Lakers are now in serious danger of missing the play-in

Dupp · Post #41 » by **Dupp** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:11 am

If any team ever wins the title from 9th or 10th seed it’ll be completely illegitimate..

TheNG · Post #42 » by **TheNG** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:51 am

DroseReturnChi wrote:lebron really needs to activate his playoff mode or lakers might face humiliation probably the worst season of all time.

I think he cares more about the scoring title this year.

baldur · Post #43 » by **baldur** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:55 am

JujitsuFlip wrote:If Lakers fall to 11, Silver may make an exception to allow the Lakers to be apart of the pre play-in to the play-in, which is a precursor to the playoffs lol

When did ever something like this happen?

Lakers hatred is unreal.

druggas · Post #44 » by **druggas** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 10:33 am

Frank Dux wrote:I hope we do. the play in sucks, i really hope they go back to 1-8 making the playoffs. horrible teams have no business sniffing the playoffs via the gimmicky play in. The Lakers have been an embarrassment, and i can’t wait until this season is over.

OdomFan · Post #45 » by **OdomFan** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 12:25 pm

They really should get rid of the Play In. It defeats the purpose of the regular season games. Want the Playoffs? Make 8th seed. Having a last chance for 9-10 seeds is just a big fat middle finger to those 7th and 8th seed teams who actually did earn it.

otwok · Post #46 » by **otwok** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 12:57 pm

OdomFan wrote:They really should get rid of the Play In. It defeats the purpose of the regular season games. Want the Playoffs? Make 8th seed. Having a last chance for 9-10 seeds is just a big fat middle finger to those 7th and 8th seed teams who actually did earn it.

I agree. It what would should a 10 seed have a chance to make the playoffs. That's why you play 82 games. It was semi understandable in a shortened season and if you only X number of games away from the 8th. In a full season. Naw.

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Larry_Russell · Post #47 » by **Larry_Russell** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 1:04 pm

Lebron wants his pick back.

MarcusBrody · Post #48 » by **MarcusBrody** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 4:33 pm

otwok wrote:
OdomFan wrote:They really should get rid of the Play In. It defeats the purpose of the regular season games. Want the Playoffs? Make 8th seed. Having a last chance for 9-10 seeds is just a big fat middle finger to those 7th and 8th seed teams who actually did earn it.
I agree. It what would should a 10 seed have a chance to make the playoffs. That's why you play 82 games. It was semi understandable in a shortened season and if you only X number of games away from the 8th. In a full season. Naw.

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I think the playin has done exactly what it was intended to do. Right now, the 6-11 teams (in the West especially) are still playing hard and trying to win games at the end of the NBA season. In past years, they'd be resting players for the playoffs or tanking for a better draft pick. The play in games have absolutely increased my interest as a fan or a part of the regular season that often only had one or two actual positional battles. But now there is a strong incentive to finish 6 rather than 7, 8 rather than 9, and 10 rather than 11.

We were used to the 8th seed being the cutoff, but wins were so rare that there was often talk about whether teams would rather just be in the lottery. In the 3 wins for 8th seeds in the 7 game era, only the famous Warriors over Mavs series didn't feature an injury to a major player on the higher seeded team (Rose on the Bulls, Ginobli on the Spurs, though he did eventually come back in the series).

The West this year is kind of the worst case scenario for the Play In as there is a clear gap between 7-8 and 9-10, but most years it's more like the East where it's a smooth gradient and who is on which side depends a lot on luck and injuries over the course of the year. Given that and the unlikelihood of any 7-10 teams being actual contenders, I am totally fine with the Play In format being used to make the end of the season more competitive and meaningful.

Edrees · Post #49 » by **Edrees** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 5:26 pm

Dupp wrote:If any team ever wins the title from 9th or 10th seed it’ll be completely illegitimate..

Even an 8th seed has never won a title. 9th or 10 seed, I dont think itll happen

sp6r=underrated · Post #50 » by **sp6r=underrated** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 5:42 pm

ropjhk wrote:The play in is stupid. It made sense for a shortened season but not a full 82 game season. Lakers don't deserve a playoff spot.

