Well, they were able to, by dumping Iverson and relegating Mayo to a third or fourth option (which he has taken to very well), and the results of such play have the Grizzlies with a fighting chance to make it into the playoffs.

Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph form arguably the most consistent frontcourt in all of basketball, two good scorers and dominant rebounders who keep the paint locked down on both ends of the floor.

Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo are two athletic, dynamic wing scorers that can hurt you in any number of ways on offense, and the addition of Ronnie Brewer and a few good rookies in DeMarre Carroll and Sam Young, and the Grizzlies are looking like a team that could be poised to make some noise in upcoming years.

But they have one weakness, and that’s at point guard. I wrote in my earlier piece that on a team with so many scorers, a good distributor would be essential to the success of the Grizzlies.

And Mike Conley is not a good distributor. In fact, truth be told, he’s not all that great of a basketball player, certainly not one that deserves to be the starting PG on a plus-.500 team in the NBA.

I witnessed this firsthand the Friday after the All-Star break, when my travels took me to the FedEx Forum in Memphis to watch the Grizzlies take on the Heat.

I noticed several things, a few of which will be tackled in a later issues, but the one thing that popped out at me, especially as the game wound down into two overtimes, where each possession is crucial, is that Mike Conley does not seem currently capable of running a pro offense.

When he’s the primary ballhandler, he’s just too hesitant, and he fails to make that snap judgement that good point guards have. In a game where a split-second decision is the hallmark of the greatest players, Conley just can’t make a decision that quickly.

In the two overtime periods against the Heat, Conley’s line consist of 2 points, 0-1 from the field, one rebound, one assist, two turnovers and three fouls.

Not exactly an inspiring line. In fact, Conley hasn’t even been his team’s leader in assists for half of the Grizzlies’ games this year.

The Grizzlies have only had a player in double-digit assists twice this year (both of which Conley), but with so many scorers, you’d think that number would be higher.

Conley gets bailed out because he has two players down low that he can just dump it off to, and they’ll do the dirty work, but with the Grizzlies sitting at 30-29, it’s just not good enough, given the talents they have on that roster.

Here’s where it becomes a sore subject for Memphis fans, because with the number –two pick in what is proving to be a monster draft for point guards, they all but wasted the pick.

Now, I like Thabeet, and despite all the jokes, going to the D-League is something that could really help him adjust to the NBA game at his own pace. But for a team that could be losing someone like Rudy Gay next year, this would have been a great year for the Grizzlies to lock up a PG for the future.

Given that Blake Griffin was going to go no. 1, the Grizz could have snagged Rubio (although that might have been tough to get him there, as Minny found out), Brandon Jennings, Ty Lawson, Eric Maynor, Jonny Flynn, Stephen Curry, all of them were there for the taking.

Did the Grizzlies know that Marc Gasol was going to drop 30 pounds and eke his way into the top 10 centers in the league? Probably not.

Did they know that Zach Randolph would become the rebounding monster that everyone hoped he would be, while also becoming one of the most dependable low-post scorers in the game? Probably not.

But did the Grizzlies really need to take a gamble on a center who has only been playing the game for six years, has no offensive game to speak of, and regularly was made a fool of my people who give up eight inches to him in college?

Probably not.

Now, with Thabeet headed to the D-League, the pick basically never happened for the Grizzlies. Imagine someone like Maynor on the Grizzlies, the purest of the pure when it comes to point guards, someone who has been running offenses since he has been on the hardwood.

Would Memphis have gotten a lot of crap for drafting someone like Maynor, or even someone like Jennings or Lawson so early? Probably.

But then again, it’s not like the Grizz weren’t a punchline already, and sending the no. 2 pick in the draft down to the minors certainly isn’t helping matters.

If they do miss the playoffs, the Grizz have a chance to pick up a lottery player this year too, but it surely won’t be a number-two pick, and as always with the Grizzlies, counting on the right draft-day move might be asking a bit too much.

But the southwest division is shaping up to be a surprise this season, both within itself, and compared to the rest of the NBA.

