Aren't these the same top-seeded Pacers who came within a jump-shot of being knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by a No. 8 seed, Milwaukee?

And didn't the Sixers take out the very talented Charlotte Hornets in four games?

On the surface, it doesn't add up.

For the basketball, it is a-changin'.

George Karl, coach of those Bucks on the edge of a dramatic upset, knows all about it. He experienced the bad side of being a No. 1 seed losing to a No. 8 when his Seattle Sonics fell to the Denver Nuggets in 1994. That experience made him stronger and more determined to be on the flip side. After nearly falling out of the playoffs, the Bucks finished the season 11-4, then scared the daylights out of the Pacers in a 96-95 Game 5 loss.

"Most of the hurt is gone, but I'll still mope around for a couple of weeks, watch Philly lose and realize how close we were to making the (Eastern Conference) finals," Karl told SportsLine.com this week. "But it just shows how important matchups are. We knew they were going to have trouble with us, and they knew it too. We're close to being ready here. The Eastern Conference is changing. I brought this (faster Western Conference) athletic style, and you can see it happening in Detroit and Toronto. Doc (Rivers) is going to do the same in Orlando. Everybody has to play tough defense to win -- that was our problem early. But it's the way you run your offense and push it that makes a difference in the tempo of the game."

Karl, the NBA office and presumably the fans all want it faster. It's why the new rule implemented this season prohibits the resetting of the 24-second clock. Anything 14 or below is reset to 14 on a foul, kicked ball or other violation. Above 14, it's face value of the clock. But most of the time, it's taking 10 seconds off the shot clock that were there in the previous 25 seasons. That means more possessions for both teams and speeds up the offense.

It's particularly beneficial for teams like the Bucks, who have scorers like Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson, Sam Cassell and Tim Thomas. Because of that, Karl denies the rumblings that they will package Robinson and another player for a star power player or center and replace Robinson with Thomas, a 23-year-old, 6-10 monster of a talent who has the option to go somewhere else as a free agent this summer.

Ray Allen is part of a new breed in the Eastern Conference.(AP)

"Unless Timmy tells me differently, I think he'll be happy to re-sign with us and play 30 minutes or so as our sixth man," Karl said. "For us to continue our growth and succeed like we want to, I've had to learn how to deal with our offensive-mindedness. I've always considered myself a defensive coach first ... now I'm having to learn to what my players can do and coach that way.

"We all learned a lot about each other this season. Next year, we should be able to do more of the same, only a lot better."

And faster, too.

The Eastern Conference isn't in peril of being dominated by the Bucks just yet, but the days of slowball are history. The Pacers needed Jalen Rose to approach All-Star level this season so they could improve, the Knicks continue to need active play from Latrell Sprewell, Allan Houston and Marcus Camby, and the Miami Heat, despite winning on defense, seem to be on the other side of the mountain from everybody else.

The dinosaurs are dead; long live the roadrunners.

Shaq's pack

Journalism 101 told us all the media should never be the story.

Fred Hickman, a CNN/SI anchor, violated that and has spent all week talking about it.

In case you missed the vote, Shaquille O'Neal garnered 120 out of 121 first-place votes to win the most dominant Most Valuable Player vote in NBA history. The only dissenter was Hickman, who voted for Allen Iverson.

Not that Hickman isn't entitled to his opinion, and Iverson is a great player. But O'Neal has been the overwhelming choice all season. In fact, nobody else's name ever came up when MVP talk began at midseason. Hickman chose Iverson because of how far he carried the Sixers. It isn't as if O'Neal hasn't carried the Lakers, who had the best record in the NBA by a whopping eight games.

O'Neal led the NBA in scoring and field-goal percentage, was second in rebounds and third in blocked shots and minutes. Granted, nobody else has ever been a unanimous MVP, so why O'Neal?

Because this season, it was obvious ... at least to everybody except Fred Hickman.

Grizzled and ready

Dick Versace is back with his trademark white hair and considerably toned down in style as president.

Chuck Daly has returned one year later and, with his 70th birthday rapidly approaching, is to become a senior consultant.

Byron Scott might soon be named head coach.

And Stu Jackson, Lionel Hollins and all the other franchise originals in the basketball operation are now gone.

Welcome to the new version of the Vancouver Grizzlies, now owned by Chicagoan Michael Heisley, who purchased the team from John McCaw to become the third owner since the franchise launched in 1995.

Scott, currently an assistant with the Sacramento Kings, met with Versace on Tuesday and is being courted by several other teams as well. But Vancouver appears to be a great fit for him. Scott played for Versace with the Indiana Pacers and also played a year in Vancouver, which adds to the familiarity for himself and his family.

