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it'll never happen
If the Commissioner believes the media and wants to improve the TV ratings and increase viewership and increase revenue he has to take a new, fresh and radical approach.
Now no one in San Antonio cares if the ratings are low because you are probably going to win a le. The same can be said for Cleveland because they made it to their first Finals.
However, for the casual fan, media and nation as a whole........they aren't watching.
But if you really shake things up like what i am suggesting below, you will not only develop a new interest in the game but you will also get a better matchup in the Finals.
Suggestion: Continue to play with the current East/West structure as well as Division winners (so teams can hang their banners and brag about winning a division, blah blah blah) But, when it comes time for the Playoffs you make this change.
Seed all 16 teams in one Bracket according to wins and losses similar to college. So it makes no difference as to which conference or division you are in. It matters only how many games you win in the regular season as to where you are seeded. The tie breakers are head to head, then record vs. opposing conference
Then 1 plays 16, 2 plays 15, 3 plays 14, so on so forth. This will spark new interest because you will have teams playing in the playoffs that Never would play each other currently except in the Finals. And you would have the Cinderella upset aspect like in the College tournament.
Example: Under this new format, this would have been the first round matchups this year:
1. Dallas vs. 9. Toronto
2. Phoenix vs. 10. Denver
3. San Antonio vs. 11. Miami
4. Detroit vs. 12. Lakers
5. Houston vs. 13. Golden St.
6. Utah vs. 14. New Jersey
7. Cleveland vs. 15. Washington
8. Chicago vs. 16. Clippers
Can you imagine the first round buzz in San Antonio if you were playing DumbWade and Shaq! and how about Detroit vs. Lakers rematch of a few years ago?!
Like i said it's radical but it would create a lot of interest and might insure a better Finals and a better playoffs too.
it'll never happen
Can not do this because there is an unbalanced schedule. Teams in the East have advantage because their regular season schedule is much easier than the West's schedule.
In the last 11 years, the East has wone 5 times and the West 6...so I do not see a problem here.
And thats really it in a nuts . Unless they change the regular season format it just in going to happen.
Good idea though. Of all the stupid I see on this forum I like this idea the best.
Maybe I'm missing something, but the first round you show has 1 v 9, not 1 v 16. Wouldn't it be like this:
1. Dallas vs. 16. Clippers
2. Phoenix vs. 15. Washington
3. San Antonio vs. 14. New Jersey
4. Detroit vs. 13. Golden St.
5. Houston vs. 12. Lakers
6. Utah vs. 11. Miami
7. Cleveland vs. 10. Denver
8. Chicago vs. 9. Toronto
If so, I think Denver takes out the Cavs and Golden State upsets Detroit. Almost every team in the 2nd round would be from the West. Stern would lose his mind if that happened!!
Yea if the Finals came down to two West teams, no one who supports the East would care and the ratings might suck even more.
Thats actually what we had this year and the ratings were pretty good as I remember...Suns/Spurs WAS the NBA finals.
Interesting idea, but then you have to get rid of the divisions and conferences. And try to give each team 3 games against every other team (then, it's even play and no need for further tie-breakers). Then you have to lengthen the playoffs (maybe not by much) because of the potential for cross country travel.
Definitely worth thinking about, but unlikely to ever happen. That list does indicate just how poor the Eastern Conference was (or maybe, how strong the Western Conference is), particularly when you consider that more games in the season are played against your conference than against your opposing conference. That makes it very interesting.
This from a Mavericks fan....still upset about being on the receiving end of the biggest 'cavity search' in the history of professional sports.
The 'minutes' (wink-wink) of taking the Mavericks seriously have come and gone.
Wait, wait, I've got it!
Take all the Eastern teams and put them in a new league: The EBC (Eastern Basketball Conference).
The Western teams will remain the NBA.
After the Finals of each group, maybe the EBC and NBA can get together to have a "World" Championship.
Just to finish up that bracket-ology...
1. Dallas vs. 16. Clippers
2. Phoenix vs. 15. Washington
3. San Antonio vs. 14. New Jersey
4. Detroit vs. 13. Golden St.
5. Houston vs. 12. Lakers
6. Utah vs. 11. Miami
7. Cleveland vs. 10. Denver
8. Chicago vs. 9. Toronto
Round 2
1. Dallas vs. 8. Chicago
2. Phoenix vs. 10. Denver
3. San Antonio vs. 6. Utah
13. Golden St. vs. 5. Houston
Round 3
1. Dallas vs. 13. Golden St.
2. Phoenix vs. 3. San Antonio
Finals
1. Dallas vs. 3. San Antonio
Now that’s what I really wanted!
and Champions
1.San Antoniofixed
Who cares if the US is not watching. The NBA has become a global sport and the World is watching.
Yep. It's ESPN's fault that the USA ratings suck, but international rights are included in the television contract, which is why ABC is chomping at the bit to re-up and why they don't even bother trying to drum up interest in the Spurs.
Won't work.
Western Conference regular season schedule >>>> Eastern conference regular season schedule.
The only way a reseeded playoff format will work is to abandon West/East conferences altogether.
NBA $ maker will be the world in the near future. they could care less what americans think.
Not sure if you are kidding or not but i actually had this idea a few years ago so it had nothing to do with the Mavs losing to GunShot Wound. But that's the kind of upset that the casual fan gets into.
And i know this will probably never happen but it would sure be cool if your Spurs or my Mavs got to play the Bulls or Pistons or Heat early in the playoffs.
I know we don't have any trouble selling tickets but you guys have complained about Spurs fans not buying tickets to playoff games.......that might change if you were playing some teams that only come in once a year from the East.
I'll bet you wouldn't have any more Sweeps in the Finals then.........
The only reason the ratings are down b/c the Lakers, Bulls, or the Knicks are not in the Finals. That's it!
The NBA should do like American Idol and have the fans "vote" on which teams advance to the finals! We would have the Lakers vs. whoever every year!
if you're going to do that, make it single-elimination until you get down to the final four teams, then do the four of seven format.
Stern is making bank. He couldn't care less about redoing the format.
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