Jury still out on Shaq.

The jury is still out on the Shaq trade for the most part. Things are looking much better than it did during his first 2 weeks with the Suns, but they still are not quite the World-beaters they need to be to get out of the brutal West. He has gelled really well and is putting up more than decent numbers. He doesn't want the ball and ignites quite a few fast-breaks just like he said he would. There are not too many chemistry issues on the court and the Suns rarely get out-rebounded badly these days, which is a a big difference from the last 3 plus seasons. Despite all this, the Suns are not considered a favorite at this point. They still lose to real good teams. They lost to both the Pistons and the Celtics on the road recently and split the home-and-away with Denver. Those 2 Denver games were awesome, especially the first one when they came back from a 19 point half-time deficit. That win had a potential to be a season-changer much like the Spurs win a few weeks earlier if only the Suns didn't lose the very next day at Denver in another close, high-scoring contest. As of now, even I can't tell you where the Suns really stand. The pecking order in the West changes daily and you would think getting in to the top-4 would be very good for any team because of the home-court.

But if I look closely at the standings, I don't mind it the way it stands today with the Hornets, Spurs, Lakers, Jazz and the Suns at 5. The Jazz are pretty much locked in at 4 because they'll win the division. This means the Suns get in the top 4 only if the Lakers, Spurs or the Hornets drop out. They probably won't catch the Spurs or the Hornets since they are 2 games behind with just 7 games to go. They still can potentially get past the Lakers and get to 3. This means they meet Houston and then the Spurs and probably the Lakers. Thats brutal, though the Suns will beat the Rockets easily. Now if they stay at 5, playing Utah with no home-court will be hell, but the good part is, Spurs and the Lakers will take care of each other. This means the Suns will play the inexperienced Hornets in the second round and have to face either the Spurs or the Lakers in the Western Finals. Granted, the Suns are 0-4 against the Hornets, but some people like the Chuckster are saying the Hornets may even lose in the first round if they play Denver or something. It's never easy in the West, but to me a Utah-New Orleans-San Antonio route sounds better than any route that features both San Antonio and LA.