What's the point of divisions?

listerine · Post #1 » by **listerine** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:57 pm

Seriously. So the Blazers are in the Northwest division. If the playoffs started today, we would be the third seed, ahead of LA, Dallas, and San Antonio - all teams with better records than us.

Although I'm a Blazer fan, that scenario hardly seems fair. Especially since we're playing in the weakest division in the West.

So what's the point or divisions?

It seems like they're a leftover from the days when air travel wasn't as convenient. In which case, it would make sense to primarily compete against nearby teams.

But what purpose do they serve today? A flight to Phoenix is just as easy as a flight to Utah.

What's the deal?

pdxblazers92087 · Post #2 » by **pdxblazers92087** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:20 pm

wait what? Maybe i've lost track of how the play offs work since the blazers have been out for so long. But i could of sworn you dont get placed in by your division. Like if the blazers are first place in the northwest with a record of 21-50 or something. Yet other divisions have highier record the blazers are still SOL. I think its just for competition isnt it? Rivalries and such. I apoligize if i'm wrong but it sounds like the NFL to me.

Post #3 » by **Billy** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:52 pm

I'm not exactly sure anymore lol. I think I remember hearing that the NBA does require the division champion to have HC in one fashion or another. In the current instance LA gets to jump Portland because Portland's record is worse than LA's despite LA being in the same division as PHX. But that's just because there are 4 HC seeds and only 3 divisions.

But in short, I do think it's pretty lame and should be changed. Where the real issue could happen is if some year a divisions champion was actually bad enough that they wouldn't even make the playoffs had they not won the division. I suppose it's a bit of a luck thing, but at the same time the best teams should always be represented in the playoffs either year.

Interesting question.

listerine · Post #4 » by **listerine** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:13 pm

The whole division thing is a mess.

Last year, Houston had the better record than Utah, but the seeding was #4 Utah vs #5 Houston because Utah won their division.

It seems like the system creates a lot of unnecessary confusion when it would be easier to get rid of divisions and go by order of records.

Post #5 » by **mojomarc** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:14 pm

Division champions get one of the top four seeds so they are guaranteed HC for at least the first round. The fourth of that group is made up by the non-division winner with the best record, and if they had a better record than the division winner they would have a higher seed. Teams are not reseeded, so if we had the 3rd seed and everything went to form we'd play the 6th seed in the first round with the winner playing the winner of the 2nd-7th matchup with HC being determined by the best record (and tiebreakers as needed) between the teams remaining.

http://www.nba.com/features/seedingprimer07.html

The Emcee · Post #6 » by **The Emcee** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:09 pm

mojomarc wrote:http://www.nba.com/features/seedingprimer07.html

Ah mojo u beat me to it.

Ya even tho Houston got the 5th seed, they still got home court.

Wizenheimer · Post #7 » by **Wizenheimer** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:12 pm

mojomarc wrote:Division champions get one of the top four seeds so they are guaranteed HC for at least the first round. The fourth of that group is made up by the non-division winner with the best record, and if they had a better record than the division winner they would have a higher seed. Teams are not reseeded, so if we had the 3rd seed and everything went to form we'd play the 6th seed in the first round with the winner playing the winner of the 2nd-7th matchup with HC being determined by the best record (and tiebreakers as needed) between the teams remaining.

http://www.nba.com/features/seedingprimer07.html

that isn't true according to the article you posted:

Homecourt advantage for any series is determined by record, not seed. So, it's possible that the 5 seed could have homecourt advantage over the 4, or that the 6 seed could have homecourt advantage over the 3.

If the playoffs started today, Portland would be the 4th seed (Phx-1, NO-2, LAL-3) against 5th seeded Dallas. Dallas would have the HCA because of their better record, so being a division winner doesn't mean much at all as far as the playoffs are concerned.

I suppose the primary purpose of divisions is create a little extra suspence in the regular season and to determine which teams meet 4 times rather then 3.

b_roy7 · Post #8 » by **b_roy7** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 12:18 am

^Wizzy's right. Better record gets home court, seeding decides who you go up against.

Post #9 » by **BlackMamba** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:27 am

isn't the rule that for the 1st round division winners get home court advantage and then it's how your record's at?

farzi · Post #10 » by **farzi** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:02 am

It should just be Western Conference and Eastern Conference imo

Post #11 » by **mojomarc** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:39 am

BlackMamba wrote:isn't the rule that for the 1st round division winners get home court advantage and then it's how your record's at?

That's what I thought, but turns out Wiz is right. So if we were to win the division we still wouldn't have home court if the playoffs started today.

Kind of makes you wonder why they bother guaranteeing spots into the first four speeds for division winners. Why not just arrange the whole conference by wins, using tiebreakers, and then do a 1-8/2-7/3-6/4-5 bracket?

swede · Post #12 » by **swede** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:00 am

It's easy as hell to say this coming from the North West. But we're alot further away from everyone else then most teams.

b_roy7 · Post #13 » by **b_roy7** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:16 pm

mojomarc wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

That's what I thought, but turns out Wiz is right. So if we were to win the division we still wouldn't have home court if the playoffs started today.

Kind of makes you wonder why they bother guaranteeing spots into the first four speeds for division winners. Why not just arrange the whole conference by wins, using tiebreakers, and then do a 1-8/2-7/3-6/4-5 bracket?

It was at setting at one point IIRC, but the playoff picture that is right now was set in last year I think.

a_sensei · Post #14 » by **a_sensei** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:50 pm

Divisions are really just a way of adding extra competitiveness to make the regular season more exciting. You have a bunch more teams fighting for first place which is a great way to market towards the casual fan. Fighting for "seeding" doesn't have the same ring to a lot of people. It also creates rivalries which is why it was irritating to a lot of Blazer fans when realignment occurred and we were no longer in the same division as the Lakers. On the other hand, it does not work in a fair way. It was better when their were two divisions in each conference because there was generally a number one or two worthy seed in each division.