It’s Time For The NBA To Fix Its Horrible Playoff System
It wasn’t always this way! There was a time when the NBA ran its playoff system differently. I can only imagine that the change to its current bracketed format conversation went something like this! Hey! Fans love filling out a March Madness bracket so why don’t we create our own!
Hopefully, the college intern that somehow floated that idea and the executive who trumpeted it are long out of the league. It’s beyond time for the NBA, which devalues its regular season more than any other sport, to change their awful playoff system. Here are my reasons;
The NBA’s Playoff System Devalues The Regular Season For Its Fans AND Its Teams
In what other sport do they have to address “load management” issues for its star players? I’ll hang up and listen. The NFL and NHL are more physically damaging sports to their competitors. Do we hear about the greatest players or even the marginal ones needing to have their games played managed? No, you don’t. So if you don’t tell your fans the games are important, please tell them the playoffs are.
The Best Teams Over The 82-game Schedule Deserve The Easier Paths
So you have battled over 82 games for playoff position and now the playoffs begin. You won 60 games and expect to be rewarded for it. Nope, it’s the NBA and we would rather try to create “May Madness”. The top seed gets to play the 8 seed and their reward is playing the winner of the 4/5 matchup in the Conference Quarterfinals. That would be fine as long as the tourney always holds serve.
Like last season, the Celtics and the 76ers were forced to meet in the Conference Semifinals when they both had better records than the Knicks and the Heat. So the two best teams face off while the two lesser teams play to advance. It’s dumb.
Why Do NFL And MLB Teams Care About Finishing Atop Their Respective Leagues?
In the NFL and MLB they reward regular-season excellence with byes and better playoff opposition. If you advance, you are rewarded by playing the least accomplished team that remains in the competition. Thus, teams in those sports are willing to respect the regular season competition because they know it could pay them huge dividends.
The NBA Does A Lot Of Things Right
It makes me wonder why this slips through the cracks of introspection. The NBA markets its stars slickly and creates manageable content for social media to engage with younger fans. The days of brackets being a huge thing has certainly subsided from its heyday in the 90’s and early 2000’s.
Changing the playoff system would also potentially change the behaviors of teams in regards to respecting the regular season. If teams knew there were true benefits to seeding it would matter much more to them. The fans would be the ones to then benefit.
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Every Sixers Players History Against the Miami Heat
Tobias Harris
Career
39 games, 16.3 pts, 6.0 rebs, 1.8 asts, .7 stls, .5 blks, 48.5 fg%, 34.7 3p%, 80.7 ft%
This Season
1 game, 27 pts, 7 rebs, 6 asts, 1 stl, 0 blks, 55.6 fg%, 57.1 3pt%, 100 ft%
Fans are not happy with Tobias Harris. He has not lived up to his contract at all. But don’t let the frustration about that, cloud your overall view of him.
Forget for a second that he is a max player. There is nothing they can do about that right now. He can still contribute. He still scores about 17 pers game, plays decent defense, and rebounds. Tobias has value. And his one game against the Heat this season was one of his best games this season.
Cam Payne
Career
14 games, 6.5 pts, 2.4 rebs, 3.8 rebs, 0.6 stls, 0.1 blks, 33.0 fg%, 32.0 3pt%, 90.0 ft%
This Season
5 games, 4.8 pts, 1.4 rebs, 2.0 asts, 0.4 stls, 0.0 blks, 42.9 fg%, 40.0 3p%, 0.0 ft%
We are now into the area where we aren’t sure how big a role these guys will have in the playoffs. Cam Payne gave them good minute while embiid was out, and filled some of the scoring gap. They would have fewer wins were it not for Payne.
Lately, he has not been so great. And in 5 games against the Heat, 2 with the Bucks, he failed to make much of an impact. I wouldn’t count on him to do too much in the play-in game. If he sees the court at all.
