Is the Western Conference really that much better than the East?

[Po Pimp]

Everyone talks about how if the Suns were in the East, they would be in the top 5, and teams like Chicago or Philly wouldn't even make the playoffs in the West.

That sounds true, but when u dig deeper, the Western Conference has a LOT more bad teams. The top teams in the West get to beat up on those lower seeded teams 4 times a year.

Just take the top 5 and bottom 5 teams in the NBA:

Cleveland - 66-16, 40-12, 26-4 against West
LAL - 65-17, 44-8, 21-9 against East
Boston - 62-20, 44-11, 18-9 against West
Orlando - 59-23, 37-15, 22-8 against West
Denver - 54-28, 35-17, 19-11 against East

Sac - 17-65, 16-36, 1-29 against East
Washington - 19-63, 10-42, 9-21 against West
LAC - 19-63, 10-42, 9-21 against East
OKC - 23-59, 15-37, 8-22 against East
Minnesota - 24-58, 13-39, 11-19 against East
Memphis - 24-58, 14-38, 10-20 against East

[o_capone]

Re: Is the Western Conference really that much better than the East?

well the west 9 seed in the west is the only team that would make the east playoffs but they would be like a 4 seed

by the way, when u posted the top 5 teams u should have included the teams who tied with denver in the west...

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: Is the Western Conference really that much better than the East?

Not this year.

Bottom line to skip past all the bias crap

The West has a more stout 1-9
While the East 1-9 is weak

West has 1 title favorite
East has 1 title favorite

It all depends on your definition of "better"

Look at the West playoffs and how it's a more difficult road to the Finals.

There are TONS of variables-- injuries especially that change a lot of things.. if KG was healthy or Manu was healthy for example. Or the Hornets injuries or Jameer Nelson etc. etc. etc. ..

West is "better" IMO this year, but the gap isn't huge.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: Is the Western Conference really that much better than the East?

West is "better" IMO this year, but the gap isn't huge.

This.

[J0nnD0ugh]

Re: Is the Western Conference really that much better than the East?

The distance isn't as wide as last year. The bottom of the East is better, which makes the top of the West's W-L record about 3-5 games better. I think the East schedule makes them have to grind it out more.

[Jackets333]

Re: Is the Western Conference really that much better than the East?

The East is clearly the better conference. You have 14 solid teams in the East who could beat anyone in the NBA on any given night. You had 3 of the 4 teams with the best record in the NBA also. You could say the Hawks would have at least 50 wins if they were in the West because of all the horrible teams out there. The Hawks are about the same caliber team as the Blazers just by comparison.

Look at the Kings who beat one Eastern conference team all year. The conference with the worst teams can't be the best conference.

[GSW]

Re: Is the Western Conference really that much better than the East?

^ are we watching the same sport?

[MaddenMan]

Re: Is the Western Conference really that much better than the East?

Everyone talks about how if the Suns were in the East, they would be in the top 5, and teams like Chicago or Philly wouldn't even make the playoffs in the West.

That sounds true, but when u dig deeper, the Western Conference has a LOT more bad teams. The top teams in the West get to beat up on those lower seeded teams 4 times a year.

Just take the top 5 and bottom 5 teams in the NBA:

Cleveland - 66-16, 40-12, 26-4 against West
LAL - 65-17, 44-8, 21-9 against East
Boston - 62-20, 44-11, 18-9 against West
Orlando - 59-23, 37-15, 22-8 against West
Denver - 54-28, 35-17, 19-11 against East

Sac - 17-65, 16-36, 1-29 against East
Washington - 19-63, 10-42, 9-21 against West
LAC - 19-63, 10-42, 9-21 against East
OKC - 23-59, 15-37, 8-22 against East
Minnesota - 24-58, 13-39, 11-19 against East
Memphis - 24-58, 14-38, 10-20 against East

Usually the conference with the bad teams also have the elite teams (which are the teams that made the bad teams bad).

I wouldn't get into the East/West thing anymore. As recent history has shown us I don't believe any of the players buy into that crap since Jordan left.

[Muzyk23]

Re: Is the Western Conference really that much better than the East?

This year the East is a better conference.

[~LiverpoolRed~]

Re: Is the Western Conference really that much better than the East?

West is "better" IMO this year, but the gap isn't huge.

[55]

Re: Is the Western Conference really that much better than the East?

Sac - 17-65, 16-36, 1-29 against East

Wow! 1-29!? That makes me feel a little sick to my stomach even thinking about that. Whoever the one team in the east is that they beat must feel terrible.

[PrettyT11]

Re: Is the Western Conference really that much better than the East?

Wow! 1-29!? That makes me feel a little sick to my stomach even thinking about that. Whoever the one team in the east is that they beat must feel terrible.

They beat the sorry Knicks by 27 POINTS. How horrible is that if you are the Knicks?? The worst team in the league beat you by 27