East vs. West Parity

by Genesius on Feb 13, 2008 10:23 PM MST

Here's my question: how long will it take before something drastic happens to bring parity between the Eastern and Western conferences? The East keeps getting weaker and the West keeps getting stronger. The Western Conference Finals are already referred to as the "true" finals.

The only real contenders in the East really are Boston and Detroit, and only Boston will likely still be a great team in a couple years. New Orleans, Portland, the Lakers and Utah are all young, talented teams that will add to the West's dominance both talent-wise and in the standings within the next few years.

I'm glad that the Kidd trade got shut down, even if only for the time being. But when the #10 team in the West would be the #3 team in the East, something needs to happen.

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Parity?

What would you do? The East is full of teams with dumb and nearsighted management. The only consistently good organization has been Detroit. It has been this way since Reinsdorf broke up the Bulls' juggernaut and the Chicago-Indiana rivalry wasted away.

'07-'08 Suns: It's clobberin' time!

by Hawk42 on Feb 14, 2008 6:46 AM MST reply actions

Straight up seeding

This has been tossed around for a while now (although I don't have time to track down a link).

You leave the conferences in place but playoff seedings are league wide 1 to 16.

Phoenix - where bitter happens

by Seth Pollack on Feb 14, 2008 8:09 AM MST reply actions

or go Euro

and drop the two worst teams down to the D league and promote their top two each year.

That certainly keeps things interesting over there and makes the lower division much more important.

Phoenix - where bitter happens

by Seth Pollack on Feb 14, 2008 8:10 AM MST up reply actions

Re: Go Euro

I really like the idea of a 1-16 overall seeding process. Unfortunately, what incentive does the league have to keep the conferences if they switched to this? The Conferences would likely go away while the Divisions stayed in place. Maybe.

I also like the idea of a rotational, where the 2 worst teams would drop down to the lower league and the two best from the NBDL would come up. But as it stands now, the NBDL teams would have no chance without equally talented players, and NBA owners would never allow this because of the likely drop in revenue.

Reality aside though, it's a brilliant idea.

by Genesius on Feb 14, 2008 9:08 AM MST up reply actions

Isiah back in minor league (where he belongs)

Can you see the Knicks playing in the NBADL? LOL

'07-'08 Suns: It's clobberin' time!

by Hawk42 on Feb 14, 2008 10:15 AM MST up reply actions

Amen to that

One of these days, this seeding thing is going to catch me on a bad day, something's going to snap, and I'll end up posting a lengthy rant on the subject. It's ridiculous that the East has become just a matter of which eight teams are less awful than the other seven.

...of course my rage has a lot to do with the fact that what should have been a fairly nice lottery pick is going to end up around #18 or so because a crappy team that wouldn't even be within a country mile of the playoffs in the West gets a free pass in the East thanks to seven other crappy teams all competing to see who can dive deepest into the tank.

by TexSUN on Feb 14, 2008 8:47 AM MST up reply actions

Don't worry

Don't look now, but the Hawks just fell out of the playoffs with the loss to the Bobcats. And they are going on a road trip against the Lakers-Kings-Warriors-Jazz-Spurs. They may soon be where they belong.

'07-'08 Suns: It's clobberin' time!

by Hawk42 on Feb 14, 2008 10:19 AM MST up reply actions

Good point

I pay way more attention to the loss column than I should. But they all have to play the same number of games against the West, and I haven't checked the schedule to see if the 76ers, etc. have their western trips behind them yet or not.

But this whole thing wouldn't even be an issue if the lottery were based on the 14 worst teams in the league instead of the ones that missed the playoffs. I kind of understand the thinking, but it's also set up in a way that makes it easier for the West to keep getting stronger and stronger because teams that would have been playoff teams in the East become lottery teams in the West and vice-versa.

by TexSUN on Feb 14, 2008 10:32 AM MST up reply actions

It doesn't matter

where Atlanta finishes if Sarver/Kerr are just going to deal off the pick to avoid the luxury tax.

by AZSEAfan @ Bright Side Of The Sun on Feb 14, 2008 11:55 AM MST up reply actions

If we went by that...

According to current standings, here are what the matchups would be:

Boston 41-9
Detroit 39-13
New Orleans 36-15
Phoenix 36-16
Dallas 35-17
LA Lakers 35-17
San Antonio 34-17
Utah 34-19
Golden State 32-20
Houston 32-20
Denver 32-20
Orlando 33-21
Cleveland 29-23
Toronto 28-23
Portland 28-24
Washington 25-27

First round matchups:

Boston-Washington
Detroit-Portland
New Orleans-toronto
Phoenix-Cleveland
Dallas-Orlando
Lakers-denver
San Antonio-Houston
Utah-Golden State

'07-'08 Suns: It's clobberin' time!

by Hawk42 on Feb 14, 2008 10:13 AM MST up reply actions

Just for Fun

1st Round:
Boston over Washington
Detroit over Portland
New Orleans over Toronto
Phoenix over Cleveland
Orlando over Dallas
Lakers over Denver
San Antonio over Houston
Golden State over Utah

2nd Round
(I think this is how it would match up, let me know if I'm mistaken)
Boston over Golden State
San Antonio over Detroit
Lakers over New Orleans
Phoenix over Orlando

3rd Round
Phoenix over Boston
Lakers over San Antonio

Finals
Phoenix over Lakers in 6

by Genesius on Feb 14, 2008 10:38 AM MST up reply actions