Up is Down... (February 15, 1999)

Up is down. Left is right. There's snow in Vegas. It's crunch time in Athens. Philly and Orlando are leading the Atlantic Division and Chicago is in the cellar in the Central.

Let's take a look at the league right now. Sure it's only about 4 or 5 games into the shortened season, but right now is as good as any. The question you have to ask yourself is this? Are Chuck Daly and Larry Brown great coaches or do they have great players who are carrying their teams? Orlando is on top of the Atlantic Division, with Philly a close second. New Jersey is hurting bad, that's why they have only won once.

Milwaukee is leading their division. George Karl should get all the credit. I mean, all of it. He's that good a coach. Of course, what Paul Westphal is doing in Seattle proves that Karl had a pretty awesome team, if they can go undefeated with their best player who is not named Payton going 0 for 14 from the line. Atlanta and Indiana were expected to be good teams and rightly so, they are. Chicago is pathetic. I feel sorry for them. Look for them, Toronto and Charlotte compete for the worst team in the division. No Glen Rice. No Anthony Mason. No chance.

Utah is rolling along. No surprise there. Or maybe everyone thought they'd fold since they are a year old while some teams got better. Houston is only going to get better as Pippen meshes with Olajuwon and Barkley when he gets back. Minnesota is surprising people especially without Googs. Dallas and Denver are still losing. I guess the cast changes, but the plot stays the same.

In the Pacific, it's the fine tuned machine Seattle, the underachieving Lakers, the Jason Williams led Kings and Suns. The Warriors and the Clippers are still losing at a pace that is unparalleled. You've got to wonder if the NBA might not demote those two franchises to the CBA and bring up Sioux City and Grand Rapids.

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