Has any conference ever had 10 teams as good as next years West?

[JerrySeinfeld]

Spurs
Thunder
Clippers
Warriors
Blazers
Mavericks
Rockets
Grizzlies
Suns
Pelicans

:biggums:

[nathanjizzle]

east

bulls
Cleveland

quality over quantity. :bowdown:

[JerrySeinfeld]

east

bulls
Cleveland

quality over quantity. :bowdown:

are those 2 even better than thunder and clippers, let alone the thunder and spurs?

rose hasn't shown us any worthwhile basketball for 2 years...

[Warfan]

Denver as well. The West is insanely stacked, all of those teams have great talent.

[Cocaine80s]

Cleveland
Chicago
Charlotte
Miami
Washington
Toronto
Brooklyn
Atlanta
New York
Boston

[Lord Bean]

are those 2 even better than thunder and clippers, let alone the thunder and spurs?

rose hasn't shown us any worthwhile basketball for 2 years...

more proof that you are russwest0 . first you make fun of eastern conference then you make fun of d rose

[Spurs5Rings2014]

Cleveland
Chicago
Charlotte
Miami
Washington
Toronto
Brooklyn
Atlanta
New York
Boston

:roll: :roll: :roll:

[JT123]

I know what you're trying to do russ, and it won't work. This is year 5 for Durant on a stacked team, and it is Championship or bust. If KD chokes again this year he will never enter the top 25. :no:

[bdreason]

It's the most stacked a conference has been since I can remember. The East was bad in the early 2000's, where the NBA Finals was really the WCF's... but the conference wasn't as stacked top to bottom as it is now.

[el gringos]

Not even close to the most stacked ever. A couple of complete teams? Were you serious including no, Houston, Phoenix, and even a couple more as all time stacked? A team that starts Patrick Beverly and Terrance jones coached by McHale with no bench? Or are you talking about a team whose best big is miles plumlee and has 5 pg's? So much more bit the main point is no the west isn't nearly as good as you must think.


The nba's intention to make the individual bigger than the team has weakened the league. Even San Antonio isn't an all time great team. They are just one of the few that plays team ball.

[macmac]

Not even close to the most stacked ever. A couple of complete teams? Were you serious including no, Houston, Phoenix, and even a couple more as all time stacked? A team that starts Patrick Beverly and Terrance jones coached by McHale with no bench? Or are you talking about a team whose best big is miles plumlee and has 5 pg's? So much more bit the main point is no the west isn't nearly as good as you must think.


The nba's intention to make the individual bigger than the team has weakened the league. Even San Antonio isn't an all time great team. They are just one of the few that plays team ball.

Lol last years Spurs team played like a top 15 team of all time, easy. The way that team was shooting, they could have beat anyone on any given night.

[ArbitraryWater]

It's the most stacked a conference has been since I can remember. The East was bad in the early 2000's, where the NBA Finals was really the WCF's... but the conference wasn't as stacked top to bottom as it is now.

This..

OP could also add the Nuggets with a fairly talented all-around squad..

West right now gotta be the most stacked era / conference ever... Absolutely blows the poor 2008-201 West out of the water.. I mean, you had the Lakers and no one else..

Mavericks/Spurs hit a dry point, peaked right before and right afterwards... Ironically.

It's like for a 3-year span you had all superstars but one on a garbage team.

[ArbitraryWater]

Not even close to the most stacked ever. A couple of complete teams? Were you serious including no, Houston, Phoenix, and even a couple more as all time stacked? A team that starts Patrick Beverly and Terrance jones coached by McHale with no bench? Or are you talking about a team whose best big is miles plumlee and has 5 pg's? So much more bit the main point is no the west isn't nearly as good as you must think.


The nba's intention to make the individual bigger than the team has weakened the league. Even San Antonio isn't an all time great team. They are just one of the few that plays team ball.

Except they are... They had the most dominant +/- run since the 2001 Lakers.

[K Xerxes]

As a sidenote, I love the look of that Pelicans team. Gonna be a nast team in the future.

[el gringos]

Except they are... They had the most dominant +/- run since the 2001 Lakers.
My argument was that team play throughout today's nba is at a lower level than in the past. Even the early 2000's.


They don't beat that lakers team. They don't go through or would beat a webber/peja/blade/bobby/bobby Jackson kings team or even a prime Rasheed/JO and still effective as hell Scottie pippen blazers.


San Antonio 2014 doesn't even beat themselves from 10 years ago. Kawhi is a huge difference maker, but the drop off from prime Tim and Manu to now more than negates the diff between kawhi and Bruce Bowen

[Darius]

My argument was that team play throughout today's nba is at a lower level than in the past. Even the early 2000's.


They don't beat that lakers team. They don't go through or would beat a webber/peja/blade/bobby/bobby Jackson kings team or even a prime Rasheed/JO and still effective as hell Scottie pippen blazers.


San Antonio 2014 doesn't even beat themselves from 10 years ago. Kawhi is a huge difference maker, but the drop off from prime Tim and Manu to now more than negates the diff between kawhi and Bruce Bowen

Are you watching the same games as everyone else?

Team play is on the rise and has been the last 3-4 years.

The low point of the league was early 2000s where it was all 1v1 garbage. The turning point was when the U.S. lost in Olympics to teams that were less talented but actually passed the ball.

Now teams like the Spurs are the envy of and template for the league.

Ball movement is better than it has been for a long time IMO

[Milbuck]

Absolutely blows the poor 2008-201 West out of the water.. I mean, you had the Lakers and no one else..

