March madness is so much better then NBA playoffs | The Boneyard

March madness is so much better then NBA playoffs

Joined
Aug 28, 2011
Messages
13,421
Reaction Score
25,735
Single elimination is always better then a series, a month long of non stop action is better then 3 months of action then long stoppages and drama. Yes it was this way in the 80s and 90s as well.

Even if your team wins an NBA title the playoffs aren't as enjoyable as a March Madness run. Who wants to watch basketball in June, it's time for baseball then, same with the Super Bowl being pushed further into February, sports have become a bit too commercialized for my own liking and even March Madness has. People say baseball season is long the entirety of the NBA season from pre season to the finals is 9 months long.

These are just my random thoughts, don't get me wrong I like watching these playoffs but it really gets dragged out.
 
A change I'd like to see in the NBA (which will never happen) is a move to a 30 second shot clock.

It would move the league away from the necessity of so many isolation plays.
 
Maybe get the entire league into a bracket somehow - 24 + some 1st round byes, but single elim and make the shot clock 30.

Games would be 148-134 - all offense, no defense good times but NCAA March Madness is about 4x more enjoyable than NBA playoffs.
 
A change I'd like to see in the NBA (which will never happen) is a move to a 30 second shot clock.

It would move the league away from the necessity of so many isolation plays.

It would up the number of 3’s taken even higher though.
 
I would like to see the NBA get off teams' backs about load management. No one cares if Tatum or Lillard show up for a late January ESPN prime time game. Everyone cares if they show up in the playoffs. The fatigue injuries have gutted the playoffs for the last few years. It is not just the injuries either. The entire Bucks' team looked spent by season's end. Same with the Lakers. Lopez is 37 years old and averaged 32 mpg over 80 games. How did Rivers think Lopez was going to play in the playoffs?

Coaches have to cut back the regular season minutes on players, and the NBA needs to back off when they do. A player in his 30's should not play more than 70 games in a season. I think the younger stars should play fewer minutes too. Even a team that does everything right from load management, like the Cavaliers, can still get hammered by injuries and fatigue. But putting clowns like Rivers and Riddick in charge of superstars and high caliber playoff teams is just pissing money away by those franchises.
 
Two of my close friends are on opposite sides of the Celts/Knicks series and the trash talk on text has been hysterical. So, I tuned in for the 2nd half of last night's game. I made it maybe ten minutes. God, is it unwatchable and unenjoyable. I don't care one bit who wins any of these games.
 
.-.
The season is way too long. Cut about 20 games and the playoffs should be wrapping up right now. The load management issues would go away, the regular season would be meaningful and the playoffs might actually feature teams with healthy players.
 
Single-elimination is more exciting. It is not the best way to pick the best team.

As for load management, I agree in part, but on the other hand I went to one Knicks game last year and it was against Denver. If Jokic had been resting up to be fresh for the playoffs I would've been pretty disappointed.
 
Two of my close friends are on opposite sides of the Celts/Knicks series and the trash talk on text has been hysterical. So, I tuned in for the 2nd half of last night's game. I made it maybe ten minutes. God, is it unwatchable and unenjoyable. I don't care one bit who wins any of these games.
I hate watching the Celtics. They're really successful in this version of the NBA but all they do is shoot threes and it's awful to watch.

The league in general is far too three point focused but the Celtics take it to a comical level. I wouldn't judge the whole league based on them.
 
The season is way too long. Cut about 20 games and the playoffs should be wrapping up right now. The load management issues would go away, the regular season would be meaningful and the playoffs might actually feature teams with healthy players.
Why is it that these players who make gazillions of dollars now while resting far more should play far less games than players in the 80's and 90's who were way more physical with each other?
 
Single-elimination is more exciting. It is not the best way to pick the best team.

As for load management, I agree in part, but on the other hand I went to one Knicks game last year and it was against Denver. If Jokic had been resting up to be fresh for the playoffs I would've been pretty disappointed.
It has been the exact best way to pick the best team six times. 100 percent flawless methodology.
 
Two of my close friends are on opposite sides of the Celts/Knicks series and the trash talk on text has been hysterical. So, I tuned in for the 2nd half of last night's game. I made it maybe ten minutes. God, is it unwatchable and unenjoyable. I don't care one bit who wins any of these games.
I'm a lifelong Knicks fan, and last night was the first time I've tuned in this season. Much more enjoyable to read the NY Post the next day. Probably won't watch game 6
 
.-.
Roster sizes need to be increased. The NBA seems to be against playing rookies who aren't generational. No other sport has this problem. You cannot tell me that Cam Spencer shouldn't have gotten playoff minutes with the injuries Memphis had, but wasn't playoff eligible due to an idiotic rule, that 2 way contract guys aren't playoff eligible. What's the purpose of 2 way guys even getting called up then just in case injuries which obviously happened.
 
Last edited:
Why is it that these players who make gazillions of dollars now while resting far more should play far less games than players in the 80's and 90's who were way more physical with each other?
For a better product that you so desire.
 
Two of my close friends are on opposite sides of the Celts/Knicks series and the trash talk on text has been hysterical. So, I tuned in for the 2nd half of last night's game. I made it maybe ten minutes. God, is it unwatchable and unenjoyable. I don't care one bit who wins any of these games.
It's such a strange thing: whenever I mention that i dont watch the NBA I'm met with "but these are the best athletes in the world competing at the highest level".

Great. so are decathletes, but I ain't wearing a Bob Mathias jersey anytime soon.
 