If the fans and the league have any sense, every team in the Southwest will feature an All-Star, except for the Houston Rockets. Chris Paul, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan and Zach Randolph all deserve to play in the All-Star game. Hell, you’ve got two All-NBA 1st teamers there, with Paul and Dirk.

I would put an All-Southwest team against any other All-Division team in the league.

The southwest is the only division in which every team is .500 or better, and while the Mavericks are two games ahead of the second place Spurs, only 2.5 games separate the 3rd place through the 5th place teams.

The Mavericks were written off as past their prime in the preseason, and as one of the oldest teams in the league, the case could be made. While their offense has at times struggled, their defense has been top notch, and with a premier perimeter defender in Shawn Marion, the Mavericks have a defensive advantage that they haven’t had in years.

The Spurs made enough moves to seemingly be right up there with the Lakers, but Richard Jefferson has been nothing short of a disappointment, and rookie DeJuan Blair just isn’t getting the minutes he needs to make a difference for the team. Manu Ginobili seems to have lost a step, and while his instincts remains as sharp as ever, he seems to be working much harder to get things done on the court.

Houston has defied all expectations, and despite not having anyone over 6-9, they come out every night with a chance to win. Good chemistry, tough post players and a great job of coaching by Rick Adelman make the Rox one of the surprise teams in the league. If they are able to turn the McGrady chip into something, they could go from fun team to watch, to the team nobody wants to see in the playoffs.

New Orleans weathered a slow start and an early injury to Chris Paul, and they look to be on the rebound. No one is confusing them with the team that was the darling of the pundits a short year-and-a-half ago, but they are still a team capable of competing. If the Hornets brass gets a little antsy in their pansty about paying the luxury tax, someone important like David West could go, but they are still better than almost any team in the east.

Memphis, which used to be the joke of the division, conference and league is playing great basketball right now, and barring any terrible moves by their front office (which is a pretty big if), they are positioned to be an exciting team for years to come. At .500, they would be tied for the 5th seed in the East right now, and they’re the 5th best team in their division, which shows just how good the southwest division is.

Memphis and Houston are the teams with the brightest future.

Houston has McGrady gone next year, either for a player or some massive cap space, and they have a young core that is capable of becoming a deadly team. Chase Budinger seems tailor-made for his role in Houston, and he’s only going to get better with age.

Memphis, rolling out a lineup of Conley, Mayo, Gay, Zach Randolph (the surprise of the year) and Marc Gasol is downright lethal from every part of the offensive floor, and while they aren’t defensive world-beaters, it’s a nice step forward for a team that seemed to give up with the trade of Pau Gasol.

Just think if Memphis had made a good pick with their no. 2 selection last year, they could be a legit playoff team. As of now, they’ve got a decent backup center that can’t score, but as Thabeet gets more minutes, he could help create a massive twin towers frontcourt of himself and Gasol, which would allow the Grizzlies to play big, real big.

The trend in the NBA has been to go small of late, but the Lakers are showing us what two 7-footers in the paint can do.

The southwest is truly the conference of record in the NBA, but since they don’t feature the Lakers, the teams sort of fly under the radar. More has been made about the disappointing starts of the Spurs and Hornets than the strong starts by the Mavericks, Rockets and Grizzlies.

While the Rockets and Grizzlies are clearly teams on the rise, the Hornets and Spurs are teams that are on the downswing.

For the Spurs,  father time is slowing them down, although they do have four rings to console themselves with. Tim Duncan’s time as the best power forward in the game is at an end, and while he is still a great player, he isn’t quite the force to be reckoned with.

His minutes have to be handled with kid gloves, because more often than not, Duncan having a big game is the difference between a win and a loss.

The Hornets

After all, more than a decade of deep playoff runs has taken its toll on Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili and even young buck Tony Parker have proven that they are not immune to the injury bug either.

So they traded for Richard Jefferson, with an aged Bruce Bowen as the only loss of consequence, and they added a player who is capable of adding everything that Bowen gave them, and more.

After all, as long as Richard Jefferson could hit the corner three and defend, that would negate the loss of Bowen.

On paper, this put the Spurs right up there with the Lakers as the teams to beat in the Western conference, and most of the talking heads were split something like 60-40 on who would win the West, the Lakers or Spurs.

