2013 NBA Playoffs thread

I am not sure what the NBA can do to change the preception.

 

I think Stern selling league as "entertainment" rather than competition has a lot to do with it. The playoffs are where the rubber meets the road though.
I think if Stern had handed off the trophy to more than nine teams over his 30 year run, more fans would think their teams had an actual chance. Is there a league with less upward mobility? Maybe a team gets a good lottery pick, he sticks around for three or four years (when he would be normally have been done with college) and is primed for New York, LA, Miami, Chicago or Boston when they come calling. I'm trying to think of the biggest free-agent signing outside of those markets. And those big names that were traded outside of those five initiated the trades themselves.

 

I think the biggest FA signings outside of those five would have been when Hill and McGrady went to Orlando.

 

New York has zero titles in that span.

San Antonio has four. Detroit has three. Houston has two. Dallas has one.

In all 10 cases -- except for 2004 Detroit -- the team's best player was acquired via draft. Even Miami's first title came with an organic star.

The majority of the giant market champions drafted most of their stars (Magic/Bryant, Jordan/Pippen, Bird/Pierce), with the exception of Shaq for L.A. and Miami and Garnett and Allen for Boston.

Yes, the Lakers get their pick of free agents. But so do the Yankees. Basketball isn't the only sport in which big-name free agents sign with big market teams.

 

Part of it is the nature of basketball, there are fewer variables than other sports and one or two players can have a huge impact on a team (Chicago, San Antonio, Houston, Miami) for a good number of years - I guess the really odd thing is why teams that have routinely drafted at the top (Clippers, Bobcats, Wizards) have been unable to get anything going. Maybe the real conspiracy is the 24 teams that manage to suck year after year. Of course, these players weren't even born when their new teams were relevant, if they ever were, and maybe they just figure their teams are supposed to stink and that's their lot in life. There are no expectations to fulfill or elder statesman like a Kobe or Jordan who will get in their shorts if they don't compete.
It's one of the reasons I found the Grizzlies rise so refreshing. It wasn't like they landed a once in a generation player and certain HOFer in the draft, or convinced an All-Star to sign with them. Even their trades were pretty modest. Zebo was unloaded by the Blazers and people doubted whether Marc Gasol would amount to much.

EDIT - obviously I was wrong about Randolph. The Blazers shipped him to NY for Steve Francis and change and was subsequently traded to the Clips for Tim Thomas and then to Memphis for Quentin Richardson.

 

Yep. This is a huge part of it.

 

Kobe was drafted by Charlotte and his rights traded for Vlade Divac a week later.

 

Anyone who watched last night's game and thought it had anything to do with the referees conspiring to get the Heat into the Finals is beyond help. The Pacers laid down like cowards. All the refereeing in the world couldn't have saved them. Jesus.

 

Those in and around college football can't wait to tell you the sport is orchestrated in favor of certain schools and conferences to win championships or land lucrative bowl bids (with shady computer formulas, openly biased human voters and a media that has no issues pushing narratives that affect the participants of the national title game) yet the sport is wildly popular.

While some have bitched about there not being a playoff to decide matters, it is rare that there is this chorous of people who demand more parity in college football like we often come across as it relates to the NBA. Never mind that a non-BCS school(I'm not including Notre Dame) hasn't played for the national title since BYU of the late 1980s.

Could you imagine if this Miami Heat team won the title seven years in a row like the SEC has won the BCS title seven straight years? The NBA conspiracy theorists would lose their shit.

But, we are gleefully anticipating another college football season where an SEC school is probably going to hoist that crystal ball again.

 

And what does the NFL have that the NBA and MLB don't have that contribute to the NFL's ability to have diversity in teams that are competitive?

A consistent quality and low cost pool of minor league talent. You can't get to the NFL without playing at least 3 years of serious college football. Division 1 football is well coached and the talent pool is available for every NFL to scout. The hidden gems are right in front of you. It's not like Jerry Rice was some kid from Panama or some freak dominating a Catholic Prep league. A well televised and covered college football/minor league system delivers ready made talent, with free development, and name recognition for most of the top players.

The HS to NBA or one-and-done NBA draft choices are essentially unknown, or at least undeveloped, commodities. It dilutes the talent in the NBA and deludes the consumer into thinking that the current game is the pinnacle of the sport, its not. The current game is a tease of what it could be.

Baseball talent is acquired directly from HS, or Junior College, or big time NCAA, or small colleges, or foreign amateur free agency and they al funnel into a 2-5 year apprenticeship out of the sight of the sports consumer. For every Strasburg there are a 100s of players drafted every year that no one has ever heard of outside the inner professional circle of teams and Baseball America devotees.

Money has alot to do with it, see the Yankees. But how many WS titles has LA won in the last 30 years? Chicago? 4 teams in the 2 biggest markets trumped by Miami.

The NBA really needs to curb the one and done or push the NBA DL and recruit HS kids to play and then promote those games like they promote the WNBA.

And please, someone on SA please punish Bosh. Dude hits a 3 pointer and screams like he got prison raped.

 

I was ready to kick the TV when Bosh went into his histrionics. Douchebag.

 

So ...

Heat v. Spurs.

Have no idea who wins. Just hope it goes 7 and that everyone is healthy for the final 48.