My NBA Playoff Idea

[long beach vincey]

Face it guys, we're not gonna get a 1-16 tournament style playoff anytime soon. A change I think is more feasible, and could be implemented as soon as nextyear is my idea of awarding the top seeds of each conference the ability to choose who they play come postseason out of the 7 other teams who clinched aplayoff spot.

If the playoffs were to end today, as a Laker fan [currently a 2nd/3rd seed], I don't want to see them play the Mavs [7th seed] or the Suns [6th seed], butrather a "better" team, the Rockets [5th seed]. If the Lakes are fortunate enough to get that #1 seed, I'm choosing the Rox all the way to playfirst, not the Mavs, Nuggets or Warriors. After the first round, the top seeds would again get to view the remaining opponents and once again choose who theywanna face next.

I think it'd be pretty damn entertaining to see who would pick who, and there'd be some indirect disrespecting going on.. basically like "yeah weWANT to play yall". And you definitely wouldn't get that nonsense of teams thinking about losing on PURPOSE in order to get a certain seed because ofmatchups.

 

[mw2889]

The cream always rises.

 

[holdenmichael]

I give this idea two thumbs down and so would any competitor.

Do you really believe the Mavericks coaches and players would approve of Cuban selecting a team other than the Warriors because the Mavs had played poorlyagainst them during the regular season? The Lakers coaches and players in your example? No, neither do I.

Your change is just change for the sake of change. You aren't solving or addressing a problem.

 

[acbboyz84]

i don't think it's a good idea either.

I, however, want the NBA to fix the system so a west team can vs another west team in the Final.

 

[offbad]

Originally Posted by ACBboyz84

i don't think it's a good idea either.

I, however, want the NBA to fix the system so a west team can vs another west team in the Final.

yeap.. a 1-16 of the best records in the LEAGUE

 

[dfresh244]

I think there has to be conferences. It just so happens the West is uber competitive and that's just how it is. Things will cycle and you can'tchange it just because it's like that for now

 

[holdenmichael]

If you're going to go 1-16, you're also going to have to change the regular season schedule and it's going to be a lot more complicated. Changingthe schedule and going 1-16 would probably also have the side effect of killing old rivalries.

Imagine a Portland vs Miami series. Would the NBA want even more time between games?

 

[long beach vincey]

Originally Posted by holdenmichael

I give this idea two thumbs down and so would any competitor.

Do you really believe the Mavericks coaches and players would approve of Cuban selecting a team other than the Warriors because the Mavs had played poorly against them during the regular season? The Lakers coaches and players in your example? No, neither do I.

Your change is just change for the sake of change. You aren't solving or addressing a problem.

I'm not fully comprehending your point. Pretty much any team that qualifies for the playoffs more or less deserves to be there, especially this year inthe West. Every series is going to be a grind. A problem I foresee is how the Lakers may end up matching up with the Suns in the first round, when in realitythe Rockets may be the "worse" team but are a higher seed than the Suns. Now you give the Lakes the choice between the Rox and Suns, I'm surethey're taking the Rox.

I understand your point from a competitive standpoint, but the current setup isn't really that much different from my idea. Theoretically the top team issupposedly awarded with playing the worst of the remaining 8 teams. In that vein, the top seed should truly get the opportunity to play the weakest team as areward, but this year I believe that won't be the case, and probably hasn't been in the past.

 

[mrtramericanjr]

the 1-8 in each conference is fine!,,, people need to stop with that best 16 teams stuff they talkin about

 

[22 deuces 22]

Further proof that Lakers' fans are ******ed.

 

[areyouin729]

i got an idea let's just let the fans pick who plays eachother? like an all star game, it doesn't even matter if you got 82-0, you still have a chanceof missing the playoffs

 

[carlos tevez]

The system is fine, the best team in the NBA usually ends up winning anyways.

2-3 years from now we might be saying the same thing about the Eastern Conference and how the West is weak.

 

[andrew630]

1-16 would never work out. The league would have to re-work the a entire schedule. The road-trips and everything are already hectic for each NBA team as is.That is why 1-16 playoff bracket would never work, as well as foreign NBA team.

 

[classy lawrence]

Originally Posted by 22 Deuces 22

Further proof that Lakers' fans are ******ed.

I hate generalizations. Not all fans of the Lakers have badopinions, they just want their team to do well, same for Cavs fans, Warriors fans/bandwagoners, and whoever else has a loyal following.

