TOMASSON: Weaker West benefits Nuggets

By Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 20, 2008 at 9:05 p.m.

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Photo by Chuck Burton / Associated Press

Dallas owner Mark Cuban's worry is Washington: Not the Wizards, but legal woes in the capital.

East as in least?

How the West has fared against the East this decade in interconference games:

Season	West	East	Pct.
2008-09*	21	31	.404
2007-08	258	192	.573
2006-07	257	193	.571
2005-06	252	198	.560
2004-05	256	194	.569
2003-04	266	154	.633
2002-03	250	170	.595
2001-02	232	188	.552
2000-01	259	161	.617
1999-2000	227	193	.540

* Through Thursday

Tipoff

NUMBERS GAME

points scored by Charlotte in the first 6:40 on Tuesday against Dallas, when the Bobcats shot 0-of-9 and fell behind 15-0 on their way to a 100-83 loss. It marked the NBA's third-longest drought to start a game since 2002-03.

EYES HAVE IT

Cleveland recently had a game at which fans could donate eyeglasses.

Before any wisecracks are made, it had nothing to do with giving them to referees. The eyeglasses were for the needy.

"I'm going to donate one or two (pairs)," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said beforehand. "I don't want to put too big a dent in my collection."

Brown has more than 20 pairs of glasses. They are color-coded to match his outfits. One supposes LeBron James looks good through each pair.

HE SAID IT

"I absolutely detest the inactive list. I think most of the coaches do. I don't see any reason why 14 guys couldn't suit up. Maybe you only play 12, but it's a pain in the (butt) for coaches to have to go tell guys (before the game) who is inactive and who is active."

Scott Skiles, Milwaukee coach

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If Mark Cuban loses to Washington, that could make it an even tougher year for the West.

No, not the 1-8 Wizards, for whom one needs no clandestine information to beat. But Cuban is matched against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, investigating the Mavericks owner for alleged insider training.

The Cuban saga, while off the court, is one example of it being a trying first month of the season for some would-be Western Conference powers not named the Lakers.

The Mavericks are a disappointing 5-7. San Antonio has been without injured stars Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker and is 5-6.

Utah is 8-4, but, hampered by injuries to Deron Williams and others, has lost four of seven. New Orleans is a mere 5-5.

Phoenix (8-5 going into Thursday night's game) and Houston (7-5) have had two of the West's better starts. But the teams had to deal with a skirmish, resulting in suspensions for Steve Nash and Matt Barnes of the Suns and Rafer Alston of the Rockets.

Of course, all is well with the Lakers, who had won nine of ten going into Thursday's game against Phoenix. And then there's this possible new West power, which has a screen test tonight in Los Angeles to see if it's marquee worthy.

The Nuggets (8-4) have gone 7-1 since the Nov. 3 acquisition of guard Chauncey Billups. And don't these new and improved Nuggets believe the West possibly not being as strong as last season could further boost their fortunes?

"We do," Billups said. "But there's still some really good teams out there. We just want to work ourselves up to being one of the best."

Obviously, some of the key injured players will return. But don't expect a repeat of last season, when eight West teams won 50 games and Golden State's reward for going 48-34 was a seat in front of the television for the playoffs.

One reason is the East is tired of getting sand kicked in its face. From 1999-2000 through last season, the East had an abysmal .421 winning percentage in interconference games, including .427 last season.

But check out this season's mark. The East has a 31-21 edge.

"There's a little more depth in the East now," said Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles. "(There's) the two rookies (top pick Derrick Rose going to Chicago and No. 2 selection Michael Beasley to Miami). . . . A lot of teams did some things to the rosters that seemed to make everyone better."

Two notable moves of big names going from West to East were forward Elton Brand bolting from the Clippers to Philadelphia and coach Mike D'Antoni from Phoenix to New York.

Then there's Boston, which last season shot some holes in the West's dominance by becoming the third East team in five years to win the title.

Celtics thirtysomething stars Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce apparently have postponed their birthdays, having shown no age in an 11-2.

But birthdays are piling up out West.

"A lot of the teams out West are maybe aging a little bit," said Minnesota forward Mark Madsen. "If you look at some of the key players on some of the teams that have been historically dominant, not everyone has 20- to 25-year-olds. They've got some guys in their 30s."

Teams showing the most age are San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix, although the Suns' recent play suggests there's no immediate plans to move to Sun City, Ariz.

Put it all together and a possible West dropoff could help the Nuggets. They've been one of the few upper-echelon West teams for which the news in the first month has mostly been positive.

Waiting on a pick

If the Nuggets have the top pick in the 2014 draft, Charlotte coach Larry Brown might not care. He'll be pushing 74 then and will perhaps be retired from coaching, if not with a 12th NBA team.

But the Nuggets, thanks to a crafty maneuver in June, could be in line to have a pretty nifty pick if the Bobcats (3-7) continue to show few signs of being a playoff team.

Denver sent its 2008 No. 20 pick to Charlotte for a future first-round pick. The selection is protected through the top 14 in 2009, No. 12 in 2010, No. 10 in 2011, No. 8 in 2012 and through No. 3 in 2013.

The selection is unprotected in 2014. So if Michael Jordan continues to show few signs of being a top executive, that's when the Nuggets could really score.

With the No. 20 pick they got in June, the Bobcats selected French center Alexis Alinca, a raw prospect even skinnier than Denver's Cheikh Samb. They actually were pitted against each other last week in a matchup that conjured up no memories of Chamberlain versus Russell.

"We didn't think the pick at 20 was somebody that would help us right away, but we thought it could be a really good future pick," said Brown, who added Charlotte made the deal believing one of several young big men would be available and that Alinca, averaging 0.9 points, will "take time" to develop.

Come back in a half decade, and we'll see if Alinca ends up possibly being worth a lottery pick.

Cheering visitors

Expect ovations tonight in Minnesota and Oklahoma City. But not necessarily for the home teams, which are a combined 3-19.

Garnett returns to Minnesota for the first time since he was traded in July 2007. He sat out last season's one Celtics appearance there because of an injury.

"It's always a pleasure to go back to Minnesota," he said. "They treated me well."

Meanwhile, Oklahoma City will welcome the Hornets back. Because of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans played most of its games in Oklahoma City in 2005-06 and 2006-07.

"The fans had a great experience with that team," said Oklahoma City forward Nick Collison, admitting the 1-11 Thunder hasn't "given fans much to be excited about."

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