NBA Finals

[Bannister]

Yeah, the Grizzlies got nailed having to play Dallas in the first round.

We didn't stand a chance.



Bannister

[toddrew]

Originally Posted by shakey_snake

The conference seeding is broken. Dallas and the Spurs would have played each other in the Conference Finals. I think Stern said that they would change that next year.
But the NBA finals should always be East vs West. I wouldn't watch if there were 2 west coast teams in the NBA finals.

"power" amongst the conferences shifts and is usually viewed as cyclical, and styles of play come about as the lesser teams respond to the make-up and tendencies of the better teams in an effort to beat them.

I don't understand the views that the current playoff system is broken. I suppose one could argue that too many teams are allowed in the play-offs, but I wouldn't be one of those. If one has a problem with the current set-up, then the divisions should be gotten rid of, otherwise what's the point of having them? Nuggets may have gotten the 3rd seed but they had to play at the Clippers due to records determining homecourt throughout the playoffs. Dallas had the misfortune of being in the same division as the Spurs in the sense that they were the 2nd best in the West, yet had to play the top seed in the 2nd round as opposed to the conference finals, but so be it - played 'em and beat 'em. There aren't any BCS shenanigans going on - I'm cool with the seedings

[shakey_snake]

It makes sense to me to have division winners get an automatic bid. It doesn't make sense to give them an automatic top seed, especially when home court is determined by record. It might have worked before (this season) when there were 2 divisions per conference, but with 3 now, it's too messy.

I like the new 2-2-1-1-1 format. It should be used in the Finals, too.

Are ther too many teams in the NBA playoffs? Probably. Now that the opening round is best of 7, even more so. But I don't see that changing any time soon.
more playoff games = more money.

The NBA keeps tweaking thing and tweaking things. Eventually they'll fin something that will work.

[reapersaurus]

Ya - the Spurs have a legitimate gripe, considering they probably played 2 of the top 4 teams in the West in the first 2 rounds (Sacto and Dallas)
You'da never guessed from the matchups that the Spurs had the best seeding, but the Kings at least were hard to fix in a playoff format/structure, since they literally weren't the same time come playoffs that they were most of the season.

You can't really fix that, since their record was an 8 seed, but there's no way they played like an 8 seed. One lucky-for-the-ages Brent Barry shot, and they VERY likely woulda lost (or at least been down 3-1, which in a 5 game series woulda been it).

[player_of_volleyball]

Yea im a big NBA fan also (bigger NFL fan tho) My team are the Rockets but im pulling for the heat. Next year Rockets goona rule.
We gonna have Yao, T-Mac, and the 8th overall draft pick.

[hextr1p]

Originally Posted by player of football

We gonna have Yao, T-Mac, and the 8th overall draft pick.

T-Mac needs to get his injuries in order. I feel for the guy and his back problems as that is what kept me from playing at times back in the day. But you better hope Yao carries over what he was doing at the end of this year to next year, and his sudden rise in skills wasn't some cosmic fluke. And Stromile Swift needs to grow up, too.

[reapersaurus]

Ya, you guys had Yao, T-Mac, and a couple fairly-large free agents last year (which pretty much always shoulda been better than an untested rookie 8th-pick in the draft), and they didn't do much.

It's getting pretty clear that Van Gundy isn;t the coach for that team.

Myself, I'm SO happy to not have to endure another season with Rick Adelman non-coaching the Kings. He's why we were in 8th place and up against one of the only teams we couldn't beat without being almost perfect (the Spurs). Artest is the leader of the team, and got them all interested again - not Adelman.

I hope Bonzi didn;t plasy himself into a ridiculous contract with his absurdly-strong postseason. The Kings've been burnnt in giving high $$ contracts before - they likely don;t pan out.

[hextr1p]

Originally Posted by player of football

... and the 8th overall draft pick.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but I really only think this years draft is about 5 players deep when it comes to talent who can come straight in from college and really put in quality minutes on the floor. And that's being optimistic. This years draft is quite weak...

[Joah]

Bucks fan here. I didn't think they would win a single game in the first round against the Pistons. They got one. That's when I realized the Pistons weren't the team they were a year ago. I hope this is an interesting Finals, but I think the Mavs bench is too deep for the Heat. I really like D.Wade, he'll be back. I don't like Gary Payton. I don't want him to get a ring. Sorry, No Love for the Glove. Except in '96 against the Bulls, I hated the Bulls.

[Agent Minivann]

Originally Posted by hextr1p

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but I really only think this years draft is about 5 players deep when it comes to talent who can come straight in from college and really put in quality minutes on the floor. And that's being optimistic. This years draft is quite weak...

I haven't really been following the potential draft discussion, but I can't even really think of any player that is a serious #1 pick. I don't think any of the lottery picks are really anything to talk about this year. I think it's a draft of late lottery picks and on. Of course it pays to have good scouting because it will be even more important this year.