Western conference

Sporting News, The, Nov 11, 2002

Midwest Division

DALLAS MAVERICKS PG Steve Nash spent a week working out with the Canadian national team in the summer, then skipped the World Championship in an effort to avoid burning out again. Nash says the break has left him fresher mentally and physically. Bringing PG Nick Van Exel off the bench should lighten Nash's workload.... The team's new commitment to defense remains a work in progress, as evidenced by the 108 points it gave up to the Grizzlies on opening night.... Mavericks coaches would like to see PF Dirk Nowitzki do a better job of making opponents pay for double-teaming him. Learning how to react to a double-team is one of the most difficult jobs for a big man, and the skill sometimes takes years for even the best players to master.

DENVER NUGGETS The Nuggets have two goals for the season: They want their young players to develop, and they don't want to embarrass themselves. In the opener at Minnesota, the team rallied to lose by just 6 points. In the home opener, the Nuggets shot just 35.7 percent but lost by just 9 to the Rockets. More important, rookie SF Nikoloz Tskitishvili, who had a rough preseason, averaged 9.5 points in the two games. Coupled with F/C Nene Hilario, Tskitishvili could provide the team with a second strong candidate for the All-Rookie team and hope for the future.

HOUSTON ROCKETS It's not difficult to keep rookie C Yao Ming off the block; he doesn't post up deep enough. It shouldn't take Yao long to overcome the problem, however. Yao's legs are as thick as tree trunks. If he establishes position early, opposing big men will have a tough time rooting him out. Yao scored just 2 points in his first two games but soon should make an impact defensively. His seven rebounds in 13 minutes in his second game was an encouraging start.... The team must do a much better job of sharing the basketball. In the first game of the year, the Rockets had just nine assists, matching their low for all of last season.

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES After just one game, a loss to the Mavericks, coach Sidney Lowe replaced SF Wesley Person and SG Michael Dickerson with SF Shane Battier and sweet-shooting SG Gordan Giricek in the starting lineup. Giricek may be better as an off-the-bench scorer, but Battier needs to start. He's an unselfish player and at least attempts to play defense.... After the Mavs scored repeatedly on layups and dunks in transition, PG Jason Williams said the team wasn't it shape. Lowe responded by running the team hard in practice the next day. Williams says the team didn't work hard on conditioning until the last week of camp. Some younger players also didn't report to camp in the best condition.

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES After yet another first-round postseason loss, the team came up short when it came to making a key offseason acquisition. The best it could do was PG Troy Hudson, who did have a fine opener with 23 points against the Nuggets. Then again, maybe it wasn't a good sign that Hudson took 21 shots. With three starters--SG Wally Szczerbiak (foot), PG Terrell Brandon (knee) and PF Joe Smith (groin)--out with injuries, Hudson's offense was needed in that game. But when some of his teammates return, it won't help if the team's point guard has a shoot-first mentality. Hudson averaged 10 field-goal attempts in 23 minutes last year for Orlando.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS The team paid the Bulls $1 million to take backup PG Erick Barkley off its salary cap so it could avoid the league's luxury tax. The Spurs believe they will he able to save between $3 million and $4 million, which seemed like a smart move at the time but also left the team with only a pair of true point guards. When SG Steve Smith strained his groin in the opener and PG Speedy Claxton dislocated his shoulder in the third game of the season, the Spurs became thin in the backcourt.... Claxton's injury puts more pressure on second-year PG Tony Parker to perform well, but it could be the best thing for his confidence. Coach Gregg Popovich already had started replacing Parker with Claxton in the fourth quarter.

UTAH JAZZ In the team's opener against the Hornets, PG John Stockton, 40, had six turnovers; PF Karl Malone, 39, shot 5-of-16, and the Jazz was crushed, 100-75. Stockton and Malone still are effective, but they're no longer All-Star-type players. And when they have off nights, it's hard to find somebody else to step up. The team desperately has been looking for help for years, but not a lot of it has panned out. SF Andrei Kirilenko, 21, is a fine talent. So is SG DeShawn Stevenson, 21. But neither is ready for a front-line role on a good team. Kirilenko, who was expected to be a reliable third option in his second season, averaged only 8 points in the team's first two games.

Pacific Division

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS The warriors upset the Spurs in the opener, but first-year coach Eric Musselman was questioned by the local media the next day because he played rookie SF Mike Dunleavy, the No. 3 overall pick in the draft, only 19 seconds. Musselman made it clear to his players they would be evaluated in the preseason, when Dunleavy struggled with his shot. Musselman determined that--for now--Dunleavy is to the ninth man. Musselman appears to be making good on his promise of going with the players who are hot and playing the guys "who deserve to play." In the team's second game, a loss to Seattle, Dunleavy had 7 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes.