But, it could be better. The games feature more timeouts than action, more instant replay than fast break, more piped-in music and stale chants of defense than feverish nail-biting and then the explosion of joy or eerie silence as ball passes through twine.
To encourage heartier competition in both the regular season and playoffs, why not revamp the current Playoffs?
A new playoff system, laid out below, would improve the regular season by placing more importance on a team's record. Other than home court advantage there is no benefit in being a number one seed over an eight seed. Recognizing this, smart coaches like Greg Popovich rest their players on select games over the regular season. As long as a team is assured of a playoff berth, the rest is of little import. The pursuit of a 60 plus-win season is motivated more by the quest for greatness than by any practical incentive. And as memorable as those great seasons are, they count for little in the playoffs, except as proof of a team's superior merit.
In order to promote a more competitive, cutthroat, ruthless regular season, the highest seeds need more than a home court advantage. They need rest, they need security, they need security blankets to keep them warm while they watch the lower seeds battle for the right to them. Much like the NFL, where the top two conference teams rest while the next four fight for the right to play them, I propose a playoff that transitions from March Madness to the later rounds of the NBA Playoffs. But words can only say so much and illustrations can speak more precisely than I could hope.
This system has many advantages. By using 12 seeds, it eliminates much of the urge for tanking. Even a 13 or 14th ranked team has a shot at the playoffs, and only the truly awful would commit to tanking early in the season like the 76ers and Knicks have done this year.
At the same time, it rewards the teams with good records. In order to avoid the first four rounds, a team would have to finish either first or second in their conference. The battle for those two spots would encourage intense competition throughout the regular season for those favorable seedings. The only potential drawback to this system is the extended recess for the top teams before they start their seven game Conference Semifinals series. But, many teams would welcome this chance to heal players and rehearse their game plan, like teams do in the two weeks before the Superbowl or the Champions League Final.
And while were at it, let's cut the number of timeouts in half, reduce the season to 72 games (30 against the opposite conference, 42 against in-conference rivals), extend the all-star break to seven days (as per LeBron's wishes) and eliminate divisions.
At the same time, it rewards the teams with good records. In order to avoid the first four rounds, a team would have to finish either first or second in their conference. The battle for those two spots would encourage intense competition throughout the regular season for those favorable seedings. The only potential drawback to this system is the extended recess for the top teams before they start their seven game Conference Semifinals series. But, many teams would welcome this chance to heal players and rehearse their game plan, like teams do in the two weeks before the Superbowl or the Champions League Final.
And while were at it, let's cut the number of timeouts in half, reduce the season to 72 games (30 against the opposite conference, 42 against in-conference rivals), extend the all-star break to seven days (as per LeBron's wishes) and eliminate divisions.
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