West Conf losing power ?

I agree. Overall, the East is starting to become the better top to bottom conference. However, I don't know that this means things are all that easier for us. We're still probably going to have to play Dallas in the first round as we're the most likely teams to have the 4 and 5 seeds (unless Denver comes on strong). And we still have to beat San Antonio. So, as long as we can't beat San Antonio in the regular season, I think our path to the finals is going to be about as rough as before. Granted, we might have an easier semifinals matchup than we would have had in years past, but overall we still have a huge test to face.

 

Don't forget about New Jersey - they got a lot better. And I wouldn't be surprised if Cleveland has a monster season.

 

Its all about bigs

A few years ago, the West had Shaq, K Malone, Garnett, Duncan, Webber, Rasheed all playing at or near all-star levels. The East had poopy.

After some trades, injuries, retirements, old age, the East now has J O'Neal, Shaq, & Detroit's front court. The West has Garnett, Duncan, Amare, Yao, Nowitzki.

More even now.

 

I might be mis-reading it, and if so I apologize, but do you not think the Nugs will win their division? We have holes, we're hardly a championship contender right now, but Seattle got worse, Minnesota hasn't caught us, Portland isn't there yet and Utah....they just acquired Ostertag. I have to think the Nugs are the favorites for the #3 seed.

 

I noticed last year that the East wasn't sucking quite as much as they were before. And I think this offseason, that trend seems to be continuing. Milwaukee, Cleveland, Miami, Indiana, New Jersey all getting stronger, with Detroit still staying strong. Some western talent going east too, without much eastern talent going west. But when your team gets crapped up enough and you have to blow it up and start over, it takes a couple of years. I think it so happened that a lot of Eastern teams had to do that at the same time. And now, they're all coming out of it together too.

 

Get back to me when Chicago doesn't have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

 

I wouldn't say the West is losing power as much as the East is gaining power. For example - NJ picked up SAR from the blazers. Portland wasn't really a great western team, and losing SAR will certainly hurt them, but they won't fall down as far as NJ will rise up as a result of that transaction.

And Inidiana will do well now that some players will be back from injuries and suspensions.

So, you'll see contention from Indiana, New Jersey, Miami, and of course Detroit next season, but not necessarily because the West has gotten weaker. Certainly, the Eastern teams will need to be taken more seariously next season.

 

In my opinion, the Western conference still have a sizable talent edge over the Eastern conference. But Eastern conference is much better at the top with with Miami, Detroit, and Indiana. We're no longer talking about a few years ago, when the "real" championship series was the Western Conference Finals. And that whoever comes out of the East simply gets blasted in the finals.

Miami, Detroit and Indiana all match up fairly well with the top 3 in the west(best 3 among SA, Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston). NJ can be good, but I don't believe Carter and Kidd can maintain their production from last season. Overall, I can't see any other eastern team being better than he likes of Denver, Memphis, Seattle, and the worst among the 4 teams I mentioned above.

 

I am not optimistic about the Suns next season. They lose a 24 years old Joe Johnson and 25 years old Quentin Richardson who were integral parts of their running offense last season. Then they added a 32 years old half court center Kurt Thomas and probably will sign a 32 years old Michael Finley. If they don't add other pieces, the 35 years old Jim Jackson will likely see a lot of minutes next season. Steve Nash is not getting any younger. It's going to be quite a dramatic change in the style of game they are going to play and they can only hope that Amare can be half as effective in a half court offense.

 

Last year, the East had the "suprise" teams in Chicago and Washington. This year, I think the suprise teams might be the Clippers and Warriors, so the West will probably still be better top to bottom

 

I think this is especially true about the Warriors. At the end of last season, when they had no chance of making the playoffs, they were playing some damn good ball.

 

it's more even now that in recent years, but don't get it twisted the west is still the better conference. you'll still see a below .500 team make the playoffs in the east next year, while the 8 seed out west will probably have 47 plus wins.

 

As long as the East continues to have the Atlantic division they'll still be the gimped conference in the NBA. Top to bottom that is.

 

I've never put much stock in the argument that Team X won't trade with Team Y because they're in the same conference. It never made sense to me that a team would put such a high priority on that rule (since you don't play any particular team in your conference that often), compared to the benefits of whatever trade they're offered. It seems to me you worry first about whether what you're getting is good enough for you, and worry later (if at all) about whether what the other team is getting is too good for them.

But this Miami-Memphis deal has me wondering. The East is getting better and better. Is this happening in part because the West has been full of talent, and teams in the West prefer to trade with teams in the East? Is this really the best offer Memphis had for Posey, Williams, et al? Or is it possible they balked at other trades that would have helped Western rivals?

 

I posted last evening that the "weak East" idea no longer applies. When more trades happen, the amnesty cuts are made and RFAs are finally signed, we can take a closer look and see how even the conferences are. Right now, I think Miami, Detroit, Indiana, New Jersey and Cleveland match up well with any 5 teams you choose in the West such as San Antonio, Houston, Denver, Dallas and Sacramento. The WC is indeed losing power if you mean that it no longer is clearly dominant over the East. My opinion is the Rockets will have an easier time this year getting a higher seed in the playoffs because the West is not as strong.

I give the Nuggets the edge over the Sonics. We may find out how much the Sonics lost in Nate McMillan. I can't wait to watch him crack the whip in Portland on Darius Miles.