To the people that agree that the NBA sucks....

[Houston]

Do you think it'd better if they had wayyy less games and they were all generally on the same day like the NFL?

There's so many games that I see no point in watching them, yet along caring about the outcome. If the Texans were 0-3 right now I'd be pissed and already counting them out of the playoffs, The Rockets are 0-3 right now and there's no reason to have a care in the world cause they could easily come back and have a good record.

Also if there was a full week between the games maybe I'd actually get exicted about them and be able to sit though the whole game. It's hard to anticipate games when they're so close to each other. Stop paying attention for 5 mins and your teams already played 3 games.

The worst thing is having series in the playoffs, it makes the game so predictable. Yes the last seed may get lucky the 1st game and beat the Lakers but there's no way they're gonna beat them 4 times. There's what? 5 teams that actually have a chance to make it to the finals...
I love the NFL cause on any given Sunday a low seed team can catch someone like The Colts or Patriots slipping and knock them out. You can barely even predict what teams make the playoffs, who would've thought that the Cowboys and Vikings wouldn't make the playoffs this year? Some analysis(idiots in IMO) picked the 49ners to have a real good season...

Those are my personal reasons why I can hardly watch it, I'm not old enough to have experience the glory days of they 80's/90's so this has nothing to do with skill for me. If I'm lucky I can maybe sit through the 1st quarter and if it's close in the last 3 mins I can watch a game. Other then that, count me out.

/rant.

 

[Juggernaut]

LOL, my Mavericks lost to a 8 seed buddy, nothing in the playoffs is assured.

And the predictability? Really? No one expected the Hornets to be 3-0, and the Nets were cruising until the Heat beat them. I love the NBA so much more than the NFL, if the Jets aren't playing than I can't watch more than a half of any other game.

 

[Primetime]

I can definitely see where people can't stand watching multiple games a week, but for some reason I can sit through every minute of multiple games a day. I hated basketball until 2007ish and ever since, every season is more and more interesting for me. I'll sit through most Bucks games, every Heat game, many of the Lakers games in hopes they lose, and most of the prime-time games when I don't have to work.

 

[dave]

Basketball and hockey need that many games.

 

[Houston]

LOL, my Mavericks lost to a 8 seed buddy, nothing in the playoffs is assured.

it's up for grabs to an extent. Neither of those teams had a chance of making it to the finals. Seriously though, I would've bet my right kidney last year that The Lakers were making it to the finals against either the Cavaliers or The Celtics. And a ton of other people would've said the same thing and been right.

 

[Juggernaut]

it's up for grabs to an extent. Neither of those teams had a chance of making it to the finals. Seriously though, I would've bet my right kidney last year that The Lakers were making it to the finals against either the Cavaliers or The Celtics. And a ton of other people would've said the same thing and been right.

The thing is, if your team isnt good, for the most part its hard to watch an entire season. Thats why you have a lot of player fans in the nba.

Personally, I root for the mavericks and to a degree, the knicks.

But when the thunder/heat/lakers/celtics are playing, its just amazing to watch.They just have that wow factor.

 

[jeffx]

Basketball and hockey need that many games.

Really? I'd trim the season down to 62 games, like in 1998-99.

 

[Senser81]

Basketball and hockey need that many games.

Why? 16 teams make the playoffs, with each series being a 5-game or 7-game ordeal.

 

[jms493]

Less games....I and most people only watch the playoffs.

 

[mgoblue2290]

Basketball and hockey need that many games.

Disagree. About 40-50 games into the season you've got a pretty good idea as to who is making the playoffs. Even then about half the teams that get in are just going to be cannon fodder for the actual contenders. Yeah sometimes a team will make a nice little run late in the season, or a lower seed will upset someone. At the end of the day though, the same teams pretty much everyone thought would make it, do.

Plus players aren't even giving their all in these 82 games. Maybe about 60 games and dropping 6 NBA teams would make for much more competitive basketball. Also you'd likely improve TV ratings and have an easier time filling up arenas.

I know the die hard fans out there would be against this but professional sports leagues don't really worry about the die hard fans. They want to get as many casual fans watching games and into arenas that they can.

 

[Minne]

Ever since the sonics left Seattle I have lost alot of interest in basketball. I still try to pay attention as much as possible though.

