It depends upon where you draw the line. Is it 2 out of the last 3? Yes. Is it 2 out of the last 8? Yes. Is it 10 out of the last 17? Yes. I'm not saying the East is on par with the West right now. I'm saying that the very real differences have been magnified by an unbalanced schedule (63/37) and a small sample size (5 weeks of play). To my knowledge absolutely nobody has mentioned this schedule imbalance in any of the many articles written and discussed over the past few weeks about how the West is trouncing the East.
I drew the line because Jordan was good enough to win titles no matter who was in the Eastern conference (and Wade was good enough this year). However, since Jordan has been gone, things have played out the way you would expect. The east is weak, and has been for quite some time. A non-playoffs Rockets team, earlier this decade, went undefeated against the Central Division one year. That shoudl tell you something.
Pacertom, thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't realized the big homecourt advantage the West was enjoying.
Pacertom, the scheduling point is very valid. Thank you for bringing that to light. I disagree with you, however, on the rest of your points. Do you agree with my rants from before? I'm not saying Miami and Detriot are not deserving champions, but it is very unfair that year in and year out the unbalanced schedule is inflating the records of all eastern teams. A 1-16 seeding system with balanced schedules would be more fair and the road to the championship for Miami and Detroit would have been much tougher. So I'm not saying they would not have won, but it would be tougher and more fair. As for the running conference argument, I'm not so sure where I stand on that. Phoenix has generally been a running team, and Karl made Denver like that, and GS is now...but what about the 2 New Jersey teams. They ran their way through the East and then got destroyed in the most lopsided back to back finals trips nobody remembers. Last year's pace factor has just as many East teams as West teams above the average and below the average...so I just don't see the running argument. And still my unbalanced argument supercedes all. If all teams played the same schedules, the difference would be even more glaring. Now before Detroit spanked the Karl Maloneless Lakers (I thank you Detroit), the only decent East team in the finals in recent history was your 2000 Pacers, who could have and probably should have beat the Lakers were it not for a few bad bounces and bad calls. Oh, and you're wrong about the 55% thing. Update Tracking the suckitude of the LEast: the expanded version, with champs for that year in parenthesis This Year, as of the end of Wednesday, Dec. 6th, the West currently holds a 62 wins to 32 losses vs the East. That's a 66.0 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) Man, the conference wins don't go back past then. I need to find a site that keeps track of these things. If this pattern goes all the way back to th 90's....but that wouldn't make sense. As stated in another thread, the demise of the East started with the Chris Webber trade in my opinion, then came the Shaq defection, the Kobe trade, and the Duncan draft.
After tonight's games (Saturday December 9), the West has won 69 games to the East's 36. That's a current winning percentage of .657. Pacertom, do you care to stand behind your words? You say that it's all because of the homecourt scheduling thus far? You say that it will come down to 55% in the end. I say you are wrong. I say look at my analysis and that your Eastern conference has been weak for years. I say the system is unfair. Signature bet? You say 55%. I say it's at least 57% by the end of the year, considering the East is going to get all the home games now. Up for it?
The Atlantic division is completely unfair. I assume the Nets will work things out and end up better than .500 but being tied for the DIVISION LEAD with the Raptors at 7-12 (.368) is a crime against basketball.
