Zach Lowe's 2023-24 League Pass Rankings

DwayneSchintzus · Post #1 » by **DwayneSchintzus** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 2:54 pm

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38661109/lowe-2023-24-nba-league-pass-rankings-teams-30-11-watchability-fun

The Spurs are 14th.... :lol:

Behind Indiana and Cleveland with 10 teams left....you'd really rather watch donovan mitchell or halliburton than VICTOR WEMBANYAMA? :crazy:

Part 2:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38661818/nba-league-pass-rankings-top-10-watch-teams-2023-24

Post #2 » by **cupcakesnake** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 3:04 pm

Do you think Victor, by himself, should make the Spurs #1?

Lowe lays out his little formula well enough to try to make things slightly less subjective for an extremely subjective subject matter.

Obviously all of us are excited to tune into Spurs games to see the NBA's anointed one in action (and I also think the Spurs are constructed to be a fun watch on offense and defense), but that doesn't mean the Spurs are automatically amongst the NBA's most entertaining teams to watch. There are other teams that are exciting for a wider variety of reasons.

You're a Spurs fan. Of course you're excited to watch the Spurs. We are all too! Just not quite as much as you are.

IAMZOOTED2 · Post #3 » by **IAMZOOTED2** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 3:06 pm

with all due respect, yes. When Mitchell gets hot he is must-see TV and Halliburton fittna go off this season. I get that your hyped af for Wemby, Vassell, n nem. Shoot I hope Collins has a big year. But it's silly to think the Spurs and squad of young boys is going to polished like the Cavs or Pacers. BTW, I got the Pacers as my Cindy for winning it all.

iLLmatic860 · Post #4 » by **iLLmatic860** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 3:29 pm

Ill rather watch cavs and pacers over spurs myself

Unless if its a match up like wemby vs jokic/embiid/chet

whatisacenter · Post #5 » by **whatisacenter** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 3:42 pm

DwayneSchintzus wrote:https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38661109/lowe-2023-24-nba-league-pass-rankings-teams-30-11-watchability-fun

The Spurs are 14th....

Behind Indiana and Cleveland with 10 teams left....you'd really rather watch donovan mitchell or halliburton than VICTOR WEMBANYAMA?

you're a Spurs fan...do you really think all fans must have Wembymania?

Bornstellar · Post #6 » by **Bornstellar** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 3:44 pm

cupcakesnake wrote:Do you think Victor, by himself, should make the Spurs #1?

Lowe lays out his little formula well enough to try to make things slightly less subjective for an extremely subjective subject matter.

Obviously all of us are excited to tune into Spurs games to see the NBA's anointed one in action (and I also think the Spurs are constructed to be a fun watch on offense and defense), but that doesn't mean the Spurs are automatically amongst the NBA's most entertaining teams to watch. There are other teams that are exciting for a wider variety of reasons.

You're a Spurs fan. Of course you're excited to watch the Spurs. We are all too! Just not quite as much as you are.

Did you see the amount of people who pulled up to summer league to watch Victor? Or how many people are talking about his first two preseason games? Or how he was talked about nonstop last year leading up to this? That kid is must watch TV by himself. I don't think it's homerish to even say that. I don't think we should be #1 but I definitely think Victor alone is enough to put them in the top 10.

I will say though that this doesn't really bother me. Spurs have always been an overlooked team so this is nothing new or unexpected

Post #7 » by **cupcakesnake** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 4:27 pm

Bornstellar wrote:
cupcakesnake wrote:Do you think Victor, by himself, should make the Spurs #1?

Lowe lays out his little formula well enough to try to make things slightly less subjective for an extremely subjective subject matter.

Obviously all of us are excited to tune into Spurs games to see the NBA's anointed one in action (and I also think the Spurs are constructed to be a fun watch on offense and defense), but that doesn't mean the Spurs are automatically amongst the NBA's most entertaining teams to watch. There are other teams that are exciting for a wider variety of reasons.

You're a Spurs fan. Of course you're excited to watch the Spurs. We are all too! Just not quite as much as you are.

Did you see the amount of people who pulled up to summer league to watch Victor? Or how many people are talking about his first two preseason games? Or how he was talked about nonstop last year leading up to this? That kid is must watch TV by himself. I don't think it's homerish to even say that. I don't think we should be #1 but I definitely think Victor alone is enough to put them in the top 10.

I will say though that this doesn't really bother me. Spurs have always been an overlooked team so this is nothing new or unexpected

I'm guessing San Antonio scored high in "highlight potential", fairly high in "zeitgeist", and maybe decently in style/strategy. Spurs lose out in "league pass minutuae" in part because the Spurs announcers are amongst the worst in the league (from a non-Spurs fans POV), and the visual experience (jerseys, court) is usually mid.

Remember this list isn't "most exciting teams" or "most intriguing teams". This is Zach Lowe's specific criteria he uses for this every year. It's his idea of what nerdy NBA die-hards want. Everyone wants to watch some Victor, and some nerds (myself included) are very excited about the overall Spurs experience. It's semi-rare for a projected lottery team to crack the top half of these rankings I think.

