Thoughts on the In-Season Tournament so far?

[BasketballAnon]

What are your thoughts on the In-Season Tournament so far?

[BasketballAnon]

I never expected the players to purposely play bad or not try, so game quality is what it is. I don't think the majority of players have that much control on how close the final score of a game ends up being. Just as some of the games have been close, they can be complete blowouts like the Spurs/OKC game was.

I think having the games all on the same nights is a mistake. The casual/average fan is going to be stuck watching whatever game is on due to only be able to watch it on TNT/ESPN, so I doubt they are watching specific groups or teams. The hardcore fan is either going to be watching their favorite team or watching whatever they can anyway. There's also no way you can watch every game.

Having teams in different tournament divisions is also a mistake. Even for hardcore NBA fans, I think it can be tough to remember who is in what division. Now, we have to remember two divisions for various teams.

The courts are a crap shoot as expected. At best, they don't bother you much but at worst, they blind you like with the red courts. I do feel the courts are overall distracting and the Dallas court couldn't even be used due to the poor playing surface on it.

The media also isn't doing a great job covering it.

[BodieB]

Considering we're on the first go, I think it's working so far. The games have been mostly competitive, the courts may not look great, but it immediately lets anyone glancing at the TV that it's different and matters. I imagine it's a similar subconscious effect on the players. I also think that once the knockout stage is reached the level of pressure and excitement well ratchet up as well. 500k is a lot of money, y'all, that's a pretty good incentive.

[CIN-C-STAR]

A rose by any other name...
It's just regular season games dressed up with ugly courts. The semis and finals will probably be a bit more intense and exciting, but until then this is just regular season basketball imo.

[80HD]

To be honest, I can’t even tell the difference. If you told me there was a tournament going on right now I wouldn’t believe you.

[SomeBunghole]

I've been enjoying it. A small way to change things up a bit.

Here's what I'm very curious to see, though. When it comes down to the last group stage game, we will probably see at least one situation where a team needs to win by a certain amount to go through. This has never happened before in the league where normally, a win is a win. Suppose a team is up 10 in the fourth but find out from the night's other results that they need to win by 18 to finish first in their group.

Would they throw in the starters even when they normally wouldn't? Would the other team throw on starters to try to stop them, if only for pride's sake? We've never really seen teams trying to run up the score, so I'm curious to see how this plays out.

[Duffman100]

The courts are just flat out awful.

[PierceFan4ever]

Don’t see a big difference really. Players aren’t playing extra minutes just because it’s a tournament. Coaches aren't making offense/defense subs towards end of early quarters like they would for the playoffs.

[Godymas]

it's alright, i don't really care much for the courts. The Timberwolves played a regular season game and a tournament game back to back in SF and honestly it didn't seem to make a difference. The players still did their thing.

The choice to nationally televise OKC vs. SA was kind of jumping the gun really. I get that there is hype on these guys but both Chet and Wemby played below their usual level imo which much worse efficiency. Plus the Spurs are the worse team on paper period. Basically SGA was the best player on the floor and he did what the best player against a bunch of scrubs and rookies does and completely cleaned house. Giddey also had a great game.

None of the other tournament games have been overly exciting imo. Part of it is..I have no idea what the groups are. I have no clue why the groups are not the existing divisions already. I feel like if they built it into the divisions it would remind NBA players that these division exist and it would give them a bit more meaning and give the divisional banner some more meaning too. The games feel like slightly better early season games, but also the courts do make for awful viewing experiences at times. Especially any bright red court, but the blue is equally offensive. I haven't really seen a court and thought "wow this court is beautiful and I would love to see it again".

So basically the In-Season tournament could be a slam dunk if it was played inside of divisions to promote regional rivalry and if the courts were designed to make the viewing experience feel a bit special. Personally I would go for a "spotlight" effect on the game where essentially the crowd is sitting in dark like at the movies and the only lights are on the players, it would really up the intensity imo. The court designs are fine as long as they were regular hardwood colored instead of the annoying bright gaudy choices they've used so far.

[Duke4life831]

Still think this is happening way too early in the season. We are still in the first month of the regular season. The NBA still has the shine of a new season just starting up. I wouldve thought the best time for an in season tournament is during Jan-Feb which seems to be the worst time of the regular season. That is when lots of players coasts, teams start to tank and fans lose interest.

[Frank Dux]

The courts are just flat out awful.

i usually try not to be bothered by stuff like this, but yeah the courts are just atrocious and make the games harder to watch.

[Calvin Klein]

It's just the same games with flashy ugly courts to me so far. If anybody could name all groups I would be shocked.

[D1SGRUNTL3D]

Actually surprised the point differential for most teams are closer than they are.

I’m fine with it. It helps once then hype of the season is over and you enter the dog days.


Would be kinda cool if the champs gets at worst a play in bid if they finish below the 10 seed in the regular season

[bisme37]

The Group Play games are for seeding and it seems like folks are confused about the scheduling and format etc.

But I think fans are going to get excited about it when it gets to the Knockout Round and Championship Game in couple weeks. If your team advances and has a shot at a trophy it will hard to resist getting into it and cheering them on. And even if it's not your team we should see some really competitive basketball in the Final.

[Homer38]

Don’t see a big difference really. Players aren’t playing extra minutes just because it’s a tournament. Coaches aren't making offense/defense subs towards end of early quarters like they would for the playoffs.

The only difference is the awful courts!

[JShuttlesworth]

It's exactly what I thought it was, a complete gimmick

It's also just confusing to follow, and it hasn't been advertised / marketed properly. Why have some teams played 3 in season tournament games, and some haven't played a single game yet? It's just bizarre.

I have a buddy that owns Raptors season tickets, and he doesn't even know when the tournament games are

I didn't like the idea when it was announced, and the rollout has further confirmed my opinion

The courts are also awful...WNBA like

[GWVan]

meh

[Duffman100]

The courts are just flat out awful.

i usually try not to be bothered by stuff like this, but yeah the courts are just atrocious and make the games harder to watch.

I've turned off the games, I just can't do it. I feel like I'm watching basketball in the year 2100.

[hippesthippo]

The only difference I've noticed is that the courts look absolutely awful. It makes the game hard to watch.

Otherwise, I couldn't tell them apart from a normal regular season game. I still don't see the point.

[DirtybirdGA]

As far as the courts go, I saw Dallas had issues with theirs, so It seems the league was doing to much.