But that’s why the games are played. Because the Spurs are currently at 13-10, which is good for second in the Southwest and seventh place in the West.

As last season’s first round series with the Mavericks showed, the Spurs were sorely lacking in the athleticism department. The fact that they lost to the Mavericks, who were then even more out-athleticized by the Denver Nuggets, really shows the bind they were in.

But Richard Jefferson has basically been a black hole for them on offense, and given that the usually defensively minded Spurs are giving up 97.2 points per game, good for only 10th in the NBA.

Looking from afar, it just doesn’t seem to make sense. After all, how can there be such a drop-off from from glorified role player Bowen to 20 PPG scorer Jefferson.

Take a look at the stats, Jefferson is having his worst career scoring-wise since the started playing starter’s minutes. He’s shooting less than he ever has as a starter, and while his FG% and three-point percentage is okay, his free throw shooting is abysmal.

Simply put, he hasn’t become the offensive playmaker the Spurs wanted and needed him to be. He’s only cracked 20 points four times, and scored in the single digits eight times.

With Manu Ginobili battling ankle injuries, Tim Duncan having lost a step or two, Jefferson was supposed to be the stopgap to keep the Spurs’ window open another season or two.

Tim Duncan has been playing great this year, and could be a legit MVP candidate if the Spurs were to claim a top-four seed in the West. Matt Bonner, yes Matt Bonner, has been having a career year, giving the Spurs value from what was supposed to have been a guy to eat up minutes in the frontcourt.

Even DeJuan Blair, in limited minutes, is showing enough to make almost every team sorry they passed on him. But the Spurs are still struggling.

Against the Suns the other night, Jefferson was riding the pine during crunch time, as Roger Mason Jr. took his spot on the floor. I’m a big Roger Mason fan, and I think he should be on the floor at crunch time fi you’re down, but the fact that this journeyman role player was given the minutes over the Spurs biggest trade acquisition in recent memory?

Not a good sign.

Now, there is still hope for the Spurs. After all, there’s a reason that Jefferson is a career 17 PPG scorer. The fact that he’s still young (29), and is four points off that average is troubling, but a regression to the mean is possible. In his case, it wouldn’t be a regression, more of a progression.

Fastforward eighteen months, the Hornets are a team on the brink, their coach fired, their superstar unhappy, and the good times seem to be over before they even really started.

So what happened? Well, let’s start at the top. Chris Paul is still Chris Paul, so no worries there. In fact, the player who came into the league with a chip on his shoulder has been playing even more out of his mind before he went down with an injury.

I would say that they’re even okay depth-wise, with rookie Darren Collison showing a lot of promise backing him up in the absence.

In fact, the Hornets have come together remarkably in their leader’s absence, turning a 3-6 record into 7-9. Clearly not where they should be, but all things being equal, they could be a lot worse.

In fact, I would argue that the problem doesn’t lie in the backcourt at all. Peja Stojakavic is a long way from his early 2000’s prime, but he has shown in recent weeks that he is still capable of putting the ball in the bucket.

No, the problem for the Hornets lies in their frontcourt, where the guys down low just aren’t getting it done.

For two seasons (2006-07, 2007-08), they had Tyson Chandler putting up some great numbers at center. Chandler shot 62% from the field over the two seasons, played in 73 and 79 games, averaged 12.4 an 11.8 rebounds, and averages 1.8 and 1.0 blocks per game.

For a team revolving around the talents of someone like Paul, Chandler did everything a center could and should do. He finished alley-oops, he shot a very high percentage, he pulled down plenty of rebounds, and he clogged the paint for opposing players.

With a jump shooting forward like David West, the Hornets didn’t need a center that could spread the floor, they needed a traditional center to stay in the paint on both ends and do his thing.

Last season, Tyson Chandler simply stopped being effective. He battled injuries and would have been traded if he didn’t fail a physical.

So, in an atypical move for owner George Shinn, the Hornets took on Emeka Okafor and his long-ass contract, in what appeared to be a move geared towards keeping the fans and players happy.

Well, Shinn did his part, the new starting frontcourt isn’t doing theirs.

