Basketball

By Ian Sample

Editor in Chief

asketball is made by teams that can score and play defense. This type of skill combined with a strong work ethic has produced the rivalry of the nineties. The sonics and the bulls.

Last season the bulls were atop the world with the most impressive record of all time. During the same season the Sonics reached new peaks of performance. The two teams met in the NBA finals. As fate would have it, Chicago capped off the most impressive season in the history of the NBA with a title.

They set the standard for the rest of the NBA. So the question is who can challenge them. We have a host of teams hovering around the .700 win percentage. These teams are Miami, New York, Detroit, Seattle, Utah, and Los Angeles. In this group we have teams that have struggled and teams that are sharp. There are three teams from the east and three from the west. But who can dethrone the Bulls? Will it come from the East or West?

Let's take a look at the stats between the conferences. The best record in the east (excluding Chicago) is Miami. They are a dismal 0 - 4 against the best in the west. New York is 2 - 4, and Detroit posts the only winning record of 2 - 1. This means that the west has a clear advantage against these teams posting an overall record of 9 - 4. Let's see how that breaks down.

Seattle is an impressive 3 - 0 against these best three in the east. LA is 3 - 2 and Utah is 3 - 2. The most important stat to recognize is that the Sonics haven't met the Pistons. Personally I think that this will decide who has the best shot at the Bulls. Ironically enough at this moment the Bulls, Pistons and Sonics are tied for the longest current winning streak.

Excluding the Bulls, the West is clearly the more competitive of the two leagues. I think the competition of the west will prevail in the end and thus dethrone the reigning champions. My bet is that the Sonics will be the victor, getting redemption for last years loss in the sixth game.