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Is the West Still the Best?

The post-Jordan era has undoubtedly belonged to the West. Outside of 2004 (Pistons), 2006 (HEAT) and 2008 (Celtics), the Eastern Conference hasn’t produced any NBA Champions since 1998.

Surprisingly, the West’s dominance over the last dozen or so years can be traced to just a few shrewd moves and a little bit of luck: The Lakers signed Shaquille O’Neal away from the Magic and swapped Vlade Divac for a young Kobe Bryant while the Spurs happened to win the lottery as Tim Duncan was entering the draft.

But little by little the East is starting to come back. Not only are the Celtics among the NBA’s elite, but the Magic, Bulls an HEAT all have a realistic shot at winning the NBA Finals as well. Even the would-be fifth, sixth and seventh seeds (Hawks, Knicks and 76ers respectively) are a decent threat to unseat a higher seed in the first round. And these teams aren’t just capable of coming out of the East—they could all conceivably play for a title.

"I was in Indiana for 23 years," Knicks president Donnie Walsh told HOOPSWORLD before the Knicks’ 106-93 loss to the Pacers. "The East was better than the West back then. Then it switched to the West, but I knew it would switch back to the East. I think that’s what’s happening.

"I think it’s a combination of things," he continued. "[The East] got better picks; they’ve got more money; they were struggling and now they’re better. And then, where once all the guys wanted to go to the West coast, now guys want to go to the East coast."

In years past, the East had one or two title contenders followed by a mishmash of mediocre teams. For instance, in 2004-2005, the third-seeded Celtics were only three games better than the eighth-seeded Nets. The HEAT took the fourth seed the previous season with a record of 42-40. Heck, the Nets were the second seed in the 2003 playoffs and they finished the regular season with 33 losses. 

The top three Western Conference teams (San Antonio, Dallas and LA Lakers) are still doing better against the East (63-22) than the top three Eastern Conference teams (Boston, Chicago and Miami) are doing better against West (51-25). However, the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh Eastern Conference playoff seeds are simply better than they have been in the past. 

"I think any of these teams that are going to be in the playoffs are dangerous," Walsh said. "We’re playing Indiana tonight. They’ve struggled recently, but that’s a very good team. I don’t know what’s going on. I like what Larry [Bird has] done there. I think they’re going to be very good and they are in the playoff picture so they’ve done that. When we played them the first time, I thought, ‘Wow, by the end of the season, they’re going to be tough to deal with.’"

Walsh turned out to be more right than he even knew. The Pacers—a team that is fighting for the eighth seed in the East—demolished the Knicks on Sunday without the services of Danny Granger. Tyler Hansbrough had a career-high 29 points while rookie Paul George sank six of 10 field goals to finish with 16 points.

"He’s a good example," Walsh said of George. "Any given game he can be a 20-point scorer. It will take him, like a lot of guys that we’ve had, it takes time to kind of figure it out. But in any one game, the guy has so much talent that he can beat you."

Walsh’s lesson was clear, and it’s something his Knicks should take to heart: There are no more average teams in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

It’s hard to decide which is the better conference nowadays, but if the saying "defense wins championships" holds any truth, expect the East to capture the Larry O’Brien trophy. The top five NBA teams in terms of defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) all reside in the East, while four of the top five teams in terms of offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions) play in the West. 

Does Brandan Have the Wright Stuff?

Brandan Wright is facing something that few 23-year-old former lottery picks have had to deal with: Free Agency.

After playing sparingly for the Warriors for two seasons, Wright watched the team sign power forward David Lee last summer. That means Wright didn’t get a qualifying offer and will head into a possible work stoppage this offseason without an employer.

"It was tough," Wright told HOOPSWORLD. "They signed David Lee—an $80 million man—to play power forward, so he’s got to play. It’s as simple as that. I wanted to get minutes. It just didn’t work out the way I planned."

If Wright had his way, the Nets—who acquired him and Dan Gadzuric from Golden State for Troy Murphy at the deadline—will bring him back for next season and beyond.

