The problem is there is already too much basketball, if they genuinely want to improve basketball (they don't), they should schedule less basketball. Yes, I am being serious here.
NBA In-Season Tournament 2023 Discussion and Gamethread
- Thread starter InstaFace
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You sound like someone who doesn't enjoy watching basketball.
Which I know not to be the case. But still, that sounds like what someone who doesn't would say.
The NBA season is too long by at least a month, that's the main reason guys get games off. They shortened the preseason this year but all that did was make the first few games more like preseason games. They're never going to shorten the whole thing because of monetary reasons but the current length is bad for the players' longevity and bad for consistent quality of the games, plus the scheduling this year is super odd early (NY this week has three days off, 6 games in 9 days and then another three days off) presumably in large part because of this in-season tournament.
But yeah, the NBA season is nine months from opening day to the Finals, it's too much. If they actually wanted to 'improve basketball' (your term, I don't think they care about this at all), they would shorten the regular season to 70 games and cut the whole thing down by a month. This will never happen, so instead I will continue to do my best to pay less attention for the first few months so that I'm not burned out by the playoffs as has happened occasionally.
I mean, I love MLB too, but a 200 game regular season with an 'in-season tournament' in May would not make the sport better. MLB is also already pushing at the boundaries of what their athletes (pitchers) can handle within a 12 month period, and April-October is only 7 months, October-June (NBA) is 9.
You could just take a few games off now and then, like the players do, so you wouldn't be burned out by the time the season ends. Take a trip, go to a concert on a game night, watch the Food Channel instead. Keep your wind for when it matters
Yup 100%!
You have to recognize what this is all about.....money and world growth. These in-season events are cash cows for European soccer and I'd imagine once this thing gets to Vegas it is going to only gain momentum, especially overseas, for future years popularity and exposure.
Yes, completely agreed, and I have found over the decades that the less I pay attention to the NBA before Christmas, the more I end up enjoying the rest of the season.
But I'm making a few different points here, the season is too long for me personally but also I think it's bad for the game. Trying to force stars to play in more games like they're doing this year is also bad for the game, it's just going to result in more injuries and shorter careers.
Sure, I don't have much of an opinion on it either way, except that the courts hurt my eyes, but maybe I'll get used to them.
Are you a fan of the World vs USA All-Star game concept Adam Silver has been kicking around?
I'm anti All-Star games in general, but that sounds mildly interesting
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I guess we don't have a counterfactual here, but NBA careers are longer than ever (for the stars).
The court design does a lot of heavy lifting to distinguish the tournament games from run-of-the-mill regular season games. That being said, the red courts hurt my eyes. The Wizards had a gray and teal court that looked like the inverted colors on Windows 95. The blue courts and the Celtics courts are ok; I'm trying not to be a complete old fogey.
I like the red ones - they don't hurt the player contrast as much as the purple ones do, and they give the whole proceeding a demonic atmosphere.
Silver acknowledged that some of the court designs might need a redesign during his appearance with Gorman and Scal.
I think they may have made some of the courts so fugly to get a little free marketing in the early days of their new product.
I think they may have made some of the courts so fugly to get a little free marketing in the early days of their new product.
Right now I’m leaning towards wishing they didn’t have the group stage, and just did a straight single-elimination tournament based on the previous year’s standings, home court to higher seed, and a first-round bye to the previous year’s finalists.
But I reserve the right to change my mind.
But I reserve the right to change my mind.
This Spurs-OKC game is a sloooog. Both teams just went three minutes without scoring; Spurs sitting at 52 points with 5 to play in the third…
And now it’s a slapfest. Lot of players playing out of control.
Chet and Wemby both look so frail.
Haliburton just wrecked Philly - 33/6/15 with 2 steals and a block on 18 shots, 0 turnovers. He's special.
Pacers taking down the 76ers in Philly on the tourney Racer 5 court. Indy is kind of spicy thus far this year.
One thing that is pretty much certain.....is that this event over the next several years will look quite different than this version. Year One they are throwing a bunch of shit against the wall to see what sticks. The one I really really like is the Final Four being an "event" in Vegas. I'd bet that this, or something similar, will become a staple of this tournament.
Chase Center floor looks nice for the tourney. With no Curry, this is likely to be all Ant Edwards.
Draymond just put Gobert in a sleeper hold after McDaniels and Klay got tangled up. Draymond always goes to 11.
That was 12.
At least the Warriors will get someone other than Curry to 21 tonight.
Maybe.
The result of the fracas? McDaniels and Klay got ejected. Draymond got a flagrant two and also got the boot. Its CP3, Saric, Looney and the kids versus the ascendant TWolves. This should go well!
The escalation is nuts. Also looks like his teammate instigated the whole thing from the beginning. But that doesn't matter. When is this asshole going to get real punishment for his reckless / dangerous actions?
I think tonight was a start. That was a no doubt ejection. Klay and McDaniels shouldn't have been run imo.
WTF is Klay upset about? He made an NFL jersey tackle, and his teammate put another player in a headlock.
No, I mean this shouldn't end here. He needs to start missing games.
Draymond yet to truly learn his lesson. Klay and McDaniels get tangled up early in a pretty typical shoving match, Gobert comes in and appears to pretty benignly separate the two, and Draymond comes in and puts Gobert in the Cobra Clutch for no reason. I liked it when Gobert just kind of dangled his arms like "Man, what is this guy doing?" kind of way.
Really this reflects especially poorly on Kerr, who has always publicly defended Draymond and seemed disinterested in holding him accountable, I'm sure because he believes Draymond playing and acting a certain way helps his team win games.
Really this reflects especially poorly on Kerr, who has always publicly defended Draymond and seemed disinterested in holding him accountable, I'm sure because he believes Draymond playing and acting a certain way helps his team win games.
I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get at least a 3-4 game vacation for that. Well alright I won’t be surprised if he doesn’t, but he should.
well NOW you've got me interested enough to tune in!
when they said that the labeling of some games as "tournament games" would get players to treat it more like the playoffs and bring that extra intensity, this was not what I was expecting.
View: https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1724627033236316325?s=20
Y'all weren't kidding. My instinct is to say something like, Dray loses it, or, he's out of control, but by now I know this is just who he is. Hope he gets a suspension for this.
Y'all weren't kidding. My instinct is to say something like, Dray loses it, or, he's out of control, but by now I know this is just who he is. Hope he gets a suspension for this.
One of the things that is striking to me about that clip is that the Minnesota announcers were matter of fact in immediately concluding that Draymond needed to be ejected. The Warriors telecast had Draymond “coming to his teammate’s defense”. Ridiculous.
I just flipped to multi view and the cute warrior girls are dancing and I don’t realize I have the audio from the other game and the first thing I hear Reggie Miller say:
The players are into this!
The players are into this!
This game Wolves/Dubs has the right mix of everything now. Hopefully it stays close and late so we get some CP3 meaningful grift.
Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike make Muhammad Saeed Al-Sahhaf look like a paragon of objectivity. Many Dubs fans don't like them if the socials are representative.
Paul George has been cranked up to 11, I can tell you that much. Dude is staring at the opposition like it's a fresh-grilled cut of meat.
Westbrook called for a travel, Reggie Jackson grabs the ball out of his hand, Westbrook shoves him and the official has to come in and break it up.
90% of the time that's a T or a double T.
90% of the time that's a T or a double T.