Looking at that the 9th seeded team in the Western Conference would be the 4th seeded team in the Eastern Conference just wondering how did the disparity in talent between the two conferences get so big? It seems like with free agency and the lottery that eventually there would be more parity between the two conferences.
i'd like to point out that there is no such thing as a "9th Seed." We call them yalts. Yet Another Lottery Team. carry on.
Billy Knight, Zeke, Babcock, Billy King, Weisbrod, Larry Harris, Danny Ferry, John Paxson, Jim Paxson, Layden, Dolan, and whoever is responsible for the mess in Charlotte just to throw out a few names. It's a combination of incompetence and bad luck. Bogut and Marvin Williams are in the east, Paul and Derron Williams are in the West. Bargnani and Sheldon Williams were drafted by eastern teams, while western teams get Brandon Roy and Rudy gay. Francis for Tmac. Traylor for Nowitski. Divacs for Kobe. Duncan goes to SA instead of Boston. Boozer skips out on Cleveland. The west also seems to just make the smart draft picks, like Bynum at 10, and Amare at 9, David West at 18, Josh Howard at 29, Barbosa at 30, Parker at 28. Grant Hill injury. Jay Williams debacle. Guys like Sean May and Okafor not really living up to expectations. It seems like every Jefferson for Griffin deal made by the east is topped by 3 better moves by the west.
If you think about it, lottery will not solve the problem, quite the opposite actually. Look at this year's possible scenario: Denver ends up in the lottery, while weaker teams such as the Sixers, the Hawks or whatever Eastern team between 4th and 8th spot will go in the playoffs. Denver is already better than any of those teams, and now have a better chance of getting a better player than those teams in the draft. Therefore the difference probably will be even bigger next year. And so on.... Now, I'm not saying it can not be reversed, because eventually it will. The Eastern Conference used to be better than the West in the early 90s, even though I don't think the disparity between the two conferences was as big as today.
1) All of the great big men of East from 90s either got old and/or injured....Ewing, Mourning, Daughterty, and Shaq (FA). 2) No great player and great teams in the East, if there is a great player on EC teams, there is a good chance his team is not very good without him. 3) Even back to the 90s, the East was watching itself get weaker over the years look at the drop off after the top 4 or 5 teams...you practically saw losing teams in the playoffs. 4) Inept GMs aren't helping either. Poor drafts, trades, and FA acqusition.
Isnt that the same as the NFL AFC vs NFC there's no good team in the NFL except maybe Dallas n NY? but they would be like Boston n Detriot in the EAST
Matpio said it all. Its crazy that a 50+ win team will be in the lotto, while a genuinely bad team doesn't get squat in the East. Its not that big of a deal that a 50win team won't get in the dance. Whats crazy is that a 50win team has a shot at Beasley. Its simply not fair, how is the East to get better when that is the case.
That's a good point but if the disparity is bound to grow then you would think the league would step in. Even though population has been shifting Westward for decades there are still huge populations centers in the east and I can't imagine the NBA considers its good to have teams in Atlanta, NY and now Chicago as perenniel second bananas to Phoenix, San Antonio and Houston (of course).
It has been mentioned that many of the Eastern teams are overall worse in the GM - Front Office areas. But should the real question be if the Eastern teams (and weaker Western teams) have more incompetent ownership that lets poorly performing people remain in the Front Office? Rockets Spurs Hornets Suns Lakers Golden State Jazz Trailblazers Recovering from poor personnel decisions of the past and that reflects on ownership for letting it happen. Mavericks Ownership is too involved. Nuggets ??? Kings Need ownership change. Supersonics Location (ownership?) issues. Fairly new GM. Memphis Ownership issues. Clippers Ownership issues. Timberwolves Ownership - GM issues. Celtics Sold their Souls and will have to pay for it in the future Pistons One of the best GM in the league and ownership seems quiet. Magic Recovering from a previous "Bad" GM. Ownership took too long to react. Raptors Recovering from a previous "Bad" GM. Ownership took too long to react. Cavs Should be thankful that Lebron rescued them from mediocrity. Has suffered from bouts of poor ownership - management over the decades. Sixers Finally seems to turned it around. Hawks Moving forward, but took quite a while. Knicks Need complete replacement of almost everything (including the owner). Miami Previously sold their Souls and now paying for it. Pacers Ownership slow to react and probably needs to replace quite a bit starting in the Front Office. Nets Ownership and GM not impressive. Bulls Has yet to figure it out since Jordan left. Not sure about ownership impact on the situation. Bucks Poor GM and ownership seems slow to react on replacing. Wizards Ownership thought Jordan would help them. Now to clean it up. Bobcats Has Jordan.
I agree with everything you said, but I'd add that the lottery system isn't helping either. The worst teams in the West have the worst records year after year because they're getting beat up on year round by all the tough Western teams. Meanwhile, the East, while considerably worse, play terrible Eastern Conference teams enough that their records just aren't usually as bad. On top of that, even if they do have the team with the worst record, with just a little bad luck you're picking at #8. Both Greg Oden and Kevin Durant landing in the West last year is a perfect example of this. Hell, I won't be shocked if Beasley and Rose end up in the West this year. Also, so long as the teams with the best shot at the championship are in the West, free-agents will be trying to move to those teams. I'm really starting to wonder if this situation can ever be fixed without direct intervention. It's been more than 10 years now.
See this is a great thread. Why can't there be intelligent threads like this in GARM. All the stuff over there is crap.
Exactly we need more "Bring back V-Span" threads, right? Who is with me????? CURAHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!! DD
I wonder if geography matters. Basketball is a more popular sport on the East Coast, the population densities are higher and more urban. Therefore, there is less pressure on East Coast teams to win. In towns like Houston and many other teams in the West, the city won't support a losing team.
yeah i can sympathize with you when you say that the lottery system isn't fair for eastern teams, but i also sympathize with the western teams who should be playing in the postseason but can't because their conference is ultra-competitive. the chance at the #1 for these teams is a palliative.
F it i just say extend the mason dixion line across to the pacific and just make North and South Divisions instead of east and west. it will help balance some of the power....flights be damn these franchises are making millions they can afford to have to spend a little more for the longer flights.
or there shouldnt be any conference and just have everyone play everyone else the same number of times...that way the good teams wont just be beating up on each other...and the top 16 teams make the playoffs and break it down like the college brackets... the one thing about this idea is that some rivalries would lose out on a game here and there
