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Pacific flounders behind Lakers, Sonics

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Seattle SuperSonics spent the first half establishing themselves as legitimate NBA title contenders, but as for consistency in this division, that's all, folks.

The Portland Trail Blazers clearly established themselves as perhaps the league's most puzzling team. A squad capable of defeating some of the league's best on one night and then going into the tank against a scrub the next.

MCNEAL'S ALL-DIVISION TEAM

F Shawn Kemp Seattle F Detlef Schrempf Seattle C Shaquille O'Neal L.A. Lakers G Gary Payton Seattle G Mitch Richmond Sacramento

The Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors really are the same team playing in three different California locales. All three are sub-mediocre at each end of the floor, incapable of dominating opponents at home and somehow still very much alive to win a berth as Western Conference first-round playoff do-do.

The Phoenix Suns epitomize what this division is about. They lose their first 13 games and change coaches from veteran Cotton Fitzsimmons to fledgling Danny Ainge. They get point guard Kevin Johnson back from the injured list, win 15 of 27 at one point and make two strong moves to acquire Jason Kidd and reacquire Cedric Ceballos.

Then they lose six in a row overall and 10 of 11 on the road before winning in Detroit on Sunday night.

No diggity, the Suns still are just four games away from a playoff spot.

Los Angeles Lakers

McNEAL'S PICKS

Here are McNeal's Pacific Division awards, based on the first half of the season: MVP: Shaquille O'Neal, L.A. Lakers Top rookie: Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers Top coach: Del Harris, L.A. Lakers Best acquisition: O'Neal You also have to give the Lakers credit for trading for Bryant and signing Travis Knight. Biggest bust: Trading Barkley While Charles Barkley's Rockets flourish, three of the four players the Suns acquired for Sir Charles are already playing elsewhere. All-Star snubs Portland's Kenny Anderson and the Clippers' Loy Vaught.

Grade: A. The Lakers have been a bit of surprise while fashioning the Western Conference's best record. It was clear the summertime signing of the rapping pivotman, Shaquille O'Neal, would make them a much stronger club. However, the acquisitions of rookies Derek Fisher, Travis Knight and Kobe Bryant and the emergence of third-year guard Eddie Jones as a consistent force have been pivotal in the team's rise. As have the underrated coaching skills of Del Harris.

The Lake Show is athletic, confident and aggressive, which sounds like a scouting report on starting point guard Nick Van Exel, one of the club's leaders.

Outlook: It remains to be seen if the young boys can keep growing and benefiting from the playing time they received in the first half. The Lakers also need Elden Campbell to get back to playing like he did last season before signing that lucrative, long-term deal and having to share the low-post with "The Daddy."

If these things happen, and ifRobert Horry can become the clutch long-distance bomber and versatile defender he was during the Rockets' title seasons, the Lakers could get to the Finals.

Seattle SuperSonics

Grade: B-plus. The Sonics are playing above .700 ball without one of their most valuable players, swingman Nate McMillan. That's something few teams could do, but not many teams have Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp and Detlef Schrempf as a nucleus with which to work.

They Sonics have complained about not having the fire and focus they had last season when they moved onward to the NBA Finals. That sounds like the Sonics' teams of seasons past that ended up getting bumped in the first round.

Bringing in Jim McIlvaine at $33 million over five years was a mistake and one day, hopefully, the Sonics will admit it. Either that or coach George Karl will see fit to play this dude more than 22 minutes and let the world see what the Sonics thought they saw.

Outlook: The Sonics certainly are capable of returning to the Finals, but they are going to need McMillan to do so. The intangibles he adds are incomprehensible to most and irreplaceable to Seattle. The Sonics remain the team to beat in the Conference as well as as the division, but acquisitions McIlvaine and Craig Ehlo will not be as productive as the departed Ervin Johnson and Vincent Askew.

Portland Trail Blazers

Grade: C-minus. The Blazers are talented, well-coached and often times unstable. Portland has beaten the Lakers twice, Houston, Detroit and Utah, but also has suffered embarrassing losses to Boston and Toronto (twice).

Point guard Kenny Anderson and center Arvydas Sabonis have been the most consistent performers. Shooting guard Isaiah Rider and forward Clifford Robinson are as capable of tremendous outings as they are of missing a shootaround or cursing out coach P.J. Carlesimo.

The Blazers perennially are one of the league's best rebounding teams, but a recent losing skid coincided with Sabonis' stint in the injured list. Another problem for the Blazers was an injury to young, athletic power forward Rasheed Wallace, who missed two months with a torn thumb ligament.

