The West vs. the East

I just saw that Golden State lost to Phoenix. I was sad. Golden State is better than Phoenix. But regardless of that the standings tonight were very interesting to me. Like the fact that Golden State is in danger being only 5 games back. Denver is only 7 and smelling blood.

I’m scared for Dallas unless they put on a really strong showing. Actually I’m excited to see what happens in the West here at the end where a lot of games happen in conference. The Blazers just lost a game to Sacramento. I’m still projecting Portland to finish above 500 at a win rate of 43.

I got off topic there for a second, but the West is looking ridiculous. Denver is having problems because they can’t reach that .600 mark that’s needed to make a playoff seed in the West. And then Hollinger has Chicago making the playoffs. Really?! Portland made a ridiculous come around to be a .500 team. Denver is aFREAKINGmazing and might not make the playoffs? And yet Indiana (who still hasn’t recovered from the brawl) is in playoff contention. I mean the team that Iverson left has a 98.0 percent chance while Denver has a 49.0.

I want to say that it is ridiculous that Denver may not make the playoffs (although look out Dallas, things are awful close.) How is it that sub-.400 teams can make it to the playoffs while post-.500 teams can miss? I think it’s time to rethink things.

The best strategy I’ve heard is to allow the top six teams in each division clinch a spot and the other four spots are decided by record. It’s enough that any travel concerns will be put mute. Unless Portland is playing London in the first round and they have to skip so many days that they don’t know what week it is. Oh wait, that won’t happen for a decade. But something needs to be done to even out the East and the West. While there are some dominant teams the difference in competition between conferences is so striking it’s nearly the difference between 5A or 4A ball. You have a some teams who could compete on the 5A level in 4A ball. But some of the 5A teams could compete on another level, and almost everyone in 5A ball could at least evenly match the highest end 4A competitor. C’mon, the reason that high school has so many levels is that there are that many level of athletes. I think that the NBA may need to take a breather before they commit to too much expansion.