WaltFrazier wrote:arasu wrote:ItsDanger wrote:SInce 1984, 8 franchises have won the championship 33 out of 36 times (Boston, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, San Antonio, Miami and Golden State). Statistically speaking, you're a fool to chase a championship in these small market cities.
Info right. Conclusion dead wrong. The Spurs and Knicks kill all big/small market arguments. The end.
The Spurs are an outlier because of great coaching, drafting, and the luck of getting Duncan. The Knicks are also an aberration because of constant management bungling. The original point still holds here.
Wrong. The tiny market Bucks had the best regular season record last year. Half of last year's division winners were small market teams. The entire Northwest Division is small market and 4 of them finished with a top 9 record. Nearly half of the last 17 champions were bottom half of market size. Only one team of the last 8 champions ranks top 10. Two of the worst teams of the past two decades rank top 10. While the Jazz haven't been winning titles, they have been consistently one of the top teams in the NBA for most of the last 4 decades, while ranking near the bottom in market size. They managed two Finals appearances and had just 6 losing seasons in the past 36 years, only two of which won less than 46% of their games. Another small market example, the Pacers, have managed only 8 losing seasons in the last 30 years, winning at least 42% of their games in all but one of those 30 years, and making a Finals appearance as well. The Trail Blazers are yet another consistent winner from a small market, with a championship and multiple Finals appearances. The Pistons are merely middle of the pack in market size, yet they've had two long runs in the past 3 1/2 decades as perennial contenders, including three championships. How many times are you gonna give the excuse that team X is run well and team Y poorly so they are exceptions? Just an appearance in the Finals, a division/conference leading season, or deep playoff run, is strong evidence that a team has had a chance, and many small market teams go that route regularly.