Outlook: Sabonis will return soon and the Blazers should regain focus, but they have proven that up and down will be the mode of transportation this season.

Sacramento Kings

Grade: C-. The Kings are not as talented as the Blazers and also have been hit hard by injuries. A torn right rotator cuff suffered by power forward Brian Grant limited him to just five games and robbed coach Garry St. Jean of his best big athlete. Starting small forward Billy Owens has been hobbled by nagging groin and ankle injuries this season and rarely has been healthy.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf began the season as the starting point guard, supplanting Tyus Edney, but Abdul-Rauf still looks better off the ball and does not push it up floor at all. Meanwhile, Edney has struggled mightily all season.

St. Jean, however, has been able to depend upon All-Star Mitch Richmond, who might be having the best season of his nine-year career.

Outlook: Sacramento is expected to get Owens back after the All-Star break and Grant should follow within the next two weeks. That should be enough to get the Kings back into the playoffs for the second season in a row, but an improved defense must accompany the returns of these players.

Los Angeles Clippers

Grade: C. The Clippers actually have been more consistent than either the Kings or the Warriors. Loy Vaught is the consistent force this hard-working team features. The power forward began the season shooting poorly, but is up to 48 percent and leads the team in scoring and rebounding.

Los Angeles does not shoot well from the floor, but is an athletic team around the offensive boards and gives itself shot opportunities by ranking third in the league in steals per game. Coach Bill Fitch has had to spend much of the year without a center because of injuries to Stanley Roberts, Kevin Duckworth and Dwayne Schintzius.

Brent Barry is a talent, but has not been able to establish a relationship with Fitch that will allow his skills to flourish. The Clippers are 13-13 since journeyman point guard Darrick Martin assumed the starting role from Pooh Richardson. Charles Outlaw is an underrated defender and ranks 16th in the league in blocked shots despite his relatively small (6-foot-8) stature.

Outlook: The Clippers are the pick here for the eighth playoff spot. Fitch usually does a good job of getting them to play at a feverish pitch and if he can get consistency from Rodney Rogers and the disappointing Lamond Murray and keep the talented Roberts healthy, they could edge up higher in the playoff race.

Golden State Warriors

Grade: D. The Warriors are an imbalanced team with three point guards and trouble at center. Even worse than any on-court play have been decisions over the past two seasons that have sent away Tim Hardaway, Rony Seikaly and Tom Gugliotta with nothing much to show for them. Each of those players was unhappy in the Golden State surroundings, and that does not bode well for the front-office tandem of Dave Twardzik and coach Rick Adelman.

The Warriors are playing in the San Jose Arena this season while the Oakland Coliseum is being remodeled and had difficulty registering a sellout crowd for the Chicago Bulls. Hell, the Bulls would sellout in Tibet, but maybe the fans realized beforehand that the Warriors would score just eight points in the first quarter.

Latrell Sprewell is having an excellent season, as is second-year forward Joe Smith, but something else needs to happen when Chris Mullin shoots nearly 100 percentage points higher than each of them and gets 400 and 300 fewer shots, respectively.

Neither Mark Price nor Felton Spencer has been able to stay healthy or add much the team. Ditto for B.J. Armstrong and Bimbo Coles, who have not been able to get consistent playing time.

Outlook: Golden State's defense ranks next to last in points per game allowed and will have to improve if the Warriors are to make a run at a playoff spot. Mullin should be traded while he has trade value and could help bring a young, physical frontcourt player.

Phoenix Suns

Grade: F. The Suns have been rolling downhill for the past three seasons and they hit rock-bottom this season following the off-season trade of Charles Barkley.

Ainge, however, has brighter days ahead when Kidd returns from a broken collarbone after the All-Star break.

The Suns still are without a viable center. John (Hot Fudge) Williams certainly isn't going to get it. But with Ceballos, Johnson, Danny Manning and Wesley Person combined with Kidd, this will be a team capable of consistently outscoring teams. They'll have to, because defense is not a strength.

Outlook: The Suns still have decent depth and have a solid chance of overtaking the Kings and the Clippers.

Next season appears fairly bright for the Suns. Kidd will take over at the point for Johnson, who says he'll retire at the end of this season. Phoenix has approximately $7 million to enter the free-agency market with this summer and the Colangelos, Jerry and Bryan, certainly are not afraid to make moves.

Martin McNeal covers the Kings for the Sacramento Bee, which has a web site at http://www.sacbee.com/.