Playoff Format

[DocHolliday]

Lets face it, its horrible in the NBA. Half the teams make it, and some of these teams have sub 500 records.

It makes the regular season very, well, uninspired. Teams seem to know that they can kinda coast and still be there come playoff time. Not all teams are like this, and the ones that seem to have a real shot go for it a little harder.

Im a huge NBA fan, and I love the regular season, but the way MLB does it is just a TON better. It makes divisions and division games that much more important. Watching the Cubs battle to get even with milwaukee makes every game seem important. In the NBA you just watch to make sure you are at least the 8th best in your conference, and the divisions mean little.

I know that the NBA makes a ton off of all the playoff games, but by the time the finals are hear, no one really cares anymore. Granted, the end of this season with GS squeeking in was nice, but it really only heated up in the last couple weeks.

SO who agrees? Should the NBA change its playoff system to mirror MLB? or even add two wild cards so ten teams get in?

Either one would be way better than what we have now, and would really give the NBA the jolt it needs to get some fans interested again.

thought?

[mvb34]

Re: Playoff Format

Until the NBA themselves feels need to change the format it will be the same. I personally don't have a problem with the format.

[Vince]

Re: Playoff Format

Matchups are the problem...Miami-Chicago, Miami-Detroit, Chicago-Detroit. I'm so sick of the same mathcups in the playoffs.

[DocHolliday]

Re: Playoff Format

On the flip side though, we start growingrivalries again, which have pretty much died in the NBA.
You know u have a rivalry problem when the biggest one is heat vs lakers

[heitkamp94]

Re: Playoff Format

I think Golden State proved what is right with the NBA format. I wouldn't say they coasted and turned it on, they got healthy, made a deal and then made a run.

[aa2ba]

Re: Playoff Format

On the flip side though, we start growingrivalries again, which have pretty much died in the NBA.
You know u have a rivalry problem when the biggest one is heat vs lakers

The day of the long seeded rivalry is gone. Players move too much and its not about team pride its about contract years, and playing for the money till your 30 then bolting to the nearest championship contender.

Also the few rivlares are now spawned becasue a player leaves a team for another ie Shaq and Mia v Kobe and the Lakers....or VC and NJ v. Toronto. The problem here is, only the fans have the rivlary not the players. Even Shaq and Kobe have somewhat cooled off.

I dont think the NBA should consider rivalries in the playoff equation anymore. Someone said a while back the NBA should structure the regular season schedule to have everyone play eachother in an equitable fashion, instead of playing the your own confernece three to four times and the opp. conference twice. ...
THEN after the smoke has cleared take the top 16 teams regardless of conference and seed them according to record.

Also after everyround they should re-seed every team so we make sure that if a #16 seed advances they are not playing 8 or 9, but they would play the next top team ie #2 if they advance.

This would eliminate all the coasting. Clevland would have had a much tougher draw to the finals, and we might have even had Spurs v. Suns in the finals which would have been much more fun to watch.

[heitkamp94]

Re: Playoff Format

The day of the long seeded rivalry is gone. Players move too much and its not about team pride its about contract years, and playing for the money till your 30 then bolting to the nearest championship contender.

Also the few rivlares are now spawned becasue a player leaves a team for another ie Shaq and Mia v Kobe and the Lakers....or VC and NJ v. Toronto. The problem here is, only the fans have the rivlary not the players. Even Shaq and Kobe have somewhat cooled off.

I dont think the NBA should consider rivalries in the playoff equation anymore. Someone said a while back the NBA should structure the regular season schedule to have everyone play eachother in an equitable fashion, instead of playing the your own confernece three to four times and the opp. conference twice. ...
THEN after the smoke has cleared take the top 16 teams regardless of conference and seed them according to record.

Also after everyround they should re-seed every team so we make sure that if a #16 seed advances they are not playing 8 or 9, but they would play the next top team ie #2 if they advance.

This would eliminate all the coasting. Clevland would have had a much tougher draw to the finals, and we might have even had Spurs v. Suns in the finals which would have been much more fun to watch.

I like the idea of reseeding, but then what precedent would that set, its debatable that the Colts should have played New England in the superbowl last year. Do you reseed in every sport?

