NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

[Titus1108]

Found this while searching about the playoff format....




"Sixty-one days.
If the 2010 NBA Finals goes a full seven games, that is how many days it will have taken to complete the 2010 NBA Playoffs.
Starting April 17, the playoffs would conclude with Game 7 of the NBA Finals on June 17. That’s entirely too long.
A student at The Ohio State University could nearly complete a quarter’s worth of classes in that time. Excluding exam week, a quarter at Ohio State is 10 weeks, or 70 days.
This past week, Stan Van Gundy, coach of the Orlando Magic, commented on the length of the NBA postseason:

“Baseball gets their whole playoffs and World Series done in like three weeks. Us, it takes us the first round to go three weeks.”

As far-fetched as it may seem, Van Gundy’s hyperbole is not that far off.
If the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls were to play a seven-game series, Game 7 would be on May 1, a full two weeks after Game 1.
Each game in the series would be followed by at least one day off and sometimes two, a common feature of all the league’s postseason series.
In fact, between Games 2 and 3 of the Utah Jazz—Denver Nuggets series, each team was given a full three days off. Game 2 was played April 19 and Game 3 was played on April 23.
I understand that the series shifted from Denver to Utah, but is Salt Lake City really that far away from Denver? I don’t think so.
The length of the NBA Playoffs is ridiculous and it needs to be completed in a timelier fashion.
Some suggest that limiting the number of teams would fix the problem. Over half of the league’s 30 teams qualify for the postseason—16 to be exact.
I like the fact that a young and talented team like the Oklahoma City Thunder has a chance to display its skills against an elite team like the Los Angeles Lakers. If the number of teams were reduced, the Thunder would probably not be in that position. I don’t think lessening the number of teams is good for the NBA. I believe the length concern can be fixed without changing how many teams make the playoffs.
Others suggest that the league should go back to the 5-7-7-7 playoff format. As it stands now, each playoff series is a seven-game series. Under the 5-7-7-7 format, first-round series were best-of-five games and the rest of the postseason series were best-of-seven.
Sure, making the change would hasten the first round, but what about the Conference Semis, the Conference Finals, and the NBA Finals?
The perfect solution to decrease the span of the NBA postseason is simple.
ELIMINATE ALL THE OFF DAYS.
There is no reason why teams need all the days off in between games.
Games 1 and 2 should be played on consecutive nights. Then, teams should be given a day for travel and resume play with Game 3, the following night in the new city. Game 4 should be played the next night.
If a fifth game is necessary, an off day should occur for teams to travel back to the location of Games 1 and 2. The same scenario should happen if a Game 6 were needed, only the teams would be traveling back to the site of Games 3 and 4.
If a seventh game is in order, it should be played the night after Game 6, no off day. Teams should travel back to the city of Games 1, 3 and 5 immediately after Game 6. Game 7s are one of the most exciting spectacles in sports, why make everyone wait?
Games played on successive nights are not uncommon during the regular season.
This season, the Cavaliers played 18 back-to-backs, set of games occurring on successive nights. All 18 were played in a different city. As a result, the Cavs had to travel immediately following the first game of each back-to-back to arrive in time to play the second.
Having teams play consecutive nights in the same city without having to travel should not be an issue.
If the NCAA can go from 65 Division I Men’s Basketball teams to one in roughly three weeks, why does it take the NBA 61 days to go from 16 to one?"

IMO, this would be perfect! Keep the 7-7-7-7 format to keep ur ratings, and $ cominmg in for more games played etc...But eliminating the off days is a MUST! I wish David(Stern) read that article!

[hokupguy]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

dude not going to happen this is based off TV $$$ , back in the day would of been based on arena's been over schedule because of nba and nhl playoffs going on. But since 2005 when they made the 1st round 7 games this started. Its based off TV $$$ and not only because of stern its the owners that do this. He works for the owners and has 30 bosses....

[DakkoN]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

What an idiotic idea. Try getting beat on in the paint by Shaq, Dwight, or Bynum for 7 days straight. Of course baseball gets their whole playoffs done in 3 weeks, baseball doesn't involve players knocking the hell out of each other for an hour. They stand for 15 minutes and then sit for 15 minutes. The only player that puts in any real work in a baseball game is the pitcher.

[Jano]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

I dont get how the time length of the playoffs is a problem.

Also, how would this benefit the players I mean the grind of the playoffs is huge load on them already. All this would do is add more unnecessary stress on the players.

A big part of the playoffs is the strategy and game to game adjustments wouldn't this kind of ruin that. I don't see why this would need to be implemented other then to please fans who don't like the current length.

I can't see the players or the coaches being down with this at all.

[J_Posse]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

The length of the NBA playoffs is just fine, because like someone else mentioned these guys need to get their legs back between games. If they shortened the schedule the level of play would be diminish, IMO. No one noticed how Bryant and Garnett both looked more lively in their last game? That's because they've got time to recuperate between games. The only issue I have is the length of the first round, since I wish it would go back to best-out-of 5, but that won't change because money is involved.

Obviously, this idiot writer hasn't noticed how the level of play drops off when teams play in back-to-back games. The Spurs would've been eliminated in 5 games if the league instituted such a ridiculous plan.

