out for the season, Marion had a chance to show people what he could do. Well, let's just say he didn't do much. Like the Brand situation, he has a chance to leave Miami and declare for free agency.

Now Marion is not a bad player. In fact he can really fill up a stat sheet, making him one of the most valuable players in fantasy leagues. I do think he is slightly overrated and is at most a sidekick to NBA stars. That's why he had such great success in Phoenix. He was the third option on the team, didn't have to worry about becoming "the guy", and became comfortable in that role. But then he started complaining about why he wasn't a star, why he should be on the same level as Nash and Amare, blah blah blah. Now he's asking for a max contract and if freaking Rashard Lewis can get a max deal, then the Matrix will get his too.


Out of Bounds

- After two good Final Four games over the weekend, the NCAA Finals produced the best game of the entire tournament. It seemed that both Kansas and Memphis were evenly matched. The Tigers had the game won with 2:12 minutes left to go and a 9 point lead but unfortunately for them, their free throw shooting finally caught up with them. Kansas fought back, sent the game into OT, and won the game. What a great way to end a pretty unmemorable tournament this year.

- Like with college basketball, I don't get much interest from hockey during the season but once the playoffs start, it's one of the most exciting things to watch, sometimes even much more than the NBA playoffs. But hockey has more parity in the playoffs than most sports do, probably second behind the NFL playoffs, which tends to result in some wild moments and upsets. Either way, here's to a good championship run for the Sharks.

- MLB opened up a few weeks ago and it's pretty much a bad time to be a Giants fan right now. Zito is a bust, they can't hit, and though the team's young pitchers were considered a bright spot of the season, even that is suspect now. Plus they lost to a minor league team, the AAA Fresno, back before opening day. Ugh.

- Saw the "Get Smart" traitor during the Kansas-Memphis game. I'll admit it, it looks interesting. Steve Carell AND Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson? Just might be the perfect pair. Also saw the "Speed Ricer" traitor. That too was also interesting (and flashy…way too flashy), though not in a good way.


Final Seconds

Game of the Week

Denver @ Golden State – Thursday, April 10, 8:00ET/5:00PT - TNT

I could have chosen the Phoenix @ San Antonio game (Wed, 9:30ET/6:30PT - ESPN) or the San Antonio @ LA Lakers matchup (Sun, 3:30ET/12:30PT – ABC) but instead I'm going with the game that might just decide who gets the final seed in the Western Conference. The winner of this game will have a full one game advantage over the loser, which might be the most important thing for both of these teams regarding the battle in the West. With Dallas finally winning again, this has become the most important game of the season for both of these teams.


And I'm out of time. So liked the column? Hated it? Needs improvement? Your comments are appreciated. There's the buzzer and I am out.