Can’t say I would pay attention to a Lakers vs Pacers game in mid December if it wasn’t the tournament championship.
I think giving the players a couple days in Vegas with the final four makes it something the players enjoy also.
If it's good for ratings and the players enjoy it I'm fine with it. I'm just not at all interested in it for more than the regular season games they are.
I thought it was a made up kinda stupid thing. The courts were cool I guess. The play was a bit elevated, but then again, if I was going to make $500,000 I would play harder too. It just seemed all so faux. Of course the Lakers won.
If you guys just watch the games from group stages to the 7 single elimination games, you would get it. The players give more effort, no one is getting rested for load management and if you watched Thursday and tonight it was playoff level basketball in early December. That was a treat and if you say it wasn't, I honestly think you weren't paying attention. If you weren't paying attention then shame on you because it sure beats watching our team flounder in regular season games because we're in the middle of a youth rebuild. It's honestly like the playoffs in November and early December... not the finals but definitely as intense as conference finals. These dudes went all out and when Giannis and Dame lost in the semis they seemed deflated but because there's still more than half of the season left that deflation will serve as motivation. The Lakers will be motivated by the championship. Everyone who was involved in the "elite eight" got a bit of a measuring stick less than halfway through the season and will take that with them. There really isn't any downside to this and in that way the NBA front office is filled with geniuses for making it happen. They'll tweak it and make it even better but it will be here to stay and fans that are shitting on it today will be talking about how a Finals champions without an IST championship is less than one with it in a few seasons.
Somehow it makes sense that the L*kers would win the first in season tournament. Absolutely disgusting.
Certainly made a difference watching the games I watched. I have to add if it was the Blazers in the final four this place would have been watching. That "Regular" season game thread would have been pretty active.
I can see that as a point. I'm betting If the Blazers were playing to win it you might have more interest?
I'm not sure... I don't feel like I would. Except, they'd probably be playing against better teams than they would otherwise, and likely without load managing guys.
Shame on us for not watching Lakers games that don’t involve the Blazers? The fuck? I much prefer watching my team play.
Blazers getting eliminated from the Tourney was relieving. Portland's bowling shoe inspired court design did not display well on ROOT's blurry pixelated broadcast signal. At times, we honestly could not see who had the ball. Blazers would literally disappear into the fog of shitty television production. While there may have been a few just as ugly court designs around the league, those fanbases were not also being tortured by the team's budget saving 240p auto-modulating television interpretation.
Yeah, it's pretty obvious that you're a Blazers fan and not so much a fan of the game. So I get that. I just love basketball... I love our team first but in a season like this I'm watching all of our games and having to balance that out with a ton of games that we're not in. The game is great, this tourney was great and I don't hate the Lakers. I think Lakers hate makes Blazers fans look pretty pathetic because it's not a rivalry if the other franchise hardly knows you exist and has 4 actual rivalries that are a bigger deal to their fan base than anything they have with us. Lakers hate in this forum isn't about rivalry it's about jealousy, plain and simple. It might be valid resentment based on jealousy that the Lakers have unfair advantages, especially in player acquisition both through trades and even more so through free agency but that's still just jealousy not a rivalry.
NBA is unwatchable. I legitimately don’t understand how people can watch random games not involving a team you have vested interest in
And as a fan of the game it's hard for me to understand that take. The NBA has so much going for it. The variety of athleticism on display is unparalleled when compared to other sports and other levels of basketball. I actually really like most of the stars in the game today. I love the fact that seemingly every game you see teams come from behind and make a run so it feels like teams are almost always still in it. Passing, dribbling, shooting, crafty play and dunking... the NBA right now is at the pinnacle in all of those areas in the history of the game. That's one of the great things about sports is that players and coaches are always building on what came before so the product is always getting better. I feel sad for people who can enjoy our team but not enjoy all of the other greatness in the league. I get it if you're not a sports fan at all but if you are one and this is your stance it's just sad to me.
