How would you fix the conference disparity

[eyeh8u]

It is yet another season where under .500 teams in the east will be making the playoffs, while in the west it is a dogfight, with the 8th seed projected to win 48 games. The disadvantage of playing in a better conference is 2 fold, you have to face and beat better teams more often to just make the playoffs, and once you make it in, you have to go through 3 rounds of tough battles to just get the opportunity to play for a championship. The 2 teams with the worst strength of schedule so far are Indiana and Miami (Schedule strength is based on cumulative opponent record, and adjusted for home vs. away and days of rest before a game. )



I would like to hear what some of you guys would have for a solution, that would realistically work.

My idea is to keep conferences just for the name and things like that all star game. Then have each team play every other team 3 times and then have the best teams 1-16 be seeded , it alternates year to year with what team gets the 2 home games. My problem there is that makes 87 games, and I am having a hard way to cut it down without comprising schedule making. My first thought was to have each team not play 2 teams each year on a rotating basis, but then that leaves an uneven amount of games so home/away ration is compromised. Then I thought maybe just have each team play 5 of the teams only twice, again on a year to year rotating basis, but I haven't though it out enough to see if there will be major scheduling issues.

So I would like to know your ideas that might realistically work (i.e. cant reduce games drastically, owners and players like their money, will never go for it)

[angrydude]

Extremely easy. Disregard the conferences for playoff seeding purposes and make it 1-16.

Then the shitty eastern conference teams who only make the playoffs because they're playing other shitty eastern conference teams will have to get their act together to sell season tickets.

[Clipper Nation]

Nothing will change until Eastern teams stop hiring the Isiahs, Laydens, Otis Smiths and Dumars of the world and start hiring competent general managers, tbh....

[Robz4000]

Nuke Milwaukee and Detroit tbh.

As for the disparity, get rid of conferences like was mentioned.

[eyeh8u]

Extremely easy. Disregard the conferences for playoff seeding purposes and make it 1-16.

Then the shitty eastern conference teams who only make the playoffs because they're playing other shitty eastern conference teams will have to get their act together to sell season tickets.

That still leaves eastern teams playing each other more often, i.e. Toronto plays Philadelphia and Boston 4 times each in every season, giving them easy wins. While western teams only play the crappy eastern teams 2 times a year.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Might not fix conference disparity, but there's 6-8 franchises that should be contracted from the league--which would lessen the dilution of the talent pool and make competition greater.

[Clipper Nation]

Nuke Milwaukee and Detroit tbh.

:lol The NBA is not contracting a franchise with as much history as the Pistons, let's be real now....

[angrydude]

That still leaves eastern teams playing each other more often, i.e. Toronto plays Philadelphia and Boston 4 times each in every season, giving them easy wins. While western teams only play the crappy eastern teams 2 times a year.

Yea but that's how it is now too. The slightly inflated record by playing bad teams is only going to net them a 16th seed playing the 1st meaning No chance of advancing. Every year their would be around 3 teams who wouldn't make the playoffs in the east who do now.

Right now out east you can suck but still call yourself a playoff team. No lotto picks, no GM firings.

This would end that.

This would also ensure the best two teams always play each other in the finals.

[Robz4000]

:lol The NBA is not contracting a franchise with as much history as the Pistons, let's be real now....

No, I mean nuke those cities. Nothing of value would be lost.

[benefactor]

Might not fix conference disparity, but there's 6-8 franchises that should be contracted from the league--which would lessen the dilution of the talent pool and make competition greater.
:tu

[irishock]

No, I mean nuke those cities. Nothing of value would be lost.

Only the bad part of Detroit deserves to be nuked... the rich, white man's part of the city isn't too bad

[Robz4000]

Only the bad part of Detroit deserves to be nuked... the rich, white man's part of the city isn't too bad

If it has to be collateral to get the job done so be it.

[HarlemHeat37]

They didn't fix it in the 80s when the West was awful for most of the decade, why would they decide to do it now, tbh?..

[Chinook]

The East is getting stronger. I think we'll see an eighth seed with a winning record pretty soon.

[z0sa]

Extremely easy. Disregard the conferences for playoff seeding purposes and make it 1-16.