The excitement with the team is high, if not quite realistic. The good news is the Grizzlies set a franchise record for victories this season. The bad news is it was a 22-60 record that did it. They now have 78 victories in five seasons.

But with a core of young players built around Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Mike Bibby, Michael Dickerson and Othella Harrington and with a lottery pick that might end up in Houston or Detroit, it wouldn't be surprising if the Grizzlies try to package disappointing center Bryant Reeves with the pick in an attempt to add another athletic big man to the fold.

Rookies reward

It comes as no surprise that Elton Brand and Steve Francis ended up sharing the Rookie of the Year award. They both deserved it by putting up huge numbers for struggling teams.

They each had 58 votes, leaving the other five to Lamar Odom (three) and Andre Miller (two). Ironically, on draft day, the mouth Francis proclaimed the Chicago Bulls drafting of Brand over him a mistake. Then Francis made it clear he wouldn't play for the Vancouver Grizzlies, who ultimately shipped him to Houston in an 11-player deal that included more players than any other trade in NBA history.

Brand ultimately proved Francis wrong, averaging 20.1 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.63 blocks for the horri-Bulls, who finished with a 17-65 mark, better only than Odom's 15-67 Clippers. Francis averaged 18.0 points, 6.6 assists and 1.53 steals for the 34-48 Rockets.

This is the third time in NBA history the top rookie award has been shared. Grant Hill-Jason Kidd in 1995 and Geoff Petrie-Dave Cowens in 1971 were the others.

The sad situation is that of Odom, who played only one year at Rhode Island and began the season as clearly the top rookie, only to fall prey to the malaise that ultimately drains every player on the Clippers. Odom, the fourth pick overall, finished the season averaging 16.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists, and at 6-10 has the most natural gifts to go along with size.

Miller, the eighth pick overall from Utah, wrested the starting point guard spot away from Brevin Knight with the Cavaliers. He finished the season averaging 11.1 points, 5.8 assists and 3.4 steals and was the only one of this group to play four years in college. Francis played one season at Maryland and Brand was at Duke for two years.

But brace yourselves, because other than Kenyon Martin, the June 28 NBA draft in general -- and the lottery in particular -- will be even more dominated by underclassmen.

Shots from the perimeter

• With a whopping five-year, $15 million offer on the table from the Hawks, Tom Izzo, coach of the reigning NCAA champion Michigan State Spartans, is having a whale of a time on a cruise with his family. Despite making less than half as much with the Spartans, most people expect Izzo to pass on his first NBA opportunity.
• There have been some rumblings that the former duo who led Cleveland to Eastern Conference prominence -- Wayne Embry and Lenny Wilkens -- are being wooed by the Nets. Embry says he isn't interested. One who clearly is would be Hall of Famer Rick Barry. Now coaching the Florida Sea Dragons of the USBL, Barry has also coached in the CBA, the IBL and the Global Basketball Association. But his brusque personality has always put people off. Barry has written a letter to YankeeNets owner George Steinbrenner requesting an interview. That would be an interesting conversation to hear. Expect Buck Williams to have a prominent role in the personnel office of the Nets ,and Julius Erving's name continues to linger as potential head of basketball operations. Isiah Thomas could be the guy to be in charge of basketball operations and coach. Then again, Thomas' name has been connected with nearly every job opening.
• The whispers are growing louder that Kings shooting guard Nick Anderson will retire after this season. Scot Pollard, Tony Delk, Darrick Martin and Corliss Williamson are all free agents for the Kings.
• Sources in Detroit continue to insist Grant Hill will sign a short-term contract -- perhaps one year -- to remain with the Pistons, and George Irvine will sign within the next 10 days a multi-year contract to be head coach.
• After a nightmarish 4-24 rookie season as coach of Arkansas-Little Rock, Sidney Moncrief became the 10th assistant coach for Don Nelson with the Mavericks. He joins Brad Davis, Del Harris, Derek Harper and Rolando Blackman as prospective head coaches if and when Nellie steps down.
• As if it wasn't stressful enough with Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals looming Tuesday night, Blazers president Bob Whitsitt and assistant general manager Mark Warkentien were back in town just a couple of hours before tip-off after attending the funeral of Blazers assistant Bill Musselman. They had arrived by charter in tiny Wooster, Ohio, just before midnight on Monday night, attended the funeral and memorial service and then flew back. Musselman, 59, died Friday morning. He had been ill since October with a variety of diseases that included cancer.