Elias suggests it's not cyclical

[GJense4181]

The West has won the last 7 of 9. No reason to think that percentage is gonna change.......

Why not? Boston or Detroit have to be the favorites this year. Even if you *think* that LAL or NOH or Houston or some other team are better teams, the Western conference playoffs will be a battle of attrition for all involved. Detroit and Boston have to worry about Cleveland and maybe Orlando (Pistons will assuredly handle them), but every matchup in the West is unfavorable at this point.

Then, you have to consider that when Detroit and Boston decline, Lebron and his Cavs will still be in the picture, while Phoenix and San Antonio may fall off the map out West due to age. Any championship that James wins is a championship for the East. I expect he'll get a couple.

[Heat3]

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That makes no sense to the question I asked. I said who has a chance.

You are already knocking out the other 28 teams now.

So if you feel only one team from each conference. Name them. Now.......

The Western Conference Champion and the Eastern Conference Champion!

What does "chance" mean?? Did the Mavs have a better "chance" than the Warriors last year? Did their regular season amount to anything? If not what significance does a conference having the top 2 teams have? Absolutely nothing because ONLY ONE team can play for the finals.

Who cares if the EC only once has the top 2 teams in the last 17 years.....when the conferences have basically split the championships since then.

That's why I said the ring is the only thing that matters......

[Wade2k6]

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Clearly, it is easier to get to the finals if you play in a Conference with only a couple of great teams, as opposed to a Conference with eight very good teams. The only tough team the Celtics will face in the East is the pistons.

Do you think mediocre teams like the Cavs and Sixers would have made it to the Finals the last ten years if they played in the West?

Here we go again with some of the ridiculous West homers that always use this argument. So what is the Cavs and Sixers wouldn't have made the finals in the West in the last ten years. If you want go to that route, how many teams realistically had a shot the last 10 years in the West against the likes of the Lakers and Spurs? hugggeeee difference there, I must say.

The Heat beat the best the west had to offer in 6 games. The Pistons beat the best the west had to offer. What's the difference how they do it?

[Dtown84]

The West has won the last 7 of 9. No reason to think that percentage is gonna change.......

Considering it's a certainty Boston would have home court in the finals, and the good chance Detroit would also, and the sheer insane difficulty of the western playoffs. There's no reason to think the east can't up improve that percentage this year.

[G35]

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Why not? Boston or Detroit have to be the favorites this year. Even if you *think* that LAL or NOH or Houston or some other team are better teams, the Western conference playoffs will be a battle of attrition for all involved. Detroit and Boston have to worry about Cleveland and maybe Orlando (Pistons will assuredly handle them), but every matchup in the West is unfavorable at this point.

Then, you have to consider that when Detroit and Boston decline, Lebron and his Cavs will still be in the picture, while Phoenix and San Antonio may fall off the map out West due to age. Any championship that James wins is a championship for the East. I expect he'll get a couple.

I'm not talking about just this year. I said 7 of 9. The East may win this year but the West could easily take the next 3 straight.


Key Player ages at the start of next season;

Celtics

Allen 33
KG 32
Pierce 31

Pistons

Sheed 34
McDyess 34
Billups 32
Rip 30
Prince 28

Cavs

Illgauskas 33
Damon 32
Joe Smith 33
Wally 31
Ben 34

Really who is the up and coming teams in the East? Orlando? Maybe. Miami? Don't think so. Chicago? Nope. Washington? If you think so. Toronto? Possibly.

Look at the West with strong and young teams:

Lakers

Kobe, Bynum, Gasol, Odom, Farmar

Blazers

Roy, Oden, Outlaw, Aldridge


Jazz

Deron, Boozer, Okur, Brewer, Milsap

Hornets

Paul, Chandler, West, Peja

Rockets

McGrady, Yao, Battier

Warriors

Baron, Monta, SJax, Biedrins


All the best young teams are in the West and people are deluding themselves and just plain hating if they deny that. The East isn't about to turn around this so called "cycle".......

[Wade2k6]

So what? What is your point? The Spurs are the best team in the West. The Spurs are a pretty old team. Either way you look at it, all them teams will knock eachother off. It doesn't matter if the West has 13 great amazing young teams. Only one will come out of the West.

There are teams in the East that have plenty of young talent as well. The Cavs have potential will LeBron to win a championship, The Heat have potential to win a championship with Wade (possibly Beasley).

[G35]

So what? What is your point? The Spurs are the best team in the West. The Spurs are a pretty old team. Either way you look at it, all them teams will knock eachother off. It doesn't matter if the West has 13 great amazing young teams. Only one will come out of the West.

There are teams in the East that have plenty of young talent as well. The Cavs have potential will LeBron to win a championship, The Heat have potential to win a championship with Wade (possibly Beasley).

The point is this domination of the West over the East is that it's not cyclical. The East just have a majority of poorly run franchises.......

[Wade2k6]

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The point is this domination of the West over the East is that it's not cyclical. The East just have a majority of poorly run franchises.......

A team from the East could easily turn their franchise around in less then a year. Who would of thought in 2004 that 2 years later the Heat would win an NBA championship?

Teams change so much within 1-2 years. If the Heat add Beasley, and can get a good PG they can completely change their franchise around. It's just so simple to say that about alot of teams that predicting 3-4 years down the line is just plain stupid.

[G35]

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A team from the East could easily turn their franchise around in less then a year. Who would of thought in 2004 that 2 years later the Heat would win an NBA championship?

Teams change so much within 1-2 years. If the Heat add Beasley, and can get a good PG they can completely change their franchise around. It's just so simple to say that about alot of teams that predicting 3-4 years down the line is just plain stupid.

When is the last time Atlanta, Charlotte, Indiana, Milwaukee, Knicks, Philly, Toronto, and Washington won a playoff series. Let me tell you it's been at least 3 years for each of these teams and some of them much longer than that......

