Full Version: The Leastern Conference
Has anyone noticed that there are only four teams at .500 or better? And that the 76ers lead the Atlantic Division...with a 7-8 record??? I know the balance of power shifted to the west but this is ridiculous!
Hey, I am not complaining... A victory over Minnesota tonight (yeah, right!), and the Knicks are only a 1/2 game out! wink
Only 3 Eastern teams (Indiana, Detroit, New Orleans) are over .500 as of today. The Atlantic Division's "winning" percentage is an atrocious .347.
Only 4 Western teams are under .500 and 3 of them (Memphis, Phoenix, Golden State) are just one game under while the other (LA Clippers) is just two under.
Only 4 Western teams are under .500 and 3 of them (Memphis, Phoenix, Golden State) are just one game under while the other (LA Clippers) is just two under.
Well... The Leastern Conference Knicks took it to the Bestern Conference Timberwolves last night 97-92. Way to go! 
Duhhhhhhh
Can't you all see the big skinny?
While everybody salivates over the western conference...its the year of the PACERS! Who has, despite all the naysayers, have the BEST RECORD IN THE NBA!!!
Sundays Prediction:
Pacers 92-FLAKERS 85
Can't you all see the big skinny?
While everybody salivates over the western conference...its the year of the PACERS! Who has, despite all the naysayers, have the BEST RECORD IN THE NBA!!!
Sundays Prediction:
Pacers 92-FLAKERS 85
Think b4 you speak la...meatman, Pacers might win a game vs Lakers but they will NEVER & I mean never beat them for the title!
Well, it's now Dec. 3 (at least on the East Coast), and the Sixers are again leading the Atlantic with a losing record.
As for a comparision, the two teams tied for last in the Midwest are at .500, one being the defending champs, mind you.
As for a comparision, the two teams tied for last in the Midwest are at .500, one being the defending champs, mind you.
To further point out the disparity between the East and West, the defending Eastern champion Nets lost to the Memphis Grizzlies last night by 47 points!
I don't care how improved Memphis is or that it was in Memphis or that the Nets lost Alonzo Mourning. 47 points is just embarrassing!
I don't care how improved Memphis is or that it was in Memphis or that the Nets lost Alonzo Mourning. 47 points is just embarrassing!
On the other hand, that San Antonio-Houston game the other night -- in which the score was 30-25 at HALFTIME -- shows that the West can play some very ugly ball at times as well.
I think you can point to one big factor in the difference between the Eastern & Western Conference - international players. The East is probably just as good as the West among American-born stars - McGrady, B. Davis, Kidd, Pierce, BILLUPS & Wallace, Iverson, J. O'Neal, Abdur-Rahim, LeBron, Arenas, and Vince Carter match up well against the Americans in the East (excluding the Lakers, who still have Rick Fox).
But add the following:
MEM - Gasol
SAN - Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Nesterovic, and Turkoglu
UTAH - Lopez, Kirilenko, Arroyo
DEN - Nene
DAL - Nash, Nowitski, Najera
HOU - Yao
Plus Peja & Divac in Sacramento. Seattle has Radmanovic. So every team in the best division in basketball has at least one all-star calibur foreign player, except Minnesota (which still has Olowokandi). The Lakers need 4 Hall of Famers to keep up, while right on their heels is a team with a shooter having an MVP season.
International-wise, the East has Ilgauskas, Kukoc, Okur, and ... ummm ... Magliore ... and ... well, that's about it.
2 of the 25 top-vote getters (10 forwards, 10 guards, 5 centers) in the East are from the rest of the world. 10 in the West are. Take away the 4 HOF Lakers, and nearly 50% of the West's All-Star vote-getters are from elsewhere. And that doesn't even count Kirilenko, a hands-down All-Star. It's not just that the NBA is doing unprecedented promotion of the All-Star game in 17 languages - these guys are excellent team and one-on-one players. 13 of 16 of the International players scoring 10+ ppg are in the West.
I am NOT knocking American-born players. There are still more good Americans playing in the NBA than non-Americans. The best rookies this year, by far, are Americans. Other than Duncan, Ewing, and Olajuwon, none that I know of have truly been dominant in the regular or post seasons. But it's something to keep in mind when looking at East v. West.
