OT: All we need to know about the NBA

[ddb]

There were 8 Game 1's over the weekend. 8 series. Here's all we need to know to question why we even bother cherishing the NBA.

Home Teams
8-0

Home teams won by an average of 15.75 points over the weekend

Home teams were a +48 on FT's attempted (which actually isn't even that bad for NBA standards. It'll get worse as the playoffs roll on)

I LOVE the Celtics and I LOVE the NBA. Yet every single year I'm reminded why it's BY FAR the most predictable sport on the planet. Can we all just fast forward to the Heat/Thunder rematch?

Based on who has home court advantage throughout the playoffs the following will be the results.

Knicks over Celtics
Pacers over Hawks
Nets over Bulls
Heat over Bucks
Thunder over Rockets
Spurs over Lakers
Clippers over Grizz
Nuggets over Warriors

Heat over Nets
Knicks over Pacers

Thunder over Clippers
Spurs over Nuggets

Heat Over Knicks
Thunder over Spurs

Heat over Thunder


I hope I'm wrong. But that's all an NBA "Insider" needs to do on National TV and he has a 95% chance of being right. Just go with the team with Home court 10 out of 10 times because it's a major major upset if a road team wins a series.

[ddb]

I would really, really like to report back to this thread after the first series and be wrong.

Also, the parody in other sports is so much better. in the NHL you can win the Cup as an 8th seed. In MLB you can win the World Series as a Wild Card. In the NFL you can be a 4th seed to win the Super Bowl. In the NBA???? It's all 1, 2, or 3 seeds who win. every single year. I'm about to look it up. Check out the past 10 years. I'll report back

[2Mas]

Lol no dude you're 100% right. It's tough & frustrating. The NBA best of 7 series is tough to have an upset.

I think there will be some interesting series though. 1st game at home, hyped in front of the fans.

Yes usually the favorites win. It's tough to rebuild and & become a favorite.

We'll get back to this thread in like 3-4 days after games 2&3 are played. Until some one looses at home does the series shift momentum.

[tlau]

Well NBA has 82 games a year so its a pretty good gauge of which teams are the best.

[sully00]

I think that the best part of the NBA playoffs is that the best team wins that is the point of it. As much as I love an over hyped team going down or an upset the best part of the NBA is that those are truly rare especially over 7 games.

The home team should win game 1 of a best of 7 series if not the whole series is flipped on its head after game 1. The challenge is actually winning game 2 and putting pressure on the underdog.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Beside the celtics, the only time a series gets interesting is when the home team loses a game. I have no desire to watch any series (beside the Lakers/Spurs because I like watching the Lakers lose) because I know the outcome.

Truth is the NBA is unbearable to watch compared to football. (look no further than what the Ravens did, beat the first and second seed on the road then won the SB.)

Spare me the anything can happen is sports, that is why we play the games blah blah blah blah but the reality is the heat have figured it out, they will once again be the third year in a row the heat make the finals (and win a title) Guess what, it is going to happen next year, the year after that, and the year after that. There is zero parody in the NBA.

The NBA has been, and continues to be broken and will be for the next 4 season where I believe the heat will win every championship until 2016.

[ddb]

yup. I don't have the stats in front of me but I remember reading something that had to do with the # of teams in the NBA VS the # of teams in the NBA who have won a Championship. I think like 8 or 9 teams have won ALL the titles dating back to the 70's. Something crazy like that. ZERO parody. This is something the new Commish is gonna need to figure out.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Can this even be fixed though? All the good players will simply continue to flock to Miami, LA and NY because of the weather or they can promote themselves. Or they will take short money to play for a contender (look at the Heat and the 80000 exceptions they have to sign anybody they want. )

Yeah there is a harsh penalty for spending over the cap but who does it hurt? Certainly not the big market teams who can afford the tax. This hurts smaller market teams. Look no further than what the Thunder had to do when they traded Harden away.

Maybe just implement a hard cap. You get 65M a year for players and they teams simply are not allowed to go over it? Not saying it will solve the problem but its a start. At the end of the day this has been going on as far back I as can remember where they are around 4 teams that have a legit shot at a title and the other teams have no chance.

I said when the heat team was constructed this was the 90's NBA all over again where one team dominated most of the decade and it is 100% true. Personally, as a Celtics fan and a fan of the NBA these are dark days ahead where the reality is that the heat are going to be in the finals the next 4 seasons and will easily walk away with 3 or 4 more titles.

[I AM LEGEND]

Sounds like sour grapes...

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Sounds like sour grapes...

I admit, I am bitter. Not because the Celtics cannot win every year but because there is almost no reason to watch the NBA when you know who is going to win a title every year. The only way the heat don't win the next 3 or 4 title is if Lebron is injured.

On the other hand I still LOVE watching playoff football even when they pats are out because it is exciting seeing a new, unexpected champion, be crowned every year. I wish we could say the same thing about the NBA.
Honestly the only way I would tune into non-celtics playoff games is if the heat were somehow eliminated (of course that will never happen) so I can see a new NBA champion crowned.

[Dogen]

It's parity, not parody. Otherwise, great topic -- I've been feeling the same way after watching the first games.

