Unfair race to the 8th/9th seed

[Myth]

If it's the same degree of fair/unfair for everyone then it isn't actually unfair....that's the point.

There is no scenario in which Portland gets screwed. Because as I've pointed out, EVERY team could theoretically lose a bunch of games but not improve draft position. It's not unique to Portland, therefore nobody is getting screwed.

Are the Wizards getting screwed right now?

If the bold is true, then I don't know why you started debating my original post, because that was the whole point of the post.

As for the Wizards comment, I feel like your mention of it also missed completely what I have stated multiple times. Go back and read what I have said about changing records among teams in the bubble.

Uh, because you're making ridiculous claims that it's unfair for the Blazers?

I don't think it is ridiculous to say that Blazers got an advantage in playoff odds because of the 1/2 a game but a disadvantage in the draft chances because of 1/2 a game. I guess you do think that is ridiculous and that is your prerogative.

[Myth]

You really think it's more fair to put one team ahead by winning %, when a team is 35-39 vs 34-38? Come on.

It's not fair to **** their lottery position either come on....

Agreed. Now answer the question...

So if you agree, then why was my claim ridiculous? That was the whole goddamn point that you repeatedly disagreed with.

[Rapcity_11]

Heres another, simpler way of looking at how Portland's extra game was a double edged sword:

That extra game (creating a half game lead) from before the bubble gave Portland a very slight edge to get into the playoffs.

But that extra game also guaranteed that Portland gets a lower draft pick than multiple teams.

But yes, go on about how unfair this was to every team except for Portland.

If anything, the Pelicans were the ones to get screwed. Since they played 2 less games than Portland and would have lost the tie-breaker due to a ludicrously small difference in win%. Same thing with the Spurs vs. the Grizz/Suns.

It's more than a slight edge.

And it guarantees lower lottery odds, not a lower draft pick.

You are technically right that if we are one of the lottery winners, we would have a better draft pick. But aside from that, it absolutely guarantees we have a worse pick than multiple teams. If we went 0-8, our draft pick would have been either 13th (if Memphis missed the playoffs) or 14th (if Memphis made playoffs), while the other west bubble teams would have had picks 10-12 (or 10-13) despite having worse records.

And those 2 less games would have rewarded Pelicans with a better draft pick even if they got up to 9th. But yes, technically Pelicans will get screwed out of a draft pick position based on them going down in the standings, which also goes to my original point (which Portland was the example I used, not the sole purpose of my original post) about there being advantages and disadvantages in each direction.

I guess slight edge is subjective. I usually consider tie breakers a slight edge over the course of a season, and this is pretty close to a tie breaker (which wasn't just handed to Portland, they did have to actually win an extra game rather than lose the extra game).

You're oddly obsessed with the draft lottery for a fan of a team that was well positioned to make the playoffs and now looks like a lock.

[Rapcity_11]

It's not fair to **** their lottery position either come on....

Agreed. Now answer the question...

So if you agree, then why was my claim ridiculous? That was the whole goddamn point that you repeatedly disagreed with.

Because you're framing it as the Blazers getting screwed. When in reality they had both advantages and disadvantages....

[Rapcity_11]

Memphix and Phoenix also had tough schedules. New Orleans was the only team the league clearly rigged the schedule for and they somehow **** it up.

The schedule was literally based on the teams actual schedule. How the **** was it rigged?

Team A has 8 games vs. top 10 teams remaining, plus the knicks twice, the wolves twice, the warriors twice, and the cavs twice.

Team B has 16 games vs bubble teams remaining

They will both play a new schedule based on "the actual schedule", but Team A gets screwed because they miss out on the free wins against awful teams. Team B already got to play those games.

Ok. How is that rigged?

[LAKESHOW]

Unfairness is not having a home game in Boston. In Toronto. In Milwaukee. LA v LA is a matchup everyone in Southern California has been waitin for.
Teams have played all year long to hopefully see those hometown Matchups

[Curmudgeon]

If you don't like unfairness, finish 7th or higher. Teams vying for the last playoff spot with losing records get no sympathy from me. Bantha-fodo is pretty much the same around the league.

[ropjhk]

I don't really see anything as being unfair in regards to the number of games played. The pandemic was an unplanned interruption to the season. That some teams played more games at that point is a result of chance. Given the circumstances of a long stoppage I think it was appropriate to have everyone play the same amount of games before the playoffs.

[King4Day]

As a Suns fan, I can't be upset about any of it. Had Ayton not gotten suspended, there's a good chance the Suns are in this bubble just trying to improve seeding instead of fighting to get in. That and other things that happened during the season. Nothing you can do. Sleep in the bed you made.

The Suns went 10-15 in the 25 suspension games. They went 11-18 in the next 29 games Ayton played.

So I doubt that.

Context. Look at the scores of some of those losses. Some of those games there were rebound issues. Booker getting doubled more because they didn't have to worry about the paint.

[Shock Defeat]

Meh, what's unfair is that the East teams, especially the 1st 2 seeds, consistently get cakewalks in the 1st round, essentially playing 1 less series to make the Finals than the team that comes out of the West. The East team always gets the advantage in the Finals. No one talks about that.

