In the past several seasons the WC appear to be the more competitive of the two conferences for a team to advance to the finals.So far this season that couldn't be any further from the truth.The west seems to be weakening week to week.If the Lakers remain healthy the road to the finals will be a cake walk for the recent two time NBA champs.

Now that the first half of this NBA season has reached its peak several of the WC teams that started out looking like formiable opponents to the Lakers have for one reason or another found themsleves becoming less competitive at this stage of the season.The two teams that come to mind are the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets.

The Mavericks started out this season winning game after game and appeared to be positioning their team to possible contend at a high enough level to get pass the second round of the playoffs this season.By adding Tyson Chandler,Caron Butler,players that bring two very different elements to the team.Tyson a 7'center that rebounds and defends the paint and Butler a small forward that gives the Maverick's the one two punch scoring wise in their starting lineup they've needed for awhile.Both players does share a similar trait in their DNA,grit&toughness.Something that seem missing from the Mavericks despite having MVP candidate Dirk Nowintski.Just as things started to look up for the Mavericks they were hit by the injury bug with back to back players.Their two star players Dirk and Caron both suffered injuries about a week apart.Butler is scheduled to be back by the playoffs and Dirk has returned to the lineup recently.Maybe there is still hope for the Mavericks but once the playoffs start if Butler isn't fully recovered and in game shape there chances will still be slim.

Next we have the Denver Nuggets a team in my opinion has the right players to possibly compete with the Lakers again in a 7game series.The Nuggets were getting back a few injured players as the season progressed.All the cards were falling back into place alone with their recently absentee coach George Karl returning to there leadership.Just when things were starting to shape up for them Carmelo Anthony,superstar small forward of the Nuggets began contract talks with the media.He hasn't pulled a Lebron James act yet but the team seems affected by the everyday pressures of answering Carmelo Anthony questions and a few players not knowing what the future will hold.The team is playing very inconsistent due to not knowing who will be on the team from day to day.They haven't looked as focused as they were in the beginning of the season.I don't expect Anthony to be with the Nuggets passed the trade deadline in Feb.Even if he's on the team passed the deadline it will be hard to get back to the same level of intensity from a team that had issues all season long.Another team that has gone from a possible contender to a surefire pretender.

Realistically,the only team in the WC midseason that looks like a true contender to the LAKERS are the San Antonio Spurs.The Spurs have maintained the best record in the NBA most of the season.The Spurs have been their before and still have some of the pieces and coach that helped them win the NBA championship in the past.Adding sf Richard Jefferson and few sharp shooters from distance,a backup center has given an already good team a boost to being even better.Also Pop the coach has added a few new schemes to their playbook this season.The Spurs has adopted some semblance to a euro-style at times by running in transition more.Pop has figured out how to let his team play at a faster pace in spurts and keeping the ole guy(TD)engaged in the game.If there will be a team to dethrone the Lakers this season in the west i feel it might be that Teaxs team wearing the blk/white.

My newest pet peeve is NBA scheduling,especially the months of March and April.The next time you want to knock the team for lack of effort after a game,make sure its not one of the (7)back to back games they are in the middle of these last couple of months of the regular season.Im not a big stats guy,but i did ck.the top teams in the east and west,and found our Boston Celtics lead the league in back to backs. March & April 2010 Back to Backs East: 1.Cavs(3) 2.Magic(3) 3.Atl(6) 4.Boston(7) West: 1.LAL(5) 2.Den(5) 3.Dal(3) 4.Jazz(5)

Eric Snow a analyst for NBA.tv said,the Boston Celtics has picked back up where they left off before KG went down with injury.Yes,as a fan i got caught up into the media hype and all the people on the blogs saying we are sure to win 70 plus games.I never felt we are going to win 70 plus games,but 68 would work for me. Over this past week,when i witness the team go through a slump or setback,it woke me up.Was i expecting them to go 20-1 before they started to lose back to back games?or was i living in the past of what they acheived 2 seasons ago?The way i see it now,when the time comes to make the playoffs,i want the the team to be 100%healthy first and foremost,and running on all cylinders.Winning enough games to get homecourt advantage would be nice to ,but its not the end of the world if they don't get it.After winning 65games last season,going to the playoffs without one of your key players,made the season seem meaningless in the end.I hope we are playing consistent basketball,and beating up on all the teams we need to beat in April and May of 2010 but i will not expect things to go as perfect through the regular season as it did in 2008. Hopefully i have gotten over being a spoiled fan and just a supportive one who enjoys the team when they win or lose.

As i was browsing through the ESPN pages this morning,i came across a recent post with a brief video clip of the 2008 Championship finals featuring KG's 26/14 performance in game 6 of the finals.When i saw the clip it reminded me what we can hopefully do again.Im just glad we have him on our team.With a player like KG on your team,"anything's is possible"for the future.There are some teams that gives you more lows than highs,but we as fans can always look forward to more of the highs of winning when you have a guy like KG playing the way he plays the game.Thank you again KG for making the Celtics your choice in the summer of 2007...June 17 2008 thats a day i'll always remember.