Why is it that these players who make gazillions of dollars now while resting far more should play far less games than players in the 80's and 90's who were way more physical with each other?
the amount of space players have to cover in a game due to the 3point shooting is night and day compared to back then. watching basketball in the 90s I don't remember guys being struck down by calf or abductor muscle injuries at a high rate and now it's damn near every week where you see players getting sidelined with these injuries. I don't think it's a coincidence that with the game and the floor more spaced out than ever that we're seeing a rise in soft tissue injuries.

 
It's such a strange thing: whenever I mention that i dont watch the NBA I'm met with "but these are the best athletes in the world competing at the highest level".

Great. so are decathletes, but I ain't wearing a Bob Mathias jersey anytime soon.
I don’t mind that you guys don’t watch the NBA. I and others do, and I think the consensus is these playoffs have been incredibly entertaining and mostly super high level.

I mind those that don’t watch it and complain about the product. If you watched in the early-mid 2000’s and were a fan of that product and not this, I find it very odd.
 
For a better product that you so desire.
The better product I desire is physical play being allowed like it's being allowed during these playoffs and less three pointers. Not less games.
 
.-.
The better product I desire is physical play being allowed like it's being allowed during these playoffs and less three pointers. Not less games.
I think 10-15 less game would help that. I am in the opinion that less games in most major sports is a good thing. Baseball is ridiculous, football continuing to expand the schedule is also dumb imo. I think both hockey and basketball could knock some games off as well.
 
Single-elimination is more exciting. It is not the best way to pick the best team.

As for load management, I agree in part, but on the other hand I went to one Knicks game last year and it was against Denver. If Jokic had been resting up to be fresh for the playoffs I would've been pretty disappointed.
I feel I would like to see expanded rosters during the playoffs. While it may not help in making sure you see your best players late in the season it may make for more inspired play during the playoffs.
I've been to MLB games in late September and don't even recognize the players on the field and if I had paid big $ for the tickets, I would be po'd also.
Not sure what a happy median could be - cut down on number of teams to qualify for playoffs? Cut or expand playoff rosters at season end?
But the NBA playoffs as is now is more entertaining than the playoffs 10 years ago IMHO .
 
I’ve thought March Madness is better than the NBA playoffs for like 30 years. Especially when I was single and going to Vegas for it every year with a bunch of buddies.
 
I'll ask you all this question, how great did 99 feel beating Duke for our first national championship? Now I'll ask you this question, how would you feel if you had to play Duke for 2 weeks instead of 1 night, wouldn't that feel far more dirty and sticky?

Wouldn't 2 weeks of playing Duke to win our first be far less enjoyable not to mention the annoyance of the media and officials involved in extending a series for Duke.
 
Last edited:
It's such a strange thing: whenever I mention that i dont watch the NBA I'm met with "but these are the best athletes in the world competing at the highest level".

Great. so are decathletes, but I ain't wearing a Bob Mathias jersey anytime soon.

New gig shirt!?!?!

s-l1600.jpg
 
Why is it that these players who make gazillions of dollars now while resting far more should play far less games than players in the 80's and 90's who were way more physical with each other?
Because the regular season is boring and largely meaningless. NHL is too. I'd argue MLB starts to early and ends too late, but the nature of the 3-4 game series and differing starting pitchers makes the number of games more interesting.
 
.-.
I don’t mind that you guys don’t watch the NBA. I and others do, and I think the consensus is these playoffs have been incredibly entertaining and mostly super high level.

I mind those that don’t watch it and complain about the product. If you watched in the early-mid 2000’s and were a fan of that product and not this, I find it very odd.
I respect this. And I have been watching Celtics-knicks. I have found it fun to watch and am generally interested in being a witness to something historic for new york sports. I generally watch all big sporting events for the conversation.
 
Last edited:
The better product I desire is physical play being allowed like it's being allowed during these playoffs and less three pointers. Not less games.
I believe that the only fix to the three pointer situation is to make it worth 2.5 points. No distance is going to matter as these guys have the range dialed in. The other factor would be to allow more post shot contact, which would impact the close out ability. Until then, hoisting 3s is mostly smart.

As for physical play, some of it is good, some bad. There's a lot of shoving on the boards that should be called. Basketball has a problem like the NHL has a problem. Do we want to showcase skills or do we want to showcase toughness and physicality? The regular season shouldn't be a different game than the playoffs.
 
I don’t mind that you guys don’t watch the NBA. I and others do, and I think the consensus is these playoffs have been incredibly entertaining and mostly super high level.

I mind those that don’t watch it and complain about the product. If you watched in the early-mid 2000’s and were a fan of that product and not this, I find it very odd.
What do you find incredibly entertaining in games where one team shoots 15 for 60 and 10 for 40 from 3 pt in back to back games?
 
The NBA regular season is too long and the per game product is too watered down, particularly with load management. Hard to get up for any particular game. With less games, best players will play more consistently and each game will mean more. I also hate that almost every team plays the same way as oppose to college where talent/ roster differences really lead to diversified offense/defense strategies.
 
the amount of space players have to cover in a game due to the 3point shooting is night and day compared to back then. watching basketball in the 90s I don't remember guys being struck down by calf or abductor muscle injuries at a high rate and now it's damn near every week where you see players getting sidelined with these injuries. I don't think it's a coincidence that with the game and the floor more spaced out than ever that we're seeing a rise in soft tissue injuries.


Could be the case, even more reason to get teams to stop shooting 45 threes per game.
 
.-.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,640
Messages
4,587,390
Members
10,497
Latest member
Orlando Fos


Top Bottom