[spurraider21]

so basically you want to fix conference disparity by eliminating conferences? legit

thats like stopping crime by nuking a civilization

[bluebellmaniac]

The Nyets are the perfect example. The were basement dwellers and then someone realized that they wouldn't have a draft pick for 5 years, decent first round at least. So they started playing their asses off. Get rid of the dang lottery and use the draft wheel for preset draft positioning. Then suddenly there is no reward in losing and you have a much more competitive league.

[ElNono]

Might not fix conference disparity, but there's 6-8 franchises that should be contracted from the league--which would lessen the dilution of the talent pool and make competition greater.

442805513697628160

Minnesota Rep. Pat Garofalo's tweet linking NBA to street crime stirs cries of racism

http://www.nola.com/pelicans/index.ssf/2014/03/minnesota_rep_pat_garofalos_tw.html

[Mori Chu]

They will never seed 1-16 without conferences because the teams would throw a fit. The teams in the East don't want a mass migration of players all over to the West coast, for example.

[Gummi Clutch]

Treat it like a business. Liquify some assets that aren't producing.

[bluebellmaniac]

442805513697628160

Minnesota Rep. Pat Garofalo's tweet linking NBA to street crime stirs cries of racism

http://www.nola.com/pelicans/index.ssf/2014/03/minnesota_rep_pat_garofalos_tw.html
Wow!

[Captivus]

I started a thread a few months ago about the same thing, the problem with the current system is not only the disparity, is the fact that it will get even bigger.
Memphis/Dallas/Phoenix could get a pick, but Atlanta and Charlotte wont.
Is a vicious circle.

Questions: Are there teams that should play in the other conference? Sometimes people post that it makes geographical sense.

[Dex]

Might not fix conference disparity, but there's 6-8 franchises that should be contracted from the league--which would lessen the dilution of the talent pool and make competition greater.

If you have to boot the bottom 6, who do you boot?

1. Bobcats
2. Bucks
3. Kings
4. Magic
5. Raptors

6..........Lakers? :stirpot:

[313]

If it has to be collateral to get the job done so be it.I'd prefer to remain unnuked and alive thx

[resistanze]

They didn't fix it in the 80s when the West was awful for most of the decade, why would they decide to do it now, tbh?..

Truth. Maybe if the best talent would stop running to the West there wouldn't be a disparity.

Things will even out eventually...but let's not act like the 4-8ths seeds in the West are worldbeaters. 'Tough battles' in the playoffs is overstated - the top-seeded West ususally beats playoff teams just as easy as the best teams in the East. Spurs went 12-2 in the West last year. OKC went 12-3 against the West the previous year. Dallas went 12-3 the year before.

[baseline bum]

Saying Miami and Indiana have the worst strength of schedule in the league is a tautology this late in the season. It's just saying that Indiana and Miami have two of the top records in the league and play in the weaker conference. Strength of schedule makes sense to discuss early in the season when two teams in the same conference can have wildly different qualities of opponents on average, but this late in the season most of that noise has been smoothed out.

[Seventyniner]

Go to the NFL-style of 12 playoff teams, top 2 in each conference get first-round byes. You still might have the occasional under-.500 team make it in the East, but it would be rare.

Then again a West team would almost have to win 50 just to get in.

[Katherine Robinson]

If you have to boot the bottom 6, who do you boot?

1. Bobcats
2. Bucks
3. Kings
4. Magic
5. Raptors

6..........Lakers? :stirpot:

It wouldn't be by today's seeding, but rather who receives welfare checks provided by the luxury tax spenders.

[TDMVPDPOY]

they should just seed in 1-16 for the playoffs, fck the conferences man

look at the playoff format, how many game day breaks are in between games,

thats enough time for rest and travel to ur destination

[mudyez]

I like the current system and think it will even out over time...its not like the wests 9th seed could win the title or the easts 7th seed gets more than a first round out.

[eyeh8u]

They didn't fix it in the 80s when the West was awful for most of the decade, why would they decide to do it now, tbh?..

This is just a hypothetical, never said they would, I thought an NBA discussion that isn't based on slander and name calling would be interesting. My apologizes if this has been discussed before.



so basically you want to fix conference disparity by eliminating conferences? legit

thats like stopping crime by nuking a civilization

You are arguing semantics and using hyperbole. This gist of the question was about making the schedule fair and it was quite evident in the original post. I am sorry if the title was misleading


Saying Miami and Indiana have the worst strength of schedule in the league is a tautology this late in the season. It's just saying that Indiana and Miami have two of the top records in the league and play in the weaker conference. Strength of schedule makes sense to discuss early in the season when two teams in the same conference can have wildly different qualities of opponents on average, but this late in the season most of that noise has been smoothed out.

