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Seven of the last nine NBA champions and eight of the last nine MVP’s have been or come from Western Conference teams. Teams such as Detroit, Miami, and Cleveland have benefited from the red carpet path to the NBA Finals in recent years, that path no longer exists.
The Detroit Pistons won the NBA championship in 2004 and made it back to the NBA Finals in 2005. In 2005-2006 Detroit was the NBA’s best regular season team (64-18) and sent four players to the All-Star game. Despite being head and shoulders above any team in the East, the Pistons imploded versus the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals and were defeated 4-2.
Miami then defeated the Dallas Mavericks 4-2 to win the 2006 NBA championship. Miami guard Dwayne Wade was named NBA Finals MVP. Miami took advantage of the Pistons implosion and a weak spirited Mavericks team that had shown a propensity to letting one player beat them (Kobe Bryant outscored the Mavericks, 62-61 over 3 quarters that season) single-handedly. The Mavericks were defeated in the same fashion in the first round of the 2007 NBA playoffs, when Baron Davis and the Warriors upset the Western Conference’s # 1 seed 4-2.
Rather than realizing the luck that had been afforded to them in their championship season and moving quickly to shore up the obvious holes in their roster, Pat Riley decided to bring everyone back to defend their title and the Heat struggled to stay above .500 throughout the 2006-2007 NBA season and finished with a middle of the pack 4th seed in the 2007 NBA playoffs. The Chicago Bulls made quick work of “Superman” and “Flash” and sent the defending champs packing 4-0 in the first round.
After peaking against the Chicago Bulls, the Detroit Pistons would implode AGAIN in the Eastern Conference Finals and the Cleveland Cavaliers advanced to the NBA Finals where they were quickly swept by the San Antonio Spurs. Cleveland clearly did not belong in the championship series with the San Antonio Spurs. The Cavaliers were outclassed and outmatched in every facet of the game.
See a pattern there? Each of the Eastern Conference’s championship teams have failed to improve. Rather than innovate and add the necessary pieces to sustain their success they have chosen to stand pat, under the false preconception that they had enough to take that next step.
It appears that Cleveland will regress just as Detroit and Miami have in recent years. Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao, two of Cleveland’s top six players have yet to join them in the preseason. Rather than build upon their fortunate NBA Finals appearance, the Cavs have taken steps backwards.
“We’re worse,” James said. “We’re not as good when we don’t have those guys. We all know that. Those two guys are a big part of our team. We didn’t do any reshaping, James said matter-of-factly. We didn’t do any regrouping. You start to think a little bit, ‘How are we going to continue to get better?’”
I’ll answer that question Bron-Bron the Global Icon: your team hasn’t gotten better and you weren’t that good to begin with. While the East became stronger, your team apparently decided to ignore the fortunes of the previous two Eastern Conference champions and do absolutely nothing in the off-season. Without Sasha & Anderson, the Cavaliers will be competing for a 5th to 8th playoff seed.
I’m convinced that Detroit’s days as contenders are all but finished. The Pistons have a core of skilled veterans but seem to lack the mental toughness to get to the next level. I think they are still reeling from the departures of Larry Brown and Ben Wallace.
Miami’s future begins and ends with the health of their two superstars, Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal. Both players have been oft injured in recent years. Shaq reportedly came into training camp in shape (something he does about every other year) but has already been hampered by another thigh bruise. Wade and O’Neal MUST play at least 60 games together for the Heat to have a chance at the playoffs, much less the NBA championship. Possible, but not likely.
Luckly, the Eastern Conference became much stronger this off-season. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were traded to the Boston Celtics, Rashard Lewis signed with Orlando, and Zach Randolph is now a Knickerbocker.
Boston and Chicago will slug it out for the Eastern Conference championship. Both teams are comprised of stars, young and old. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, and Luol Deng give me reason to be optimistic that the curse has come to an end and a legitimately elite team from the East will emerge in the coming years.
The threats to win the championship still reside out West but the red carpet has been lifted out from under the Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, and Cleveland Cavaliers.
