Do you think the NFL has a problem with a regularly stronger AFC and a weaker NFC over the last 10 years? Just take a look at the NBA. The Western Conference has dominated the East for the most part for the last decade, but this year the playoff prospects are scary. If the season ended now, three sub-.500 teams in the East would be in the playoffs: The Bucks, Bobcats and Raptors. In the West, a .500 team (the Spurs) would be out of the playoffs. In the East, seven teams are .400 or worse; in the West, it’s only two.
This problem isn’t isolated to this year. Last season the East sent two sub-.500 teams to the playoffs while a team over .500 in the West was out. Previous year, same thing, with a .585 Golden State team out of the playoffs; The Warriors were a full 11 games ahead of the East’s No. 8 seeded Atlanta Hawks.
Part of this is not an imbalance between the conferences but within the conferences. While the East has four teams at .700 or better, the West only has two. Teams like the Celtics, Cavs and Magic would contend for the conference title no matter what teams were on their half of the bracket. Still, it’s discouraging to see losing teams make the playoffs.
Part of the reason to split the league into East and West is for travel purposes; In 1949, it was a lot harder to get from Boston to Los Angeles. Now it’s a five-hour non-stop flight. Does there really need to be this geographic division with improvements in travel?
What can the NBA do about this? Get rid of the conferences? Put everyone in the same playoff pool so the 16 best teams go to the playoffs?
on Dec 9th, 2009 at 6:13 PM
YES.
on Dec 9th, 2009 at 10:12 PM
Why not follow the MLS format. Keep the geographical divisions and conferences. This works best for the regular season and still allows for rivalries. For the playoffs, the 6 divisional winners automatically qualify and receive the top 6 seeds. The remaining 10 teams are determined by the best records. So hopefully the best two teams will reach the finals. Also return the first round to best 3 of 5.
on Dec 10th, 2009 at 9:59 AM
What Robert said. I would also see to it that the top record in each conference are seeded 1 and 2 in the field of 16 and get to hold homecourt regardless of record.