Insider (Walton): Second Half Races

[Weez]

The answers are blowing in the wind

By Bill Walton, ESPN Insider

Bill Walton Archive

Seven weeks remain in the NBA's regular season, and with fewer than 30 games left on the schedule, the countdown has begun. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was in China, walking along the Great Wall, watching Yao and the Rockets take on Chris Webber and the Kings?

Like in a dream, when someone wakes up and screams.

Don't look now Miami, but Detroit is really starting to take this home-court stuff seriously. The Pistons are on pace to shred last season's 21-7 post-All-Star sprint to the title.

Some people are killing Danny Ainge in Boston for reacquiring Antoine Walker, yet aren't they a better team today with No. 88 than without him? Now next season is a different story, but what's the rush -- unless you're Antoine and his accountant?

Where's the love for Duncan's MVP hopes?As much as I love Steve Nash and everything that he's doing with the Phoenix Suns, why are people so quick to overlook two-time NBA MVP and all-everything Tim Duncan for the league's top individual honor this year? I have a feeling we'll be hearing plenty from HIM in the remaining weeks of the season.

Shocked that no one wanted Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell at last week's trading deadline? Wonder how many $21 million offers Spree will receive this offseason. What do you think about that, my friend?

Chris Webber now resides in the Eastern Conference, where there aren't as many big, power guys to begin with, and now he doesn't even have to be the main man. The heat there, as always, remains on Allen Iverson, so how real does this team become? Will A.I. spread the ball around, through, and with the best player he's ever hooked up with? The burning question is how Webber will fit into Iverson's system, not how A.I. will incorporate his new teammate. Will the league leader in shot attempts per game accept a dip in his average? And will it all play out as "Brotherly Love?"

The Detroit Pistons have come on amazingly strong and might win the regular-season title outright after a ridiculously slow start. They are winning every game now in convincing fashion, and they're trouncing their opponents every game. They've regained that much-needed sense of urgency that they casually discarded in the first half of the season. As a working excuse, every season their franchise has been the defending champion they seem to start off the year slowly. Those embarrassing losses to Utah, Atlanta, Charlotte, Toronto, Denver, Portland and Milwaukee (twice) seem like distant memories.

How much weight and responsibility can Dwyane Wade possibly handle at such a young age? He's already showing signs of carrying too much of the load.

While everyone is talking up Philadelphia's great Webber heist, I've learned never to bet against Geoff Petrie in the long run. He's a lot like Jerry West -- at the time it's hard to figure out what he's looking at, but then down the road we're the ones left holding the bag.

And while San Antonio certainly scored with the Nazr Muhammed pickup, don't overlook Houston acquiring Mike James from Milwaukee. James' great defense and 3-point shooting were critical parts of the Pistons' championship run last year, and Houston's fortunes all year have paralleled the play at the point.

Now that the dust has settled after the Webber expulsion, is there any doubt why Peja Stojakovic is smiling so broadly and will soon be seen laughing all the way to the bank? Peja's in a position now to get whatever he wants. The problem that he faces is the same one that the Kings just got rid of -- whether or not to go for broke himself, at the expense of the future development of more talent. Sacramento is back to where they were last year at this time, when they were playing fabulous basketball without Webber. And now they have Cuttino Mobley, a player they stole from the Magic.

The Timberwolves weren't players in the trade flurry because nobody wanted the guys GM/coach Kevin McHale has picked up over the last few years. Minnesota tried to make some moves, but the team just doesn't have the pieces to upgrade. What's more concerning is that as dour as the present appears, what is there to make us believe the future is any brighter?

The final playoff spot in the Western Conference is going to come down to the Lakers, Minnesota and Denver.

It's good to see Doug Moe back on the Denver bench, and amazing that George Karl took that job without initially bringing in any of his own guys. Hopefully, Carmelo is saddling up next to Moe at every opportunity, because carrying the master teacher's bags might be a good place to start.

There are stories out there that Gary Payton might not report to the Hawks and might return to the Celtics after being bought out by Atlanta. This puts the league in a very bad position, when guys don't show up to the bad teams that trade for them and then try to dictate and force where they won't play (see Jim Jackson, Alonzo Mourning). Fans can only hope that this affront to league stability is being addressed in the ongoing CBA discussions.

Philadelphia and Chicago are going to be playoff factors, and that's important to the NBA's overall economic picture. Those are two of the four most important television markets in the league, and they bring some of the best and most enthusiastic fan bases to the party.

There's no question that Temple coach John Chaney was tragically wrong in sending in the goon against Saint Joe's. This is not an isolated instance, though, and really happens quite frequently. The real mistake was that there was no differentiation between a hard foul and a dirty play. This will most likely end up costing Chaney his job, because when you watch the video of the series of fouls, it becomes more repulsive with every rewind.

Anybody else out there as surprised as I was that the Spurs' acquisition of Nazr Mohammed was the first midseason acquisition in nine years for this model of stability? Let's see, now the Spurs make out in the deal from a basketball perspective and still continue to find their payroll (a paltry $47 million) nearly two-and-a-half times less than that of the Knicks' debacle of nearly $110 mil? Hopefully, San Antonio is paying R.C. Buford what he's really worth. How much are the Knicks paying their GM anyway?

Next month will mark the two-year anniversary of John Paxson taking over everything for the Bulls. It's amazing what patience, prudent decision-making and key draft acquisitions will do without an "organizations, not players, win championships" ego and mindset controlling everything.

For those old enough to remember that history is important, it was nice to see Larry Bird stay in the record book one more year, as Boston's best home-court single-season standard remains intact now that the Spurs have fallen again. But then again, as we celebrate the history of Wilt's 100-point game on March 2, please don't ever forget that 32 years after Wilt's retirement, he still holds 56 NBA records. As Oscar Robertson said when queried about Wilt's place in history: "THE BOOKS DON'T LIE!"

Bill Walton, an NBA analyst for ESPN, is a regular contributor to Insider.