On the day that the "real" NBA finals begin, I began to wonder when will teams in the East catch up to the Western Conference. Usually one conference is better than the other but the differnce in 2003 is defintely has to be a concern for David Stern. Very few people pay attention to the East for the reason that anything beyond 5 games in the Finals would be a miracle. The biggest difference b/w the two conferences is that the West has every single big man. The best big man in the East Ben Wallace dosent even play both sides of the ball. In the 2002 Draft the west gains Yao Amare Hilario Wilcox the east gains gooden and Jefferies. The west continues to pile up big man and the east keeps missing out. In the 2003 Draft. Darko Millic is the best big man, the east might get him but hes a project and probaly atleast 3 years from being a force in this league. Other than that this draft has "decent" big man at best. Looking ahead to the future what Eastern conference has a shot at beating a Western squad in the finals. (Lakers Mavs Kings Spurs Rockets (?)) To me the most promising teams are Detroit and Orlando. Detroit will have a high pick and they will have a shot at Darko or carmelo. Somebody that can play offense. Rumors are that J.Oneal may want to join T-Mac in Orlando. If these scernios play out they would be a great team in either Conference. The Dark horse is the Bulls. Curry Chandler Jay Rose and another high pick this year is a heck of a future. Also KG may decide to come back home. These 3 squads have a ton IF's just to become a respectable club league wide. Obviously this is old news to everyone, but when will it change? What will it take? And what team might change it. Its sad when all teams 1-8 in the west all would have a good chance at getting out of the Eastern Conferenence bracket. The League has to be concerned because this defintely brings down the level of Interest in the NbA finals and the regular season as well. Whats everybodys thoughts on this old but important issue.
When you look back, the East as a whole hasn't been that dominant since the fall of the Bad Boy Pistons. Look at the 90's until today...The Blazers, Lakers, Jazz, Rockets, Spurs, Suns, Sonics, and Kings have all had title contenders at one point or another. Now, the Mavs have built a team that should get 50-60 wins, if not contend for a title, for the next 5-7 years. Over in the East, it was basically the Bulls, Knicks, and Magic in the 90's. Miami had a couple of good years, but now they're stuck in lottery purgatory until God knows when. Since the lockout, the Sixers, Nets, and Pacers have been good, but they could barely make a dent against the Lakers. If anybody had been able to beat the Bulls, the gap would even be bigger... Take a look at the playoff streaks: Portland - 21 straight years Utah - 20 straight years LA - 26 of the past 27 years Phoenix - 14 of the past 15 years San Antonio - 14 of the past 15 years It's been said that the East/West discrepancy is cyclical...well, it's been a LONG cycle...
2/3 of the top 3 franchise players will wind up east after the draft. if that trend continues for the next couple years, the east can close the gap alot. but still dont see them being at the same level as the west for another 7-8 years till lebron james really becomes king james, or tmac gets a real inside presence in the next few years
The NBA is a big mans world now a days. Untill the East beings to draft big fowards and centers, the East will always be dwarfed in comparison, size and talent.
Well, definitely not next season, or the season after, but I think they're gonna be coming along. At least 5 seasons from now (if not 4) the east team to make it to the NBA finals will be a true contender against the West..... I think.... ah, who the hell knows.
even though it took him a while, this can also be said about the east when Jordan was beginning to dominate.
When <B>New York</B> actually has a good team. They are the only team in the East that is willing to spend money like the luxury tax is just a word. They won't be good for a while because they are handcuffed with horrible contracts for the next few years. What is Layden thinking?. Here are the players who stink for how much they get paid. Shandon Anderson $6,100,000 Charlie Ward $5,750,000 Howard Eisley $5,312,500 Clarence Weatherspoon $4,916,336 Travis Knight $4,000,000 P.S. as for Oneal going to Orlando...they can’t afford him. A max contract is already a prerequisite for having Oneal.
The best way the East can catch up is that an Eastern conference team must win the NBA Lottery so it can draft Lebron James. If you think about it, had Boston been able to draft Duncan like many expected they would (as in expected Boston would win the ping pong ball in 97), the East would be better and we would have had another Lakers-Celtics rivalry.
What JBII said. I don't foresee many FAs wanting to go East, where it's so inferior. The only way for the East to come back is via the draft. They must "outdraft" or "outluck" the West teams. If James goes West, it'll set the East back a few more years.
and not only do you have the possibility of james coming west but kidd could sign with the west, which would be an immediate impact of destroying a top 2 east team and helping another west team. i believe denver and lac are both in the top 3 in terms of number of ping pong balls so there's actually a decent chance james is heading west. and if memphis wins it, they don't have to give that pick to detroit (top 1 protected) and then they could improve next year to the point detroit doesn't get that great of a pick anyways. my western conference pride almost wants me to see it all happen, but the fact i like the rockets and want them to go far with less obstacles makes me root for james going east and kidd staying home, along with jermaine. if things stay the way they are, i don't see how the east can have a credible threat until at least 4 years from now. if draft day happening or FA signings occur, they could challenge in 3 i guess.
Two events set the East back so far it will take another 5 years to catch up. Boston losing the number one pick to San Antonio for Duncan, and the Hornets trading Kobe to the Lakers.
For all intents and purposes, LA basically got Shaq (from Orl in the East) AND Kobe for Divac. They traded Divac for Kobe straight-up. Divac's big contract was off LA's hands, to allow them to sign Shaq to megabucks. So LA basically got Shaq and Kobe for Divac.
Didn't Charlotte trade the rights to Dirk Nowitzki for the rights to Tractor Traylor too? Or was that Milwaukee?
actually, the east has a decent chance to win the title this year if SA loses to Dallas. The Lakers are the only team that the East couldn't touch in the finals, SA looks like they are probably unbeatable with the way Duncan and Co. played vs the lake show (but they are down to Dal). I'll go ahead and say that the only team that CAN'T win it all this year is Detroit. SA has the best chance then NJ then Dallas.
Don't forget that the Hornets are moving to the West after next season and will be replaced by an expansion team in Charlotte. I'm sure that won't make the East even weaker.
No team in the East has the firepower to keep up with Dallas. Dallas would win every game by 15+ points against Det or NJ. NJ's "firepower" is vastly overrated IMO. Relative to the East, they can "run and gun".
