So out of the 15 players who made the all nba teams, 4 were from the east.

[Uncle Drew]

DeAndre Jordan is 1st team. Weak era.

[Gileraracer]

East saved Lebrons legacy. Imagine if he was in the west, he'd only have 2 finals appearances and probably would've lost both. 0/2 is even worse than 2/7

[DMAVS41]

The East and West record wise were basically even this year. Shouldn't that mean more? Like seriously, at one point will people stop ignoring that and stop whining about this?

When there is more than one legit contender in the conference...

Yea...the East was more competitive this year...thank god, but at the end of the day the;

Thunder/Spurs/Warriors/Clippers (when healthy)...would be massive favorites over an East team other than the Cavs.

So we'll stop bitching when we get to see playoffs over a long stretch in which the road to the finals is somewhat balanced.

[DMAVS41]

East saved Lebrons legacy. Imagine if he was in the west, he'd only have 2 finals appearances and probably would've lost both. 0/2 is even worse than 2/7

It is amazing how much playing in the East has helped Lebron's legacy from that standpoint.

[ImKobe]

The East is trash. Two of the top 3 players are on the Cavs and the talent difference between Cleveland and Toronto is huge man.

In the West you have the DPOY, the Unanimous MVP, the teams with the two best regular season records (Warriors 73 wins 1st all-time, Spurs top 10 record all-time) and a top 5 rebounding regular season team of all-time by rebounding differential.

What does the East have besides Lebron and Irving? A past-prime Wade? John Wall? Kyle Lowry?

[guy]

West still had more wins.. 232-218.. Hold this L, clown.

Yes that's basically even. Literally a swing of 7 single games. Learn to read.

[guy]

When there is more than one legit contender in the conference...

Yea...the East was more competitive this year...thank god, but at the end of the day the;

Thunder/Spurs/Warriors/Clippers (when healthy)...would be massive favorites over an East team other than the Cavs.

So we'll stop bitching when we get to see playoffs over a long stretch in which the road to the finals is somewhat balanced.

So the top 4 teams in the west are better then the top 4 teams in the east. And most likely, the remaining 11 teams in the east are better then the remaining 11 teams in the west overall. That's not balanced? How specific does it need to be? Until each seed has the same record in each conference?

By the way, the first seed in the East actually had to face greater W-L opponents then the first seed in the West this year.

[Young X]

When there is more than one legit contender in the conference...

Yea...the East was more competitive this year...thank god, but at the end of the day the;

Thunder/Spurs/Warriors/Clippers (when healthy)...would be massive favorites over an East team other than the Cavs.

So we'll stop bitching when we get to see playoffs over a long stretch in which the road to the finals is somewhat balanced.

Clippers not better than the Raptors.

Normally I would agree that the west was much better than the east but that wasn't true this year. From seeds 4-8 the west was no better than the east. The Cavs and Raptors are both top 5 teams.

It is true that the vast majority of the best individual players play in the west though but team wise it's not as unbalanced as it was in the past.

[DMAVS41]

So the top 4 teams in the west are better then the top 4 teams in the east. And most likely, the remaining 11 teams in the east are better then the remaining 11 teams in the west overall. That's not balanced? How specific does it need to be? Until each seed has the same record in each conference?

By the way, the first seed in the East actually had to face greater W-L opponents then the first seed in the West this year.

Read my post again.

1. I said over long stretches...not 1 year

2. If 4 of the 5 best teams in the league are in one conference...it's not remotely balanced for the playoffs

3. You think it's anything even approaching balance when a 67 win Spurs team has to play this Thunder team in round 2 when the cavs got to play the Hawks? Like...seriously? You are actually arguing that it makes sense for a team that won 10 more regular season games should face a far tougher road to the finals? Like...I don't think any of you believe the shit you say.

[DMAVS41]

Clippers not better than the Raptors.

Normally I would agree that the west was much better than the east but that wasn't true this year. From seeds 4-8 the west was no better than the east. The Cavs and Raptors are both top 5 teams.

It is true that the vast majority of the best individual players play in the west though but team wise it's not as unbalanced as it was in the past.

Clippers would be clear favorites over Raptors in a playoff series...especially with how the Raptors have played in the playoffs so far. I'm sorry, but if you can get within 2 games of the NBA finals with your two best offensive players shooting sub 50% TS on near 30% usage rates...the conference sucks. End of story.

Again, read my post...I'm talking about long stretches...not a year here and there.

By and large over the last near 2 decades....the West has been clearly a better conference with better players and better teas.