[Dtown84]

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When is the last time Atlanta, Charlotte, Indiana, Milwaukee, Knicks, Philly, Toronto, and Washington won a playoff series. Let me tell you it's been at least 3 years for each of these teams and some of them much longer than that......

Denver, Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, Minnesota, Memphis, Houston. When was the last time any of them won a playoff series? For some it's been three years, for others it's been much longer than that....

[G35]

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Denver, Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, Minnesota, Memphis, Houston. When was the last time any of them won a playoff series? For some it's been three years, for others it's been much longer than that....

Give me a minute, I have to go and get some cake, call the gf and then I will go and make this comparison. How much you bet those EC teams are going to look worse.......

[Dtown84]

Oh of course. But the point is we're talking about dominance, and championships. Bringing up bottom feeders seems rather pointless. How does Atlanta being poorly run, effect say the Magic? By the same token how does the La Clippers being an embarrassment (outside one year) effect anyone but themselves.

These teams don't even effect playoff off comparisons, so why bring them up?

[Dtown84]

Just for laughs since 99

# of finals appearances

Teams you mentioned (east) 3

Teams I mentioned (west) 0

50 win seasons
Teams you mentioned (east) 4

Teams I mentioned (west) about 10 okay yeah I really shouldn't have included the kings, would have been much closer. You win this round! moving on

Best record in the league
Teams you mentioned (east) 1
Teams I mentioned (west) 1

Could do more random stats, but the point is you shouldn't write off teams for a bad few years. They aren't that far removed from better times.

[Wade2k6]

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When is the last time Atlanta, Charlotte, Indiana, Milwaukee, Knicks, Philly, Toronto, and Washington won a playoff series. Let me tell you it's been at least 3 years for each of these teams and some of them much longer than that......

Okay, some teams have had troubles rebuilding. But, others haven't. The Miami Heat completely rebuilt their team over one summer, and turned it into a contender. Who's to say they can't do that this year, and be another contending team in the East.

The Magic out of nowhere became a top 3 team in the East. The Raptors have a nice young team. The Hawks, Bobcats.

[G35]

Oh of course. But the point is we're talking about dominance, and championships. Bringing up bottom feeders seems rather pointless. How does Atlanta being poorly run, effect say the Magic? By the same token how does the La Clippers being an embarrassment (outside one year) effect anyone but themselves.

These teams don't even effect playoff off comparisons, so why bring them up?

True, the Clips have sucked for a long time until recently. Hawks of the Western Conference.

I was going to do the stats but I started to notice that the West has had a lot of teams that didn't make the playoff's for a while either. Portland, Clippers, Warriors, and Seattle were pretty bad this past decade........

[GJense4181]

I'm not talking about just this year. I said 7 of 9. The East may win this year but the West could easily take the next 3 straight.


Key Player ages at the start of next season;

Celtics

Allen 33
KG 32
Pierce 31

Pistons

Sheed 34
McDyess 34
Billups 32
Rip 30
Prince 28

Cavs

Illgauskas 33
Damon 32
Joe Smith 33
Wally 31
Ben 34

Really who is the up and coming teams in the East? Orlando? Maybe. Miami? Don't think so. Chicago? Nope. Washington? If you think so. Toronto? Possibly.

Look at the West with strong and young teams:

Lakers

Kobe, Bynum, Gasol, Odom, Farmar

Blazers

Roy, Oden, Outlaw, Aldridge


Jazz

Deron, Boozer, Okur, Brewer, Milsap

Hornets

Paul, Chandler, West, Peja

Rockets

McGrady, Yao, Battier

Warriors

Baron, Monta, SJax, Biedrins


All the best young teams are in the West and people are deluding themselves and just plain hating if they deny that. The East isn't about to turn around this so called "cycle".......

7 of 9 is a 77% win percentage. If Boston or Detroit wins this season, then the last five years (Boston/Detroit, San Antonio, Miami, San Antonio, Detroit) have yielded a 60% championship conversion rate in favor of the East!
If the West won the next three (5 out of last 8) it would be a 62.5% 'ship rate for the West. Hm. They'd need to win 9/12 or 10/13 to achieve your estimated rate of success, which simply won't happen. The West will not win 4 or 5 championships in a row.

The Pistons have Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson to phase in while Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess decline. Rodney Stuckey is waiting in the wings for Chauncey (whose game does not rely on athleticism) and Rip (whose skill-set is ageless).
Damon Jones? Ha. Skilled centers like Ilgauskus (who has somehow avoided injuries for six seasons running) don't tend to decline all that quickly, and Wally Szczerbiak is a relatively unathletic shooter to begin with. Cleveland can lose Ben Wallace and/or Joe Smith and still be fine.
Orlando needs two players, a starting SG and PG. This could be resolved with ONE free agent class. Gilbert Arenas/Beno Udrih/Jason Williams and Mickael Pietrus/Jarvis Hayes/Matt Barnes could be all it takes to get them in the hunt.
Raptors need to make a trade to become contenders, but whose to say they won't? What if they swindle somebody?
Chicago could develop internally. Consider how many young players they have. Their oldest rotation player is Larry Hughes, who is 29, then Andres Nocioni, who is 28, and then Kirk Hinrich, who is 27. I wouldn't count them out.

Regardless, ALL of the *great* Western teams have to go through each other every season! As long as ONE Eastern contender makes it to the Finals, they have a shot. If there is ONE team like Boston, or Detroit, or an improved Cleveland, they can win! All of those up and coming teams are nice, but they need to get through each other first (getting fatigued and/or banged up in the process) before facing the East's best.

[1eyedjake]

Is there, on average, more money in the West?

That would make a lot of sense, if so.

(I'm Australian, FYI.)