Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/22/2010 2:47 PM EST
In Response to
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference:
Another lakers fan who can read.......AWESOME!!!! I think we are all capable of scrolling down on the Home Page here and hitting the button that says "Standings". I think we'd get the same info!! Better yet, why don't we just cancel the season and have the two "best" teams, lakers and Hornets, play a 7 game series while we all watch? What a shame one team has to come from the East!!
Posted by beatles4eva
All of your bitter sarcasm aside, this little factoid about the conferences is an interesting point of discussion. Most people were assuming the East was going to be the stronger conference this year for the first time in a while. It appears this is not going to be the case. The divide almost seems to be widening favorably toward the Western Conference, even with all that off-season player movement. Theoretically, coming out of conference with the best over-all record should be easier for the top Eastern Conference teams.
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/22/2010 3:42 PM EST
WC is the better conference and has been the last decade. 9 of the last 12 nba titles have come from teams representing the WC. I don't see that trend changing this year.
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/22/2010 5:41 PM EST
- EliasB
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Thanks CK57 for pointing that out for us.
Great Post!
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/22/2010 6:07 PM EST
- RUWorthy
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I'm not sure how often this has happened. But it appears that quite often the team that comes eighth in the East has a losing record.
Really, a team that's lost more games that it's won shouldn't make the finals of any sport. Pure case of making up the numbers in the post season.
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/22/2010 8:51 PM EST
- Qdaddy
- Posts: 829
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In Response to
Eastern Conference vs Western Conference:
I know it's still early but... So far this season the West is 45-31 against the East. The West has 9 teams playing above .500, the East has 5 teams playing above .500. The 3 teams with the best records in the NBA all play in the Western Conference. That is all.
Posted by CK57
No surprise here. It's been that way for some time now. The fact that the western teams continue to beat up on the east, especially the title contenders, helps the Lakers for the home court.
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 12:36 AM EST
- showtime32
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The west has generally been a more compelling conference to watch as well.
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 9:08 AM EST
- Duke4
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it sure wasn't back in the Bird/Magic days.....East was the Beast.....hence the term "The Big Four"......Celtics of Bird & company......Sixers of Moses and Doc...remember "Fo Fo Fo"? .....and Lanier, Montcrief, and the cast....talk about loaded teams....Lakers had weak competition out West during that decade...good old Kevin Duckworth and the boys.....
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 9:08 AM EST
- Duke4
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In Response to
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference:
I'm not sure how often this has happened. But it appears that quite often the team that comes eighth in the East has a losing record. Really, a team that's lost more games that it's won shouldn't make the finals of any sport. Pure case of making up the numbers in the post season.
Posted by RUWorthy
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 9:10 AM EST
- Duke4
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....just to point out a little history.....the Elgin Baylor led Lakers were swept by the Celts in the '59 Finals.....they came in with a losing regular season record....
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 9:21 AM EST
- Duke4
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Laker history of the early days including the Baylor/West teams....
55/56 33-39 lost in the Semifinals
56/57 34-38 lost in the Western Finals
57/58 19-53 missed playoffs
58/59 33-39 lost to Boston in the Finals
59-60 25-50 lost in the Western Finals
60/61 36-43 lost in the Western Finals
66/67 36-45 lost in the Western Finals
over a six year span they made the playoffs with a losing record five times and made it to the Western Finals four times.....let's talk about the competition during that time shall we.....?
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 9:29 AM EST
- Duke4
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...taking a deeper look.....Western Conference....teams with a winning record...
56/57 none
57/58 one
58/59 one
59/60 one
60/61 one
over five consecutive years, the West fielded 4 winning teams in 20 combined seasons (4 teams playing over a five year span)....that is truly amazing...the East fielded 12....and the Celtic dominance played a huge part in that...
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 9:41 AM EST
- Duke4
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In Response to
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference:
ain't this just lovely. pardon me duke, but how many times can this be gone over? the more pressing issue is when does khloe and lamar's new fragrance launch. the k girls won't be satisfied until everyone on earth smells like an odom.
Posted by BaileyPowe
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 9:43 AM EST
- Duke4
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...well BP......since Hollinger got some of the fans all riled up, I thought I'd point out some of the flaws in his arguement.....
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 11:04 AM EST
- showtime32
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In Response to
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference:
...taking a deeper look.....Western Conference....teams with a winning record... 56/57 none 57/58 one 58/59 one 59/60 one 60/61 one over five consecutive years, the West fielded 4 winning teams in 20 combined seasons (4 teams playing over a five year span)....that is truly amazing...the East fielded 12....and the Celtic dominance played a huge part in that...
Posted by Duke4
Aren't you talking about a league that had a third of today's NBA's teams with rules that made the game different from today? Relevancy you make is stretched at best.
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 11:09 AM EST
- beatles4eva
- Posts: 296
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It all depends on your perspective.....................in the West, there is NO ONE to challenge the lakers. They are pretty much a lock for the Finals. The East is wide open
Makes it compelling if you're a lakers fan, that's for sure!
I would say put MIA, BOS or ORL in the West, or the lakers in the East, and no team would be a lock.
Since the regular season doesn't really matter in the West, I would say the East is the better conference..................but then again, I'm not a lakers fan!
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 11:17 AM EST
- susan250
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In Response to
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference:
It all depends on your perspective.....................in the West, there is NO ONE to challenge the lakers. They are pretty much a lock for the Finals. The East is wide open Makes it compelling if you're a lakers fan, that's for sure! I would say put MIA, BOS or ORL in the West, or the lakers in the East, and no team would be a lock. Since the regular season doesn't really matter in the West, I would say the East is the better conference..................but then again, I'm not a lakers fan!