[Rapcity_11]

As a Suns fan, I can't be upset about any of it. Had Ayton not gotten suspended, there's a good chance the Suns are in this bubble just trying to improve seeding instead of fighting to get in. That and other things that happened during the season. Nothing you can do. Sleep in the bed you made.

The Suns went 10-15 in the 25 suspension games. They went 11-18 in the next 29 games Ayton played.

So I doubt that.

Context. Look at the scores of some of those losses. Some of those games there were rebound issues. Booker getting doubled more because they didn't have to worry about the paint.

-0.2 net rating in the suspension games. -1.2 net rating the next 33 games.

Try again?

[Jadoogar]

Honestly, they should change it to a 4 team bracket if all 4 are within a half game of each other.

8v11
9v10

Winner vs Winner

Would still be the same 2 day timeline they scheduled and only one extra game

Alternatively, kick the Magic out and let the Suns take their spot.

[Jadoogar]

Is it ultimately unfair for these teams to end up having played a different number of games? Yeah, it is. You know what else is unfair? A global pandemic that interrupted the season and basically everyone in the world's life. Who cares if bubble seeding is unfair in a certain respect, its the best they could do.

Exactly. There is very little that can be done to make the schedule even for every team. They could have just taken the top 8 teams and started the playoffs but even then people would complain but it would be just as unfair.

[Curmudgeon]

Meh, what's unfair is that the East teams, especially the 1st 2 seeds, consistently get cakewalks in the 1st round, essentially playing 1 less series to make the Finals than the team that comes out of the West. The East team always gets the advantage in the Finals. No one talks about that.

So you don't think the Lakers vs the Grizzlies would be a cakewalk? Or Lakers vs Blazers, or Suns or Spurs? They are all bantha fodder, just like Orlando and New Jersey.

The Clips vs the Mavs might be a little more interesting, but Luka will have to be superhuman for the Mavs to win.

[13th Man]

Meh, what's unfair is that the East teams, especially the 1st 2 seeds, consistently get cakewalks in the 1st round, essentially playing 1 less series to make the Finals than the team that comes out of the West. The East team always gets the advantage in the Finals. No one talks about that.

I have a solution to this. Instead of having Eastern/Western conferences, they should change it to Northern/Southern conferences for more parity

[Edrees]

theres nothing fair about 2020. deal wit it.

So would you be cool with if it the refs blatantly gave the Bucks all the calls on their way to the finals? It's already unfair, so there should be nothing wrong with it.

If anything, things already being unfair is an inventive to try to make things as fair as possible going forward.

I mean at this point there's nothing we can do about this 8th/9th seed situation but I don't agree with your reasoning of accepting things being unfair just because of the bubble situation. You can use that reasoning to excuse rigging the rest of the bubble games. NBA should still strive to put out the best product out there as possible.

[Bigfactsstackz]

As a spurs fan this doesn’t bother me nearly as much as pops piss poor rotations all year ..

I mean who would have thought the spurs would be better playing KJ, Walker ,and white more mins then Mills , Forbes , and Belinelli

I hope a local reporter asks Pop about this.. I would love to hear his explanation

[Shock Defeat]

Meh, what's unfair is that the East teams, especially the 1st 2 seeds, consistently get cakewalks in the 1st round, essentially playing 1 less series to make the Finals than the team that comes out of the West. The East team always gets the advantage in the Finals. No one talks about that.

So you don't think the Lakers vs the Grizzlies would be a cakewalk? Or Lakers vs Blazers, or Suns or Spurs? They are all bantha fodder, just like Orlando and New Jersey.

The Clips vs the Mavs might be a little more interesting, but Luka will have to be superhuman for the Mavs to win.

No they are not the same at all. Those two teams are significantly better than Orlando and Brooklyn.

[spanishninja]

Meh, what's unfair is that the East teams, especially the 1st 2 seeds, consistently get cakewalks in the 1st round, essentially playing 1 less series to make the Finals than the team that comes out of the West. The East team always gets the advantage in the Finals. No one talks about that.

So you don't think the Lakers vs the Grizzlies would be a cakewalk? Or Lakers vs Blazers, or Suns or Spurs? They are all bantha fodder, just like Orlando and New Jersey.

The Clips vs the Mavs might be a little more interesting, but Luka will have to be superhuman for the Mavs to win.

No they are not the same at all. Those two teams are significantly better than Orlando and Brooklyn.

Blazers are the best out of the possible West seeds and they would get 1 game tops from the Lakers.

[King4Day]

The Suns went 10-15 in the 25 suspension games. They went 11-18 in the next 29 games Ayton played.

So I doubt that.

Context. Look at the scores of some of those losses. Some of those games there were rebound issues. Booker getting doubled more because they didn't have to worry about the paint.

-0.2 net rating in the suspension games. -1.2 net rating the next 33 games.

Try again?

I wouldn't really go by the games after the suspensions. Suns were hit with injuries to Rubio, Baynes, Oubre, and to a lesser extent, Kaminsky. The team could never find a rhythm
What the team lost without Ayton cost the Suns significantly during the 25 games he was out. Obviously anything could have happened. Maybe they still don't win those games but when you watch, you can see where he could have had a big impact on the outcome.
The entire team changes without Ayton and you could see it during the first quarter against OKC a few days ago when he couldn't start.