carmelo joins the (l)eastern conference

It's been awhile since I've blogged about my favorite sport of basketball, but no, that doesn't mean I've stopped watching.  Quite the opposite actually.  This past Xmas, Ranee bought me NBA League Pass so that I could watch every Warriors game here in NYC!  And I have.

In case you haven't heard, Carmelo Anthony was (finally) traded to the New York Knicks!  Why am I happy you ask?  Because hopefully this means the balance of power will shift a little more towards the Leastern, I mean Eastern, Conference, and that would mean the Warriors would finally have a much easier time making the playoffs.

I actually blogged about this exact topic about 2 years ago, and little has changed:  The Western Conference, as a whole, is MUCH stronger than the Eastern Conference.  Here are some numbers to prove it (as of 2/22/11):

• The 8th place team in the West, Utah Jazz, are 31-26.  5 games over .500.
• The 8th place team in the East, Indiana Pacers, are 25-30.  5 games UNDER .500.
• The Warriors, at 26-29, would have that final 8th place spot in the East.  Instead, they are 11th in the West.

And to really drive this point home, I'll quote a paragraph from my last post on the topic:

what makes this disparity even more amazing is the fact that teams play more games against their own conference. in other words, the eastern conference has an easier schedule since they play eastern teams more. in more other words, the records for western teams would be even better if they had the same schedules.

So hopefully with Carmelo moving to the Knicks (along with new teammate Amare who also moved West to East), the looming dominance of Lebron/Wade/Bosh, and the coming retirement of Kobe, this means the Warriors will be the dominant force in the West for years to come! 

Haha, as a Warriors fan, I can dream right??  GO WARRIORS!!!

Update on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 12:20 PM by jamie

Deron Williams was just traded to the Nets.  Another good player moving East!!

Update on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 12:58 PM by jamie

And for you knuckleheads that need more proof: Since Michael Jordan's 6th championship with the Bulls in 1998, the Western Conference has won 9 of the 12 championships.  And it's arguable that the Mavericks choked away their championship to the Heat in 2006.  Regardless, that's 75%!!  West > East.