Mavericks/Spurs hit a dry point, peaked right before and right afterwards... Ironically.

It's like for a 3-year span you had all superstars but one on a garbage team.
Except that the West from 2008-2011 actually wasn't just the Lakers and then no one else. It wasn't as tough as today, but it was extremely balanced and there were some legit tough teams.

The 8th seed in 2009 with prime D-Will and Boozer, coached by Sloan would've been the 4th seed in the East, where the 8th seeded Pistons won 39 games.

The Nuggets were a great team, absolutely loaded. Melo, AI, Billups, Kenyon, Nene, Birdman, JR, etc with George Karl putting it all together. They were a legit team and gave the Lakers serious trouble in the playoffs.

Then you had 4 more 50 win teams.. There's a reason why the Rockets and Nuggets took the Lakers to tough 7 and 6 game series, and the Magic got raped in the finals.

Then again in 2010 the 8th seed of the West (up and coming OKC) would've been the 4th seed in the East.

Every single West playoff team was a 50 win team, whereas the 8th seeded team in the East won 41.

That Phoenix team was also tough. Gave them a very close 6 game series, the Lakers won because of ridiculous clutch shots by Kobe in game 6 and an overall series of 34/7/8 on 64% TS

The West was still infinitely more competitive in 2008-11 than the East was the past couple years, using the current Western conference as a comparison isn't a good indicator of what the conference was like 3-6 years ago.

[ArbitraryWater]

Except that the West from 2008-2011 actually wasn't just the Lakers and then no one else. It wasn't as tough as today, but it was extremely balanced and there were some legit tough teams.

The 8th seed in 2009 with prime D-Will and Boozer, coached by Sloan would've been the 4th seed in the East, where the 8th seeded Pistons won 39 games.

The Nuggets were a great team, absolutely loaded. Melo, AI, Billups, Kenyon, Nene, Birdman, JR, etc with George Karl putting it all together. They were a legit team and gave the Lakers serious trouble in the playoffs.

Then you had 4 more 50 win teams.. There's a reason why the Rockets and Nuggets took the Lakers to tough 7 and 6 game series, and the Magic got raped in the finals.

Then again in 2010 the 8th seed of the West (up and coming OKC) would've been the 4th seed in the East.

Every single West playoff team was a 50 win team, whereas the 8th seeded team in the East won 41.

That Phoenix team was also tough. Gave them a very close 6 game series, the Lakers won because of ridiculous clutch shots by Kobe in game 6 and an overall series of 34/7/8 on 64% TS

The West was still infinitely more competitive in 2008-11 than the East was the past couple years, using the current Western conference as a comparison isn't a good indicator of what the conference was like 3-6 years ago.

Rockets best Player was Aaron Brooks with Ming/McGrady out...

Lakers had the Nuggets in 2009 as IMO only legit Opponent..

Just writing off those Records is easy, because the low pack wasn't very good..

Just compare LeBron 2012 vs Kobe 2009, LeBron actually faced a superior Team in every single round..

Now in the West you have every Playoff Team with 2-3 stars, insane star power.. East is Heat/Pacers and now Cavaliers/Bulls...

But the West had Lakers with a deadly Kobe/Gasol Combo, and that was really the only Team with 2 top 15 Players..

Kobe was sick against the Suns, and hot garbage against the Thunder.. Won both in 6..

[Milbuck]

Rockets best Player was Aaron Brooks with Ming/McGrady out...

Lakers had the Nuggets in 2009 as IMO only legit Opponent..

Just writing off those Records is easy, because the low pack wasn't very good..

Just compare LeBron 2012 vs Kobe 2009, LeBron actually faced a superior Team in every single round..

Now in the West you have every Playoff Team with 2-3 stars, insane star power.. East is Heat/Pacers and now Cavaliers/Bulls...

But the West had Lakers with a deadly Kobe/Gasol Combo, and that was really the only Team with 2 top 15 Players..

Kobe was sick against the Suns, and hot garbage against the Thunder.. Won both in 6..
First off, my argument was never that the West then > the West now. The West right now is one of the toughest conferences ever..all I'm saying is that acknowledging that doesn't have to be justification to rip the conference 3-6 years ago, when it was still solid, if not pretty damn good. How can you generalize they just "weren't very good"? The 8th seed won 50 games. There's no way around that. Every team in the West that year was a legit, tough team.

And as for 2 top 15 players...you can say the exact same for the Heat from 2011-2013 in the Eastern conference..they were the only team in their conference with 2 top 15 players, and in 2011 specifically, they had two top 5 players and Bosh was close to top 15.

2012 - Played a weak Knicks team. Then a young/inexperienced Pacers team similar to the OKC team Kobe faced in 2010, in that they were both matchup problems (athleticism/firepower for OKC, defense/size for Indy), except that OKC actually materialized as a contender by making the WCF the next year and the finals the year after, while Indy collapsed within a year and a half. Then a good team in the Celtics, although the big reason the series went to 7 was because Bosh went down earlier in the playoffs.

Even the next year, Indiana was a 49 win team. Literally the only reason they gave Miami trouble was because of the matchup problem, with Miami's huge weakness in rebounding/size. Indiana would've been absolutely slaughtered by the Spurs/Thunder in the finals...whereas the Nuggets in 2009 would've likely won the championship over the Magic had they gotten past the Lakers. And the Suns in 2010 could've put up a very competitive series against the Celtics. And we all know what happened in 2011 with that Dallas team.