2020-2021 NBA Season Thread

[PrimalCookie]

I don't love the idea of the play in, I guess I'm fine with it, but it definitely should have an [insert number] games back qualifier like it did in the bubble, or some sort of "minimum record" requirement. I don't want a team that's 19 games under .500 (like the 10th place Hornets from last year) to only have to win 2 games and make the playoffs. I get it, more playoff basketball, but at what point does making the playoffs lose all meaning? Maybe never, especially for teams that would otherwise be continuing a long playoff drought, but it makes an already bloated bracket that frequently features sub-500 teams even bigger. Get off my lawn.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

28/30 teams making the playoffs is a bad look.

 

Know what else is a bad look? Andre Drummond. Some guys flounder in bad situations: other guys are the bad situations.

[Indigo]

The play-in tourney should be…

9 vs 10

(winner of 9/10) vs 8

That winner should get the 8th seed. Done.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The play in was fine for the bubble because everyone had unbalanced schedules. That's still kind of true now, but nearly as dramatically so.

 

We have 70-80 games to determine seeding. That the 7 seed can be at risk of being bounced is really bad.

 

I agree that if we're doing a play-in it should be for the 8 seed. The 7 seed should be off limits.

[MJWalker45]

1 hour ago, LA Fakers+ LA Snippers said:

The play-in tourney should be…

9 vs 10

(winner of 9/10) vs 8

That winner should get the 8th seed. Done.

I think that is how the play-in works this year. 

 

Just watched the Warriors/Pelican game with the silly Marvel overlays throughout the game. They're copying the CBS/Nickelodeon NFL game and it's so obvious and pathetic. Certain players were given a Marvel superhero icon and when they scored the basket would light up with that icon.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The play-in is 7v8 for the 7 seed, 9v10 to play for the 8 seed, and then the winner of 9v10 plays the loser of 7v8 for the 8.

 

So you can be the 7 and out and the 10 and in. That's kind of messed up. 

[Sport]

They play-in tournament is really dumb. Is that a Bill Simmons idea? Or was his idea that the lottery teams would play a tournament for the #1 pick? 

[TrueYankee26]

13 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

I think that is how the play-in works this year. 

 

Just watched the Warriors/Pelican game with the silly Marvel overlays throughout the game. They're copying the CBS/Nickelodeon NFL game and it's so obvious and pathetic. Certain players were given a Marvel superhero icon and when they scored the basket would light up with that icon.

TNT now got ideas for their DC Arena of Heroes.

[Digby]

The buyout market angst of a few weeks ago really fizzled huh? Drummond sucks now, Blake has been fine for BKN but who cares, Aldridge retired.

 

Re the play-in, I agree with all the criticism being hurled at it. I guess it’s good in the sense that it seems like there’s more competitive games now, and less tanking, not least because it requires teams to aim for 6 instead of 7. But it has the same randomizer energy as MLB’s awful Wild Card games, and this year actually requires a less frenetic pace of competition given all the injuries we’re seeing.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

8 minutes ago, Sport said:

They play-in tournament is really dumb. Is that a Bill Simmons idea? Or was his idea that the lottery teams would play a tournament for the #1 pick? 

 

He'll probably take credit for it. He's said a lot of dumb things because people like him can't be happy with their fat stacks of money and instead need to ruin stuff the rest of us like.

 

I could see the play-in being a one-off between the 8 and 9 if certain conditions are met, like them being within 1 or 2 games of each other. But even still, it's not like we reseed the 1-6; why do the lower seeds have a higher barrier? Isn't the 8 playing the 1 punishment enough?

 

These are the times I miss Stern. He never would have gone for this, especially if LeBron were at risk of tumbling out of the playoffs. Remember when the Shaq/Kobe Lakers were struggling and Stern decided -- in the middle of the season -- that the first round would switch from best of 5 to best of 7? We need that energy again.

[Indigo]

43 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

I think that is how the play-in works this year. 

32 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

The play-in is 7v8 for the 7 seed, 9v10 to play for the 8 seed, and then the winner of 9v10 plays the loser of 7v8 for the 8.

 

So you can be the 7 and out and the 10 and in. That's kind of messed up. 

 

[MJWalker45]

2 minutes ago, LA Fakers+ LA Snippers said:

 

Yeah, that's pretty dumb. 

[JayMac]

2 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

I think that is how the play-in works this year. 

 

Just watched the Warriors/Pelican game with the silly Marvel overlays throughout the game. They're copying the CBS/Nickelodeon NFL game and it's so obvious and pathetic. Certain players were given a Marvel superhero icon and when they scored the basket would light up with that icon.

This was so dumb but I realize that I am way out of the target audience for this. I am a half a year from 40 and I hate superhero movies.

[MJWalker45]

The fact that Disney and ESPN feel they need to blend multiple entities to get attention for either the sports network or their other apps is the most egregious part. Looking back at the NFL, was the Spongebob collab great? Yes, defientely. Would it be awesome that they did that 17 week a year? Nope! Not at all. One game a year is good enough. 

[OaklandIsBack]

13 hours ago, Sport said:

 lottery teams would play a tournament for the #1 pick? 

Honestly, I like that idea, but I would cut it down to maybe bottom 4. 3 game series in both rounds (games 1 and 2 played back to back, day off before game 3 if necessary), played during the 1st round of the playoffs. 

or an 8 team single elimination tournament

[BBTV]

It’s a bad idea, because the players have no incentive to try and win since a top lottery pick would probably replace them in the lineup. Their only incentive is to showcase themselves for other teams, which doesn’t translate into playing good team basketball. 

[dont care]

9 hours ago, BBTV said:

It’s a bad idea, because the players have no incentive to try and win since a top lottery pick would probably replace them in the lineup. Their only incentive is to showcase themselves for other teams, which doesn’t translate into playing good team basketball. 

That’s a bad take, the top pick would only take 1 of the spots on the team. Also if you lead your team to the top pick why would the team get rid of you, rather than try and build off of you. If you’re Zion Williamson you are going to try to play for that top pick to get more help around you. 

[Digby]

Yeah, I just don’t see that as a motivator for a tournament, even if you’re say the type of perennial all star stuck on a crappy team.

 

I will say, the play-in tournament seems to be making these late season games more competitive. Usually this time of season we just get a lot of real snoozers of games with teams and players totally checked out. Feels to me we’re not getting that as much this year. (But the end result tournament still feels cheap!)

[BBTV]

19 hours ago, dont care said:

That’s a bad take, the top pick would only take 1 of the spots on the team. Also if you lead your team to the top pick why would the team get rid of you, rather than try and build off of you. If you’re Zion Williamson you are going to try to play for that top pick to get more help around you. 

 

If you "lead your team to the top pick" in this scenario, you're just the leader of a lousy team.  There's just no incentive to get players to play hard for the future of a team that they're unlikely to be a part of.  In your Zion example then yeah - he certainly would - but the other guys?  I'm not saying that they'll tank or not try or anything like that, but if I'm nursing a knee that I could play on, there's no way I'm risking it to play in a game like that.

[PittsburghSucks]

He's back...