John Soule was the man responsible for the quote, "Go west young man."  Referring to the opportunities on the frontier.

It appears that the NBA has taken this literally.  The Lakers started the trend this year, as they have in years past, by bringing in big man Pau Gasol.  Then there are the Suns who brought in Shaquille O'neal, and now Dallas bringing back Jason Kidd (despite the fact that the fans used to call him Ason Kidd because they said he had no J).

I wonder if anyone has forgotten that the World Champion Spurs are still there, and until someone has eliminated them from contention they are just that, "World Champions."  They may have the deepest bench in the NBA.

The Hornets are leading the Spurs in the Southwest division, and the Rockets and Mavs aren't far behind.  In fact, four out of the five teams in the Southwest division have over 30 wins, and four and a half games separated first and fourth place at the All-Star break.

Houston, Utah, and the Lakers have been the hottest of the Western Conference teams  lately.  With Houston and Utah going 9-1 in their last 10, and the Lakers going 8-2, it's going to be a very exciting 2nd half.

So I guess the only question left is which team from the West is going to win the championship this year?

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