(05-17-2017 02:31 PM)Wedge Wrote: Maybe raw talent rules all, and compels the Lakers to draft Lonzo, but I think if I was in their shoes I'd trade the pick -- assuming they can find a team that wants it.
If I were them I'd be very happy to send the 2nd pick to Indiana for Paul George, but the Pacers would have to be crazy to think the Ball show would play well in Indianapolis.
Doesn't Ball to the Knicks make the most sense? New York seems like the ideal place for LaVar. For Porzingis, I'd do that deal in a heart beat...
(05-20-2017 04:12 PM)Love and Honor Wrote: I'm pretty sure the Toon Squad from Space Jam were losing by less at halftime than the Celtics.
Its ridiculous....
I'll give the Celtics just got out of a grueling series with the Wizards...but the Cav's are not 40+ better than the Celtics.... I don't care if they got LeBron or not...
These playoffs are, in a nutshell, why I'm absolutely bored with NBA basketball. The NBA has two 1 vs 2 matchups which are going to end up as dominating sweeps by teams that were predicted to meet in a rematch as soon as the finals were over a year ago. The regular season is close to useless, you have teams like last year's Warriors winning close to 90% of their games but any marginal changes to their record don't matter since they'll rampage through the playoffs anyways. The lowest seed to win the finals in league history was a 6 and only one 8 has even made it to the finals IIRC. Flopping, diva athletes, dirty plays, and obnoxious sports media make the game close to unwatchable imo. There's practically zero drama involved imo.
On the other hand, the NHL playoffs are riveting. Of the four teams left, only the Pens were seen as likely to make it this far, with the Senators being close the the Cup Finals after having the lowest odds of winning it all. I'm pretty sure a couple dozen games have gone into OT this year alone. Lower seeds beat favorites pretty often, and 8 seeds aren't unknown to make a deep run or win the whole thing. The only complete blowout of a series was the wild card Preds running over the playoff juggernaut Blackhawks. I'm not a huge fan of the playoff format myself, but it makes the regular season a little more important since you don't wanna have to be a wild card traveling past a few time zones and back constantly instead of staying within your divisional bracket.
(05-21-2017 11:23 AM)Love and Honor Wrote: The lowest seed to win the finals in league history was a 6 and only one 8 has even made it to the finals IIRC.
That's because the NBA playoffs are best-of-7 series, which tend to minimize upset winners. It's a lot to ask for a team that's not even in the conference's top 4 to win 4 best-of-7 series.
Hockey is different because about half the goals scored are just good luck for the scoring team or bad luck for the team giving up the goal. I suppose that if the only reason you watch is to see lower-seeded teams win more often that the NHL playoffs are entertaining for that reason, but that's not the primary reason I watch any sports.
I think in terms of this year, Golden State and Cleveland are just that much better than everyone else. I know, the Cavs barely won 50 games and didn't even finish as the #1 seed in the playoffs. However, they had some injuries to different players throughout the regular season and clearly they were not focused in other games. Right now, Cleveland is peaking and clicking on all cylinders at the right time as is Golden State although the Warriors were able to do it consistently during the regular season as well. I believe the Finals will deliver unlike the other "broom" series.
(05-21-2017 11:23 AM)Love and Honor Wrote: The lowest seed to win the finals in league history was a 6 and only one 8 has even made it to the finals IIRC.
That's because the NBA playoffs are best-of-7 series, which tend to minimize upset winners. It's a lot to ask for a team that's not even in the conference's top 4 to win 4 best-of-7 series.
Hockey is different because about half the goals scored are just good luck for the scoring team or bad luck for the team giving up the goal. I suppose that if the only reason you watch is to see lower-seeded teams win more often that the NHL playoffs are entertaining for that reason, but that's not the primary reason I watch any sports.
I realize that baseball only has eight (ten if you count wild cards) teams in the playoffs instead of sixteen, but they have lengthy series as well yet a wild card team has won six World Series and won six other pennants since starting in 1995. The Cubs were the best team in the league last year and big favorite to win it all, yet were on the ropes by the Indians last fall. I think a bit of the problem is that basketball has only five men on the court and smaller rosters overall so it easier for a few teams concentrate power and dominate with how advanced the athletes are in the pros; college ball has power teams too, but the talent is so dispersed that it makes for a far more interesting game. There's an element of randomness there and the NHL (as you specifically mentioned), but also the MLB and even the NFL too.
I don't watch sports just for upsets either, I watch because the game is entertaining. But when your conference finals are over after the first quarter and the two teams in the finals are virtually determined at the start of the playoffs, it not very captivating to me. A hockey series can still be pretty interesting even if the favorite wins and it doesn't go to seven games, just look at Washington vs. Toronto this year. Dynasties aren't inherently bad, but extreme competitive balance is imo.
You used to see a lot more upsets in the NBA when there was a best-of-five or even a best-of-three. The NBA should do a reverse, they should do a 7-5-3-1 format. It'd be more fun, less predictable and the championship could be like college football, basketball and the Super Bowl, i.e. a pre-planned event.
(05-21-2017 06:05 PM)_C2_ Wrote: You used to see a lot more upsets in the NBA when there was a best-of-five or even a best-of-three. The NBA should do a reverse, they should do a 7-5-3-1 format. It'd be more fun, less predictable and the championship could be like college football, basketball and the Super Bowl, i.e. a pre-planned event.
We talked about this last year in another thread on this board. Shorter series are more fun but there's no way any of these leagues are giving up the ticket sales and TV revenue they get from best-of-7 series. Playoff ticket prices are significantly higher than regular-season prices and the price per seat increases every round.
And, history is on the side of best-of-7. The NBA finals have always been best-of-7, starting with the first year of the league in 1950. Conference finals (originally called division finals) have been best-of-7 starting in 1958. Conference (division) semis became best-of-7 in 1968, 49 years ago.
How big would the NBA Final, as it'd be called, be if it was one game and a big pre-planned event? Had Jordan, Bird and Magic gone through it then it'd be every bit as big as the Super Bowl. It'd be a huge money maker as well. Better than the drawn out, overextended mess that only matters in each home city.
The NBA needs to just can some of their traditions. Cut the regular season in third (home-and-homes), get rid of conferences, shorten playoff series, etc...
We can finally have the championship series that everyone knew was going to happen and the network (ABC) wanted. Trilogy or Thrill-ogy. These two teams do not like each other and it should be epic.
(05-27-2017 12:53 AM)Wedge Wrote: This series should be easy-peasy for the Cavaliers, because, according to Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue, the Warriors are easy to defend.
The link you posted didn't work. Did Lue say exactly that the Warriors are easy to defend? Or, was the context he was most familiar with the offense they run and knows how to try and defend it - successfully or not? I ask because in the Celtics series when Thomas went out the Cavs struggled to adjust in game 3 because Boston ran a different style of offense in the absence of Thomas at the point. The Cavs had not prepared for the change in scheme.
(This post was last modified: 05-27-2017 10:30 AM by UCGrad1992.)
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The Official 2016-17 NBA Season Thread