To be clear, I'd have San Antonio a little higher. I don't make a league pass rankings, but every year I pick 6-7 teams I really want to follow and watch a ton of games of (I usually lose 2-3 as the seasons go on and some teams disappoint or get injured). The Spurs are on my list (along with the Pacers, Thunder, Cavs, Magic, T-Wolves, Pelicans, and Nuggets). I'm a big Sochan fan. I've always been high on Vassell. I like the battering ram game Keldon Johnson could play in a way that compliments Wemby. I even have a weird soft spot for Zach Collins. I can't wait to watch the Spurs. They're top 10 to me. But I don't think ranking them 14th in this subjective criteria is laughable or outrageous like OP opened with. We all love our teams and this is the most exciting season for Spurs fans in at least almost a decade.

The High Cyde · Post #8 » by **The High Cyde** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 4:37 pm

Man I might take my dad to his first basketball game just so he and I can witness Wemby in person together. Showed him his Heat game highlights and he just had to laugh cause he couldn’t believe it either. I’d watch every game of his if I could.

DwayneSchintzus · Post #9 » by **DwayneSchintzus** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 5:06 pm

Yes, I am a Spurs fan so the bias is obvious.

That being said, in about 40 minutes of game time we have seen 7 or 8 things that we haven't seen on a basketball court before. I think the Spurs should be higher than Cleveland or Indiana based on that alone.

But if that's what y'all want to watch, who am i to argue?

_AIJ_ · Post #10 » by **_AIJ_** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 5:08 pm

DwayneSchintzus wrote:Yes, I am a Spurs fan so the bias is obvious.

That being said, in about 40 minutes of game time we have seen 7 or 8 things that we haven't seen on a basketball court before. I think the Spurs should be higher than Cleveland or Indiana based on that alone.

But if that's what y'all want to watch, who am i to argue?

Ok cool

jasonxxx102 · Post #11 » by **jasonxxx102** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 5:09 pm

Wemby is gonna be really fun but sorry, people aren't going to be dying to watch Spurs games mid season.

I'm surprised OKC is so low. They've got the star power, the exciting "rook", I think they're gonna win 50 games this season so they'll be competitive too

TheGreenArrow · Post #12 » by **TheGreenArrow** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 5:14 pm

It’s only the been the preseason but Wembanyama has been the only thing worth watching thus far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CIN-C-STAR · Post #13 » by **CIN-C-STAR** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 5:49 pm

You can see Wembanyama's amazing plays on Sportscenter, Youtube, TikTok, X, or a bunch of other places and only spend 3 minutes of your day rather than 2 hours.
There will be plenty of games where the Spurs are getting smoked and he's not even in in the 4th Q.
Personally if I sit down to watch a full game I want to see competitive, high-level team basketball. Everyone is different but I don't really care too much about highlight dunks tbh.

NyKnicks1714 · Post #14 » by **NyKnicks1714** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 6:23 pm

I'm with OP. The Spurs are easily in the top 10 of teams I'm most interested in watching this season. Sure Indiana may be a better team, Haliburton is great, but how many neutral fans are genuinely more interested in watching the Pacers than the Spurs?

Jadoogar · Post #15 » by **Jadoogar** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 6:29 pm

I'm as excited to watch Wemby as the next guy but i don't think he can make the spurs #1. You can get alot of Wemby from the clips and highlights, no need to subject yourself to watching Sochan and Tre Jones, etc

Hornet Mania · Post #16 » by **Hornet Mania** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 6:37 pm

Wemby is going to be load managed like crazy, possibly even more than an aging star player.

I'm not sure if Lowe took that into account, but it's reason enough to push San Antonio down the list even if Wemby is the most entertaining player in the league from day one.

TheGreenArrow · Post #17 » by **TheGreenArrow** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 6:40 pm

Hornet Mania wrote:Wemby is going to be load managed like crazy, possibly even more than an aging star player.

I'm not sure if Lowe took that into account, but it's reason enough to push San Antonio down the list even if Wemby is the most entertaining player in the league from day one.

Yep unfortunately!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Especially with the way pop operates I wouldn’t be surprised if WEMBY plays less than 60 games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post #18 » by **og15** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 6:42 pm

I think what his rankings might be taking into account is the full season, because remember this is league pass rankings, so this is for people watching a lot of basketball, not for people just watching one game here and there, or going to a live game to catch a special player.

In terms of team you want to follow all year on league pass, will the Spurs make the top of the list? I don't know. If you are a league pass person, the novelty of seeing Wemby could wear off if the Spurs are a team don't offer much else to make games interesting, and if they hold him out for games (they should not really as he's young, but whatever). So I can see how over a 6 month long season, they could end up as just around average in must see TV.

The High Cyde · Post #19 » by **The High Cyde** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 6:43 pm

It’s def a marathon and not a sprint long term and the Spurs are the best org in the sport to pace him for it. It don’t matter, he’s must watch when playing. At least for me haha

zero rings · Post #20 » by **zero rings** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 6:46 pm

Wemby is must see TV, but the the Spurs are bereft of talent outside of him. This was probably the most unwatchable team last year and Wemby alone isn’t enough to put them into the top 10.

The team Lowe is actually sleeping on is the Thunder. Chet gives you 90% of the Wemby alien stuff, and the team around him is actually good. I wouldn’t be surprised if they finish top 4 in the West.