Back in the day, I remember reading an article in Sports Illustrated showing how the Power in the NBA had begun to shift from the East to the West, beginning with Shaquille O'Neal's departure from Orlando to LA, Michael Jordan's 2nd retirement from the Bulls, and the arrival of stars such as Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Webber, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett to teams in the Western Conference.
Recently, Chris Thomasson over at AOL Fanhouse wrote an article questioning if there's been a Power Shift back to the East, citing big free agents such as Amar'e Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer moving to the Eastern Conference, as well as the top 3 draft picks this year going to Eastern Conference teams.
But is the East as a whole really becoming better?
The West has been a very competitive conference for the past decade or so. The average wins needed to get into the playoffs (that is, wins to be the 8th seed) since 2001 has been 45.7 wins. For the East, that number has only been 40 wins (a below .500 record). In the West just this year, each team had more than 50 wins. Titles also favor the West, as they have won all but 3 titles since 1999 (funnily enough, even with just those 3 championships, the East has had 3 different teams win all 3 titles, while the West only had the Spurs and Lakers win the other 9).
In terms of star power, the East has quite a few of the best players (East in Blue, West in Red):
PG: Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo, Steve Nash, Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, Stephen Curry, Chauncey Billups, Russell Westbrook, Devin Harris
SG: Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Manu Ginobili, Joe Johnson, Brandon Roy, Andre Iguodala
SF: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Paul Pierce, Carmelo Anthony, Danny Granger, Josh Smith, Gerald Wallace, Rudy Gay
PF: Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, David Lee, Pau Gasol, Al Jefferson, Carlos Boozer
C: Dwight Howard, Andrew Bogut, Brook Lopez, Al Horford, Yao Ming, Nene
Two of the stronger teams in the West have lost stars to the East. Phoenix lost Stoudemire to New York, and Utah lost Boozer to the Bulls. The 3 biggest stars of Free Agency (James, Wade and Bosh) all remained in the East. Phoenix however still has Steve Nash (and never count a Nash team out), and Utah gained an immense talent in Al Jefferson for almost nothing.
In my opinion, the East still remains very top heavy. There are 3 contenders (Magic, Heat, Celtics), with 3 above-average teams that could put a scare in one of the contenders (Bucks, Bulls, Hawks). But the rest of the East remains muddled to me. There are going to be a few teams on the rise (Nets, Wizards, Knicks, Sixers), and a few on the decline (Cavs, Bobcats, Raptors), with the Pacers and Pistons seemingly mired in mediocrity for the moment.
The West meanwhile, remains strong throughout. The Lakers, Mavericks, Jazz, Nuggets, Thunder and Spurs all look to have strong years again, Phoenix is still likely a playoff team under Nash, Portland could be one of the better teams in the West depending on health (winning 50 games with all their injuries last year is nothing short of amazing), the Hornets and Rockets are also teams that if healthy, should've done better than they finished last year, and the Grizzlies, Warriors, Kings and Clippers are all young teams on the rise (Grizzlies have retained much of last years roster, the Warriors and Kings have both added valuable big men in addition to their young star guards, and the Clippers get a full year of Griffin as well as added experience for their other young pieces). The only team in the West that seems as if it really doesn't know what its doing is the Timberwolves (my pick for worst team in the NBA next year).
So while the East does seem to be getting stronger on paper, in my opinion at least, its a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, with the power being held by only a few teams. I'm not saying the East isn't stronger than in years past, but I don't think the West has weakened by any means.
Nice post Aykis, I agree. Despite the notable improvements of the Heat and Bulls in the East, the Western Conference is currently far deeper, and will be for a long, long time.
ReplyDeleteStar players have a lot to do with it, but I also believe it's an Owner's League, and the West has smarter, stronger owners, who have in turn assembled stronger front-office teams, who in turn build better basketball teams.
In the East, there are only three or four well-run franchises -- not co-incidentally they are the only real contenders -- while many an uninterested owner and disorganized management staff still gets their team into the playoffs (see: Charlotte, Atlanta).
But in the West, there are eight elite franchises (at least) with smart, ultra-competitive owners and workaholic managers, who will do whatever it takes to win: the Lakers, Spurs, Mavericks, Jazz, Denver, Blazers, Rockets, and most recently, the Thunder.
To make it into the Western Conference playoffs, you have to build a squad that out-performs at least one of these teams over an entire season. And any slip leaves you on the outside in a hurry (just ask Steve Kerr or Jeff Bower).