As for this year...I don't see a ton of balance for what really matters. 3 of the 4 best teams are in the West...and if the Clippers had been healthy...it would have been 4 of the 5 best.

And the problem is best expressed with the Cavs and Spurs this year. Spurs have a great regular season...all time great and win 67 games. Cavs have a mediocre regular season...nothing special at all...win 10 games less.

Spurs play the Thunder in round 2 and Cavs play the Hawks? Are you actually arguing that is the system you want? Really?

[Disaprine]

[longtime lurker]

East saved Lebrons legacy. Imagine if he was in the west, he'd only have 2 finals appearances and probably would've lost both. 0/2 is even worse than 2/7

This really needs to be taken into context when looking at Lebron's accomplishments. Not to mention for 5 years he teamed up with the best players in the conference as well. Silver needs to just have the top 16 teams get into the playoffs. The Eastern playoffs are a bore.

[Young X]

Clippers would be clear favorites over Raptors in a playoff series...especially with how the Raptors have played in the playoffs so far. I'm sorry, but if you can get within 2 games of the NBA finals with your two best offensive players shooting sub 50% TS on near 30% usage rates...the conference sucks. End of story.

Again, read my post...I'm talking about long stretches...not a year here and there.

By and large over the last near 2 decades....the West has been clearly a better conference with better players and better teas.

As for this year...I don't see a ton of balance for what really matters. 3 of the 4 best teams are in the West...and if the Clippers had been healthy...it would have been 4 of the 5 best.

And the problem is best expressed with the Cavs and Spurs this year. Spurs have a great regular season...all time great and win 67 games. Cavs have a mediocre regular season...nothing special at all...win 10 games less.

Spurs play the Thunder in round 2 and Cavs play the Hawks? Are you actually arguing that is the system you want? Really?

Clippers were never once healthy this year so it's irrelevent. Raptors are better than them.

The Raptors had the 4th best record in the league and have proven how good they are by going to the conference finals and taking 2 games from Cleveland.

And no, I definitely agree with you in general. It's just that this year in particular, the west wasn't that much stronger than the east is. Just more top heavy.

If you did a best 16 team format this year, I wonder how much of a difference it would really make. Does anybody have the list?

[guy]

Read my post again.

1. I said over long stretches...not 1 year

2. If 4 of the 5 best teams in the league are in one conference...it's not remotely balanced for the playoffs

3. You think it's anything even approaching balance when a 67 win Spurs team has to play this Thunder team in round 2 when the cavs got to play the Hawks? Like...seriously? You are actually arguing that it makes sense for a team that won 10 more regular season games should face a far tougher road to the finals? Like...I don't think any of you believe the shit you say.

I like conferences because of the rivalries, less travel in between games meaning less time in between games, etc. I think we've been through this before so we don't really need to get into it again.

Do you really think that the champions of the last 15-20 years is drastically different if they adopted the no conference structure? Cause it wouldn't be. The "tougher road to the finals" is mostly bullshit. If you're the best in the league, you're most likely going to win it all regardless of the road you had to take. There's no evidence that suggests that teams win the championship are more likely to have an easier road to the finals then their finals opponent.

It is amazing how much playing in the East has helped Lebron's legacy from that standpoint.

Yes, and that's a different story altogether and mainly because people are f*cking idiots. He shouldn't get this notable "extra credit" for getting teams to the finals and losing. This never happened with any other player before him. The overrating of Lebron's accomplishments though is not enough for me to want to change the system.

[Hey Yo]

Clippers would be clear favorites over Raptors in a playoff series...especially with how the Raptors have played in the playoffs so far. I'm sorry, but if you can get within 2 games of the NBA finals with your two best offensive players shooting sub 50% TS on near 30% usage rates...the conference sucks. End of story.

Again, read my post...I'm talking about long stretches...not a year here and there.

By and large over the last near 2 decades....the West has been clearly a better conference with better players and better teas.

As for this year...I don't see a ton of balance for what really matters. 3 of the 4 best teams are in the West...and if the Clippers had been healthy...it would have been 4 of the 5 best.

And the problem is best expressed with the Cavs and Spurs this year. Spurs have a great regular season...all time great and win 67 games. Cavs have a mediocre regular season...nothing special at all...win 10 games less.

Spurs play the Thunder in round 2 and Cavs play the Hawks? Are you actually arguing that is the system you want? Really?

So what's that say about the Cavs or Golden St for that matter last year? Cavs up 2-1 in the series and was 2 games from winning the title with mostly backups making up the starting 5?


Not sure why you're still crying over the makeup of the playoffs. The format will never change. There's always going to be an Eastern and Western conference.