Here's the reason why it wouldn't work.... if there was only 2 teams on the east coast in the playoffs, that would kill viewership I think.
Maybe have a D-League playoff and the top four teams play the bottom four teams for the chance to replace them in the playoffs? Charlotte versus Boise!
Well, there's just so many people on the east coast, many of whom do not come from a city with a team, so they follow one of those shitty under-.500 basketball teams. It's somewhat like Portland with the Mariners and Shehawks.
Reducing to 70 games would disrupt star comparisonto previous seasons. Durant would have no shot at catching Kareem. I think there should be a longer AS break but keep the season at 82 games.
Portland gives so few fucks about either Seattle team... Was there even a riot in Portland when the Chickens won?
Tough call. I think I'm for eliminating, but my mind could be changed. It just doesn't seem right that a team with a 43% winning percentage gets in (Atlanta/New York/maybe Cleveland) but a 60% winning percentage does not (Memphis/Phoenix/Dallas). I don't think travel is that big of a deal anymore, especially when both teams involved have to travel the distances. This is one of the reasons why they changed the Finals back to the 2-2-1-1-1 format.
I do not see the NBA getting rid of conferences. I think it would be a harder sell for the semifinals to be named something different than the conference finals. The NCAA splits its field of 64 into four so that it has multiple #1's and a low of 16. Do you really want to sell an #3 vs #14 vs being able to call it an #2 vs 7? Giving the elite teams a first round bye is also not going to happen. The NBA does not have much to compete with during playoff time. I do not think they want their best teams taking a break. Divisions really mean little and have no problem getting rid of them.
I'm in total favor of eliminating conferences. It's a stupid arbitrary separation that often prevents the two best teams from competing and allows shitty teams into the playoffs. I think the travel thing is a bit over-blown. Teams go on Eastern road trips anyway and travel around the same geographic area. It would not be a problem for the playoffs? You'd just seed teams 1-16 and the best two teams make it to the finals.
Dude, if it's sooo important to you, you could call it West Bracket and turn 1 vs 16 into 1 vs 8 4 vs 13 into 2 vs 7 5 vs 12 into 3 vs 6 8 vs 9 into 4 vs 5 Then East Bracket turns 2 vs 15 into 1 vs 8 3 vs 14 into 2 vs 7 6 vs 11 into 3 vs 6 7 vs 10 into 4 vs 5 Instead of Conference Championship, you could call it say... West Bracket Championship.
Is it really that much more of a hassle for POR to travel to CHI or IND instead of OKC or MIN? They can work out scheduling to give two days between travel days. Won't make too much of a difference.
Exactly. I do not see travel being the problem. Another option could be keeping it the same, but allowing the 1, 7, and 8 seeds to be up for grabs regardless of conference. Eliminating conferences would make fan voting for the all star team interesting. One team of five determined by fan voting, then the rest by.coaches and the commish.
