This year was a two month marathon that began in April with scintillating match ups like Celtics/Hawks (yes the Hawks team that fell well short of winning 40 games) and Lakers/Nuggets (yes the Nuggets team whose opponents averaged 237 point a contest against them). Ten years ago, when the first round was best 3 out of 5, series' like these would have been painful enough. Now, with every round featuring grueling 4 out of 7 marathons, they're downright unbearable.
Let's get one thing straight. These are BAD teams in the first round. Regardless of the rise of the Celtics in the East, that is still a horrible conference top to bottom, and things ain't changing anytime soon. We have reached a point in professional basketball - like in baseball - that expansion has diluted the talent pool beyond the tipping point. The difference with pro baseball is that they don't allow 16 freakin teams into the post season regardless of record, so there's a buffer in place to prevent fans from having to endure Red Sox/Royals in late September.
At the end of the day, there just aren't enough quality players to fill 16 playoff rosters. And with the increasing financial viability of the European leagues (plus the decreasing viability of the all mighty dollar against the Euro), the number of quality international players eager to jump the pond has likely plateaued.
The NBA's insistence on subjecting us to such a ridiculous post-season itinerary demonstrates a flagrant disrespect for the fans as far as I'm concerned. Yes, its about the money with any big time sport, but nowhere is such filatio of corporate sponsors so transparent as in the NBA playoffs. Even as a self-described sports aficionado, it would take a 60 day aderol binge for me to stay tuned in to this Batan Death March of a schedule.
Before
TNT boasts about its "40 games in 40 nights" (not including the finals mind you), but they fail to answer WHY?!?! WHY 40 GAMES?!?? WHY 40 NIGHTS?!?! This isn't fucking Lent!! Watching basketball isn't supposed to be equivalent to a prolonged period of self-deprivation! You don't even show 40 Law and Order episodes in 40 nights - why the fuck do we need 40 games, especially when half of these teams are reliant on Vladimir/Boris/Hanz/Uliaf [Fill in the Blank]ovichs that NEVER show up come playoff time anyway?!?! WHY DO I NEED THIS MANY GAMES?!?!?
After
And I don't think I'm alone in this sentiment, whether others chose to admit it or not. Consider the following:
David Stern is the only professional commissioner forced to perpetually pray to the heavens that he has big market franchises in the finals. Only during the NBA playoffs does talk surface of the "need" for LA or New York or Chicago or Boston to make a run. Only the NBA does one hear a barrage of speculation about the need for a clash of mega-cities to lift the nation's interest after from the Stage 5 disaster that was Spurs/Pistons in 2005. God forbid any mid-market franchise make a run, lest the fans lose interest faster than a black kid watching PHIL as the main attraction at the British next month.
At the end of the day, it's not because the fans don't want to see good basketball - its that they are so goddamn bored by the time the finals role around, that nobody has the energy left to pay attention unless their team or their favorite player is left standing. Of course, there's bound to be a fluxuation in ratings/interest in any televised sports tournament. (Nobody's disputing that Bud Selig wouldn't love to see Yankees/Dodgers or Sox/Cubs every year.) But we're not talking nearly the same extent as occurs in pro hoops. The NFL draws big numbers regardless of what teams play, as does the World Series, as do both the college football and basketball post season events. Only in the NBA is the entire viability of the playoffs determined by whether or not the big markets teams are involved.
The fact is that the NBA playoff format is just plain tiered and headed for a serious decline in relevance should the League not look to pre-emptively reinvent its post season.
I saw today that the Finals helped boost ABC above FOX last week for the first time in like twelve and a half years. Well no shit. It's easy to be #1 in the middle of June when your chief competitor is running "Malcolm in the Middle" marathons 3 days a week.
This is one of the single bleakest stretches in the sporting calendar: no football, baseball still months away from any having any import and no marquis college sports. Really we're talking basketball and hockey, and with the NHL drawing less interest than your average Bravo reality series, the Stanley Cup hardly qualifies as real competition.
Sports fans should be excited about the finals REGARDLESS of who is playing.
The NBA has got to tighten this thing up if they expect to maintain fan interest over the long term. At a minimum, the first two rounds should be reduced back to 3 out of 5. That's just a given. But if the commish had half the balls I do (even though we all know he does NOT), he would consider a more dramatic face lift.
That is why I am (stealing from those who have already voiced this idea) formally proposing that Mr. Stern take a page out of the NCAA playbook and re-structure the NBA postseason as a single elimination tournament. Invite all 30 teams, seeded according to regular season record, regardless of conference, and let the chaos begin! I mean, if you're willing to let teams like Atlanta into the playoffs, you might as well give them a chance to advance - otherwise not only are the early match ups horrible, but they are also irrelevant. The single elimination tournament gives every entrant a shot at moving on. (If you want, you could make the semi-finals and finals best 2 out of 3, but even that probably isn't necessary.)
Don't tell me this format wouldn't send ratings through the roof. If everyone made the playoffs, each regular season game would be critical to seeding, giving fans a reason to cheer all the way through the final buzzer of the 81st contest, regardless of a team's shitiness. Think of the boost this would give to lower-tiered teams, whose fans generally tune out after the all-star break. And what about the perpetual creation of new marketable stars through such a format. Who'd ever heard of Davidson's Stephan Curry before this year's NCAA tournament?? Probably Andy Katz and the editor of Colonial Hoops Weekly. Two weeks later, he was the darling of the basketball universe. A single-elimination round could have a similar king-maker effect on lesser known NBA standouts. And you wouldn't have to rely on a bankable Celtics/Lakers finale,because the underdog stories would undoubtedly be just as intriguing to fans.
As an added bonus, this format would take care of the league's concern about teams tanking games down the stretch to secure a higher draft pick, because regardless of their ineptitude, they would still have something to play for, even if it was only the remote chance of a first round upset.
So please, commissioner, take head of my plea. I cannot fathom the idea of another tortuously long NBA post-season. With the rancid taste of Tim Donaghy fresh our mouths, your credibility is hanging by a thread. What better way to put your enduring stamp on the league than undertaking an overhaul that would reinvigorate the teams, the fans, and even the bookies who your refs hold so dear?
I'd also like you to buy the rights to "One Shining Moment" and encourage ABC to bring on Patrick Raferty to replace the INANE Doug Collins on its broadcasts. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
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