Let’s start with David West. Somewhat of a late bloomer, it looks like he might have peaked in 2007-08. He was a legit 20 ppg scorer for a while in the past few seasons, but this year he has just looked off.

The problem? He’s just not shooting enough. He’s shooting 14 shots a game this year, which is the lowest since the 05-06 campaign. His points per game have dipped to 15 PPG, which is the lowest he’s had since playing starter’s minutes.

Not only is he not shooting as much, he’s not making as many baskets, and the two are clearly related. A career 48% field goal shooter, he’s shooting less than 44% this year, his lowest total since his sophomore year in the NBA.

He’s also averaging one rebound per game less than he usually does, so the signs are there: he’s regressing statistically from his peak, in this case, 2007-2009.

I’ve always liked West. He’s got the skill set like Lamar Odom, a big guy who can rebound, score, defend, but also handle the ball and move to the basket quickly.

He still has those skills, so what has changed? Well, he’s got a new teammate in the frontcourt, and this one doesn’t compliment his skills the way that Chandler did.

Okafor, while pretty close to a traditional center, has many tendencies of a power forward. He’s got a midrange jumper. He can block, but he’s not particularly adept at bodying up against big centers.

And this is the problem for the Hornets, they worked best when they had a power forward that could spread the floor and knock down shots, and a center that would stay in the paint, defend the lane, and finish with dunks, layups and put-backs.

Okafor simply plays more like David West, which is leaving the Hornets at a gigantic disadvantage defensively.

This year the Hornets are allowing 102.9 points per game, which is 22nd in the league. Last season, even with Chandler playing limited amounts of time, they were the 5th best defensive team in the league, allowing only 94.3 point per game.

That’s quite a shift. Especially since their scoring hasn’t changes as much.

After such a slow start, there is already rumors that the Hornets’ brass are ready to pronounce the Okafor experiment a failure, and there have even been rumors of Chris Paul on the block.

It’s a long way to fall in such a short time, but with such shortcomings in the frontcourt, it’s going to be hard for the Hornets to make large-scale changes anytime soon.

In games two and three they lost both players to injuries, Mutumbo for good, and Yao for at least a season. Now, they’re left without a true center, and doing an admirable job putting up wins without one.

As of low, Luis Scola, Carl Landry, Chuck Hayes and David Andersen are doing yeoman’s work in manning the low post for the Rockets, and their solid efforts are helping the rockets stay in contention for the Southwest division title, even though they were written off as dead before the season.

Scola and Hayes are the starting frontcourt, and since both are under 6-10, they are using smarts and tough defense to keep the Rockets alive in the western conference race.

Of these four players, Luis Scola is the closest to a center, although he’s only 6-9 or so. He’s got that center’s game, the knack for rebounds, a great low-post game and that nasty defensive edge that sets apart good low post defenders from the screen doors (as in, they play as much defense as a screen doors) of the league.

Scola is really a pleasure to watch, and has become one of my favorite under the radar players. Hee can simply do everything that is required of a legit low post player. He plays three inches taller than he is, and it’s nothing crazy to see him bodying up with the Drew Goodens, Paul Gasols and even the Andrew Bynums of the world.

Not only does he bang with them, he does a good job of it, often harassing these players into bad passes and poor shot selection.

Officially, Chuck Hayes is listed as number-one on the Rockets’ depth chart, which is a little shocking being that he’s only 6-6. That’s right, 6-6.

But Hayes has a very Rodman-ish game in that he’s got an undeniable knack for reading the bounce of the ball of the hoop, and often finds himself in the best position possible to get the rebound/tip-in.

His size is almost an advantage, because if you’re a center of 6-10 and above, I think it’s easy to dismiss the smaller Hayes has nothing but a pest,but then Hayes uses his speed to get to the spot faster.

But how long can they do it? Their GM, Daryl Morey, actively pursued prime free-agent center Marcin Gortat, only to be outbid by Dallas, who in turn were rebuffed when the Magic matched their offer.

In fact, this could work as an advantage for the Rockets, since the Mavericks are now out of the picture for Gortat until next year, and by then he could have a new home.

