Big-ego Blazers fall in line behind a Mighty Mouse.(basketball team from Portland.)

Maybe, just maybe, the West is starting to shake out the way everyone figured it would all along. Phoenix had its moment in the sun but turned into a .500 team after that 7-1 start. Utah can't even defend its home court anymore. San Antonio, still a contender until further notice, has exhausted its coach's patience.

The only other anomalies are Sacramento, whose anticipated second-tier stares no longer is a certainty given the fact that the Kings have decided to defend for a change; and Dallas, which for all its entertainment value won't be able to stand up to the big centers when the deal goes down.

The prevailing consensus is that they'll all be looking up at the Lakers and Blazers again.

Damon Stoudamire, for one, believes that. "When it's all over," the Blazers' pocket rocket declares, "it's going to be us or them."

Mighty Mouse can squeak about this all he wants. He's entitled. Maybe you saw the numbers he put up last week.

He dropped a near triple-double (27 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists) on the Lakers, then had a 32-point masterpiece that included the game-winning pinball shot in overtime against the Jazz. The results: a win at Staples, a win at Delta. Now try convincing anyone the Blazers aren't for real.

Ditto for Stoudamire, which is an interesting development. Damon, lest you forget, was widely perceived to be the weak link in last year's conference finals, which is a memory that might linger for the rest of his career.