Are Dynasties Dead?
West Valley College
By Michael Saltzman
With a 50 game schedule in 89 days, many teams were making a run at the 1999 NBA playoffs. Now that the regular season is over, the real season begins.
However, the 16 playoff teams were not the only ones who had success in the shortened season.
In the West, the biggest dissapointment was the Seattle Supersonics who fired their head coach, George Karl, at the end of last season, and could not keep their post-season hopes alive with first year coach Paul Westphal.
The Golden State Warriors, on the other hand, improved dramatically over last season by winning two more games than last year, and in 32 less games.
Ex-Knicks John Starks, Terry Cummings, and Chris Mills, who came over in the Latrell Sprewell trade, and rookie Antawn Jamison led the new look Warriors to a very respectable 21-29 record.
In the East, both Charlotte and Toronto made strong pushes for the post-season but fell short.
Charlotte was at the bottom of their division before the trading deadline. And then the mother of all trades this season took place. Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell came over from Los Angeles for J.R. Reid, B.J. Armstrong, and Glen Rice, who had not played a game yet in the season.
Jones and Campbell brought defense, leadership, and an enthusiasm that had not been there due to the injuries to Rice and Anthony Mason, who missed the entire year with a torn tricep.
The Toronto Raptors were also just a few wins away from the "second" season. The Raptors were led by their frontcourtwith veterans Kevin Willis and Charles Oakley and the most electrifying rookie in sports today, Vince Carter. Carter came in and became the leader and is the front-runner for rookie of the year.
These three teams are all set to make a run next year, but more important are the teams set for this year
San Antonio, Portland, and Utah are the top three seeds in the West. San Antonio is the hottest team finishing the season 30-5 and going 4-0 versus Utah and Portland.
The pathetic Lakers have the fourth spot and will face the aging Houston Rockets in the first round. The embarrassing play of this so called all-star team does not have the defense, heart, or toughness to make it out of the first round. They do have the talent and the Rockets are not anything special.
One team to watch out for are the Sacramento Kings who have the best passing big men in basketball. Vlade Divac and Chris Webber, and a great young backcourt of Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Jason Williams. Not to mention 'Big Nasty' Corliss Williamson at the small forward.
The four teams heading the East are Miami and Indiana, followed by Orlando and Atlanta. These four teams should advance if they play their games because the bottom four do not match up well with them.
New York, who nearly choked in the same fashion as the Seattle Supersonics, just made the playoffs with a strong push in the final ten games.
With the history of upsets in the first round, nothing is carved in stone.