How good is the West?

[Joyner82reload]

Assuming all teams are healthy

OKC 65-70 wins
Golden state 60-65 wins
San Antonio 60-65 wins
Houston 55-60 wins
Dallas 50-55 wins
Memphis 50-55 wins
New Orleans 45-50 wins

[TheMarkMadsen]

they really need to do something about the playoff seeding

14 of the best 16 teams will be in the west this year

[Braincells]

The conference disparity gets even worse.

I'm not sure if it's ever been this bad.

Adam Silver needs to change the playoff format. Penalize teams that make playoffs with losing records.

[Nash]

who cares, the best team will always win in the end

[Rocketswin2013]

Clippers should make the playoffs, I think.

[UK2K]

who cares, the best team will always win in the end

Playing against high school teams while you sleepwalk to the finals is a big advantage.

[And1AllDay]

Are we gonna act like both East and West don't only have 2 (maybe 3) teams at most that will actually be contenders, though?

Last year for West it was Warriors and Spurs (imo) and once the Spurs flopped it was the Warriors to lose (which they didn't).

Last year for East it was Cleveland and Chicago, and we no doubt saw Cleveland emerge from the East.

Every year, maybe only 2 teams at most are title worthy from East/West but we just like to pretend an underdog will make the Finals. Hardly ever happens in the NBA, and multiple 7-game playoff series.

I bet most could predict who would come out of the East/West nearly every year for the past 10 years if given two choices from both sides. For example, in the West, we like to "pretend" the Clippers and Rockets and Grizzlies and Pelicans are contenders, but we very well know none of those are making the Finals. We just know it. We can have wishful thinking, but we all know only 3 teams can come out of the West: Spurs, Warriors, or Thunder

Just like we know only 2 teams can come out of the East: Cavaliers or Bulls

[DMAVS41]

who cares, the best team will always win in the end

Not true....and that isn't even the point.

As fans...we don't want to watch the best teams play each other in round 1 or miss the playoffs....in favor of watching the dumpster fire east teams.

It needs to change, but it won't.

And it sucks...it really hurts the nba product on the court throughout the year and hugely in the playoffs.

The NBA has so many quick easy fixes to make the product a lot better.

Shorten season and no back to backs in regular season
top 16 playoff format

level of importance and play in the regular season would go up tremendously...and playoffs would be much more interesting.

[dubeta]

Not as good as the East...

[And1AllDay]

they really need to do something about the playoff seeding

14 of the best 16 teams will be in the west this year

I do agree that the West has more "better" teams but that doesn't change the fact that at the top you really only have 5 contenders in this league. When playoffs are based off of 7-game playoff series the better teams are almost always going to come out on top with a higher chance.

I only see three teams coming out of the West (some might see only two) and those teams are: Spurs, Warriors, or Thunder (only if KD comes back healthy and beast mode like he was in 2014).

So, yeah it's great to see the Mavs and Grizzlies and Rockets and Clippers are "better" teams than what most of the East has to offer, but they still aren't advancing...

[DMAVS41]

Are we gonna act like both East and West don't only have 2 (maybe 3) teams at most that will actually be contenders, though?

Last year for West it was Warriors and Spurs (imo) and once the Spurs flopped it was the Warriors to lose (which they didn't).

Last year for East it was Cleveland and Chicago, and we no doubt saw Cleveland emerge from the East.

Every year, maybe only 2 teams at most are title worthy from East/West but we just like to pretend an underdog will make the Finals. Hardly ever happens in the NBA, and multiple 7-game playoff series.

I bet most could predict who would come out of the East/West nearly every year for the past 10 years if given two choices from both sides. For example, in the West, we like to "pretend" the Clippers and Rockets and Grizzlies and Pelicans are contenders, but we very well know none of those are making the Finals. We just know it. We can have wishful thinking, but we all know only 3 teams can come out of the West: Spurs, Warriors, or Thunder

Just like we know only 2 teams can come out of the East: Cavaliers or Bulls

chicago?

they were not a contender last year..

[And1AllDay]

chicago?

they were not a contender last year..

I'm saying only two teams had a chance of coming out of East/West, regardless.

I guess you can add Atlanta to the East, but my point still stands. The better teams almost always still come out on top, anyway...

[rmt]

who cares, the best team will always win in the end

Nope. Coasting to the Finals takes a lot less out of a team than the bloodbath that's the West. Look at LAC vs SAS. A first round loser would have beaten that Cavs team in the Finals.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Utah will be in the playoff hunt as well

Phoenix, Minny, Denver are all solid teams too that are better than most teams in the Least.

If Kings werent retards and aint sign Rondo and give up Thompson they couldve made noise.......

as is Portland and Lakers are ONLY bad teams in West. Kings will still be better than half the Least teams but still mediocre

[DMAVS41]

I'm saying only two teams had a chance of coming out of East/West, regardless.

I guess you can add Atlanta to the East, but my point still stands. The better teams almost always still come out on top, anyway...

I don't think anyone had a prayer outside of Cleveland last year. And the results show that.

Yea, the better teams almost always win.

The problem is...upsets are far more likely when good teams are the underdogs.

And it's just way more fun to watch good teams play longer in the playoffs.

And lastly, how tough your road is to the finals matters.

Would the Clippers have lost to the Rockets if they didn't have to play a brutal first round with Paul wearing down/injured? I don't know for sure of course...nobody does...but it certainly would have helped the Clippers if they got to play a joke East team in round 1 in a 4 or 5 game series.

It all matters....

There is no argument for having an unfair and unbalanced system.

The rest is just noise. It's already a big enough advantage to play in the weaker conference to get more wins (if the format was top 16)...but to double the advantage by giving the same teams an easier path...just silly

Why would someone be for an unfair system if they aren't incredibly biased?

Tell me the argument for keeping a system that we know is unfair...

It's going to be some bullshit about tradition and rivalries and "that's how it's always been"....and that's crap