Last years West vs. East domination argument:

[BinderBeast]

This is an old argument, but an interesting one.

To any scholar of the game it was obvious that the West, as a whole, was far superior to the East last year.

It was unprecedented statistically. It lead many of us to believe that the Champion would surely come out of the West.

That did not occur for a number of reasons.

The Lakers were able, by dint of...

passion, force, Phil, Shaq, Kobe, Fisher's miracle (your choice) advance to the finals.

Once there, they ran into an extremely well coached, motivated and impassioned team that clearly bettered the Lakers. They matched up well, did not buy into any 'Laker mystique' and dominated to win the Championship.

I was amazed and offered my congratulations to that team and their fans.

It does not, however, change the fact that, top to bottom, the West dominated the East.

Except of course when and where it counted most.

[Tommy John]

Absolutly NO doubt the West was better last year. NJ, IND, and DET were the only teams on par with even the second tier of western clubs last year. That said, Det. had a tough path to the championship taking on the other two outliers and finishing with the Lakers who despite efforts of nonbelievers to diminish their talents and make excuses, were the best western club last year.

That said, this year the west is even BETTER. Say what you will, the Heat are not as good as last years Nets. The Pistons and Indy can both make arguements they improved over the short term, but look at the talent shift.

West
----------
Boozer
Okur
Odom
Butler
Terry
Stackhouse
Kmart
Tmac
Howard
Kittles
All the Hornets



East
------------
Payton
McDyess
Francis
Mobley
Jamison
Bobcats

Not even close. I think we're gonna see an even bigger divide in wins this year where the 3rd seed may finish sub .500 in the East, and all but 2 teams expect to win more than they lose in the west.

[Y.O.M.]

Absolutly NO doubt the West was better last year. NJ, IND, and DET were the only teams on par with even the second tier of western clubs last year. That said, Det. had a tough path to the championship taking on the other two outliers and finishing with the Lakers who despite efforts of nonbelievers to diminish their talents and make excuses, were the best western club last year.

That said, this year the west is even BETTER. Say what you will, the Heat are not as good as last years Nets. The Pistons and Indy can both make arguements they improved over the short term, but look at the talent shift.

West
----------
Boozer
Okur
Odom
Butler
Terry
Stackhouse
Kmart
Tmac
Howard
Kittles
All the Hornets



East
------------
Payton
McDyess
Francis
Mobley
Jamison
Bobcats

Not even close. I think we're gonna see an even bigger divide in wins this year where the 3rd seed may finish sub .500 in the East, and all but 2 teams expect to win more than they lose in the west.
Did you purposely forget Shaq?

[kobesgame]

The West is still definitely better. Despite media reports to try and pump the idea that the East has taken over, there is no evidence to support the idea that the bottom 4 playoff teams in the East will be over .500. They simply have not gotten better. Top to bottom, the West is better.

But you only need one good team to make the East the champs again. With Detroit and Indy, they are bonafide contenders.