March madness is so much better then NBA playoffs

[nelsonmuntz]

Enough of your strawman false choices. How about a schedule that doesn't require "load management"? I had pro season tickets for a year. I'm so glad the stars didn't consider it a perk to skip games back then because I'm sure Hartford would have been on the top of their list. Instead I saw players like Jagr and Gretzky put on a show.

You are just wrong. By your logic, the staff ace should start and pitch 9 innings of every game in MLB or the team is ripping off the fans. No one thinks that is reasonable, so why is it reasonable for a single player to average 35+ mpg over an 82 game season?

I am talking about both playing every game, and managing minutes within games. Seasons are a marathon, and I do not have a problem rewarding teams for having depth and better game plans as opposed to 48 minutes of ISO ball, because team offenses and team defenses also put less wear and tear on the stars.

I recommend watching some old time games to see how stars handled this back in the day. Dominique Wilkins didn't play any defense at all for most of his career. That is how he stayed on the court. Even players like Bird would hide in the corner to take plays off. Michael Cooper protected Magic on defense so Magic wouldn't get burned out. The bottom 1/4 of the league was also terrible back then, so there were plenty of games where Bird or Magic could sleepwalk through the game against the 1980's Cavs or Bullets. Even with all that, Bird started having injury issues by his 8th season. Giannis is in his 12 year. He should be load managed.

Would the NBA have been better off if Bird skipped 5-10 games a year and played 5 mpg less early in his career, and lasted 5 more years at peak form? You say no, I say yes.

It is baffling that any UConn fan is against load management given Paige Bueckers career at the school. I don't know if she would have won more, but she would have been a lot healthier if Auriemma had figured out it might be a good idea to take the star out before the last minute when he was up 20.

 

[Deepster]

You guys are so predictable lmao

LOL. I was just thinking the same thing about you.

 

[twiceahusky]

There's guys in the G league who are not given a fair opportunity and this did go on in the CBA days. I'll go on a UConn homer take here, all Sanogo does is average double doubles and he was doing it in NBA games yet isn't given a fair opportunity. I do believe Khalid should've been a 10 year vet also got screwed by the NBA IMO.

Perhaps true … but how on earth is this comment related to this thread?

 

[Mr. French]

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.

I agree, I think 68 is about in range.

 

[twiceahusky]

Well, I feel like nothing could really change your mind either so this isn't going anywhere.

You call it great defense? I think it's simple to defend shots 28 ft from the hoop when the people taking them aren't at all selective. Compare that to a Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper, Scottie Pippen and oh yeah, Michael Jordan defense?

To those who say the NBA plays no defense … I beg to differ.

Two years ago I had court side seats to Bucks vs 76ers, late regular season game. The physicality was UNBELIEVABLE. Embiid vs Lopez made King Kong vs Godzilla look soft. Before getting it on, Lopez got down in his stance, you could hear him hyperventilate, spit everywhere. He was giving EVERYTHING EVERY time down the court. Them banging bodies was the most physical thing that I have EVER heard and seen.

Saw some great d out of the Celts last night too.

 

[champs99and04]

The NBA will always be fighting an uphill battle to win over certain demographics in this country no matter what it does. 20 years ago people bemoaned the lack of scoring in the league and clamored for the up-tempo games of the 80s. Now the pendulum has swung the other way and people want to slow the sport down again.

Fact is, our preference on what we want the league to look like is highly dependent on which era we were born into. Every era has its pluses and minuses, but for my money the league was at its best, at least in the 21st century, from around '08 to '17. I think the ripple effects of Durant joining the Warriors plus the popularization of Harden/Morey ball drove the league to slightly rockier footing, and my hope is that we're in the beginning stages of rectifying that now.

 

[Lafayette]

To those who say the NBA plays no defense … I beg to differ.

Two years ago I had court side seats to Bucks vs 76ers, late regular season game. The physicality was UNBELIEVABLE. Embiid vs Lopez made King Kong vs Godzilla look soft. Before getting it on, Lopez got down in his stance, you could hear him hyperventilate, spit everywhere. He was giving EVERYTHING EVERY time down the court. Them banging bodies was the most physical thing that I have EVER heard and seen.

Saw some great d out of the Celts last night too.

You are correct. That there was some serious D.

We don't see it as often, and certainly you cannot do what say the Pistons of the 80s could do because of rule changes making defense a lot softer. I think we've heard takes on how many points Jordan would get if he was 27 now.

But it is great to see team defense get called out.

 

[Deepster]

To those who say the NBA plays no defense … I beg to differ.

Two years ago I had court side seats to Bucks vs 76ers, late regular season game. The physicality was UNBELIEVABLE. Embiid vs Lopez made King Kong vs Godzilla look soft. Before getting it on, Lopez got down in his stance, you could hear him hyperventilate, spit everywhere. He was giving EVERYTHING EVERY time down the court. Them banging bodies was the most physical thing that I have EVER heard and seen.