[ddb]

I have no clue what the solution is. And it isn't sour grapes here. I understand that transcedent players will come along ever so often (Bill Russell, Wilt, Bird, Magic, Jordan, Shaq, Duncan, LeBron) and win Multiple Titles. That's not what bothers me. Every sport has transcedent players and loud crowds. But it's ONLY in Basketball where the outcome of the game is so heavily determined based on home court favoritism. It's the damn truth. And the lack of parity in the league is becoming a bigger and bigger issue as well. Nice Cities/Franchises are STRUGGLING to survive because of it. And NOW for the players, there's a certain level of control that they have because of the way contracts and the salary cap are designed. Again, I don't know what the solution is.

We're fortunate in Boston. Win or Lose we'll have competitive teams across the board. It's a Sports City. But elsewhere in the NBA they aren't nearly as furtunate.

Think about a team like San Antonio for a moment. What's going to happen once Tim Duncan retires? It's going to be very, very difficult for them to sustain success. They could easily fall into the same suffering trap that teams like Sactown and Milwaukee are currently in.

I think the first part to fixing these issues would be getting rid of the lottery the way we know it. And if the leagues issue is worrying about teams "tanking" on purpose then please find a different issue. It's not like the crowd will care any less at a late-season Bobcats/Wizards game.. In fact, it would probably be even more entertaining watching the teams try to throw the game! haha.
If they keep the lottery then there should only be 3-5 teams involved. That's it. And personally I think they should get rid of it once and for all.

If you finish with the worst record you should get the 1st pick. so on and so forth. And beyond that I feel as if teams with Top-10 picks should have Control/rights to that player for a longer period of time then what it current is.

I'd also get rid of S/T's. that way a player like Dwight Howard can't bully his way out of town and STILL get the Max $$ allowed. It should be that if Dwight wants to play somewhere other then LAL's then he has to sign outright 4-years Max (less then what LA can offer) OR he stays in LAL. he shouldn't have any control beyond that.

[Cyclical]

It's not necessarily "the NBA", it's the sport of basketball. It's the same all over the world. The better team almost always prevails in a 7 game series. Nothing wrong with it. It's a truth test. The 1st round sometimes has unexpected results but like you said, as you move on the better team prevails.

I watch the games because I enjoy the sport. I think the C's have zero chance of winning the championship this year. Hell, they may not even make it out of the first round, but I'll still watch every game. It's about the spirit, the players, the great plays and the beauty of it all. Winning is the goal of course but only 1 team out of 30 can get there.

[ddb]

I guess we'll see what happens the rest of the first round. I'd like to see at least 2 lower seeded teams advance.

[mwhis21]

Eh- I agree with the OP in regards to home court in the NBA, but don't agree with the parity issue. I mean look at the Bobcats/Raptors. How many Top 5 and Top 10 picks are they going to bungle? With all of their draft picks they should already been in contention. The same can be said for a number of other teams. Bad free agent decisions: Detroit Pistons. The Celtics have done as much if not more with mid to late picks than the Bobcats have with Top 10 picks.

For me, the biggest problem is that "STAR" players pretty much hold their collective teams hostage: Dwight Howard and Carmelo are perfect examples. Orlando and Denver pretty much had no choice in trading these two guys for much less than what they're worth. Just one time I want to see a team make a player choose between resigning with them or leaving 25-30 million on the table to leave.

People will say "well you could lose that player for nothing and that's bad for business". It's a gamble, but I'm not sure many players are willing to leave 25+ million on the table...not many players have the makeup to walk away from 25-30 million GUARANTEED.

Is this a CBA issue? I'm not a CBA expert so I'm not sure, but it's an issue nonetheless.

[exculpatory]

My friends, DDB & Joe. Google the words PARITY VS. PARODY. LOL.

I watch because of my lifelong attachment to the Celtics. Once the Celtics are eliminated, I lose interest & spend more time enjoying life. LOL.

PS We are going to win tomorrow night.
:0). Take it game by game.

[mr_sunshine]

My friends, DDB & Joe. Google the words PARITY VS. PARODY. LOL.

I watch because of my lifelong attachment to the Celtics. Once the Celtics are eliminated, I lose interest & spend more time enjoying life. LOL.

PS We are going to win tomorrow night.
:0). Take it game by game.

I mean the NBA is technically a parody of a real sports league. Sometimes I think it's about as scripted as WWE. :O

[ddb]

My friends, DDB & Joe. Google the words PARITY VS. PARODY. LOL.

I watch because of my lifelong attachment to the Celtics. Once the Celtics are eliminated, I lose interest & spend more time enjoying life. LOL.

PS We are going to win tomorrow night.
:0). Take it game by game.

O geez. I know. I slipped up. haha

[tombattor]

There is a solution that can satisfy the OP. We start every game with 26 technical free throws for the Celtics, assigning 2 T's for each of the opposing players and the head coach.

[ddb]

OP has nothing to do with the Celtics. My hopes were never up for this team. they haven't been able to put it all together all season long. with or without Rondo. Quite frankly, they stink.