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2018 NBA playoffs running thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Cosmo, Apr 12, 2018.

  1. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    In 69-70 there were 3 best of 7 series. That’s the least number of rounds and games since. The 4 round playoffs have and best of 3, 5 and 7.

    But James has played in 7 game series with 4 rounds. Watered down competition but more games over the course of his career
     
  2. FileNotFound

    FileNotFound Well-Known Member

    Also, Kareem had to drag Lanier and Walton up and down the floor for 48 minutes every damn night.
     
  3. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    Watered down competion? He plays with the ball, the minutes he’s played are far harder than Kareem’s.
     
  4. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    1. No shit. He’s probably the hardest working player in the NBA,or at least right there with Westbrook.
    2. The number of teams playing now compared to whe. jabbar started in inflated. Those first round playoff series are just owner revenue, the better teams almost always win easily. That’s a watered down playoff
     
  5. dirtybird

    dirtybird Well-Known Member

    ... is that something that’s actually been shown, or is that just gut feel?

    Back when he started, eight teams of 14 made it, so a lower percentage make it now.
    I suppose you could argue there’s less talent to go around and that adversely affects the quality of fringe playoff teams (maybe more or less, than top teams?), but the talent pool has also grown considerably.
     
  6. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    Maybe it’s just the 7&8 seeds or the 6-8 seeds in the East that seem outmatched as a general rule
     
  7. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Just looked up the '69'70 season. The last qualifiers in each conference were the 76ers and Suns. Philly had Billy Cunningham, Archie Clark and Hal Greer. Phoenix has Connie Hawkins and Gail Goodrich. So they weren't patsies by any means. Number eight seeds this years were Wizards and Timberwolves. Wizards have Wall, Beal and Porter. Wolves have Towns and Wiggins. So not quite as star deep as the older teams, but not a talent mismatch at all.
     
  8. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    Wall, Beal and porters are stars only by contract amount
     
  9. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    The last 1 or 2 seed in either conference to lose in the first round was Chicago in 2012 when Derrick Rose tore his ACL in Game 1. In the last six years, the outcomes are:

    Higher seed is 24-0

    4 games: 9
    5 games: 4
    6 games: 6
    7 games: 5

    @heyabbott is right, the seven-game series is unnecessary and a money grab. When the NBA expanded the first round to seven games, it was a midseason desperation move to increase revenue at a time the league was struggling. It's still all about the money and none about the basketball.
     
  10. dirtybird

    dirtybird Well-Known Member

    I should've bolded more. I meant that to ask, is that too much different than in the past? I.E. is this a sign of being watered down?

    From Kareem's first year to the time the playoffs expanded to five teams, you had first-round upset of a top seed once in 10 tries. No. 2 seeds were an odd case. Year 1,there were divisions. For three years, No. 2 seeds were division champs, but the last year there a bad division champ was listed as a No. 2 seed, but was seeded by record. So four "2 seeds" lost, but all had worse records than their first-round opponents, one drew the No. 1 seed. (The data isn't admittedly that clean, as there were some upsets by record, but mostly because those playoff arrangements were kinda insane. Kareem's second year, the No. 4 seed had the sixth-best record in the conference)
     
  11. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Ah. I was responding to the revenue/watering down part of it.

    There's no reason other than money that those series should be seven games, that was what I was saying.
     
  12. sgreenwell

    sgreenwell Well-Known Member

    I believe the NBA moved from five games to seven games in the very first round to reduce upsets or prioritize the regular season. If you're a more talented team, you want a series to be seven games instead of five. If you're a less talented team, it's easier to use smoke and mirrors to get three out of five, vs. four out of seven. IIRC, the revenue thing isn't as big as people think, since the TV networks pocket most of the money. (i.e. If you're a TV network, you want seven games because of the ads, whereas the NBA is only getting gate revenue for another game or three, which isn't a huge deal.) However, I remember reading that like 10 years ago, so maybe things have changed now.
     
    JC likes this.
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