The point was to compare the SOS of teams from different conferences to show the disparity. Part of the reason Indiana had the best record for most of the year was because they play bad teams within their conference twice as much as the teams in the west, so they would rake up wins.

[Dex]

I like the current system and think it will even out over time...its not like the wests 9th seed could win the title or the easts 7th seed gets more than a first round out.

The current system has been lopsided for a decade and a half, and it doesn't show signs of getting better any time soon. Hell, this year's Leastern Conference is one of the crappiest in the bunch. The Eastern Conference does nothing but produce one or two teams that are capable of contending for a title, and gives those two teams a cakewalk to their Conference Finals. Meanwhile, the West typically produces three to four teams capable of ringing (SAS, OKC, HOU, LAC this season) with a number of dark horses. And all of those teams have to grind against each other to make it to the Finals.

If the playoffs were to start today in the East, Indiana would go up against Atlanta who is sitting at 9 games below .500. The Heat would play the fucking Bobcats in the first round, for Christ's sake. We might as well give them a bye-round; at least we could hope that would affect their rhythm more than those glorified practices will.

Compare that to the West, where the Spurs would be faced up against a dangerous Memphis team who is 10 games OVER .500, and won over 70% of their games since January 1st. Hell, even the West's 9th and 10th seeds, Phoenix and Minnesota, are probably better than every team in the East minus Indiana and Miami.

[baseline bum]

The current system has been lopsided for a decade and a half, and it doesn't show signs of getting better any time soon. Hell, this year's Leastern Conference is one of the crappiest in the bunch. The Eastern Conference does nothing but produce one or two teams that are capable of contending for a title, and gives those two teams a cakewalk to their Conference Finals. Meanwhile, the West typically produces three to four teams capable of ringing (SAS, OKC, HOU, LAC this season) with a number of dark horses. And all of those teams have to grind against each other to make it to the Finals.

If the playoffs were to start today in the East, Indiana would go up against Atlanta who is sitting at 9 games below .500. The Heat would play the fucking Bobcats in the first round, for Christ's sake. We might as well give them a bye-round; at least we could hope that would affect their rhythm more than those glorified practices will.

Compare that to the West, where the Spurs would be faced up against a dangerous Memphis team who is 10 games OVER .500, and won over 70% of their games since January 1st. Hell, even the West's 9th and 10th seeds, Phoenix and Minnesota, are probably better than every team in the East minus Indiana and Miami.

The West had one team capable of ringing last year, and they made the Finals. Same thing in 2010. Same thing in 2009. Same thing in 2005.

[UZER]

Conferences we created for travel purposes. Can't have Miami playing a seven game series against Portland, then a seven game series against LA, and so forth. That's why you only play the other conference twice in the regular season. I know there are rare exceptions in locations, but I'm referring to the majority. The NFL only plays one game a week, including playoffs, so travel is not much of an issue with teams in conferences cross country.

Also, can't have 1st round byes when a series could take two weeks.

[spurraider21]

You are arguing semantics and using hyperbole. This gist of the question was about making the schedule fair and it was quite evident in the original post. I am sorry if the title was misleading
my bad, i meant to reply to "angrydude's" post where they disregard conferences in playoff seeding

[Seventyniner]

Conferences we created for travel purposes. Can't have Miami playing a seven game series against Portland, then a seven game series against LA, and so forth. That's why you only play the other conference twice in the regular season. I know there are rare exceptions in locations, but I'm referring to the majority. The NFL only plays one game a week, including playoffs, so travel is not much of an issue with teams in conferences cross country.

The Finals finally going to 2-2-1-1-1 might be the start of a shift towards the league being okay with frequent, long trips. The 2-3-2 format was from an age where teams flew commercial and you only had a couple of reporters for each team.

With charter jets and nationwide TV coverage being the norm, a Miami-Portland (worst-case scenario next to maybe Clippers-Raptors) second round series isn't as daunting as it might seem. We had a Lakers-Wolves WCF in 2004, which is more distance than there is between many East and West teams.