Posted by beatles4eva
It is still early in the season and I would agree that the Lakers are the best team in the West, but San Antonio, New Orleans, Utah, Dallas and even Denver are all very good teams and anyone of them could be a good matchup for the Lakers in the playoffs. As I already said, it is still very early in the season and many factors could change the records of many teams, especially injuries.
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 1:27 PM EST
- Duke4
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In Response to
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference:
In Response to Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference : Aren't you talking about a league that had a third of today's NBA's teams with rules that made the game different from today? Relevancy you make is stretched at best.
Posted by showtime32
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 1:34 PM EST
- Duke4
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Not really.....let me ask you this question.....is the level of major league baseball as good as it was pre-expansion? .....the consensus is that sports are too watered down today....on the majority of teams today, the 4th & 5th starters would not be on major league rosters of the earlier generation....gone are the days of 300 innings, 40 starts, and double digits in shutouts....and yet todays athletes are bigger and stronger than ever....and 200 innings pitched is now acceptable?
....as for the rule changes....the rule that changed the entire league was the 24 second shot clock during the mid '50's......otherwise, the most significant change has been the addition of the 3 point shot....you must realize that when Wilt scored 100 points...when Baylor scored over 70....they only got 2 points per basket.....other changes to the game have been the lack of enforcing the actual rules themselves....traveling, double dribble, up and down, palming....players get away with so much more these days...as I said in an earlier post.......over one half of the NBA's Greatest 50 list played from the mid 50's through the mid '70's.....
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 3:45 PM EST
The Wasted Conference is just that, a waste of time. Until some team looks the Lakers right in the eyes and does not back down from them, there is no point following anything out west because the Lakers will just intimidate teams.
Potentially the Spurs could fill the void, but I still remember Duncan and Robinson turning into flowers against the Lakers. The Nuggets have the attitude but can never stay healthy. Utah - all down to D Will and Al Jeff. NOH - no chance. OKC - too young.
I hope I am wrong.
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 6:21 PM EST
- Duke4
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well put my friend.....the Lakers are and have been historically great....but they never had a rival to match Wilt's Sixers.....or the Dr J/Malone Sixers.....Boston always had to fight to get out of the East....Lakers cruised more often than not....
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 8:47 PM EST
- RUWorthy
- Posts: 941
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In Response to
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference:
Laker history of the early days including the Baylor/West teams.... 55/56 33-39 lost in the Semifinals 56/57 34-38 lost in the Western Finals 57/58 19-53 missed playoffs 58/59 33-39 lost to Boston in the Finals 59-60 25-50 lost in the Western Finals 60/61 36-43 lost in the Western Finals 66/67 36-45 lost in the Western Finals over a six year span they made the playoffs with a losing record five times and made it to the Western Finals four times.....let's talk about the competition during that time shall we.....?
Posted by Duke4
Must say I'm surprised at those figures. But doesn't change how I feel in regards to sides with losing records making the finals. It really does make a mockery of the regular season, when you can fail to win half your games and make the finals.
If you take an exam and score 34 out of 72, you should not expect an invitation to study at Yale or Harvard. It's rewarding mediocrity.
I believe the Lakers dominated the West in the 80's because we simply had the best two players in the conference in our team. Houston took full advantage of our problems in 1981. And that shot in 1986 was more luck than anything else, although Houston did play well and put themselves in a position to win the series so good luck to them.
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 8:57 PM EST
- RUWorthy
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In Response to
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference:
well put my friend.....the Lakers are and have been historically great....but they never had a rival to match Wilt's Sixers.....or the Dr J/Malone Sixers.....Boston always had to fight to get out of the East....Lakers cruised more often than not....
Posted by Duke4
Let's face it though, how many teams in the West have had players with assassins mentalities? In the 80's you came up against Magic and Kareem two guys who were very tough mentally and had a killer sort of mentality when it came tot he game.
Bryant has it, but do any of the others in that conference even strike you of having that killer instinct in their game. Duncan does. But I can't think of many more.
The East in the 80's had plenty of players with it. Moses Malone who bought a whole new mentality to the 76ers before Boston just got too good, Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas and most of his crew, Michael Jordan and eventually Pippen.
It's an attitude that not too many players possess or come to possess. But when they do, their teams do take on an extra dimension.
Not sure if a Celtic does have it. KG is the defensive heart of the team so perhaps it comes from him. But I don't think he possesses that instinct to the same level of a Bill Russell, Jordan, Magic, Thomas or Bird.
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 8:58 PM EST
- Duke4
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the Ralph Sampson shot that beat the Lakers was a lucky toss at the end...it's true that the final score is all that counts...but it doesn't mean the better team won....the Lakers of the 80's were a team for the ages.....this coming from a Celtic fan....
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 9:07 PM EST
- RUWorthy
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We were guilty in 1986 of underestimating the Rockets. Massively underestimating them and not giving them the respect they deserved.
Having the Lakers meat the Celtics in 1986 would have been a great challenge for both sides.
The Rockets were not the greatest team, but they still took two off the Celtics were you'd think that series, on paper at least, should have been a sweep for the Celtics.
Re: Eastern Conference vs Western Conference
posted at 11/23/2010 11:09 PM EST
Well, let's not let a few facts get in the way: There's no way the Lakers didn't have a challenger in the last 10 years when the Spurs won championships! So, there must have been SOME competition for the Lakers. Same for the year that the Mavs made it to the Finals.
I'm a Celts fan, but the Lakers didn't have a cakewalk every year.
This year, I think they'll make it to the Finals, but I think folks will be surprised at how good the Spurs are when their big 3 are healthy and RJ is playing well. The Spurs will only suffer because they just aren't big (Duncan the only real big man).