Morey already took a very inventive approach to recruiting Gortat, setting up an e-mail address (rocketsfanslovegortat@gmail.com) so fans could directly make their plea to the Polish Hammer at the start of free agency.

Since Gortat can be traded at the earliest come December, and the Rockets are without a big man, yet in possession of an injury exception due to Yao Ming’ absence, you have to believe they’re still knocking on Gortat’s door.

As good as Hayes, Scola, Andersen and Landry have been holding down the frontcourt, it is hard for me to believe that the Rockets can go deep into the playoffs without a guy over 6-10 in their lineup.

Gortat would fit the bill, and depending on Yao’s future health status, could be a valuable trade chip in the future, or better yet, a quality starting center locked in a great price for the next five years.

Either way, I think Morey and co. know what they are doing and rest assured, once the moves start happening, the Rockets look to blast off into the upper atmosphere of the West.

(And yes, I am going to use a rocket metaphor in every article about Houston, why do you ask?)

Whether it was Manu Ginobili’s ankles helping ease the Spurs out of the playoffs last year, or the inevitable decline of Tim Duncan’s legs, injuries and age are doing what most teams in the Western Conference couldn’t do during the Spurs’ prime: knock them out of the playoffs.

Now, the Spurs have always been shrewd about acquiring talent that fits within their system, whether through the draft (George Hill, DeJuan Blair), the trading block (Richard Jefferson) or free agency (Antonio McDyess, Roger Mason Jr.). But let’s face it, Hill and Blair are a little bit raw to make a huge difference right now, Jefferson has been struggling to fit in, and McDyess and Mason are talented, but really nothing more than role players.

No, the Spurs live and die by Tony Parker’s legs, Manu’s shooting touch and Tim Duncan’s feet. So far in this young season, we’ve seen Parker and Duncan miss stretches, so it begs the question: who is the most replaceable on the San Antonio Spurs?

Well, first let’s start by ranking their skill sets in order. Tim Duncan clearly is number one, his combination of low-post finesse, a knack for rebounds and defensive commitment put him as one of the best, if not the best, power forwards ever to play the game.

How does one replace Tim Duncan? It’s simple you can’t, but the Spurs have to be prepared to. Antonio McDyess gives the Spurs a lot of what Duncan gives them, he’s got a good jump shot, a decent low-post game, and can clog the lane eve at his age.

Manu Ginobili has an instinct for clutch that just can’t be taught, and despite appearing to be no more athletic than your average accountant, he is able to get into the lane with an ease that is sometimes downright mind-boggling.

Tony Parker is a very talented point guard, and if he wasn’t in the same conference as Chris Paul, he might be a regular All-Star. That being said, quick, penetrating point guard can be found throughout the league, whether it’s Paul, Devin Harris, Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Brandon Jennings, or any number of them.

And unlike Rondo, Rose and Paul, Tony Parker doesn’t play defense well enough to make him indispensable on a regular basis. While he is a perfect point guard to go with the Spurs’ low-post threats and perimeter shooters, someone like George Hill can fill in for Parker (which he has) and do a decent amount of damage to the opposing team (which he also has).

Hill also gives the Spurs more of a defensive presence at point guard, which combined with his speed and size give the Spurs an attractive alternative while Tony Parker gets his ankle issues sorted out.

Manu Ginobili has an instinct for clutch that just can’t be taught, and despite appearing to be no more athletic than your average accountant, he is able to get into the lane with an ease that is sometimes downright mind-boggling.

Add that to the fact that he’s a lefty (which always seems to confuse even the stiffest defenders), and he’s a tough package to guard.

Last week against the Dallas Mavericks, Ginobili unveiled this move that got Jason Kidd to bite time and time again. He would act like he was charging into the paint, but stop just at the three-point line, letting the ball fly on front of him. As Kidd tried to stop, while at the same time trying the swipe at the ball that Ginobili seemingly let get away from him.

Except Ginobili was in complete control, and he would draw the ball back in, while at the same time getting both feet right behind the three-point line and then pulling up for a three-pointer that is perfectly in rhythm.

