They are small markets, but I'm betting a lot of people would get into Howard v. Oden. If both are playing well that could be a really fun series for everyone to watch.
I think fans across the nation would fall in love with this squad if we got past LA in the WCF a David vs. Goliath feel. Something I think people would really like to see now days with the bailouts and big boys being protected at the expense of the little guy. Ironically as a David team we feature Goliath
Portland is a bigger market than San Antonio... The NBA desperately wants either NY or LA in the finals. LA, yes, NY is a mediocre franchise YEARS (if ever) away from even competing in the East for the finals.
I think if you look, the years when SA was in the finals recently were some of the lowest TV rating ever.
Nope, nope, nope. The only people who might be interested would be hardcore hoops fans, but casual fans (the bread and butter of a viewing audience for networks) would be asking themselves "Brandon who?" The league needs/wants the guys they've invested the most marketing into and the team's with the most cache to represent the league if they want to pull in people who don't normally watch hoops. About the only place a Portland-Orlando series would have any appeal is in Oregon and Florida.
Market has a lot to do with that but so does the fact that the Spurs are a notoriously boring team. As good as they were they just aren't an appealing team to watch.
I think the national casual basketball fan would be turned (by the media and league) toward looking at Oden, rather than Roy or LMA. Maybe if Roy's having an MVP-level season, it might turn into a Roy v. K*be thing if we play the L*kers, but I think the appetite's already been whetted for the casual fan to think "Oden" when you think Portland.
Brandon Roy is the backcourt version of Tim Duncan. We love him, but most casual fans would think he's pretty boring.
I figure this year we'll start seeing more Seattle NBA fans start to adopt the Blazers. It's the next closest team geographically, and a hot young playoff team coached by Mr. Sonic seems like a natural bandwagon to get on. You combine the two markets together and suddenly it's....well, a slightly larger small market.
I assumed he meant travel wise. Portland to Orlando is the furthest distance between two NBA franchises.
I think there would still be a certain draw of Howard vs Oden if Oden was playing well by seasons end.
Possibly, but from what I've seen, I doubt it. The NBA seems all but forgotten in the Seattle area. I've been to three different malls and several sporting goods stores in the last few weeks and the story is the same at all of them: Virtually NO NBA apparel, but overflowing with NFL. Last week I didn't see ANY (literally none) NBA hats at the Lids store in Bellevue Square. When I talk to people, most don't even know the NBA season is about to start. There are exactly 2 people I work with (out of about 60) that follow the NBA, and even they only follow their fantasy leagues.
