I honestly think they should just go through with a drastic change. They are using the schedule as and excuse to not do it but the schedule and the amount of games are crap anyways. 58 games, play each team twice (one home, one away), 1-16(or14) playoff seedings, 10 minute quarters, cut the pre-season. Makes the league much more fair, increases % of time the stars are on the court, makes for a way more entertaining playoff season and most importantly cuts down on wear and tear of players big time allowing for less injures, and prolonged and more productive careers.
No thanks. As a fan I want as many games as possible, and as many minutes per game as possible. This isn't football, playing 2 extra minutes of basketball 82 times a year isn't gonna kill you. I'm ok with a restructuring, and a few less games during the season wouldn't be too bad. It would be fun to see a mid season tournament with all the teams. The winner could get an automatic playoff birth with home court advantage through out the playoffs. Would be more fun then all star break, and would allow something more fun and intense during the season.
As a fan, I want healthier players, prolonged and more productive careers. More minutes and more games break down players. I'd love it if the Rockets played every night, but that's not what's good for the players, nor the sport. Look at the Spurs, look at how they kept Duncan/Manu/Parker going for so many years. Rest and minute restrictions. It's science now, it real and it works very well. 58 game seasons, 40 minute games would do wonders for the league.
Not sheriff srs. Your proposal cuts over 40% of the minutes out of a season (not including pre-season). Where do you think the money is going to come from to make up for all the lost revenue?
That would be the NBA's job to figure out, but the fact is that it would help increase the quality of the league greatly. Why doesn't the NBA just do 300 games a year and cash out?
Why not just play a college schedule? One game against each team then an entire league bracket tournament? Screw the record books and all that!
Because fans need an opportunity to see each team play in their city, also because home advantage can be so great it's only fair for balance of schedule as well. 58 games, 10 minute quarters, the way of the future.
I'd suggest something more subtle: 72 games...Houston, for example, would play the other 14 Western teams 3x each = 42 Play the 15 eastern teams 2x = 30. Boom. 72
That still causes a major schedule strength in-balance that would make the 1-16 playoff seeding change a dud.
Right, not proposing a playoff solution. Just responding to y'all's debate about the length of the season..under this scenario you would eliminate the divisions yet retain conference seeding
Morey on Bill Simmons podcast stated that he believes in less games and that it would actually create more revenue
All they need to do is reduce the number of regular season games to 75. That would completely eliminate 4 in 5, drastically reduce back to backs, not affect TV revenue and minimally affect gate receipts /parking /concessions. Shortening game length is totally unnecessary and actually changes the product and strategy on the floor. That would be a huge mistake. They might also consider chopping 2-3 games from the preseason to spread the regular season over an extra 4-6 days.
My problem with shortening by such a small amount is you are changing NBA history - the way we value full single stats, the way we evaluate team records, etc., for a barely noticeable drop in games.
Cutting 7 games has a minimal impact on stats compared to more radical proposals and it could have a huge impact on game quality. Players would have fresher legs and miss fewer games due to injuries (major & minor) and decreased DNPs.
You guys should look up how they originally decided on an 82 game schedule... it was arbitrary and strictly based on having 12 teams play everybody in their own conference 8 times, and everybody in the other conference 7 times. It makes even less sense now as teams within the conference play others different amounts... and that discordance also exists within divisions. If they want divisions to matter, they could change the overall games and weigh those games more. If they want the conference to matter, every team in the conference should play the same schedule. If none of those matter, and its 1-16, it would be quite easy to adjust the schedule to where every team plays the same schedule.
That's not really true. Teams used to only play 3 game playoff series... then that went to 5 game series... now its all 7 game series. Nobody really mentions that discrepancy in regards to the record books.
the article mentions the wear of travel on atheletes' bodies multiple times, how their analysts just think it doesn't make any sense for teams to criss-cross around the country during the playoffs..especially coastal teams (in a 1-16 format). Thought that was an interesting point...I would love to read more details on that but I also feel like the league could plan around it
As fan I don't want them to reduce it. Less games mean higher ticket prices. I am not prepared to pay 100 dollars for nosebleeds.