He pulled this little maneuver a few times in the game, including one that was a huge momentum boost going into the half.

So where does this leave us? Well, it might sound crazy looking at each player on the merits of their career, but I think Manu Ginobili is the most irreplaceable member of the San Antonio Spurs.

We saw what the Dallas Mavericks did to them in last year’s playoffs without them, and we saw the beatdown the Spurs laid on the Mavs with Manu, but no Tony and Timmy.

Sure, Manu might not be headed to the hall of fame, but what he brings to the Spurs just can’t be duplicated on a day-to-day basis.

I think any basketball fan was looking forward to seeing what Howard would bring to the shooting guard position, as he possesses the shooting touch, slashing ability, defensive quickness and athleticism to play the shooting guard, at least on paper.

Alas, we only got a little more than two games from Josh, an now his return in up in the air as he continues to rehabilitate his ankle.

Since then, the Mavericks have resorted to the two and three-point guard sets we saw a little bit last year, with Jason Terry and J.J. Barea logging some time at the two.

But how will this affect the Mavericks, who play in a division and conference where two wins can mean the difference between a two-seed and a six-seed?

It certainly affects their small-ball lineup, where Josh was going to revert to his natural small forward position, Marion would shift to the power forward, and Dirk Nowitzki would play center.

It also affects their starting shooting guard, which last season was a revolving door of combo guards, three-point specialists and perimeter defenders, none of whom made any lasting stamp on the position as to mark it their own.

Enter Rodrigue Beaubois. The rookie came from nowhere (well, more specifically, Guadeloupe) to become what’s looking like the steal of the draft.

He’s got length, shooting touch, defensive abilities, and the ability to make athletic plays that the Mavericks have been missing for a while.

In starting the last few games for Howard, the question has been posed: can Beaubois give the Mavericks what they’re missing with Howard’s absence?

Well, let’s look at what Josh gives them. At the risk of oversimplifying, here’s what Josh Howard excels at doing for the Mavericks:

- Early scoring. Josh was second only to LeBron James when it came to first-quarter scoring last season. He set it up, and Dirk and Terry knocked them down last season.

- Perimeter defense. Josh is a good defender, and a very underrated one at that. He would be the one assigned to take on the Kobes, the LeBrons (just LeBron James, not his doppelgangers from those commercials), the Carmelos.

- Too many jump shots. You have to take the good with the bad, and Josh’s main fault was that he settled for jumpers too often. He is good at attacking the basket, and nearly unstoppable when he does it, but for some reason, he relies on his jumper too much.

Like I said, this is an oversimplification. I don’t mean to negate the things Josh Howard has done for the Mavericks. His efforts on a bad wheel in last year’s opening round series against the Spurs was downright heroic.

But from an purely X’s and O’s standpoint, that is what Josh offers.

So can the Mavericks get those things?

-First quarter scoring – Beaubois has proven to be very adept at that, in his first start against the Hornets he scored the first nine Mavericks points. In his other start against the ____, he scored the first seven points of the game. So Roddy can start games. Oui Oui. (I made it almost 600 words without dropping in a French pun, I should be commended for that.)

-Perimeter defense – Roddy was the only Maverick who could shut down the hurricane that was Brandon Jennings Monday night, even going so far as to block Jennings’ attempt at a three-point dagger in the waning seconds of overtime. The fact that the Mavericks also have Marion helps them in this department as well.

- Too many jump shots – Roddy is an upgrade over Josh in this department. Whether he doesn’t trust his jumper, or is too athletic not to be driving to the cup, Roddy has made it his business to score lose to the basket, whether its an acrobatic layup, or finishing an alley-oop from Jason Kidd.

So with Rodrigue Beaubois playing at a high level, the Mavericks might just turn out okay in Howard’s absence. And when Josh comes back, it will be nice to have those options to play with.

After all, Beaubois has something, what the French call a certain…….I don’t know what.

Is it a surprise? A little bit. Sure, they took the Lakers to seven games last year, but that could be written off as a fluke.

But when you look closer, past the lack of star power, you see a team that plays smart basketball, a team where the sum of their parts is very impressive.

