Frankly, you're just seeing the result of a stronger Western Conference.

[midnightpulp]

This is not a troll thread, simply an objective analysis.

For the past 3 years, the Lakers, with their huge and versatile frontline, feasted on an undersized West. Shaq and KG went East, Duncan is long past his prime, and none of these young "up and coming" teams like Denver, OKC, and Utah could ever hope to match with the Lakers at the forward and center spots. Not to mention these young teams were simply overwhelmed by the magnitude of playoff basketball.

Now that the two other Western powers have retooled and reloaded, Dallas with size and San Antonio with speed, you're seeing a more competitive Western Conference, which will actually have a couple of 60 wins teams instead of a collection of mediocre "50 win" teams with the Lakers clearly at the top of the heap.

In year's past, there was always another alpha dog to challenge the Western Conference Champion. Sacramento to the Lakers, Spurs to the Lakers, Lakers to the Spurs, Dallas to the Spurs. Up until this season, the West has been in a collective fetal position as the Lakers rolled.

The Lakers route to the last 3 Finals has been a laughable cakewalk, now there's finally some challengers, a couple of other alpha dogs in the yard, and the Lakers simply can't sleepwalk to the number one seed, through the playoffs, and into the Finals.

The Western Conference is no longer weak. For the first time in 3 years. It'll be interesting to see how events unfold.

[Venti Quattro]

The West has always been stronger because of the balance and competition of the teams. And of course, because it was where the Champions were located. It was percieved to be weaker this year because of big-name losses to the East. But a lot of West teams pulled surprises for everyone.

[jeebus]

The West has always been stronger because of the balance and competition of the teams. And of course, because it was where the Champions were located. It was percieved to be weaker this year because of big-name losses to the East. But a lot of West teams pulled surprises for everyone.
The West dumped Amare but gained Blake Griffin, with Kevin Love making an appearance.

[midnightpulp]

The West has always been stronger because of the balance and competition of the teams. And of course, because it was where the Champions were located. It was percieved to be weaker this year because of big-name losses to the East. But a lot of West teams pulled surprises for everyone.

These past few years, outside of the Lakers, there was no other legit contender to challenge the size of the Eastern Conferences powers, or the Lakers themselves.

In the West, you once had monster frontlines featuring Duncan and Robinson, Divac, Webber, and Brad Miller, Sheed and Sabonis. All these players could play in the post and rebound. Now most of the good Western Conference teams employ a stretch 4 or 5, the Jazz with Okur, Pop's love affair with Bonner, Channing Frye in Phoenix. Or their "post options" don't play in the post at all. Boozer last year in Utah, Amare, etc.

I think a lot of people saw how many "50 win" teams the West fielded last year and perceived it to be a strong conference, when in reality, it was just a bunch of decent teams padding their win record against each other. Parity at its finest.