...just to laugh at the poor suckers who win 50 and still have to go home? I mean, seriously, I'm really hoping it happens. It would make a historical statement about the sheer ridiculousness of this season in general. Here's hoping the Warriors beat the Suns tomorrow, and then both teams mop up Seattle/Memphis to cement what is easily the wildest West the league has ever seen.
It would make a statement that the West and East balance is ridiculous and the real NBA finals is the Western Conference Finals. Come on, the Trailblazers would whip all lower 4 Eastern playoff teams in a 7 game series. I geniuely believe this...
You want statement? How about Golden State wins 50 games AND wins the lottery. Lands Beasley. That will get the message across.
The player picked isn't what matters. It is that a 50 win team does not make the playoffs, wins the lottery, receives the number one pick, and get their choice of ANY player in the draft. The you have a team like Atlanta who will finish several games below .500 and makes the playoff while receiving a draft pick in the mid-teens. So you have a 50 win squad potentially getting that much better over one that finished with less than 40 wins.
I disagree with this statement. While I agree the talent in the West, seeds 1-8, is greater than the East as a whole, Detroit and (espcially) Boston are two very good teams that will give anyone in the West a run for their money come finals time.
Well it's a good thing the Hawks are probably going to make the playoffs because that pick goes straight to Phoenix.
What annoys me about the Kings is they play at their competition's level. I think the Kings are the best team below .500 to beat the most playoff teams. They show up and beat some tough teams then go and lose to Seattle. Weird.
probably because their best player doesn't seem to care all the time. if artest played like he does against the rockets every night he'd be an mvp candidate and the kings would probably be in the playoffs.
Thats the same thing I came in to say. Its a bunch of very very good teams in one conference competing with each other. Which doesnt mean any of them are elite. I think any of the top 2 seeded teams from the last 4-5 years in the West are better than any team this year. Unless you figure the West teams to be more "battle tested", Boston and Detroit could beat any West team in one 7 game series. Can you seriously consider New Orleans (or the Rockets for that matter) better than Detroit?
So what? You know what else is true? Both those teams have had the opportunity to beat teams like Charlotte, New York, Miami and Chicago all year long, while in the West, even teams like Sacramento, Portland, and Minnesota are giving people runs for their money. Yes, those TWO teams in the East will give the West a hard time, but how many teams in the West will give those TWO teams a hard time? 9, 10, 11? It's ridiculous, and must be addressed. It is NOT cyclical....the East has been a complete joke since Jordan retired, and there are no signs pointing to it changing. Teams like GS and Portland continuously miss out on the playoffs, and get better with each lottery pick while teams like Washington, Atlanta, and New Jersey barely make it in, and get destroyed by the 1 seed.
