The West is so much better than the East it's not even funny. Seriously, the Rockets would a top seed in the East and as it stands now they are barely the #6 seed in the West. Oh and by the way the team breathing down their neck (Denver) is only getting the best player from the East to come help them out (Iverson). Something needs to be done. I mean Boston is leading their division with a 10-13 record! Are you kidding me. Don't tell me Boston is as good as the Clippers, Kings, Warriors, or even NO/OK which are bottom dwellers in the West. And sure, point to the fact that Miami and Detroit from the East have won the past two championships... Well maybe that has something to due with the Western conference teams killing each other during the season and playoffs that by the time they get to the Finals they are spent. Last year Miami sat and waited after sweeping their conference Finals to watch SA and Dallas kill each other in a 7 game series! Forget playing with the ball Stern, do something to make your game more competetive!
Yeah it's pretty lobsided, having no conferences would make it fair-er but I don't see it working for some reason. I've always found it funny that more teams make the playoffs than not, that's always been an interesting one to me. It's almost like the NBA is helping teams to make the playoffs, but what else would you do with only 30 teams? They should add 2 more to make it dead even.
I think kthis is the best thing they could do. I really hate the conferences and the divisions thing. it sucks and it's not fair for a lot of people.
So every few years, when the balance of power shifts again, you have another realignment of divisions? That's just plain silliness. I've never heard of a sports league realigning its divisions because at a particular moment one conference has more good teams.
yeah, this will never happen. one conference is almost always better than the other in any sport. the AL had better overall teams than the NL this year, and the AFC has way better teams than the NFC. in a few years, it will all switch again......
The East is actually look a bit better now than they had earlier in the season. The number of playoff-bound teams with losing records has shrunk.
Just think college football. Conferences go up and down year to year so you cant just readjust things. The same goes for the NBA, its just a slower process. It does seem all the eastern stars find their way here though doesn't it?
In college football, a conference system is necessary due to the large number of teams and the expense of travel. In the NBA, I see no reason to have conferences at all. You could play every team 2-3 times.
But this particular moment has been going on for awhile and will continue. Miami's championship notwithstanding (the refs helped that one out anyway).
It's been more than a moment. Yes, the Bulls won 6 titles in the 90's but the West was still clearly a better overall conference. When has the East ever dominated? I like the idea of no conferences or divisions. It will never happen though. US sports fans like to win something even when they don't (i.e. winning a division title for some reason means something even if they don't win the championship). In European soccer for instance, there is no conferences, divisions, or even playoffs. They play each other 2 times. The best team in the regular season is the champion, period.
Unfortunately, I think the NBA needs conferences. First, there is the travel issue. It doesn't affect teams in the Cental time zone too much, since both coasts are about equidistant, but if the West Coast teams had to play more road games on the East coast (and vice versa), it would increase travel costs and tire out those teams even more. Secondly, there are only so many games that can fit on the schedule. Let's say that each team played a home and home against each other team in the league, that means 58 games a year. That leaves 24 more games need to be scheduled for each team. How does the NBA divy up those games? That could potentially create scheduling advantages for one team over another. You have to make a fair schedule at the beginning of the season. Lining up the teams 1-16 in the playoffs wouldn't work, either. Playoff ratings would die if West Coast teams started playing East Coast teams in successive playoff rounds and the people on the East coast didn't get to see those games until 10:00 at night. People will stay up late to see a Knicks/Lakers NBA Finals game, but a Knicks/Lakers first round game? Not likely...
yea, let's re-align b/c your team is getting the short end of it. it's an inknown commodity....argggh...whatever.
The elimination of conferences is intriguing.. but I do like the fact that our division has been known to be the toughest and baddest division for a while now. It makes us look better. Now if we can only get rid of NO and plug in the Suns.. that would be pretty exciting.. the Texas 3 and the Suns.. and the Grizziiess can watch from the corner
Damn, you are right. The only practical way of doing a 1-16 seed is shortening the number of games played to 58 per season, yet having the season stay this long for travel considerations...but now way the NBA would shrink their revenues like that. How about 3 games per opponent...which means against some teams you'll have 1 home game and 2 road games, and vice versa...but that already happens now. So that makes an 87 game season...and we can start the season earlier, like 1st week of October to even out the flying. More games, more revenues baby. And there's nothing wrong with the flying if you can still bunch up your road games in proximity. But ultimately, it's the competitive justice that is at stake here. Tracking the suckitude of the LEast: the expanded version, with champs for that year in parenthesis This Year, as of the end of Tuesday, Dec. 19th, the West currently holds a 83 wins to 52 losses vs the East. That's a .615 winning percentage!! 05/06: West 252 - East 198 for a .560 winning % for the West (Miami) 04/05: West 256 - East 194 for a .569 winning % for the West (San Antonio) League Expansion and Re-Alignment for Charlotte and New Orleans 03/04: West 266 - East 154 for a .633 winning % for the West (Detroit) 02/03: West 250 - East 170 for a .595 winning % for the West (San Antonio) 01/02: West 232 - East 188 for a .552 winning % for the West (Lakers) For AT LEAST the last 5 years, Eastern teams have been inflating their records playing themselves. Those 50 win New Jersey teams that went to the finals and got crushed by the Lakers and Spurs were terrible vs the West and would not have made it out of the 1st round. A-Train is correct that the scheduling would be very tough to pull off, but in the name of justice, the American way, and competitive balance, we need to have an 87 game season and no more divisions. Come on guys, No More Divisions! Seriously, while Miami and Detroit are real champions, it would have been nice to see them be #4 and #5 seeds in a 1-16 playoff, instead of playing scrubs on their way to the eastern conference finals.
I don't like the no divisions idea much, because it means more games in other time zones. So here's my idea. Leave the divisions, but get rid of conferences. The the top 16 teams that include the six divisional winners go to the playoffs. Scheduling options, assuming 82-game schedule is kept: 6 games against in-division teams, 4 games against 4 out-of-division teams on a rotational basis, 2 games against other 21 teams. 4 games against in-division teams, 3 games against 16 out-of-division teams on a rotational basis, 2 games against other 9 teams.
how about we leave everything the way it is, and just let the east teams get better by draft and free agency? Two of the top 5 players in the league are in the East (lebron & wade). Orlando is getting better. So there will be at least 4 teams that are playoff quality, with detroit being the 4th. The balance will be shifting shortly in the next couple of years.
