On The Rise

(Stats accurate as of 4/9/2009)

The last ten years the Western Conference has dominated the East by winning seven out of ten NBA Championships; with three consecutive to the Lakers and three out of five to the Spurs, but with a new decade on the horizon who is the better conference?

The NBA's Western Conference has been the virtually same for the last several years; with six to nine excellent teams, a couple of mediocre teams, and between four and six abysmal teams. The battle for even the eighth and final playoff spot in the West can often be the most intense and exciting. Last season the Warriors and Nuggets clashed for the eighth spot, as the Nuggets prevailed with a 50-32 record beating out the warriors by two games. At 48-34 the Golden State Warriors finished in ninth place out of the playoffs. This very same 48-34 mark would have been good for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. This year's Phoenix Suns were just eliminated from the playoff picture despite an impressive win over the Hornets. The suns were clinging to a the hope of sneaking into the last playoff spot, but at 43-35 (eight games above .500) there season has come to an end. If playing within the East, the Suns would be two games out of the fourth seed and in sole possession of fifth place.

The West has been consistently dominant and the East has been consistently weak over the last few years, but now the superior conference argument has resurfaced. This season the Western Conference has five teams at least twenty games over .500, three teams at least sixteen games over, and the Suns are eight games over a .500 winning percentage. However, the remaining teams of the West have a combined record of 129 wins and 339 losses. Four of these six teams have at least 50 losses; including the two worst teams in the NBA: the 16-61 Kings and the 18-60 Clippers. As for the Eastern Conference's top eight has three teams that are at least twenty games over .500, the Atlanta Hawks eleven over, two teams at least three games over, and two teams two games under a .500 winning percentage. The ninth seeded Charlotte Bobcats are 35-43 and the remaining six teams are a combined 176 wins and 295 losses.

In simpler terms, the Western Conference has nine very good teams and six weak teams; and the Eastern Conference has three very good teams and an overwhelming amount of par and sub par teams (with one despicable team). The West is 579-592 with a .494 winning percentage and the East is 593-580 with a .506 winning percentage. With the statistics now all on the table the analysis of the better conference can come full circle. The stats would have you believe that the East is superior to the West as an overall conference. Is half amazing and half terrible better than somewhat amazing and mediocre? Perhaps this is an unanswerable question, but in this particular case examining the National Basketball Association there is an answer.

The goal of an NBA season is to win the championship by defeating the other team in a best of seven game series known as The Finals. To get to this coveted "Finals" you must qualify for the postseason and win several best of seven series against three other playoff qualified teams. To determine which conference is better one would look to see which group has a larger portion of teams with a greater chance to win the NBA finals. The 2008-2009 NBA Champion will either be the Lakers, Cavaliers, Celtics, or the Orlando Magic. The Eastern Conference has last year's Champion in the Boston Celtics, this year's best team in the 63-15 Cleveland Cavilers, and will be this year's champion conference. With a greater chance to win The Finals the East is at last the better conference. The changing of the guard has arrived as the Eastern Conference begins to restablish itself as the commanding force in the NBA. Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando will lead the charge in the East's reassertion of league power. Boston's aging Big Three has a window of oppurunity this year and next to repeat as champions. Lebron James is the greatest player since Michael Jordan and Dwight Howard is the Shaq of the new generation; and let's just hope for Kobe Bryant's sake New Shaq and King James don't ever join forces. If Kobe wants to win a ring without Shaq he had better do it soon, because the Eastern Conference is on the rise.

(Stats accurate as of 4/9/2009)