Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

[glucklich]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

Sure there might be more upsets in best of 5 but as mentioned before there were some series last year that had 4 or 5 day breaks between games to play weekends so if it's gonna take the same amount of time to complete a series we might as well see best of 7 where we get a couple of more games. At least there's a game on every night unlike last year.

I don't think Stern likes the change either but money talks and the networks always get their way.

Youre right its about what the networks want but do you remember how this came about? It came about at the allstar break when Stern made it 7 games in mid season(who does that?) at a time when the Lakers, not so coincidentally, were struggling. It appeared that LA would be more likely to lose a 5 game series, whereas, if it was 7 games the thinking was that the Lakers had enough talent where they could overcome a compromising hole that would be insurmountable in 5 games. And of course the networks wanted the Lakers to go as deep as possible into the playoffs.

[mgoblue]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

Dude they play Friday night!! The playoff schedule has been shorter this year then years past.

I stand corrected, heard a radio ad for something and got confused...still the schedule can be wacky, last year was insane. I guess they're trying to make it better, which is good

[catcatch22]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

Last year first round lasted 18 days, this year it is scheduled to go 16 days. Heard it on a local radio station.

[Thrasha]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

The NBA has been horrible in the past few years IMO

I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it this year because I really don't have a favorite team, no attachment to anyone.

What really killed it for me last year was them adjusting the first round to a best of 7, the best of 5 was incredibly exciting even if the play was still poor. Teams were facing win or die situations left and right, backs to the wall, it had you on the edge of your seat on game 1, now its really only game 2 or even 3 that really matters.

I wish they never changed it, I'm going to start watching the playoffs more closely from here on in though. Maybe grow some of that love for it again.

[Vince]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

The playoffs have been fantastic so far.

[skitch]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

I don't like the seven game format in the first round. In a five game series, the lower seed has at least a slight chance of pulling the upset, but now it's damn near impossible.

In response to DrDoom77, who said favorites should win in the first round, thus making the seven game format acceptable.. I completely disagree. If the lower seed is playing good basketball, they should be rewarded, not shot down because they have to beat a good team four times.

[DrDoom77]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

I don't like the seven game format in the first round. In a five game series, the lower seed has at least a slight chance of pulling the upset, but now it's damn near impossible.

In response to DrDoom77, who said favorites should win in the first round, thus making the seven game format acceptable.. I completely disagree. If the lower seed is playing good basketball, they should be rewarded, not shot down because they have to beat a good team four times.

But if it's so easy to be upset, what's the point of doing well in the regular season? The playoffs aren't a mini-season unto themselves where all teams start off equal. The seeds are supposed to reward a team's performance in the regular season. They're supposed to give the team which performed best over the ENTIRE season an advantage over teams which were less consistent or which caught fire at the end. The odds <i>ought</i> to be against the lower-seeded teams. That's the whole point. If the lower seed is playing good basketball...well, it's too bad for them that they didn't play that way all year, like the higher-seed did.

And in any case, I don't know if the possibility for an upset is really that much less. If an underdog team was able to win 3 games to pull off an upset, surely they're capable of winning a 4th. There will be fewer upsets, I'm sure, but they'll still happen.

[glucklich]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

But if it's so easy to be upset, what's the point of doing well in the regular season? The playoffs aren't a mini-season unto themselves where all teams start off equal. The seeds are supposed to reward a team's performance in the regular season. They're supposed to give the team which performed best over the ENTIRE season an advantage over teams which were less consistent or which caught fire at the end. The odds <i>ought</i> to be against the lower-seeded teams. That's the whole point. If the lower seed is playing good basketball...well, it's too bad for them that they didn't play that way all year, like the higher-seed did.

And in any case, I don't know if the possibility for an upset is really that much less. If an underdog team was able to win 3 games to pull off an upset, surely they're capable of winning a 4th. There will be fewer upsets, I'm sure, but they'll still happen.

Well based on that reasoning they should only let 4 teams into the playoffs. Either it should be 4 teams from each conference or the first series should be a 5 game series. The 7 game series in the first round is dumb. The other thing which people alluded to is that you play 82 games and still let 8 teams in,ok. Maybe they should play a 64 game schedule. If they are going to have 8 teams and a 7 game series to start because the season was too long even before it expanded to 7 games. Even if they are improving on last year its still too long.

[cch99]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

I definitely would rather see a 5 games series. It takes too long.

I am one of the people who think they should shorten the regular season as well.

There are too many games, too many nights a team can just not show up.

That's why I love the NFL. 16 game season. Almost every game matters.

[SoMiss2000]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

I don't mind, especiall with my Mavs down 2-1. Only problem I have is with TNT. Dallas/Houston, two central time zone teams, and the games come on damn near 9 pm!!

[tenth]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

For the most part, it's a complete waste of time, but I've got to admit I really enjoy watching some of the opening-round battles in a 7-game format. This Dallas-Houston one is looking really good, as is Indy-Boston, and Denver-San Antonio could end up really interesting as well. Unfortunately a lot of the series' are blowouts, making the extra 2 games drag-on an already long process.

It's good to see they did shorten it a little this year. It's just 2 days, but every little bit counts...

[Brankles]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

I was disguisted after the Magic lost after being up 3-1 on the Pistons two years ago.

The 7 game series definitely gives the advantage to the more talented team with depth, which is how it should be... but it's always good to see upsets, which rarely happens after the new format.


Holla

[ShaKobe]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

I like the 7 game format, tho I do agree with most everyone here. The scheduling sux and there is less of a chance for an upset.

[Chewingthehardfacts]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

I prefer 7... It means I get to see 'MORE' basketball.

I think Killroy has it right here. Anything to mean more basketball is a good thing.

However, everyone seems to complain about upsets. The issue I have this is that there weren't that many upsets to begin with. Except Denver Nuggets/Seattle, Dallas/Utah, Rockets/Utah and New York/Miami, can anyone really remember any other upsets in the first round?

[fsquid]

Re: Is anyone else disgusted that the first round is 7 games now?

best of 5 made the first round memorable, have any first rounds since they went to 7 games been memorable?