Unbelievable! The Eastern Conference is so bad, it's just incredible. I think whoever wins the East this year could be the worst team to EVER be in the NBA finals. I mean, Detroit, Boston, NJ, and Charlotte? Those are the best four teams in the East? Sad.
Injuries? To who? Other than Grant Hill, who in the East has been injured that could come back to help their team actually contend with a top team from the west? Potopenko? I know Mashburn is important, but he does not make Charlotte a top 5 team in the NBA. Obviously Vince Carter is a great player, but that team also doesn't compete with a top 5 team in the West with him back. I just think that the balance of power has shifted above and beyond to the West. It hasn't been this bad for a while, but maybe when Stern gives Ming to the bulls or the Knicks...i mean, IF one of those teams is fortunate enough to win the lottery, the East will recover.
The injuries to the Philadelphia 76ers hurt them bad, in my opinion. They had Iverson out for a long strech, and almost everyone on the Sixers missed a few games. They had no chance to practice and develop chemistry together. They could have been the top in the East if injuries hadn't taken such a big toll on them.
I hate it when the Sixers injuries are brought up as an excuse. It's no one's fault except Philly that they were injured so much. They went out and chose injury prone players to build their team around. Iverson will always miss a large number of games. Snow's always missed a large number of games. Coleman has always missed a large number of games. Etc. Hell, if anything they were lucky because Harpring didn't get injured and he's usually good for 20 missed games a year too. BTW, the East isn't great, but it is better than it is given credit for.
I don't think those teams are terrible at all. Those teams all have great coaches and each team has a couple stars. I too agree Allen Iverson being hurt had a big affect on the sixers. As well as Carter being out for the Raptors. Mcgrady also played hurt while Mash has been hurt as well.
Oh, I'm sure that whoever the Lakers play in the Finals will be able to give them a great series. *yawn*
Well last year, it was the Sixers who handed the Lakers their only loss. Oh and those comments about top talented teams in the east vs West, I think a lot of you would be surprised at the results if they faced off in the playoffs. One of the things a lot of the Eastern teams are good at is defence. Do Western teams know what that is anymore ? Seriously though, given a healthy East vs a Healthy West, and it wouldn't be as bad as it looks right now.
The only thing I'll be surprised at is the East winning one game from anyone in the West. The East better at defense? Ha. Look who they get to guard every night, that should tell you why that is (not true anyway).
With all this stellar defense the East was playing this regular season, all the playoff teams from that conference racked up a stellar .496 winning percentage against the West, while the West playoff teams only managed to win .704 of their games against the East. Yeah, these finals are going to be a closely contested matter. I just hope the West can hang with all these great East teams, and their defense.
Personally, I think its just cyclical, though I can't remember the balance between the 2 conferences being so skewed as it is now. Actually, there are a few EC teams that are close to being pretty formidable, but either need experience, or another player or 2. Take Boston, for example. The have as good a 1-2 punch as anyone and Anderson has been solid at PG, but their big men make you want to cry. Don't get me wrong, they seem to play hard, but Boston has an even worse collection of big men than the Rocks. Imagine if they had even a decent big man on their roster, they would have a decent chance at unseating the Lakers. Same could be said for Milwaukee (big man), Indiana (experience), and Orlando (big men).
At least with all the injuries Philly still managed to make the playoffs, more then our Rockets did, huh? DaDakota
Shaq, Wallace and Webber were all in the East at one time and their former teams received zero or very little in return for them. The Mavs have been building for so long, that they have been able to eventually get it together. Duncan resigning with the Spurs is going to be a big issue and if he goes to the East, the balance of power will start to shift. Over time, things will likely shift back the other way. Chicago has been terrible for several years and is starting to stack some talent. The Cavs are the Cavs. The Magic have plenty of future draft picks and should make some progress. The Hawks are a question mark. Knicks are in a rebuild situation. Miami might have to tear it down and start over. Bullets are rebuilding (from what I haven't figured out). Toronto is marginal. Philly is marginal. Pacers are doing a transition to youth from the Davis, Davis, Smits, Miller team of several years ago. Bucks might have to reshuffle the roster to move forward. Pistons, Hornets, Nets and Celtics are decent. A combination of things to blame for the poor quality in the East: Shaq going to the West Webber and Wallace trades seem to be one-sided. <i>Lottery Luck</i> with Duncan ending up in the West. Cuban willing to spend on salary. Mango
Yes, it is indeed more than the Rockets did. Now, please explain what relevance that has to this conversation.
My point is that even though Philly was beset by injuries, they did not tank the whole season, and blame everything on injuries. I hate excuses even more then loses. Now, the East is terrible for sure....what was Houston's record against that crappy conference this year? 10-20, man....if the east is terrible and we are 10-20 against them, that makes our prospects seem even bleaker. DD
IMO, both conferences are pretty even with certain advantages to each, but except for the Lakers, there really isn't a "top" team in the West that would flat out control a 7 game series against a "top" eastern team. And I would agree that the current Eastern teams play better/tougher defense.
