Would you rather have your opponent in a playoff series get TOO Much rest? i.e. a fast sweep while your current series goes on. I think I would. Often times when a team gets too much rest, I think they can take things for granted, especially if they will have home court advantage. Hypothetically speaking of course.
This is a MLB reference, but I remember in 2006 when my Cardinals made the WS, Detrot rolled through the Playoffs, had Homefield and were hype to sweep the Cardinals. They won the ALCS I believe in 4-5 games while the Cards and Mets went to 7. They had over a week off I believe. Once the WS came, they came out flat footed, St. Louis should have swept them but won in 5 games. I don't know if any of you remember but Detroit was hot, the favorite like the Lakers, and St. Louis had one of the worst records for a playoff team but caught fire at the right time. So guess my point, anything can happen and rest, especially long rest, isn't always a good thing. IDK though, like I said that was baseball and you are talking basketball.
Yeah, this is a baseball reference b/c that sport is so much about keeping rhythm and keeping focused for the hitters, while in basketball, more rest and time to scout your opponent helps IMO. Just look at college basketball, they can go a week or 2 w/o a game and it doesn't really effect them, so I don't see why it would effect an NBA team. You can still have live game action in practice, unlike baseball where you only see pitching machines and some old guy with his arm falling off throwing from 35 feet during off time.
Just depends. If it's a young/inexperienced team, I'd love for them to have a week to sit and think. Now if it's a veteran team like the Spurs - I don't think it matters. If anything, the extra time off helps their old legs. I remember that 2006 WS. The Tigers played like world beaters to crush the Yankees, and forgot to show up for the world series (does anybody remember Kenny "The Gambler" Rogers pitching the series of his life?) They made SO MANY errors. That Cardinal team might have been the worst team ever to win a WS. It was sort of poetic justice though - as they had several previous seasons where they won 100 games (or close to) and ran into a buzz saw in the post season (2004 Red Sox anyone?)
