NBA In-Season Tournament 2023 Discussion and Gamethread
- Thread starter InstaFace
- Start date
There are 3 groups of 5 in each conference. Within each group you play the other teams once, 2 at home 2 on the road. Group winners and one runner-up team per conference advance to the quarterfinals.
QFs and semis are still intra-conference and play in early December, QFs at the higher seed's home, semis (and final) are in Las Vegas.
On the off days from the knockout games, all other NBA teams have 2 games added to their schedule, likely in-conference but out of division games, which were under scheduled. Teams eliminated in the group stage will play each other, teams eliminated in QFs will probably play each other too.
All I find myself thinking is I don’t know how the Bucks stop the C’s. The Knicks can’t play offense and they are having a tough time closing this out.
The money is substantial enough to motivate everyone on the roster. If you're on a minimum, a rookie scale contract or one of the exceptions, the money varies between a huge deal and a nice bonus. If you're on a max while the money is not personally significant, you know it is 80% of the guys who you go to work with every day. And if you're a max guy with a bigger picture view - if the tournament is a success the next TV deal grows even more - which means the pie grows even more - which means your next max is even bigger.
What is Lillard doing with these early shot clock contested super long range 3s? Wild.
Knicks just keep hanging around due to Brunson. Have to think they hit a 3 eventually to make it a coin flip game…
oh good, Middleton in to close it!
Knicks just keep hanging around due to Brunson. Have to think they hit a 3 eventually to make it a coin flip game…
oh good, Middleton in to close it!
Giannis with 3 missed FT, then Middleton gets stuffed by the lower part of the backboard. This is not your older brothers Bucks team. Man if the 3 point disparity wasn’t 30 points (!!! Seriously wth? bucks shooting 50% vs Knicks 24%?!?!) this game would be an epic Bucks fail. It still might.
The Thunder/Warriors game is a shootout. I’m not sure the Thunder have missed in the last 10 possessions.
And Chet continues to impress: 22-8-5 with a steal and six minutes to go.
They really are. So rare for an ex player to have JJ's gift of the gab. He makes Scal look like a doofus.
The blocks on 3 consecutive possessions certainly was a flashing reminder of his near-DPOY level last year.
Yeah, though it does look like he's fighting it physically and it's only game 5.
That's a weak foul call.
They let him go back to drop coverage and it made a big difference. I hate playing against Lopez when he just camps in the paint. Luckily he won't be able to do that against the Celtics. I mean he can, but the Cs will rain threes down on his head. Lopez and Middleton definitely look like the odometer has rolled over to six digits.
JJ Redick and Richard Jefferson is a really brutal pairing for NBA games. I don't know if they jokingly hate each other (there seemed to be respect if not affection when RJ was on The Old Man and The Three), or really do, but Richard Jefferson just goes out of his way to be a dick to JJ throughout the whole broadcast. It's awkward and terrible.
If it's joking, someone needs to tell him it's not funny. If it's not, it's so unprofessional and distracting. I've always hated Richard Jefferson as a broadcaster/commentator.
I flip to OKC-GSW and it's 133-133 in regulation? WTF, this has been a banger of a night. IND-CLE was a nail-biter with multiple swings the last few minutes, the Knicks finally rallied to get on top of the Bucks with 2 minutes left only to have Dame Time come to the rescue, and now this?
Early returns looking good.
Early returns looking good.
I’ve watched one quarter of the in season tournament and I’m sold. Courts are fun, I think players are going to really care, and I’m already heavily invested in the Celtics being the inaugural champions.
Also to answer a question posed upthread, I heard it theorized on a podcast today (forget which one) that the reason it’s called the In Season Tournament and not something cooler is that if it completely flops and they scrap the idea after a year or two, they don’t want to have it be named after some legend, and that makes sense to me
Also to answer a question posed upthread, I heard it theorized on a podcast today (forget which one) that the reason it’s called the In Season Tournament and not something cooler is that if it completely flops and they scrap the idea after a year or two, they don’t want to have it be named after some legend, and that makes sense to me
I didn’t realize they play in Ball Arena. That’s gotta be the best court sponsor in the league right? Apparently Ball Corporation makes glass jars
They should call it the "No Sponsor Has Yet Met Our Asking Price on Naming Rights" Cup.
I understand the players might give a little more juice given you get a bonus to win. But it doesn’t move the needle on the other dynamics fans care about. Seeding or draft capital. If the goal is to create a few games where the league says “our players care this game watch!” That sounds like a larger problem with the fact the season is largely meaningless. It’s a band aid to the gaping wound that is the fact the regular season has no stakes. Either make this thing worth something meaningful or not. I don’t care if the 8th guy off the bench on the Knicks is jacked up tonight.
Are you watching? There's some great basketball going on.
The rest is window dressing. Either the basketball is good and it doesn't matter if things are a bit wonky, or it isn't good, so no attempts to gussy it up will cover up for that fact.
I’m a pretty simple guy when it comes to sports fandom. If the league created a new trophy and my favorite team’s players care about it, then I absolutely care about it. I have to think a lot of sports fans think this way.
a Warriors player gets blocked by Holmgren and follows through with an elbow right into his face, practically KO'ing him, like his head bounced off the court.
Any guesses on which player? No, because you don't even need to guess.
Any guesses on which player? No, because you don't even need to guess.
The issue with using seeding as a reward is a team could win this but not even make the playoffs
No foul on the play for Draymond, deemed a basketball move.
Holmgren still looks like he has no idea what continent he's on.
Holmgren still looks like he has no idea what continent he's on.
it is meaningful if guys try. what makes anything meaningful? I don't ask that question to be glib - the finals and playoffs are just basketball games. we assign it meaning on our own.
kind of amazed okc went with a quick play down 1 with 21 second to go. shouldn't you play for the last shot?
Draymond served up some near-instant karma - Curry makes a runner layup to apparently win the game at the buzzer, but Draymond had gone up for the possible rebound tip-back, but he hits the rim instead. Offensive goaltending, basket waved off, no game winner for Curry.