As someone said, the best team always ends up winning anyway.

 

[nyvictory45]

The system we have now makes sense. Unfortunately if your in the East and your not Boston or Detroit your wasting your time and ours. Yes that includes Lebronand the Cavs.

 

[kickz9714]

Put less teams in the playoffs. I mean 16 teams make the playoffs thats more then half the teams. The playoffs are about the best teams making it.

You got teams below 500 in the playoffs right now. You get the top seed throw in a bye week for the first round.

I think its wack that all you get is a extra game at home if you have the best record in your conference

 

[long beach vincey]

Originally Posted by 22 Deuces 22

Further proof that Lakers' fans are ******ed.

Great insight. For the sake of a discussion, why not just post what your objection is? Like pointing out how my idea might not hold up so well if the #1team picked the #3 team or something.

The current system isn't broken, so I take that point. It was just an idea to further reward the top teams, but there are holes.

 

[swyftdahoe]

There's nothing really wrong with what you're proposing.. It's just that you're giving a solution to the wrong problem..
The problem that exists right now isn't that there are 9 good teams in the West with only 8 playoff spots.. It's that there are 9 good teams in theWest and maybe 3-4 teams in the East.. So getting out of the East has been in recent years easier and will remain that way in the next few years..

The best way to fix this is just to have #1 West vs #8 East, #1 East vs #8 West, #2 West vs #7 East, #2 East vs #7West.. in the first round, etc.. Hey,it's done in local high school sports in my city for East and West side schools.. It seems to make perfect sense to me..

 

[chikickz]

The only thing wrong with the present playoff model is the guaranteed playoff spot for a division title.

If the league really had a problem with the playoffs it might ask why in the last 20 years, other than the 2005 Heat title, only 5 NBA teams have wonchampionships. Yes, the guaranteed contracts are a factor.

 

[classy lawrence]

There is a legitimate 13 or 14 teams that should be in the playoffs, so I'm against cutting the playoffs down.

 

[trelvis tha thrilla]

NBA just needs to reseed after the first round

 

[franchise3]

Becareful what you wish for

 

[theblackhole76]

Have you seen this style of "seeding" used in any organized sports anywhere at any level? I would bet no.... and maybe there's a reason why.

Besides, this style of "picking your opponents" or whatever sounds more like something you do in grade school or with your buddies or some kind ofscheme concocted in the WWE for ratings. This method of selecting matchups does not belong in the highest standard of professional basketball in the world thatthe NBA is (or even in the NCAA or any other organized league that wants to take itself seriously). Oh, and "indirect disrespect" of your opponentsin that manner is absolutely NOT needed for this level of play... again, it sounds more like something you'd have in the WWE than a professional basketballleague.

And even if you don't buy into that, the fact of the matter is.. forced matchups ARE interesting. But they will NOT be interesting if teams just get topick who to play (can you imagine ANYONE saying "hey, we're picking a great team to play against because we really want to give the fans a competitiveseries!!!"). If this method were used last year, we just might have been denied the historic Mavs/Warriors series last year.

 

[lightweight champion]

Originally Posted by Long Beach Vincey

Originally Posted by holdenmichael

I give this idea two thumbs down and so would any competitor.

Do you really believe the Mavericks coaches and players would approve of Cuban selecting a team other than the Warriors because the Mavs had played poorly against them during the regular season? The Lakers coaches and players in your example? No, neither do I.

Your change is just change for the sake of change. You aren't solving or addressing a problem.

I'm not fully comprehending your point. Pretty much any team that qualifies for the playoffs more or less deserves to be there, especially this year in the West. Every series is going to be a grind. A problem I foresee is how the Lakers may end up matching up with the Suns in the first round, when in reality the Rockets may be the "worse" team but are a higher seed than the Suns. Now you give the Lakes the choice between the Rox and Suns, I'm sure they're taking the Rox.

I understand your point from a competitive standpoint, but the current setup isn't really that much different from my idea. Theoretically the top team is supposedly awarded with playing the worst of the remaining 8 teams. In that vein, the top seed should truly get the opportunity to play the weakest team as a reward, but this year I believe that won't be the case, and probably hasn't been in the past.

Then what's the point of being a #4 seed other than homecourt advantage? The top three seeds got to pick their opponent, but you're left withthe only team remaining. You're a Top 4 team in the conference but get no say in who you want to play? Wack. No offense, but my man your theory blows.