As long as teams get an extra day off between games 1-2 and 3-4 (with game 5 and/or 6 in the afternoon on a weekend to permit a flight that same day), you should be able to get a 2-2-1-1-1 series between any two teams in the league into 15 days. If the Lakers can fly to Minneapolis, it's only a few extra hours in a plane for the Heat to get to Portland. Not enough to materially affect the schedule.


Also, can't have 1st round byes when a series could take two weeks.

Even more incentive for a team to bust their asses in the regular season and get a top 2 seed. The byes will never happen, though, just not for the reason you said. There's too much money made by the four teams involved, and the league exists primarily to make money.

[Cry Havoc]

The West had one team capable of ringing last year, and they made the Finals. Same thing in 2010. Same thing in 2009. Same thing in 2005.

What? No. Take away the top two teams from each conference last year. The West has 5+ teams capable of winning hardware. The East has 0. Nada. Nyet.

[baseline bum]

What? No. Take away the top two teams from each conference last year. The West has 5+ teams capable of winning hardware. The East has 0. Nada. Nyet.

Not understanding the logic. So the West had 3 teams that could have won the title if the Spurs & Thunder team planes crashed into each other and the Heat & Pacers planes did too?

[UZER]

The Finals finally going to 2-2-1-1-1 might be the start of a shift towards the league being okay with frequent, long trips. The 2-3-2 format was from an age where teams flew commercial and you only had a couple of reporters for each team.

With charter jets and nationwide TV coverage being the norm, a Miami-Portland (worst-case scenario next to maybe Clippers-Raptors) second round series isn't as daunting as it might seem. We had a Lakers-Wolves WCF in 2004, which is more distance than there is between many East and West teams.

As long as teams get an extra day off between games 1-2 and 3-4 (with game 5 and/or 6 in the afternoon on a weekend to permit a flight that same day), you should be able to get a 2-2-1-1-1 series between any two teams in the league into 15 days. If the Lakers can fly to Minneapolis, it's only a few extra hours in a plane for the Heat to get to Portland. Not enough to materially affect the schedule.



Even more incentive for a team to bust their asses in the regular season and get a top 2 seed. The byes will never happen, though, just not for the reason you said. There's too much money made by the four teams involved, and the league exists primarily to make money.

I agree with the new charter flights changing things, but it still seems like too much potential travel. It would wear down the players, and still cost too much money for cross country flights every round...just my opinion.

As far as the second point, I was actually referring to the same thing. For the same reason, money, two weeks is too long for the top seed being out from the playoffs picture. Its why they went to the 7 game opening rd in the first place.

[resistanze]

The West had one team capable of ringing last year, and they made the Finals. Same thing in 2010. Same thing in 2009. Same thing in 2005.

Yeah, and again, when is the last time a Western Conference Champion has struggled to make it out of the conference? The worst record of a Western Conference Champion in the past 15 years was the 2003 Spurs (12-6). Hell the fucking 2008 Celtics went 12-8 (two 7 game series) :lmao

The elite Western Conference teams (especially the Spurs, Lakers) have historically handled their compeition without problem. A West 8th seed isn't as good as people think they are.

[UZER]

As far as the lottery and tanking, here's my rough idea....

two conferences, three divisions each with 5 teams:

The lottery would consist of 10 teams, two divisions from each conference, rotated every year, so you would be in the lottery once every 3 years. You are rewarded with an extra "ping pong ball" for making the playoffs with a max of 2 "ping pong balls". The count resets the season after you are in the lottery. If you don't make the playoffs, you only get one ball on your lottery rotation.


The remaining teams pick in this order: non-playoff teams pick in order of best to worst record, while playoff teams pick in worst to best record.

This gives every team a chance to be in the lottery with an incentive to make the playoffs, and it also rewards non playoff teams for winning.

for the first lottery under these rules, you would have to let the first two divisions know 3 years in advance, then start everyone else from the first lottery forward.

Just a rough idea...

[Cry Havoc]

Not understanding the logic. So the West had 3 teams that could have won the title if the Spurs & Thunder team planes crashed into each other and the Heat & Pacers planes did too?

How about phrasing it like this: put the 1-8 seeds up against each other from each conference. The East MIGHT win two of those match-ups. The West goes 7-1 or 6-2. It speaks to the caliber of playoff ball (or lack thereof) in the east.