 

[Chrispy]

The only games i can actually watch all the way through are NFL games especially with fantasy football. I get bored watching the nba or mlb or nhl games.

 

[Primetime]

Fantasy basketball makes things a lot more interesting too but not many people play it compared to FF. It takes a lot more work than FF so it may just be a case of laziness to go along with the lesser popularity.

 

[BigBucs]

Said it once, Ill say it a thousand times.... The NBA died when Penny blew out his knee.

 

[Bear Pand]

I don't think the amount of games that are played is the main issue.

I think it's the fact that most teams legitimately have no shot at winning the title. There's been like what 7 different champs in the last 20 years. If you aren't a Lakers/Heat/Celtics and maybe Magic fan you don't have much reason to watch the NBA this year. Only exceptions are teams with young talent like the Thunder/Bulls and then you're just watching players develop hoping they can win in the future.

I don't think cutting down the # of games solves this problem.

 

[strahanfan92]

Cut 6 of the worst markets. 24 Teams = Better competition.

I think I got this from Bill Simmons.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Basketball and hockey need that many games.

No.

Like jeffx mentioned earlier, the lockout year proved that 50 something games was pretty much ideal. You know what you've got after 50 or 60, 80 is excessive, but we all know why it's 82 and it isnt going to change.

50-60 games & 24-28 teams would improve the league, but both are a pipe dream. It's a business, and businesses grow and expand, they don't contract.

My big issue with the NBA is depth. The talent is spread too thin and there are too many carbon copy 6'7" swingman scrubs littering rosters. And half the teams in the league lack a quality C, and are either starting a big stiff (Joel Anthony, or the awful Russian on NY) or a miscast fat PF (Eric Dampier in recent years). Would anyone, outside of the 12,000 people who go to the games, care if the Charlotte Bobcats or Toronto Raptors ceased to exist?

The talent wasnt better in the 80's, because talent always moves forward. But the depth was 1000X better, which led to better games.

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

Do you think it'd better if they had wayyy less games and they were all generally on the same day like the NFL?

There's so many games that I see no point in watching them, yet along caring about the outcome. If the Texans were 0-3 right now I'd be pissed and already counting them out of the playoffs, The Rockets are 0-3 right now and there's no reason to have a care in the world cause they could easily come back and have a good record.

Also if there was a full week between the games maybe I'd actually get exicted about them and be able to sit though the whole game. It's hard to anticipate games when they're so close to each other. Stop paying attention for 5 mins and your teams already played 3 games.

The worst thing is having series in the playoffs, it makes the game so predictable. Yes the last seed may get lucky the 1st game and beat the Lakers but there's no way they're gonna beat them 4 times. There's what? 5 teams that actually have a chance to make it to the finals...
I love the NFL cause on any given Sunday a low seed team can catch someone like The Colts or Patriots slipping and knock them out. You can barely even predict what teams make the playoffs, who would've thought that the Cowboys and Vikings wouldn't make the playoffs this year? Some analysis(idiots in IMO) picked the 49ners to have a real good season...

The first point may be the worst idea for basketball that ive EVER seen. Having games once a week is brutal for revenue, brutal for keeping players active, brutal for the fans, brutal for television, its just brutal for everyone. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the NBA scheduling system, to even compare it to the NFL is just ridiculous.

Also, you obviously have never watched the NBA playoffs if you think its predictable. Not that the upsets are that frequent, but so many playoff series end up extremely entertaining because the underdog gave the huge favourite all they could handle. And in a case like GS/Dallas, actually beat them, it does happen.

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

Would anyone, outside of the 12,000 people who go to the games, care if the Charlotte Bobcats or Toronto Raptors ceased to exist?

Yes. A whole country would care, and the NBA would care because its going to lose a large amount of money and fans they make in that country. The way Americans think of the Raptors is just ridiculous, they have great fan support, its a great city, and they're making good money despite having foolish ticket prices in this city for any sport. There are plenty of teams in the NBA who would be up for contraction before the Raptors.

 

[mgoblue2290]

Aren't NBA teams like the Bobcats and Raptors actually losing money though? I thought I read somewhere a decent number of teams are bleeding cash.