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The Purple and Blues Mailbag

Greg Foster

Greg Foster

New Member
Hey Jazz fans,

My name is Greg Foster (no, not that Greg Foster). I'm a staff writer for Purple and Blues (the Utah Jazz extension of Fansided). Every other week during the offseason I write a mailbag where I answer any and all questions about our boys in blue. This will change to once a week when the season gets here. Got a question? Feel free to hit me up here or on Twitter at @johnny_ut. Thanks and go Jazz!
 
I checked the twitter link and it appears legit.

Hit him with some good questions y'all.
 
Why did you say that Gary Payton was the best point guard you ever played with?
 
Ok. What is your take on why The West > The East? Many people believe it is because on the lottery. Do you? What steps would you take to fix it?
 
JazzTalk said:
Ok. What is your take on why The West > The East? Many people believe it is because on the lottery. Do you? What steps would you take to fix it?
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Play 24 teams 3 times 5 teams twice=82. Top 16 records make the playoffs. Split those teams in half geographically then seed teams 1-8 east and west.
 
Joe Bagadonuts said:
I've never heard this before. Can you explain how the lottery would favor the west over the east?
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As I understand it the theory is: Eastern markets tend to be bigger than western markets and so they can afford to tank/put their hopes in the lottery repeatedly. This strategy while attractive doesn't work out most of the time. Western teams by contrast need to stay competitive so their rebuilding process is rarely based around nabbing one superstar player.
 
♪alt13 said:
As I understand it the theory is: Eastern markets tend to be bigger than western markets and so they can afford to tank/put their hopes in the lottery repeatedly. This strategy while attractive doesn't work out most of the time. Western teams by contrast need to stay competitive so their rebuilding process is rarely based around nabbing one superstar player.
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Perhaps. But about the only team that has been in the lottery consistently of late (on prurpose) is Philadelphia. What I think is FAR more prevalent is EC teams - and probably because they ARE in larger markets - have more frequently gone for quick fixes by overpaying or trading for veteran players, many of whom have not returned full value on the dollar. What worked for Boston one time has not worked in New York, New Jersey, etc. Of course it did work for Miami a couple of times and is working in Cleveland. Teams trading for vets have given up a lot of young assets and picks to get those players.

Second part of the equation is ownership and management. Teams in the WC have longer stretches of eliteness than do teams in the EC. Detroit, Chicago, Boston: those empires rose and fell quickly. SA, LA, Utah: they maintained a high level of excellence for decades.
 
Stifle Tower said:
To follow up, I would ask if there really IS a problem with the current EC/WC imbalance?
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Are you kidding me? Aside from the few elite teams at the top being equal there is clearly an imbalance. Look at the records.

Just look at last season. 3 teams in the east won 50+ games (ATL, CLE and CHI). In the west 7 teams won 50+ (SAS, GSW, HOU, Clips, MEM, DAL and POR).

The 8th team in the east finished 38-44. The 9th, 10th and 11th seeds in the west tied or beat that record.

But let us look at 2013 season for a larger sample size:

In 2013 2 EC teams won 50+ games (Heat and Pacers). 7 WC teams won 50+ (Thunder, Blazers, Clips, Warriors, Spurs, Rockets and Grizzlies). The 8th seeded EC team had a record of 38-44. The 10th seeded WC team had a record of 40-42.

So if you take out the trash and elite teams from each side you have a much larger base of good to average teams in the western conference.

For further proof look at the EC v WC head to head records over the last several seasons. So right now, and for the last several seasons, the west is clearly better. It's not even really a debate.
 
Stifle Tower said:
Perhaps. But about the only team that has been in the lottery consistently of late (on prurpose) is Philadelphia. What I think is FAR more prevalent is EC teams - and probably because they ARE in larger markets - have more frequently gone for quick fixes by overpaying or trading for veteran players, many of whom have not returned full value on the dollar. What worked for Boston one time has not worked in New York, New Jersey, etc. Of course it did work for Miami a couple of times and is working in Cleveland. Teams trading for vets have given up a lot of young assets and picks to get those players.

Second part of the equation is ownership and management. Teams in the WC have longer stretches of eliteness than do teams in the EC. Detroit, Chicago, Boston: those empires rose and fell quickly. SA, LA, Utah: they maintained a high level of excellence for decades.
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Solid. Repped.
 
Stifle Tower said:
To follow up, I would ask if there really IS a problem with the current EC/WC imbalance?
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I don't think so. I don't care to fix the alleged playoff problem either. 2nd place is first loser. If there is an advantage to this structure then let the best of the best figure out how to use/neutralize it.
 
franklin said:
I don't think so. I don't care to fix the alleged playoff problem either. 2nd place is first loser. If there is an advantage to this structure then let the best of the best figure out how to use/neutralize it.
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When I said there is a clear imbalance right now in favor of the west it was not to argue for changes to the system to balance out the east and west. Nothing to fix. It just so happens that there are currently a higher number of good teams in the west. It won't always be that way.
 
Joe Bagadonuts said:
I've never heard this before. Can you explain how the lottery would favor the west over the east?
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Last year the Nets finished with the same record as the Jazz and got the eighth seed in the East. The Thunder, Suns, and Jazz ended with as good or better records than the Nets, but the West teams ended up in the lottery.
Now granted your are not getting any superstars with those picks. But you are getting better role players. In one year time frame it really is not going to make much of a difference. But doing this year after after year is making the middle of the pack west teams stronger, and hurting the East, and widing the gap between the East and the West.
I think this theory has some value, it is not the full story. I think there is more.
 
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