Saw some great d out of the Celts last night too.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

It would up the number of 3’s taken even higher though.

Even now, an NBA game is mostly just a bunch of guys running up and down the court shooting three’s.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Watching SGA vs. Murray is just another reminder of how little Calipari has done as a coach with an incredible amount of talent.

 

[Beowulf]

Game tonight stinks right

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

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?

Load management isn't just for players. I'm here to read sentences like that one, and it's only mid-May.

 

[Waquoit]

You are just wrong. By your logic, the staff ace should start and pitch 9 innings of every game in MLB or the team is ripping off the fans.

I stopped reading here. Nonsense.

 

[superjohn]

Load management isn't just for players. I'm here to read sentences like that one, and it's only mid-May.

Miggs, I would expect nothing less from you.

 

[aceboon]

7 games of OKC vs Denver>>>anything I saw in March/April of college ball

 

[HCCForever]

I switch between NBA games and NHL. Nothing compares to the action of NHL playoff especially game 7 OT games. That double OT game between St. Louis and Winnipeg almost two weeks ago where two goals were scored in final two minutes of regulation was something special.

Too bad the NBA playoffs were not as exciting. I will be tuning into the Celtics game tonight to see if they can force a game 7. But chucking up threes is not my idea of great basketball.

 

[mauconnfan]

I switch between NBA games and NHL. Nothing compares to the action of NHL playoff especially game 7 OT games. That double OT game between St. Louis and Winnipeg almost two weeks ago where two goals were scored in final two minutes of regulation was something special.

Too bad the NBA playoffs were not as exciting. I will be tuning into the Celtics game tonight to see if they can force a game 7. But chucking up threes is not my idea of great basketball.

Hate to say but the Celts moved the ball better without Tatum. Not saying they’re better without him but they were a bit more fun to watch. Still hard to watch continuously for me without switching to my favorite shows.

 

[husky429]

Threes are an issue.

People saying there's no defense or the offense don't know the game of basketball.

Husky out

 

[Scoe]

Enough of your strawman false choices. How about a schedule that doesn't require "load management"? I had pro season tickets for a year. I'm so glad the stars didn't consider it a perk to skip games back then because I'm sure Hartford would have been on the top of their list. Instead I saw players like Jagr and Gretzky put on a show.

Although I don’t like how the NBA does load management because the optics look bad, I agree with Nelson here. I bet you the NHL does have load management they are just more subtle about it, oh your knee hurts ok you’re going on the scratch list. It’s not like an NHL player is gonna sit on the bench in street clothes because of a load management day. The day Aaron Judge gets a day off this year there will be some Yankee fans freaking out, and some sad kids but the media won’t care. Judge wouldn’t be sitting in the dugout in street clothes.

 

[Scoe]

Going back to the topic here, would you wanna watch March Madness for 3 months, I sure wouldn’t. Wouldn’t you much prefer playing an opponent for 1 night as opposed to 2 weeks. Imagine how annoying it would be if we played Duke for 2 weeks in 99, the officials would be sure to extend the series for Duke.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Hate to say but the Celts moved the ball better without Tatum. Not saying they’re better without him but they were a bit more fun to watch. Still hard to watch continuously for me without switching to my favorite shows.

They have moved the ball well with him most of the time. JT's assists are way up the last two years. But when the game tightens up they tend to go away from it. It's a failure of all of them, including JT and Joe. It doesn't help that there's no real scoring presence in the paint. The shit away from Rob Williams removed that outlet. They need a way to score inside that doesn't involve driving from outside.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

College basketball is one thing, NBA is something else. They can be different and both can be good.

I am also the kind of guy who will enjoy watching Cal State Fullerton vs UCSB in bed on a Thursday night if I can’t get to sleep. I just love basketball.

 

[Tenspro2002]

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.

Is the issue the number of games or the frequency of games and back-to-backs?

I think they also don't want the NBA playoffs overlapping with March Madness.

The play-in games started April 15. You could maybe move that a week earlier. But lop off like 10-15 games, at least you'll have stars fresh in April and not dogging it -- or sitting out -- in January.

 

[jibsey]

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.

I agree. Watching these guys not develop plays and then chuck a 3 is boring. I don’t know if that would do it but it’s not that fun to watch.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Daigneault may not survive a loss to the Nuggets. The Thunder are really, really good, and the Nuggets are pretty mediocre after Jokic. With Cleveland and Boston cleared out of the other side, this is OKC's best shot at a title in 46 years. Blowing that could be the end of the line for any coach.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Oklahoma City looked good tonight. I think all the teams that can beat them have already been eliminated.

It would be pretty cool if a coach that started his career working for Calhoun won the NBA title.