I know it's early in the season, but so far, the Western Conference is dominating the Eastern Conference. After all the off season acquisitions (Brooklyn), players returning from injuries (Chicago, Indiana) and the 2-time defending champions in the East, this is a bit surprising. Of course, the West also had it's share of player movement (Houston, Clippers) and players coming back from injuries (OKC), but the general consensus was that the Eastern Conference might actually be the better conference this season. Not so far. There are only 3 teams in the East above .500: IND: 7-0 MIA: 4-3 PHI: 4-3 Compared to 9 teams above .500 in the West: SAS: 5-1 OKC: 4-1 PHO: 4-2 POR: 4-2 MIN: 4-2 DAL: 4-3 HOU: 4-3 LAC: 4-3 GSW: 4-3 In the East, the Atlantic Division seems completely topsy-turvey, with: PHI: 4-3 BOS: 3-4 TOR: 3-4 NYK: 2-3 BRK: 2-4 In addition to Brooklyn at 2-4 after all their high-priced, high profile acquisitions, Chicago, with former MVP Derrick Rose back at 2-3 have to be the biggest early season disappointments in the East. Philly, at 4-3 and Charlotte at 3-3 are definitely overachieving. In the West, Phoenix at 4-2 is the only real surprise, although LAC and HOU both at "only" 4-3 aren't exactly as dominant as expected. I know this could all change in a week, but is the West still the better conference top to bottom? Is the East really just Miami, Indiana and a bunch of also-rans? With so many teams above .500 in the West, do the Blazers have a realistic shot at the playoffs? Is this going to be one of those years where 2 or 3 teams with losing records will make the playoffs in the East, but you need to win 50 games in the West just to grab the 8th seed? BNM
Usually things start evening out midway through the season. The pretenders come back to earth, while the contenders start winning more. I still think Portland is top 4 in the west. We have mojo now and I think we win games we are supposed to win, while the games against contenders can go either way.
Agreed, there are always early season surprises, both good and bad, every year. I just found it interesting that the vast majority of those surprises, both good and bad, are in the East. I suspect another factor is with all the player movement in the East it is taking teams a while to adapt. Brooklyn is absolutely stacked talent wise, but is only 2-4. I mean shit, look at that starting 5: Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Brook Lopez. All five of those guys have been all-stars within the past 3 seasons. Plus, they have Jason Terry and AK47 coming off the bench. Jason Kidd better figure something out quickly, or his first NBA head coaching job may be a short one. Again, I know it's early and the sample size is small, but right now the Nets are dead last in a conference that only has 3 teams playing greater than .500 ball. BNM
Kidd will be in the hot seat if his team is middle of the pack by mid season. They have no reason why they aren't winning.
I wonder if they are this season's version of last season's Lakers. Too many guys who are used to being alpha dogs trying to play together and share the ball and the spotlight. I also wonder if they view Jason Kidd as more of a peer than a coach. I'm sure they all respect Kidd as a player, but he may not be able to keep their egos in check the way Doc Rivers could in Boston. Also, with so many old guys, injuries are always a concern. BNM
The East has the best teams at the top but the rest of the conference is all lottery teams. Chicago will be fine, Rose has shot atrocious and hasn't gotten to the line but physically he is able to beat his man off the dribble just as when he was an MVP. Give him a few weeks to get back into his old rhythm. The rest of the team is playing well. Brooklyn has been the biggest shock to me, I expected them to be right there with Miami but that old group is not looking good and over an 82 game season they will not get any fresher. Was hiring Kidd a huge mistake? Its very good for the Thunder Westbrook came back so soon, they need him and Durant. The west again is super deep, maybe the deepest year yet but I still think its not heavy at the top, any of the playoff teams can get hot like the Nuggets got last year and get a top3 seed. Yes even our Blazers! The Lakers and Suns have been the biggest surprises in the West so far. Same as Philly in the east these teams won't keep it up over the season. If Kobe can come back then the Lakers could maybe squeeze into the 8th seed which I think would probably be better for us Laker haters as they won't get a good draft pick.
And, it's not like they have had a tough schedule. They have losses to CLE, ORL and WAS. They have split their 2 games against good opponents (MIA and IND). Their only other win is over the 0-7 Jazz. They have played 3 games at home, 3 on the road and only had 1 back-to-back. They should be winning most of these games on talent alone, regardless who the coach is, but if they don't turn things around soon Kidd will be gone. I know the owner is a billionaire, but I doubt if he'll happy long in last place with the biggest payroll in the league, by far ($101,291,208), and WAY into luxury tax range. BNM
Brooklyn has a $100 million payroll and will owe I thought I heard $80 million in luxury tax alone! Look at the other NY team, they have a $90 million payroll and are terrible. I don't see how they have any chance of winning a playoff series. If Melo leaves in the summer they will be way over the salary cap with a terrible lottery bound roster. If he stays they'll have a fringe playoff team deep in the luxury tax. That team is a joke. The publicity mediocre one dimensional players like JR Smith get is nuts, ESPN covers him as if he was an all-star.
Their guys are so expensive, there really isn't anyone on that team that we could poach. I would actually really like to get Paul Pierce though.
Pierce is in the last year of his deal, so they'll have to decide if they want to extend him. I think KG has a couple more years. Not sure about Terry. That team needs a real coach.
The Nets starting 5 is a mess. They should be running the offense through Williams and Lopez. When I watch I see Williams deferring to Pierce and Johnson way too much as well (maybe that's the Kidd coaching effect?). Also Blatche should be starting over KG.
I know. Brooklyn plays for the media, not for the fans. Just trying to generate stories. They will be lottery bound for awhile starting either next year or the year after, IMO.
Bumping this thread, because while it's still early the disparity between the Eastern Conference and the Western conference has gotten even greater. In fact, at this point, it's ridiculous. Still only 3 teams at, or above .500 in the East. 11 teams at or above .500 in the West. But, it's even more ridiculous than that... Toronto is currently the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference with a 6-8 record. In the Western Conference, 6-8 New Orleans is the 13th seed. In the East only 4 teams have won 7 games. In the West 12 teams have won 7 games. If the season ended today, Atlanta, the 3rd seed in the East wouldn't make the playoffs in the West. Only 2 Western Conference teams have losing records against the East. 12 Eastern Conference teams have losing records vs. the West. The West is 46-20 vs. the East. The top 4 teams in the West are 19-0 vs. the East The top 5 teams in the West are 24-1 vs. the East The top 6 teams in the West are 28-2 vs. the East The top 7 teams in the West are 30-3 vs. the East The top 8 teams in the West are 35-6 vs. the East The top 4 teams in the East are 10-5 vs. the West The top 5 teams in the East are 12-8 vs. the West The top 6 teams in the East are 14-12 vs. the West The top 7 teams in the East are 15-15 vs. the West The top 8 teams in the East are 16-18 vs. the West BNM
I wonder if the new regime, sans Stern, will mix this up next year? Is there an easy or straight forward way to remove the divisions and conferences?
