Loading ...On December 5th of last year I wrote a blog suggesting that the NBA change it’s playoff structure.
I felt then and still feel now that the Western Conference has become too dominant and the best way to crown a champion is to restructure the NBA regular season and playoffs so that the postseason tournament could be seeded 1-16 without respect to Eastern or Western Conference.
In order to implement that type of change each team would have to play one another an equal amount of times during the regular season.
Unfortunately, we’ll never know what might have happened if the 2006-2007 season had been structured that way but we can take a look at the top 16 teams this season by winning percentage and create a potential playoff bracket.
- Dallas Mavericks .817
- Phoenix Suns .744
- San Antonio Spurs .707
- Detroit Pistons .646
- Houston .634
- Utah .622
- Cleveland .610
- Chicago .598
- Toronto .573
- Denver .549
- Miami .537
- LA Lakers .512 Won season series versus Golden State.
- Golden State .512
- New Jersey .500 Won season series versus Washington
- Washington .500
- LA Clippers & Orlando Magic .488 Season series was 1-1.
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The 2007 NBA Playoffs seeded 1-16:
How entertaining would it have been to see Utah - Miami, Golden State - Detroit, and Denver - Cleveland in the first round?
Looking at the bracket I find it very difficult to believe that this year’s Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers would have advanced past the Denver Nuggets in the first round , the Phoenix Suns in the second round, and the San Antonio Spurs in route to their first ever NBA Finals appearance.
The Detroit Pistons were the Eastern Conference regular season champion but their 53-29 regular season record would have earned them a middle of the pack fourth seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
Detroit met Orlando in the first round. The Western Conference regular season champion Dallas Mavericks had to deal with the Golden State Warriors. See the difference?
The NBA’s power pendulum swung to the West when MJ retired and hasn’t come close to swinging back since. I don’t think the balance of power will shift back anytime soon either.
Portland and Seattle have the top two picks in the draft. In Oden and Durant, the Trailblazers and Sonics will acquire franchise cornerstone caliber players. Both teams will be playoff contenders in the very near future.
Eastern Conference fans will argue that an Eastern Conference team has won the NBA championship two out of the last three seasons but that doesn’t paint the entire picture. It’s unfair for the Western Conference champion to have a much more difficult path to the NBA Finals. It’s also unfair for a mediocre team to be granted a playoff birth because they reside on the east coast.
I’m suggesting a system which rewards the NBA’s best teams a playoff birth. A birth determined strictly by wins and losses, not geographic location.
Seeding the teams 1-16 would add a March Madness feel to the NBA playoffs and ensure that the two teams who make it to the NBA Finals go through the league’s best competition to get there.
* http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_compari
son/conferenceNew_Std_Div.html
