It should be no conferences, top 16 teams in playoffs

[FLDFSU]

Yeah, after the champion of the West has been ravaged round after round by tough teams.

Meh. Man up. Your either the best team or you're not.

I care not that the 49ers could have beaten the Broncos if they were to meet in the Superbowl.

The fact is...you couldn't beat the Seahawks.

[Droid101]

What a gutless wimp FLDFSU is.

If the East was stacked with great teams, he'd be crying for a rule change so that the Heat wouldn't be the one facing all the good teams while OKC got to sweep past garbage.

[Dro]

Id like the change for the all the reasons already stated..Pacers would be a 3rd seed...Id love to see them play somebody other than the Hawks....Feels like we play them every year...

[D.J.]

Only issue I have is travel. Picture that format with the Knicks playing the Lakers the 1st round, then Golden State. Or the Lakers playing the Knicks the 1st round, then having to play Boston. In terms of travel, the current system is much better.

[Droid101]

Only issue I have is travel. Picture that format with the Knicks playing the Lakers the 1st round, then Golden State. Or the Lakers playing the Knicks the 1st round, then having to play Boston. In terms of travel, the current system is much better.

Is it?

What if Portland meets Memphis?

It's really not a big deal anymore, with planes being what they are these days.

[FLDFSU]

Ahh I missed this post, you're assuming other people don't like the east/west system because they don't like the Miami Heat as a team. You made it a fan agenda thing...it's not.

Well, the only team the OP is mentioning are the Heat.

[D.J.]

Is it?

What if Portland meets Memphis?

It's really not a big deal anymore, with planes being what they are these days.

It is a big deal. East Coast to West Coast is still 5-6 hours. You can make up to 5 trips if it goes all 7 games. The reason the current system has remained in tact is to avoid traveling issues. Being in New York and traveling to Miami or Detroit is a lot different than having to travel to LA or Oakland.

[FLDFSU]

What a gutless wimp FLDFSU is.

If the East was stacked with great teams, he'd be crying for a rule change so that the Heat wouldn't be the one facing all the good teams while OKC got to sweep past garbage.

I am a wimp?

I am not the one complaining about the western team "having a harder path" to the finals.

Man up. If your western team is better...then in the finals they will prove it.

Stop making excuses.

[Droid101]

It is a big deal. East Coast to West Coast is still 5-6 hours. You can make up to 5 trips if it goes all 7 games. The reason the current system has remained in tact is to avoid traveling issues. Being in New York and traveling to Miami or Detroit is a lot different than having to travel to LA or Oakland.

I'm just saying, that it still happens anyway. Golden State and New Orleans? Yuck.

Changing it to seeding would mean some matchups would suck still (NY to Cali), but some would actually get better (Milwaukee to Minny, Chicago to Memphis, etc).

[Droid101]

I am a wimp?

I am not the one complaining about the western team "having a harder path" to the finals.

Man up. If your western team is better...then in the finals they will prove it.

Stop making excuses.

This isn't about my Western team. This is about liking to watch the best teams play the best teams to see who wins. Nobody who lives outside of Georgia wants to see Atlanta in the playoffs over the Suns. Nobody.

[TheReal Kendall]

I love this idea. Only problem like others have stated is the traveling.

To solve the traveling I say they give those series an extra day of rest or have them meet in a neutral arena(this would be a problem cause it would eliminate home court advantage)

So I say just give those series that has to go from East to West or vice versa a extra day in between games

[oarabbus]

I am a wimp?

I am not the one complaining about the western team "having a harder path" to the finals.

Man up. If your western team is better...then in the finals they will prove it.

Stop making excuses.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...3&page=1&pp=15

East teams get to rest their guys. West teams are fighting a ****ing massacre.

We get it kid, you aren't going to change your mind.

[ZenMaster]

I guess I fail to see the point. If the west is superior, then the west team will b*tch slap the eastern team comes the finals.

Should the University of Georgia football team complain that they have to play in the SEC?

No. If UGA cannot beat Alabama in the SEC championship, then who cares that they could beat Notre Dame should they meet in the Championship?

The point is...UGA is not the best team. If they were, they would be Champions.

You are completely missing the point, I mean you're arguing for a watered down product just because the finals will present the same matchup.

Not going to bring college sports into it because that's entirely different as there are hundreds of teams playing school sports.

NBA is a pro league with only 32 top professional teams.
There's is more to a sports league than just who wins in the end.
Minnesota wins more games than teams making the playoffs in the east, they deserve recognition for being better than those teams. They deserve the extra money that comes with making the playoffs. All this goes for any team that competes better.

Instead Minnesota and Phoenix will end up in the worst positions in the NBA, because the day the regular season ends the standings is flipped for non-playoff teams in terms of importane.
Suck enough in the NBA and you get rewarded, suck in the English Premier League and you get booted out of the league for at least a year.

[Solefade]

lol Spurs had it just as easy or even easier than the heat/pacers last year...they basically swept their way to the finals


and its a myth that western conference is harder to play in than the east...while west teams are a lot more potent offensively, the east teams play a more physical defensive style.

[Crown&Coke]

The only issue I have with this is the entire season would have to be reworked. You can no longer have east teams playing each other 4x and the west teams 2x (and vice versa)

It would have to be evenly split (or as even as you can possibly work it with arena bookings and travel and the like)

Travel would be a bitch, but the NBA is already going back to the 2-2-1-1-1 for the finals, which last I checked is one East team vs. one West team