"I’m about to be a free agent and we all have an evaluation to do," Wright said. "But I would really like to be here. I feel like this organization is going forward. I’m excited about being around these new guys. They welcomed me with open arms. It’s been fun so far, winning. We’re playing well and hopefully we can continue that."

The determining factor in Wright’s future will be whether he fits into coach Avery Johnson’s scheme, which is drastically different than what the Warriors used. In Golden State, Wright—who was taken by Charlotte with the eighth overall pick of the 2007 NBA Draft before being traded for Jason Richardson—was shifted between center and power forward.

{AUTHOR_BOX}That won’t be the case in New Jersey.

"The main thing is, we’re just trying to figure out, how does he fit," Johnson said. "Is he a small 4? Is he a big 3? Is he more of a hybrid kind of a guy like a Thaddeus Young is from Philly—a guy that doesn’t necessarily have to shoot threes when he’s playing the 4, but he can put defenses in a bind. Because right now, you see a lot of hybrid 4s right now in the NBA. So, if he’s going to be that kind of an NBA player, we have to see that we develop him.  That’s what the remainder of this year is about—evaluating him at practices and getting him on video and coaching him and working with him, and the times that he gets minutes, see how he does, figure out matchups for him when he’s out on the floor."

"My natural position is power forward, but I’m willing to do anything to get on the court and continue my game," Wright said. "We play a different kind of style than Golden State. We’re real spread out, a little bit more controlled. Any way I can get on the court and show my talents is cool with me."

Don’t count Wright out because he’s struggling to find time on a bad team. The Nets acquired Kris Humphries last season just to dump Eduardo Najera’s contract, and now he’s a candidate for Most Improved Player. Considering that New Jersey just dealt their power forward of the future (Derrick Favors) to Utah, there is still plenty of room for a 23-year-old post player with some upside.

"Anything’s possible," Johnson said. "When we traded for him, that was the whole idea. We liked Dan [Gadzuric]. We thought we needed another banger. Also, sometimes you’ve got to take a swing at guys, get fortunate. We like his attitude; he’s very comfortable, long. You saw him, we ran a lob for him. He almost had his head above the rim. We’re continuing to evaluate him and we’ll see where we’re at at the end of the year."

Wright has only played six minutes with the Nets thus far (ironically, they came against Golden State), but that could change as the season comes to an end. For all intensive purposes, this could be Wright’s last chance to impress an NBA team before a potential lockout. It’s an opportunity he refuses to take lightly.

"I’m just trying to get integrated with the team, learning the system and I think it’s real positive here," he said. "The coaches like me. They like what I can do. Now I think I’ll definitely be getting an opportunity for the future. I come to practice every day, work hard and I think the coaches and the guys just want to see what I can do and how I can fit on this team. I knew what I could do at Golden State. I think [the Nets] just need to learn my game and learn me, and I think I’ll be fine."

The Nets are in a decent situation. If GM Billy King thinks Wright can realize his lottery potential, New Jersey could re-sign him for next to nothing. That’s a bonus for a team that is trying to save cap space to make a free agent splash on its way to Brooklyn.

"You know that the owner [Mikhail Prokhorov] has the right priorities and the new arena’s being built," Wright said. "There’ all this positive energy. You definitely want to be a part of that."

Check Out: Spurs at HEAT

Miami was trounced in San Antonio, 125-95, back on March 4, which means they’ll be looking for revenge at home against the Spurs on Monday night.

The HEAT have snapped their skid with wins over the Lakers and Grizzlies, but a week of San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Atlanta and Denver awaits. For better or worse, the HEAT will find out what they’re made of over the next six days.

Definitely play close attention to Miami’s Dwyane Wade and San Antonio’s Tony Parker, who were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week respectively. The former sank over 50% of his field goals last week by abandoning long shots and still managed to score 28.7 PPG over that time, while the latter now has two POW awards in his injury shortened season.

Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern.

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