Brian Cronin: Did the NFL ever go the Eastern/Western route in the early days? I honestly don’t recall.

The NFL was established in 1922 and went to two divisions (east and west) in 1933.

Here’s a link to the NFL’s equivalent of B-R:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/

I will say that it was great in the olden days when the Knicks and Celts would play like 8-10 times a year. I truly wish the league would contract by 5-6 teams, it would make for a better league. Just get rid of the bottom 100 players. You’d also have better rivalries as teams in the same division played each other more. There could be two levels of D-league, similar to baseball, and the Sacramentos and Toronto’s of the world would be in the better league and would win a few championships.

I wonder if at some point it would make sense to go to a non-geographic division of two conferences, like MLB and NFL. I understand that not all teams play each other every year in those leagues, but it might still work. You could still have an east, middle and west in each conference, split up the NY, FL and TX teams, etc.; or, you could put “local” rivalry teams in the same divisions.

It’s fascinating how the various leagues evolved and solidified. For instance, as you note in your next post, you couldn’t really imagine the NBA ever doing that (and I agree), but it is exactly what the NFL and MLB does.

Did the NFL ever go the Eastern/Western route in the early days? I honestly don’t recall.

The Honorable Cock Jowles: Because Camby is 38 and Kidd is 40.

http://wagesofwins.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Age-model-v2.png

Garnett and Duncan aren’t THAT old yet. And Kobe, Pau, and company aren’t even close. Nash is a freak of nature, this decade’s John Stockton, and doesn’t eat sugars. He’s insane.

The fundamental differences here are what each player is being asked to do and how much their respective teams rely on those things getting accomplished. I’ve already read that post and if you authored it and the analysis, great job. I think minutes are more important than age, however.

ruruland: Def agree with THCJ point regarding Camby, Kidd falling off cliff. That is likely to happen within next 3 years. But why not apply that argument to Boston, San Antonio, LA? All of those old guys carry a much larger offensive and defensive responsibility, and will be asked to play more minutes.

Because Camby is 38 and Kidd is 40.

http://wagesofwins.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Age-model-v2.png

Garnett and Duncan aren’t THAT old yet. And Kobe, Pau, and company aren’t even close. Nash is a freak of nature, this decade’s John Stockton, and doesn’t eat sugars. He’s insane.

sideQuest: Yea this is exactly it. It’s so hard to predict minute allocations though.

Def agree with THCJ point regarding Camby, Kidd falling off cliff. That is likely to happen within next 3 years. But why not apply that argument to Boston, San Antonio, LA? All of those old guys carry a much larger offensive and defensive responsibility, and will be asked to play more minutes.

sideQuest: Yea this is exactly it. It’s so hard to predict minute allocations though.

5 of Smiths last 6 seasons he’s been above .120 WS/48…..in an off ball role where he shot between 573 and .605, on this defense, his WS/48 is likely to be well above that for what it’s worth.

Smith is not the elite defender Brewer is, but he’s not been as statistically blessed either, never played in a great defense like Chicagos for a full season or the flex offense.

The thing that interests me, though, is that the two teams most likely to move (I would imagine) would be New Orleans and Sacramento – both Western Conference teams. So who would have to move to the Western Conference if either of those teams became the new Virginia Squires? WOULD they even move (as Memphis and New Orleans, while further west than any Eastern Conference teams, are just barely further west than Milwaukee, Chicago and Indiana)?

What do you all think? Which team would most likely move if New Orleans or Sacramento moved? Would three teams have to move divisions if Sacramento moved East (a Northwest team moving into the Pacific division, a Southwest team into the Northwest division and then a Central team moving into the SouthWest Division)? Or would the Central team move into the Northwest division?

Milwaukee is the furthest West eastern team, so I guess it would be them.