We kick off each week in the NBA by letting you know what’s been going well around the leagueâ€"and what’s been falling apart:
RISING
1. Kevin McHale. No one wants to go home a loser, especially not an NBA coach and executive who is facing a team that he once ran into the ground. For new Rockets coach Kevin McHale, the prospect of going back to Minnesota with a sad-sack bunch was looking very real when his team was off to a 2-5 start, but McHale juggled his lineupâ€"he inserted second-round rookie Chandler Parsons and free-agent signee Samuel Dalembert into the starting fiveâ€"and the Rockets went 7-2 in the next nine games. Make that 8-2 in the next 10, as McHale and his charges came up with a win against the Timberwolves in his return to Minnesota. McHale smiled as he was booed lustily by the home crowd, but more important, he was still smiling when the Rockets walked off the floor. Houston is now 10-7 and in the thick of the West playoff race.
2. The banged-up Bulls. You could put together a pretty good team of players who were hurt before or during Chicago’s game against Charlotte on Saturday. Derrick Rose still has a toe injury, Joakim Noah was out with a sprained ankle, Taj Gibson has a high ankle sprain and Luol Deng played 39 minutes despite hurting his wrist. Only four Bulls players have appeared in all 19 of their games, and Rose has been out five times as the toe problem persists. But credit coach Tom Thibodeau for keeping his troops focused and his backups readyâ€"Chicago is 16-3, best in the league.
3. The Pistons' future. It’s been another rough year in Detroit, where the Pistons are off to a 4-14 start. But, at long last, the franchise seems to be recovering from the disastrous Ben Gordon-Charlie Villanueva signings, thanks to a pair of lottery picks that are panning out. First, there is Greg Monroe, who, at 21, is quietly developing into one of the league’s top big menâ€"he is averaging 15.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 51.0 percent shooting. A pretty good case can be made for Monroe as an All-Star this year.
And while the Pistons still have Rodney Stuckey and Ben Gordon on hand, the future of the backcourt appears to be rookie Brandon Knight, the No. 8 pick in last year’s draft. Knight needs to find some consistency and hone his playmaking, but he is averaging 12.6 points this year.
FALLING
1. Knicks point guards. It could be argued that the Knicks' point guards can’t really be “falling†because they were never up to begin with. But the Knicks are on a six-game losing streak that has dropped their record to 6-10, and they have looked utterly rudderless on the floor. Whatever benefit the Knicks are getting defensively by acquiring Tyson Chandler in the offseason has been undermined by having to cut Chauncey Billups in order to do so.
The hope is that Baron Davis will return sometime in the next seven to 10 days, and though Davis figures to be behind in his conditioning and has not played in eight months, he will certainly be an upgrade over Iman Shumpert or Toney Douglas, who have both started at point guard this season. Knicks starting point guards have averaged 11.9 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 turnovers while shooting just 36.3 percent this year.
2. The Kobe Show. Of course, it is fun to watch Kobe Bryant score 40-something points with a bad wrist at age 33â€"when the Lakers win. But when they start losing, as they’ve done in three straight games, the inevitable questions arise: Is Bryant doing too much? Is he hogging the ball or are his teammates being too passive? Is it possible for Bryant to help the Lakers win when his team is making just 25.6 percent of its 3-pointers? They’re all fair questions, but the inevitable truth is that the Lakers aren’t championship caliber with Bryant taking 31.3 percent of his team’s shots, as he has done this year.
3. Cap’n Jack. When the Bucks traded for Stephen Jackson on draft day, there was some concern about Jackson’s enthusiasm for playing in Milwaukee and his ability to get along with hard-nosed coach Scott Skiles. Well, problems have begun to bubble to the surface. Jackson is unhappy that he has not gotten a contract extension from the Bucks, but he has not given them much reason to make that move.
Jackson was benched for an unexcused absence on Saturday, a game in New York in which the Bucks came up with their first road win of the year. He returned on Sunday in Miami (another Milwaukee win), but came off the bench and scored just 10 points with four turnovers in 26 minutes.
Jackson is 33 and having his worst season in a decade, averaging just 13.4 points and 36.4 percent shooting, one of the lowest shooting percentages in the league this year. Not exactly deserving of an extension, it seems.
Rank 'emâ€"NBA power rankings
(last week’s rankings in parentheses)
1. Chicago (1).
2. Oklahoma City (2).
3. Orlando (8).
4. Denver (12).
5. Miami (6).
6. Atlanta (7).
7. L.A. Clippers (5).
Lakers star Kobe Bryant is taking nearly 27 shots per game. (AP Photo)
8. Indiana (10).
9. Philadelphia (3).
10. Memphis (17).
11. San Antonio (4).
12. Dallas (9).
13. Utah (13).
14. L.A. Lakers (11).
15. Portland (14).
16. Houston (18).
17. Minnesota (19).
18. Phoenix (20).
19. Milwaukee (22).
20. Boston (21).
21. Cleveland (15).
22. New York (16).
23. Golden State (23).
24. Sacramento (27).
25. New Jersey (28).
26. Detroit (26).
27. Toronto (25).
28. New Orleans (24).
29. Charlotte (29).
30. Washington (30).
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