East vs West

I doubt there has ever been a time where the balance to the west has been greater,

East has 3 teams at 500 or better

In the 3 west divisions each division has 4 teams at or above 500.

beat

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/standings/

The Atlantic Division looks upside down to me. I think is isn't working out very well for the Nets or the Knicks so far this season.

gyso wrote:The Atlantic Division looks upside down to me.  I think is isn't working out very well for the Nets or the Knicks so far this season.

GYSO..

your being to kind to them. Personally I hate to see PP and KG perhaps to go out this way but as for the knicks..... every loss brings a smile and my face can't take much more smling.

beat

I was noticing the same thing yesterday. Put another way:

• Of the 15 teams in the East, the number at or above .500 = 3

• Of the 15 teams in the West, the number at or above .500 = 12

It turns out that it's not completely straightforward to determine which conference is stronger. The most persuasive arguments to me are comparing the records of the 8th seeds in each conference and the overall record in inter-conference play.

Here's what I found going back to 2003-04, when the league realigned and each team began playing every team in the other conference twice (30 inter-conference games).

Based on the 8th seeds, 2007-08 seems like the measuring stick of for inequality.

• The 8th seed in the East was 37-45.

• The 8th seed in the West was 50-32 (13 games better).

• The Warriors, with a 48-34 record, missed the playoffs in the West. That record would've put them 4th in the East.

• Seeds 9-11 in the West had a better record than the 8th seed in the East.

In 2010-11, seeds 9-11 in the West were also better than the 8th seed in the East, but the overall records of those teams in the West were much closer to the 8th seed in the East.

From a conference record perspective, I found this helpful article:

http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/2013/07/the-diff-nba-conference-imbalance/

It includes two particularly useful tables.



The above table shows the overall dominance of the West. There's only been one year in the 10-year span (2008-09) when the East had a better record.



The above table compares the winning percentage for each playoff seed in each conference over the 10-year span. I don't have comparative data for this season, but this table shows how thoroughly the West has been dominating the East.

With all that as background, here's how this season stacks up:

• The West is 48-19 against the East, which is a .716 winning percentage. Conversely, that means the East has only a .284 winning percentage.

• Seeds 9-13 in the West currently have a better record than 8th in the East.

• 9th in the West, Minnesota at 8-8, would be 4th in the East.

• All the way down to 13th in the West, New Orleans at 6-7, would be better or tied for 4th in the East.

That is a ridiculous imbalance, and while I think this year may set the new standard for recent West dominance, I don't think there's any way it will end up that bad. But the East sure is taking it on the chin right now.

Actually, this similar trend has been going on for several years.

It was always interesting how the West would have 10-12 teams that were at .500 and up.



KJ

Outside

Apparently ALL of the TANKS are in the East.......gotta protect that eastern front!

beat