P.S. With New Jersey's recent run, they would now be TIED FOR FIFTH in the Midwest, which is good enough for the #7 spot in the West. Second-place Boston would be tied with Seattle for the third-worst record in the West - 1/2 game up on the Clips. Every team in the Midwest has a winning Road Win/Home Loss ratio. Go Nuggets!!!
But add the following:
MEM - Gasol
SAN - Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Nesterovic, and Turkoglu
UTAH - Lopez, Kirilenko, Arroyo
DEN - Nene
DAL - Nash, Nowitski, Najera
HOU - Yao
Plus Peja & Divac in Sacramento. Seattle has Radmanovic. So every team in the best division in basketball has at least one all-star calibur foreign player, except Minnesota (which still has Olowokandi). The Lakers need 4 Hall of Famers to keep up, while right on their heels is a team with a shooter having an MVP season.
International-wise, the East has Ilgauskas, Kukoc, Okur, and ... ummm ... Magliore ... and ... well, that's about it.
2 of the 25 top-vote getters (10 forwards, 10 guards, 5 centers) in the East are from the rest of the world. 10 in the West are. Take away the 4 HOF Lakers, and nearly 50% of the West's All-Star vote-getters are from elsewhere. And that doesn't even count Kirilenko, a hands-down All-Star. It's not just that the NBA is doing unprecedented promotion of the All-Star game in 17 languages - these guys are excellent team and one-on-one players. 13 of 16 of the International players scoring 10+ ppg are in the West.
I am NOT knocking American-born players. There are still more good Americans playing in the NBA than non-Americans. The best rookies this year, by far, are Americans. Other than Duncan, Ewing, and Olajuwon, none that I know of have truly been dominant in the regular or post seasons. But it's something to keep in mind when looking at East v. West.
P.S. With New Jersey's recent run, they would now be TIED FOR FIFTH in the Midwest, which is good enough for the #7 spot in the West. Second-place Boston would be tied with Seattle for the third-worst record in the West - 1/2 game up on the Clips. Every team in the Midwest has a winning Road Win/Home Loss ratio. Go Nuggets!!!
If my Knicks (13-19) beat the Heat at the Garden tonight, they will be only one game behind #08 seed Philadelphia (who is idle). You don't even need to be close to being a .500 team in the east anymore. I am happy, though, because if they win tonight that will be 4 victories in a row for New York.
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Cattledog:
If my Knicks (13-19) beat the Heat at the Garden tonight, they will be only one game behind #08 seed Philadelphia (who is idle). You don't even need to be close to being a .500 team in the east anymore. I am happy, though, because if they win tonight that will be 4 victories in a row for New York.
If my Knicks (13-19) beat the Heat at the Garden tonight, they will be only one game behind #08 seed Philadelphia (who is idle). You don't even need to be close to being a .500 team in the east anymore. I am happy, though, because if they win tonight that will be 4 victories in a row for New York.
The Knicks just crushed Miami at the Garden last night. They have won 4 in a row (3 of which were on the road), and are 7-3 in their last 10. They are now only 1 game behind Philadelphia for the eighth seed. New York is currently the hottest team in the East!
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Cattledog:
New York is currently the hottest team in the East!
And Dopey was the tallest dwarf! New York is currently the hottest team in the East!
Knicks are playing well and can place well in their division. But Detroit, Indiana, New Jersey and New Orleans are the class of the East. And when Philly gets Iverson back they'll likely put some distance between them and the Knicks.
I do think that the finals will be way more competitive than in recent years. I can see New Orleans or Indiana or Detroit hanging with the Western winner. Not winning, just making it tougher.
Okay, it's still the Leastern Conference but kudos are in order. Somehow, despite being 14-18 entering the game and still missing Allen Iverson and Aaron McKie, the 76ers beat the Spurs in San Antonio today, 83-77, breaking the Spurs' 13-game winning streak and sweeping the season series. It's the first win by the Sixers at San Antonio since Jan. 6, 1986. eek! Those were the days of Julius Erving, Charles Barkley, Moses Malone, Bobby Jones and Mo Cheeks.
Bringing this back up to say that the Wizards, my Wizards are 4 1/2 games out of the 8th position in the East, 5 1/2 games out of 6th.
