NBA Approves Realignment for 2004-05 Season.

[Jackal]

http://www.nba.com/news/realign_031117.html

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division: Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors
Central Division: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks
Southeast Division: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Bobcats, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards

Western Conference

Southwest Division: Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Hornets, San Antonio Spurs
Northwest Division: Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle SuperSonics, Utah Jazz
Pacific Division: Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings

Poor Hornets

Guess the T-Wolves wont be going east after all.

[Matt]

the Sth-East is real weak, can any of the teams win even 41 from that division next year??? does the normal seeding apply of division champs apply? cos it would suck if the Sth East team got 3rd seed if they didn't even win 45+.

since every team will play their division opponents 4 times each season i guess Detroit and Indiana will have fairly good records

[wangster]

I guess this means the Charlotte Bobcats have a legitimate chance of finishing 3rd in the east next year!

But the article did say that homecourt advantange will not be decided by seeds so I don't see a problem with the divisional leaders getting the top seeds in each conference. In my opinion, this new realignment just made the NBA a lot more intereresting to follow.

However, I guess if you consider the possibility that the best team from the southeast division will finish with a record of say, 28-54, a problem does arise. But we shall see.

This kind of alignment is one of the things that make the NFL playoff race very interesting. A weak team in a weak division has the chance of making the playoffs if they stay strong enough in their respective division as there is only 16 games in a NFL season, 6 of which are played against division rivals. I think next year some true divisional rivalries will start to develop among NBA teams.

[paul_pierce_the_truth]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp ... kn/2225732

They even talk about the seeding all the teams from 1-16 with no east west thing.

[Andrew]

Even though the balance of good teams favours the West, I'd rather see an East vs West NBA Finals series.

[Amphatoast]

Those division alignments are pretty interesting....that SE division is just going to be terrible, a 35win team making the playoffs isn't that good..i think already off hand the Bobcats and Wizards will be the best 2 in that division..
and that SW division is just loaded.
Spurs, Rockets, Mavs and Hornets all are top teams and the poor Grizzlies might have to wait anther 8 years to make the playoffs since those 4 teams are going to give them some spanking next year more than likely.

It looks like the T'wolves have a good chance at winning there division next year so if they don't pass the 1st round this year, next year they can have a nice high playoffs seed and get some low team and beat'em and get to the 2nd round!
--

i only have 1 problem with this still
Memphis is in Tenneesee which is in the middle of the Southeast....I'd rather move the Bucks to the NW division, blazers to pacific division, Suns to SW and Grizzlies to Central or SE ( if SE move the wizards or bobcats to central)

[Vins15]

terrible alignment...look at teh southeast division only T-mac is a superstar there.....i mean wut's up with that?

[air gordon]

whats up with you basing your opinion on the amount of superstars a division has? its going to be a competitive divsion. and also, detroit has proved it for the past few years that you don't need a superstar to be a good team

kind of silly how charlotte just lost a franchise and all of a sudden gets one a year later. this wasn't the like the baltimore/cleveland situation in the nfl

[MaD_hAND1e]

So how many games in the regular season will be played?
Wonder what they mean by "outside the division three or four times each" how do they determine which teams they play 3 games and which teams they play 4 games?
Lol, Charlotte doesn't even have anyplayers yet, but still people are saying they will win the South East

[Vins15]

boo(N) Toronto is moving to Atlanatic division

[wangster]

So how many games in the regular season will be played?
Wonder what they mean by "outside the division three or four times each" how do they determine which teams they play 3 games and which teams they play 4 games?
Lol, Charlotte doesn't even have anyplayers yet, but still people are saying they will win the South East

I'm not sure but I think it will still be 82 games. In fact, in the eastern conference right now, each team plays exactly two other teams only three times in a season because the eastern conference has one more team than the western conference so they need to balance out the number of games.

What has been happening after the Raptors and Grizzlies joined the NBA up until next year...
west: 13*4+15*2=82
east: 12*4+2*3+14*2=82

What will most likely happen next year (at least IMHO)...
west: 10*4+4*3+15*2=82
east: 10*4+4*3+15*2=82

I'm guessing each team will play two teams from each other division in its own conference. The matchup will most likely rotate from year to year.