| NFL | |
|
NFL Mock Draft 2009 Draft of 2009 Lacks Star Power NFL Draft 2009: Getting Started Super Bowl Well Worth Tuning In For
|
| NBA | |
|
Prospects On Center Stage NBA Preview 2008/09: Final Call
|
|
The NBA's Balancing Act By Ron Jumper In my eyes, the imbalance between the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference has gotten way out of hand. If you are a Western Conference team, you are fighting a steep uphill battle. In order to make the playoffs (as of Sunday, November 26), you must have an 18% higher winning percentage than you would need to qualify for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. After 82 games, 18% works out to be a 15 game difference!  To put that in perspective, the Memphis Grizzlies are the only team in the West that wouldn’t make the playoffs in the East if the playoffs started today. As bad as the Grizzlies are, even they could probably squeak into the playoffs in the East once Pau Gasol gets healthy. If Gasol had been healthy at the beginning of the season, there is no doubt the Grizzlies would be significantly better and would easily qualify for the playoffs in the East. So basically, the entire Western Conference would make the playoffs if they were in the East! Is that not insane, or am I the only one that is appalled by this? If I were David Stern, should I be concerned? I think I should be, but what can I do about it? With the NBA gradually gaining popularity back and the current playoff format as exciting as ever, would it be the economic equivalent of suicide to shake things up? After last season’s playoffs, I would think it would be crazy to want to do it any differently. Why has the West become so dominant? It didn’t happen overnight, it started years ago. I looked back over the last few seasons and compiled my top 10 reasons the West has become so dominant over the East. 1. In 1997, the San Antonio Spurs won the lottery after having an injury-plagued season that included losing David Robinson and Sean Elliot for substantial amounts of time. The Boston Celtics had the worst record in the league and two picks in the lottery, but they still came up short. Had the Celtics won the lottery, the winning tradition in Boston might have continued. As we all know, the Spurs took Duncan and the rest is history. 2. The aging of Shaq has caused him to be more injury-prone. The days of Shaq playing hard in the regular season are over. He is saving all that is left in the tank for another playoff run, but the problem is this Heat team may have trouble giving him that opportunity as they, like Shaq, are aging quickly. 3. With the Atlanta Hawks needing a point guard, they drafted Marvin Williams. Had they taken Chris Paul, the Hawks could be a drastically different franchise. Paul has energized the New Orleans Hornets and brought them back into contention faster than they could have imagined. 4. The Cleveland Cavaliers let Carlos Boozer out of his contract in hopes of restructuring the deal. However, Boozer bolted for Utah. The Jazz currently sit atop the NBA at 12-2 with Boozer leading the way. The Cavaliers, while they are a good team, lack that second go-to scorer to compliment Lebron. 5. Boston makes the list again. They traded Joe Johnson and a 1st round pick for Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk. The Celtics would be a much better team with Joe Johnson still on the roster. Paul Pierce is a one-man show and needs help in the worst way. He is scoring 27 points and pulling down 9 boards a night. The points are great, but he is rebounding as well as Shawn Marion and Ben Wallace! How is he not considered an All-NBA First Team guy? 6. The Philadelphia 76ers added Chris Webber and his huge contract, making any other upgrades to the roster virtually impossible. With Allen Iverson and Chris Webber having huge salaries and aging bodies, the 76ers are stuck in no man’s land. They can’t rebuild and start over, nor can they add pieces to make them a title contender. 7. The Pacers had to trade Ron Artest, there is no argument there. However, they traded him for Peja Stojakovic. Stojakovic bolted for New Orleans the following season, leaving them with nothing to show for Ron Artest. Had they used Artest more wisely, this could be a different Pacers team. 8. The New Jersey Nets didn’t want to pay Kenyon Martin the kind of money he wanted after being an important piece to the Nets puzzle. The Nets, though they are talented on the perimeter, still don’t have that inside player that defends, rebounds, or hustles like K-Mart did for them. Though K-Mart has had injury problems with Denver, he would be a big part of the future for Jay-Z’s franchise. 9. The Houston Rockets received Tracy McGrady in exchange for Steve Francis from Orlando. Could you imagine this current Magic team with T-Mac on board? The combination of T-Mac and Dwight Howard in the East would be enough to put them in title contention for years to come. 10. The Detroit Pistons drafted Darko Milicic instead of Carmelo Anthony. Besides the fact the Pistons would be drastically more talented than they are now, this turned around a struggling Denver Nuggets franchise. Without ‘Melo, the Nuggets would still be winning 15 to 20 games every year. November 27, 2006 |
| NCAA Football | |
|
Be Careful What You Wish For
|
| NCAA Basketball | |
|
Jumpology: My Bracket Jumpology: Scouting The Heavyweights Jumpology: Reviewing The Bracket
|