As bad as the Wizards have been this year, for them to be anywhere near playoff contention says something unspeakably bad about the Eastern Conference.
In all my years of watching professional sports, I've never seen a conference/league that was this poor. The '80's AFC was pretty bad but nothing like this.
[ March 04, 2004, 04:18 PM: Message edited by: PCC ]
As bad as the Wizards have been this year, for them to be anywhere near playoff contention says something unspeakably bad about the Eastern Conference.
In all my years of watching professional sports, I've never seen a conference/league that was this poor. The '80's AFC was pretty bad but nothing like this.
[ March 04, 2004, 04:18 PM: Message edited by: PCC ]
In the West there are 9 teams with winning records to just 5 in the East -- and 4 of those 5 are in the Central Division. The Atlantic has just gone to the dogs. If the playoffs started today 3 Eastern teams with losing records would be in the playoffs.
Jake, that's a good point you're making, but I think the most often cited reason for Best Conference dominance is the lack of dominant big men in the East. Most of those teams simply have no one that can match up to Shaq or Duncan, apart from Todd MacCulloch and Joel Pryzbilla.
More excitement in the Leastern Conference!
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At one inexplicable point last night, the Sixers were 11-for-60 from the floor. There are investment bankers who can get you a better percentage. The Boston Celtics piled up points at a 2 by 2 rate that was the fastest since Noah. The Sixers had to be happy Donald Trump wasn't coaching. He might have fired everybody.
NBA fans saw a Temple game break out. The Sixers scored 23 points in the first half, the fewest for a half in the history of the Syracuse/Philadelphia franchise since 1954-55, the advent of the shot clock. Their 41 points through three quarters also was a franchise low, since '54-55. Their final total of 65 represented the fewest ever scored against the Celtics. The Celtics, in that same time frame, never have allowed fewer points in a half, or in three quarters.
For all of you out there pleading for the Sixers to finish in the lottery rather than the postseason, this was your day in the sun. A team that entered the game 1 ½ games out of the No. 8 - and last - playoff berth in the Eastern Conference gave new meaning to \"wide right.\"
\"Wide left,\" too.
There are trolleys that don't go \"clang clang\" as often.
NBA fans saw a Temple game break out. The Sixers scored 23 points in the first half, the fewest for a half in the history of the Syracuse/Philadelphia franchise since 1954-55, the advent of the shot clock. Their 41 points through three quarters also was a franchise low, since '54-55. Their final total of 65 represented the fewest ever scored against the Celtics. The Celtics, in that same time frame, never have allowed fewer points in a half, or in three quarters.
For all of you out there pleading for the Sixers to finish in the lottery rather than the postseason, this was your day in the sun. A team that entered the game 1 ½ games out of the No. 8 - and last - playoff berth in the Eastern Conference gave new meaning to \"wide right.\"
\"Wide left,\" too.
There are trolleys that don't go \"clang clang\" as often.
Only 4 teams with winning records in the Least as of today. Milwaukee is the number 4 seed at 40-38. It's still possible they could finish with a losing record and get home court for the first round. Pretty sure that has never happened.
How pitiful are the Wizards? Well they are a dismal 2-20 against Atlantic Division opponents. A division that has only 1 team over .500. Wonder how they'd have fared in the NCAA tournament if they could only come up with 2 wins against such powerhouses as Orlando, Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Miami?
Bummer that we won't get LeBron in the post season. After a nice run to get into playoff position, the Cavs have lost 5 straight and 9 of 10 to fall 3 behind the Celtics for the #8 seed. Cavs had no shot of doing anything, but LeBron in the playoffs would have been vastly more interesting than the Celtics.
And the Magic are finishing up the way they started, losing 11 straight.
How pitiful are the Wizards? Well they are a dismal 2-20 against Atlantic Division opponents. A division that has only 1 team over .500. Wonder how they'd have fared in the NCAA tournament if they could only come up with 2 wins against such powerhouses as Orlando, Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Miami?
Bummer that we won't get LeBron in the post season. After a nice run to get into playoff position, the Cavs have lost 5 straight and 9 of 10 to fall 3 behind the Celtics for the #8 seed. Cavs had no shot of doing anything, but LeBron in the playoffs would have been vastly more interesting than the Celtics.
And the Magic are finishing up the way they started, losing 11 straight.
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