They can play a few kinds of offense that play to each of their player’s strengths, which makes mistake-free basketball come very naturally to them.

With a speedster like Aaron Brooks, and good perimeter shooters like Trevor Ariza, Shane Battier and rookie Chase Budinger, they can play a drive-and-kick offense on the same level as teams like the Spurs.

They switched out Ron Artest with Trevor Ariza, which to me is one of the most underrated moves of the summer.When you look closely, Ariza is an upgrade over Artest in every way.

They swapped a crazy player for a team-oriented one.They swapped a gunner who takes terrible shots for a guy who takes smart shots. They swapped a guy whose defense and speed are slipping with age for a guy who is just entering his prime.

Want an example of how smart Trevor Ariza plays? Against the Mavericks the other night, the Rockets were trying to take a 15 point lead into halftime.

The Mavericks started to force turnovers, and starting building momentum with the home crowd. ON a fast break, Ariza got space, and took a wide open three. He missed it, but the Rockets were able to get the rebound, and the ball was swung quickly to him, standing in the same spot, just as open.

But instead of launching another poorly concieved three, Ariza backed off, waited for the rest of the Rockets to catch up, and reset the offense. It settled the crowd down, ran some clock off, and helped bleed a little momentum from the moment.

For a young player, that was a very smart play.

The main reason for their success lies in Luis Scola. The man is a monster, who is well below the national radar, but is one of my favorite players on the planet to watch.

He is one of the few mistakes made by the Spurs organization, who stashed him over in Europe for a while, but traded his rights too soon. He would have made a great addition to the Spurs

Scola is very tough to handle down low, at 6-9, he regularly posts up centers like they were guards. He works magic on his pivot foot, where he can shoot a great hook shot, fade away, or make a jittery defender foul him.

He was abusing Drew Gooden, who is a 6-10 monster of a human being, on the low post like he was Derek Fisher.

If he was a better free throw shooter, his point totals would be raising some eyebrows.

Right now the Rockets are functioning on the level of the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons, where there is no superstar, just a group of talented guys making the best use of their talents.

They won’t have an All-Star among them, but my guess is that they’ll finish higher in the standings than teams that have a few of them.

But while the 2003-04 Pistons had a capable floor general in Chauncey Billups, they seem to lack on the Rockets. Shane Battier partially fills the role, but he is more of a defensive guy, and certainly isn’t capable of running an offense.

Aaron Brooks seems too young, and too explosive to really worry about running an offense and getting people the best looks at the places they are comfortable shooting.

If the Rockets are going to do some damage while they wait for McGrady to return, Aaron Brooks is going to need to provide this team with some leadership on the offensive end. I’ve seen nothing to suggest he can’t do it, but he hasn’t shown the ability or desire to do it either.

In November 2009, we’ve learned that the Hornets are not a good basketball team. What has changed? The answer is not much, and that’s precisely the problem.

Peja Stojakavic is still their starting small forward, even though he’s aged worse than Kathleen Turner. David West is still their power forward, only his jumper is slightly off, and he’s become way overrated.

Their starting shooting guard is Devin Brown, who is backed up by Morris Peterson. Uh, since when should those two people be playing heavy minutes at shooting guard for a team with championship dreams? Never.

Sure, Tyson Chandler has been replaced with Emeka Okafor, and the result is exactly what you’d expect. Okafor still puts up his 10 and 12, hits the baseline jumper, but that’s about it. He has shown little to none of the ability that Tyson Chandler had to finish Chris Paul’s  alley-oops, so offensively he’s a step backwards.

The bench? Oh my. If Darius Songaila is your backup power forward, it’s safe to say you won’t be making a splash in the playoffs.

The lone bright spot on the team has been the best point guard in the game, Chris Paul, but how long can he keep the team afloat by himself?

Let’s take a look at Chris Paul’s stats this season.

Mother of God. They’re unreal. 26.6 points, 9.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 3.4 rebounds. Shooting? Oh, only 62 percent from the field (!!), 68 percent from the three-point line (!!!!!!!!!) and 86 percent from the line.

Pretty mind-blowing I’d say.

Even more mind-blowing is that his team is 2-5, and one missed Dallas free throw away from being 1-6.

