Should the NBA change its playoff format to take the division winners and the ..........
SanctionII
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.............. remaining teams with the best regular season records instead of the current format of best eight teams from the Eastern Conference and best eight teams from the Western Conference?
As applied to this season, it appears that 10 teams from the Western Conference may end up with 50 wins or more. Two of those teams will not make the playoffs. The Eastern Conference has three teams (Celtics, Pistons and Magic) with records better than the 10th place team in the Western Conference. The Warriors, for example, would be ranked #3 or #4 in the Eastern Conference if they played in the Eastern Conference. Yet in the Western Conference they are, as of 2-20-2008, #9 in the Western Conference.
It may well be that multiple Eastern Conference playoff teams will have sub .500 records, while Western Conference teams that do not make the playoffs could be 50+ game winners.
If this trend continues (one conference being so much better than the other conference), it would be a negative. I like the idea of rewarding regular season division winners with a playoff spot (regardless of record) and giving the remaining playoff spots to the remaining teams according to their regular season records. This system would provide incentive for teams to play for a division title. However, it would also provide an incentive for all teams that do not win their division to play their arses off in the hopes of being one of the 10 best teams in the league that does not win a division.
If this system were in effect this year, Western Conference teams would grab the majority of the playoff spots and make for a more exciting NBA playoffs. While folks living back East may not like having more Western Conference teams in the playoffs, the quality of the playoffs would be much better than it would be if 4-5 Eastern Conference teams that are lousy make the playoffs.
In any event, the remainder of the regular season will, for the Western Conference teams (as of yesterday the #10 team was only 5 games behind the #1 team), be an all out brawl between 10 very good teams simply to get into the playoffs. Then when the Western Conference playoffs begin, being the #1 seed or the #8 seed will not mean anything. Any of the eight teams could beat each other [except the Warriors can not beat Utah].
As applied to this season, it appears that 10 teams from the Western Conference may end up with 50 wins or more. Two of those teams will not make the playoffs. The Eastern Conference has three teams (Celtics, Pistons and Magic) with records better than the 10th place team in the Western Conference. The Warriors, for example, would be ranked #3 or #4 in the Eastern Conference if they played in the Eastern Conference. Yet in the Western Conference they are, as of 2-20-2008, #9 in the Western Conference.
It may well be that multiple Eastern Conference playoff teams will have sub .500 records, while Western Conference teams that do not make the playoffs could be 50+ game winners.
If this trend continues (one conference being so much better than the other conference), it would be a negative. I like the idea of rewarding regular season division winners with a playoff spot (regardless of record) and giving the remaining playoff spots to the remaining teams according to their regular season records. This system would provide incentive for teams to play for a division title. However, it would also provide an incentive for all teams that do not win their division to play their arses off in the hopes of being one of the 10 best teams in the league that does not win a division.
If this system were in effect this year, Western Conference teams would grab the majority of the playoff spots and make for a more exciting NBA playoffs. While folks living back East may not like having more Western Conference teams in the playoffs, the quality of the playoffs would be much better than it would be if 4-5 Eastern Conference teams that are lousy make the playoffs.
In any event, the remainder of the regular season will, for the Western Conference teams (as of yesterday the #10 team was only 5 games behind the #1 team), be an all out brawl between 10 very good teams simply to get into the playoffs. Then when the Western Conference playoffs begin, being the #1 seed or the #8 seed will not mean anything. Any of the eight teams could beat each other [except the Warriors can not beat Utah].
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Geeze, I think my topic is pretty good and warrants discussion.
Apparently not. The sports forum is dominated by baseball and foootball. Understandable, but I like hoops the best. I really enjoy watching the Western Conference teams slug it out this year and can hardly wait to see the Western Conference playoffs.