The purpose of the play in is to increase interest in the NBA. It works great. We now have a race for the 6 seed and a short single elimination tournament.

If the NBA wanted to pick the 16 best teams for the playoffs. If the purposes of the playoffs was to select the top 16 teams seeded by quality, the NBA would use Margin of Victory, adjusted for strength of schedule as that it is a better indicator of team performance than the current or old pre-play in system.

The NBA doesn't do that quite sensibly because fans would dislike it.

sp6r=underrated · Post #51 » by **sp6r=underrated** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 5:46 pm

Dupp wrote:If any team ever wins the title from 9th or 10th seed it’ll be completely illegitimate..

No it won't. They'll be the NBA champion. NBA Champion has never meant best team.

Many years the best team doesn't win the title due to injuries or random hot shooting. Many years the NBA has no best team and it gets decided by good luck with playoff draws or officiating.

JasonStern · Post #52 » by **JasonStern** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 5:47 pm

The play-in made sense in 2020 when the season was shortened and you had teams having played different numbers of games. But after a full 82 game season? More than half of the teams make the playoffs already.

jokeboy86 · Post #53 » by **jokeboy86** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 6:01 pm

HMFFL wrote:
JujitsuFlip wrote:If Lakers fall to 11, Silver may make an exception to allow the Lakers to be apart of the pre play-in to the play-in, which is a precursor to the playoffs lol
Possibly. I wouldn't put it past the league since they cater to Lebron.

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But seriously this is why the play-in is more than likely here to stay because it'll always be an opportunity for big market teams to make the playoffs even when they're struggling or mediocre and the league and its partners will take that if it gives them a reason to talk about them late into the season. Can you imagine if the play-in wasn't around this season and the league was facing potentially no NY teams or no LAL teams making the playoffs not to mention missing two of the league biggest stars and its premier franchise? The networks would be going into meltdown mode as if the Duncan/Spurs dynasty was back around.

Perseus1966 · Post #54 » by **Perseus1966** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 6:35 pm

isnt beter for lakers to tank and get a pick ?

MarcusBrody · Post #55 » by **MarcusBrody** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 6:43 pm

jokeboy86 wrote:
HMFFL wrote:
JujitsuFlip wrote:If Lakers fall to 11, Silver may make an exception to allow the Lakers to be apart of the pre play-in to the play-in, which is a precursor to the playoffs lol
Possibly. I wouldn't put it past the league since they cater to Lebron.

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But seriously this is why the play-in is more than likely here to stay because it'll always be an opportunity for big market teams to make the playoffs even when they're struggling or mediocre and the league and its partners will take that if it gives them a reason to talk about them late into the season. Can you imagine if the play-in wasn't around this season and the league was facing potentially no NY teams or no LAL teams making the playoffs not to mention missing two of the league biggest stars and its premier franchise? The networks would be going into meltdown mode as if the Duncan/Spurs dynasty was back around.

I think this a pretty good argument for the playin game. It keeps the season interesting for more teams longer.

You talk about this season, but last season the Lakers and Warriors would have been in by the old top 8 rules and instead the Play In risked the two faces of the league being eliminated before the playoffs even really started (and indeed the hot, upstart Grizzlies eliminated Curry and the Warrors).

So sometimes the Play In will benefit big market teams, sometimes it won't. But it will keep the season interesting longer for a larger number of teams.

Post #56 » by **floppymoose** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:06 pm

Meh, I'm fine with the playin. Want to make the playoffs? Make the 6th seed.

NyKnicks1714 · Post #57 » by **NyKnicks1714** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:14 pm

Portland has a shot, too.

rickbrunson · Post #58 » by **rickbrunson** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:15 pm

Shock Defeat wrote:Adam Silver will ensure that the Lakers get the play-in game.

Silver calling in Tim Donaghey for the "LA Special"

SkyBill40 · Post #59 » by **SkyBill40** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:16 pm

Perseus1966 wrote:isnt beter for lakers to tank and get a pick ?

It would be under normal circumstances, but they don't own their own pick this year.

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DaGawd · Post #60 » by **DaGawd** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:23 pm

Kinda hilarious how many people think the lakers have their pick

Will the Lakers make the play-in