Chris Paul has been the Hornets highest scorer in all but one of their games, including last night’s tilt against the Lakers, where no one scored more than 15 points.

How much longer can he do it? Chris Paul already seems like a man on edge. He started getting into it with Rajon Rondo, and he looks like he’s about to break someone’s neck if Peja bricks one more open three.

Remember, Chris Paul himself said that he wouldn’t be surprised if he was traded, and the Hornets management had to come out and squash those rumors.

So what is the problem with New Orleans? Doesn’t their owner realize that he’s getting closer and closer to alienating the player who will probably end up as the best PG of all time? And he hasn’t even entered his prime yet?

You know what point guards need to be effective? Other scorers. Paul has none.

Even David West, who really impressed me during the Hornets’ run a few years ago, has become a poor man’s Chris Bosh. And that’s not a compliment. Sure, West can scowl with the best of them, as well as get T’d up, but when it comes down to it, he’s not a reliable option.

Soon it becomes a simple matter of physics. If no one else on the Hornets can make you pay except for the guy who is 6-1, then you’re in trouble.

A quality shooting guard would go a long way towards making the Hornets a better team. With another scoring option, all of a sudden there’s opportunity for others. If Peja can be reduced to a spot-up shooting, that’s great, he can’t do much more than that anyways.

You know what you’re getting from Okafor, and you know what you get from West. Add James Posey providing defense off the bench, and you’ve got a decent foundation that is literally one scorer away from doing some real damage this season.

And that’s what makes the Grizz an interesting case study. The firepower is there, as they have four players that can easily score 20 points a game. Two players that were in the top 20 in field goal attempts last year, in Gay and Mayo.

Only two other teams had two players in the top 20, the Portland Trailblazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy, and the Hornets’ Chris Paul and David West. Since those teams aren’t bad, it might not be a problem, right?

Well, until you look at the assist totals. Memphis was dead last in the league, with 17.3 assists per game, while the second-to-last place team, the Orlando Magic, averaged 19.4 assists per game. Over 82 games, Memphis came up 170 assists shorter than the Magic did. So, they shoot a lot, and don’t distribute well? Not a good sign.

The Grizzles were the 10th team in the league last year in terms of shots per game, but only 20th in field goal percentage.

Now, let’s consider the addidtion of Allen Iverson and Zach Randolph. Since the 2000-2001 season, only Kobe Bryant has shot more times than Allen Iverson, and Kobe has played in 70 more games, as well as shot three percent better from the floor.

Zach Randolph, despite not being drafted until 2001, is also in the top 50 in field goal attempts.

So there’s two more high-volume shooters added by the Grizzlies to a team with a PG who doesn’t exactly put up gaudy assist numbers (4.3 APG last season).

The good news? Allen Iverson’s shot-per-minute stats have declined ever since he was in Philadelphia, which is also the only time he was without another scoring threat.

When he was traded to Denver in December 2006, Iverson and Carmelo Anthony were the top-two scorers in the league, and Denver’s offense son devolves into a “I take a shot, you take a shot” kind of offense that was exciting, but didn’t get much done, as they won one game in two playoff series against the Lakers and Spurs.

In his last full season in Philadelphia, Iverson took .587 shots per minute played, while scoring a league-high 33 points per game. Since then, his shots per minute has declined down to .398 last season.

So Iverson doesn’t seem to be as shot happy as he once was, but that’s because he was sharing shots and minutes with ‘Melo and Richard Hamilton respectively. That could be a good sign with his ability to work with the other high flyers on the Grizzlies.

Assuming Mayo, Gay and Randolph will be on the floor for most of the time for the Grizzlies, they’re going to need some good passing. Given their lack of depth in the backcourt (is Marko Jaric blowing anyone’s skirt up? Didn’t think so) this could be a serious problem for the Grizz.

What does this mean for their players? Well, simply that not everyone is going to get their shots every night. And for people that have been known to cause problems when they don’t get their shots (ahem, Iverson, Randolph), who also happen to be the senior players on this team, it will be interesting to see how they start reacting when the shots don’t come, and neither do the wins.