[culpn8r]

Re: Playoff Format

The day of the long seeded rivalry is gone. Players move too much and its not about team pride its about contract years, and playing for the money till your 30 then bolting to the nearest championship contender.

Also the few rivlares are now spawned becasue a player leaves a team for another ie Shaq and Mia v Kobe and the Lakers....or VC and NJ v. Toronto. The problem here is, only the fans have the rivlary not the players. Even Shaq and Kobe have somewhat cooled off.

I dont think the NBA should consider rivalries in the playoff equation anymore. Someone said a while back the NBA should structure the regular season schedule to have everyone play eachother in an equitable fashion, instead of playing the your own confernece three to four times and the opp. conference twice. ...
THEN after the smoke has cleared take the top 16 teams regardless of conference and seed them according to record.

Also after everyround they should re-seed every team so we make sure that if a #16 seed advances they are not playing 8 or 9, but they would play the next top team ie #2 if they advance.

This would eliminate all the coasting. Clevland would have had a much tougher draw to the finals, and we might have even had Spurs v. Suns in the finals which would have been much more fun to watch.

Excellent post. You really hit it on the nose. I really like your idea for combining both conferences in terms of seeding, and then re-seeding every round.

The NBA has lost my attention. I just don't enjoy watching it anymore, IMO college basketball is 100x better.

[Cebby]

Re: Playoff Format

I'm for a 16 seed, no conference playoff, but I hate reseeding.

[DocHolliday]

Re: Playoff Format

So no one thinks an MLB playoff format would worK? odd, i really think it would make the NBA a ton better

[Cebby]

Re: Playoff Format

So no one thinks an MLB playoff format would worK? odd, i really think it would make the NBA a ton better

I hate the MLB system.

I don't like small playoffs, and I especially don't like small playoffs based on a divisional system.

Last year in the NBA, Chicago would have stayed home so Miami and Toronto could have played. That's not what's good.

[Graphik]

Re: Playoff Format

So no one thinks an MLB playoff format would worK? odd, i really think it would make the NBA a ton better

I dont think so. There are some good, heated division rivalries throughout the year but what about the really scrub teams who know by July that there season is down the tubes. And with a setup that only rewards the top teams in each division, there are wayyy more teams in baseball who have no choice but to coast the last 3 months of the season.

[DocHolliday]

Re: Playoff Format

I suppose, but what about having two wild card teams in each conference? The two best records besides the division winners? or even three? then have a wildcard round and give division winners a bye?

I dunno i just dont like how many teams get in right now. It would force teams to try and get a better team togther instead of a 500 team than can get in to the playoffs just to make some extra revenue, which i feel like a lot of teams do right now.

It would also make the playoffs "special" for the players, being that so many more teams would be left out. Making teams play much harder in teh regular season.

either way, i dont really see stern making this move....ever. But I think it would be a ballsy move for the league.

[Graphik]

Re: Playoff Format

I personally dont see anything wrong with the old or the new playoff format. The problem to me seems to be the influx of allstar players switching teams at an alarming rate. There really doesn't seem to be any sense of team chemistry throughout the league. There's the few teams who are capable of building long-lasting dynastys(San An, Dallas, Detroit) then there is the rest of the league who hasn't been able to put the same 5 players on the floor for over 2 season. With the lack of good, dynasty like ballclubs of late, rivalries last 2 seasons at best. And with the lack of decent rivalries, the playoff suffer.

Just think back to the 90s or even the 80s were the majority of teams held on to its star players and attempted to build championship callibur teams around them. Just about every team in the league tried with many failing of course. But for every Bulls, Knicks, Lakers, Sonics, Rockets, teams you had in the 90, whome you knew where ECF/WCF bound from the jump, there were plenty of teams that had good shots at championships which made the playoffs as well as the regular season much more interesting than today. Teams lack chemistry and focus when every year, a few players leave and a few players join. Many GMs seem to look for the short term benefits of winning a chip instead of building good dynasties that can make a good 5 year run.

[fsquid]

Re: Playoff Format

I don't like small playoffs, and I especially don't like small playoffs based on a divisional system.

You like the NBA large bloated playoff structure, but you are against a college football playoff. Very interesting.