13-14 Eastern Ranking
13-14 Western Ranking
Since Jordan retired, the difference between the strength of the Eastern team and the Western team has gradually enlarge. Since 1999, although there have been Pistons in 2004, Celtics in 2008, Heat in 12 and 13 years, Cavaliers in 16 years, and Bucks in 21 years to win the championship. Of the 23 championships produced, only 6 were won in the East and 13 in the West. And in terms of the balanced strength of the East and West teams, the difference is greater than the number of championships. For example, in the crazy West in 2008 and 10, the threshold for entering the playoffs was raised to 50 wins, while in the East it was 40 wins. Since 10 years later, the best record of the Eastern Conference is the Heat's 66 wins in 12-13. The Warriors who did not get Durant also scored 73 wins, compared with 67 wins the previous season.
15-16 Eastern Ranking
15-16 Western Ranking
I have not conducted detailed data analysis here to further prove how big the gap between the East and the West is. Because there is no need to prove that the gap is so big, then what is the reason for such a big gap?
First of all, it is the stability of the team. After 99 years, the three people who died in the same team, Kobe , Duncan , Nowitzki are all in the West. The stability of the team is enhanced by the stability of the core players, coaching staff, and management.
In addition to the three core players mentioned above, there are Yao Ming , Nash ,And later Curry , Durant (in the Thunder 9 years), Westbrook (in the Thunder 12 years) and other core players, these players can stick to, maintain the stability of the team's combat effectiveness.
Almost all the famous coaches produced later came from the west, Popovich, Sloan, old Nelson, and later Steve Cole, Carlisle, and D'Antoni Such geeks and so on. The Eastern Conference barely took shots, because Pat Riley coached the Heat for a short time, and the main results were also obtained in the West, so they are not included.
In terms of management, the team general managers of the Warriors, Spurs, Suns, Rockets, Mavericks, and Thunder have worked for many years. Unlike in the East, they are fired at every turn.
Secondly, the vision of the draft is far from the level of training young players. Both the East and the West have drafts when there are deviations, but after all, there are more successful cases in the West draft. To give a few examples, for example, the Spurs, Ginobili and Parker belong to the low draft rookies, but they were born into Duncan's main helpers in the early period. Leonard A player with the 15th overall pick in the first round, he was trained as the Finals MVP by the Spurs within 3 years. Besides, the management selected the best Thunder team in the lottery, Durant in 2007, in 2008, Westbrook in 2008, and Harden in 2009. These three people won the 2014, 2017, and 2018 regular season MVPs respectively. . The success of the Warriors also depends on the draft. They chose Curry in 2009, Thompson in 11, and Barnes and Green in 12.None of the top 3 picks, won the championship in 2015.
Looking at the Eastern Conference, let's talk about Bobcats . They chose Tanhua Morrison and second-placed Maggie. The Cavaliers chose Bennett and the No. 4 rookie Waiters . The Heat chose Beasley . The 76ers chose Ben Simmons and Okafor , so far they have either forced the team to trade or been cut by the league team. In the early years, the Pistons chose Milicic. It’s even worse for the Wizards. No. 1 pick Wall and No. 3 rookie Bill . These two talented young people are at most the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Compared to the Thunder, this is unscientific. Of course, there are bright spots in the Eastern Conference draft, such as selected by the Bucks, Ross selected by the Bulls, Irving of the Cavaliers, the Great of the 76ers, and Tatum of the Celtics. and so on, but after all, the selection and training of people is really bad.
Third, can't keep the core players. James, Bosh, Owen, Wall, Ross, Wade, George, Leonard, Lori, Butler, etc. have records of multi-time transactions, of course The time I am talking about is relative. Generally speaking, it is traded at or near the end of a contract period. Unlike the West, not to mention the end-of-life team, before staying for 5 to 8 years or even 10 years.
fourth,The economic differences between the east and the west. Of course, this is purely aside from the operation of the team, the eastern economy is relatively developed compared to the western. The owner of the East should be richer than the owner of the West. Therefore, the team has adopted a more simple and rude model in the management of the team. The draft is too slow to train anything. Direct trading of superstars, of course, except for the Celtics and the Heat. The big bet is successful, and other Big Five, such as the Nets, almost ruined the future of the team. The Knicks have been at a poor level in the league since Ewing in the last century. There are more small cities in the West. For example, San Antonio, Phoenix, , Portland, , Minnesota, Oklahoma and other small cities cannot withstand the toss. For every draft, of course it is a lottery. Better is the expectation to change the future destiny of the team. Can you not do your best to do a good job in the draft and the training of rookies?
Of course, after the epidemic and two incomplete seasons, many teams in the East have also made more rational supplements. For example, the Heat introduced Lowry, and the Bulls introduced and DeRozan . The growth of the Hawks star Yang. Coupled with the healthy Nets, the Bucks that have won the championship, and the talented 76ers, to a certain extent, the overall strength of the Eastern Conference team has been improved. Perhaps the 21-22 season should be the smallest year for the strength gap between East and West teams compared to the past.
The above are purely personal opinions. If you have different opinions, you can discuss them together in the comment section.
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