[z Revis]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

His examples/analogies are horrible. In baseball, you can have back to back's easily. Hell you can have back to back's on the same day(which happens sometimes). Baseball isn't a physical sport and there's no where near the amount of running in baseball as there is in basketball. Playing a full 48 minutes of basketball takes a far more toll, or wear and tear, on your body than playing 9 innings of baseball. There's no way you can eliminate the off days. These guys would be dead by the time the Conference Finals arrive. They need the rest. He also pointed out the NCAA tournament. Another horrible example. They don't play series. They play 1 game. Win or go home. And the teams that play in the NC are only playing SIX games total. The NCAA tourney actually takes a fairly long time given that there's only 6 rounds. You could easily finish the tourney in 2 weeks or less if you wanted to(and still be able to give teams off days).

I personally like the current format and I even enjoy how long it takes. 2 months of Playoffs? Who doesn't like that? Plus having the off nights gives me time to do things that I need to get done, rather than sitting on my couch watching basketball every single night(which I've done every night for the past 2 weeks.. lol. except one night where I had to get out of the house to help my dad with some stuff).

[bamalam]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

shorten it. play your young guys or get beat and go home trying to play has been stars like shaq.

would be more exciting to seet he young guys play. those guys should be able to run all day long. these guys elite athletes and should be able to play back to back games in the playoffs. 2 months of playoffs is rediculous.

that said, tv wont let it happen.

[Cebby]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

shorten it. play your young guys or get beat and go home trying to play has been stars like shaq.

would be more exciting to seet he young guys play. those guys should be able to run all day long. these guys elite athletes and should be able to play back to back games in the playoffs. 2 months of playoffs is rediculous.

that said, tv wont let it happen.

So you're saying you want an intentionally worse product?

[J_Posse]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

shorten it. play your young guys or get beat and go home trying to play has been stars like shaq.

would be more exciting to seet he young guys play. those guys should be able to run all day long. these guys elite athletes and should be able to play back to back games in the playoffs. 2 months of playoffs is rediculous.

that said, tv wont let it happen.

So, you'd rather see young, inexperienced bench players over veteran, championship-tested starters? Yeah, I'm sure it's easy to run all day when you've got 80+ games of punishment on your body. The days off benefit the product on the court and thus we (the fans) benefit.

[rangerrick012]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

I don't care who you are, there's no excuse for there to be 3 off nights between games 2 and 3 in the CLE/BOS series. It kills the momentum of the series. The playoffs are too long, I agree w/ the OP. Something as drastic as a game every night isn't necessary, but definitely cut down on the off days and have no more than 2 days between games in any series. Ideally it would be

Game 1
(day off)
Game 2
(2 days off)
Game 3
(day off)
Game 4
(2 days off)
Game 5
(day off)
Game 6
(day off)
Game 7

That's how it should be IMO. The travel shouldn't be a concern, these guys travel on luxurious jets and such, it's not like they're bussing it from city to city. Sorry if my opinion is in the minority, I love the playoffs as much as the next guy, but yeah they do drag on for too long. Though I do agree the 7-7-7-7 format should be kept.

If a sport as physical as hockey can have no more than 2 days off between games in a series, I don't understand why the NBA can't do the same. And yes, Hockey is a lot more physical than B-ball, don't even get started with that argument.

[Pared]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

I think anyone who says the playoffs are fine is off the mark. There's no way that the next Bos-Cle game should be friday.

People compare it to baseball... baseball plays their games at 1~4 in the afternoon in the wild card round, AND do a lot of back to backs in the world series.

Make all the excuse you want about one sport being more physical, it shouldn't take Monday - Friday for a subsequent game in a series to be played.

[Cebby]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

I think anyone who says the playoffs are fine is off the mark. There's no way that the next Bos-Cle game should be friday.

There's no real way to avoid that unless you want to just delay the Celtics/Cavs series several days. When 2 series go 5 and they play each other in the next round and another series goes 7, you can either delay one series or start it with longer intervals in between games.

This could still happen with 5 game series if 2 teams win 3-0 and another goes to 5 games.

[Pared]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

Quite honestly, if we're keeping things on somewhat of an even playing field, they should do something like that.

It makes more sense to delay the series until both teams are ready to play in a stretch similar to what was posted before me. The only reason the NBA is delaying the game is because they think it will draw higher ratings/more viewers being on a Friday.

[mvb34]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

I think anyone who says the playoffs are fine is off the mark. There's no way that the next Bos-Cle game should be friday.

People compare it to baseball... baseball plays their games at 1~4 in the afternoon in the wild card round, AND do a lot of back to backs in the world series.

Make all the excuse you want about one sport being more physical, it shouldn't take Monday - Friday for a subsequent game in a series to be played.

I think they have to let the Orlanda/Atlanta series catch up.

[23]

Re: NBA playoffs take entirely way too long! A way to help is here!

Quite honestly, if we're keeping things on somewhat of an even playing field, they should do something like that.

It makes more sense to delay the series until both teams are ready to play in a stretch similar to what was posted before me. The only reason the NBA is delaying the game is because they think it will draw higher ratings/more viewers being on a Friday.

I agree with this, im so sick of NBA money moves. Im sorry but what they just did is garbage.

They've changed the playoff format for the worse and never looked back