By Sam Amico
ProBasketballNews.com
The NBA shouldn’t have a playoff format that seeds teams 1-through-16 regardless of conference. And it won’t, according to commissioner David
Stern.
“No one asks [Major League Baseball Commissioner] Bud Selig to change the playoff alignment because the National League is stronger than the American League in a given year," Stern said in a conference call with reporters.
He continued, "And they don't ask the NFL to change
because a team in either conference makes the
playoffs with an 8-8 or 9-7 record in a given year.
So, it's not something you respond to in a 60-year
old league on a five-year cycle."
Of course, that’s not exactly true. After my 10-6
Cleveland Browns were shut out of the NFL playoffs, I begged the league to allow them to move to the other conference. Didn’t work.
Not surprisingly, some NBA coaches are in favor of reformatting the playoffs, especially since the Western Conference consists of nine teams that are likely to win at least 50 games. Only eight will get in.
“Maybe that’s why (the league) should go with 16 seeds,” said New Orleans coach Byron Scott, whose Hornets have been at or near the top of the West all season.
Yet the Hornets could end up playing a team that would be seeded third or fourth in the East this season (like Denver or Golden State). Meanwhile, Boston will end up with either Atlanta or New Jersey in the first round.
That’s a pretty big disparity. So you can’t really blame Scott for feeling the way he does.
“It would make more sense to play it like the NCAA tournament, where you seed everyone 1-16, and reward the best teams for having good years,” Scott said.
Again, Scott makes a decent point. But if that’s the case, let’s just get rid of the divisions and conferences, and make it one big 30-team league.
Stern is right. There’s no doubt this has been a season like no other -- but you can’t change everything based on one season.
In a few years, the East is likely to be the better conference. That’s just how the NBA works. As Stern mentioned, it’s cyclical.
For now, all the West can do is deal with it -- and provide fans with possibly the best opening round in league history.
BILLY PACKER, ON THE BALL
Billy Packer made some interesting comments in the Raleigh News & Observer. The piece was a profile on Packer, but it paused long enough to give us some insight into the college basketball analyst’s thoughts on international play.
Or more specifically, on the decline of USA basketball, which has stopped winning gold medals despite fielding teams mostly made up of NBA All-Stars.
"Everybody talks about, well, the rest (of the world has) caught up with us," Packer told the newspaper. "No, they didn't catch up. We went backwards."
After watching the NBA at its peak in the 1980s, I have to agree with Packer.
In fact, I’ve been writing similar thoughts for some time. Yes, the rest of the world got a little better -- but the U.S. has also gotten considerably worse.
According to the story, Packer “takes pride in having been outspoken on the damage that the NBA and the lure of quick money have done to the American game, which he believes has been going downhill since 1992.”
As the newspaperr also pointed out, “That was the year Duke won the national championship with a junior- and senior-led team and the Dream Team, all of whom had spent at least three years in college, dominated the Olympics. Now, the natural maturation process has been stunted.”
Now, I don’t like ripping on the pro game, and I get tired of hearing people blame David Stern for the fall of the free basketball world. And while the NBA doesn’t have the bubble-gum enthusiasm of the college game, it’s still 10 times more enjoyable to watch -- one reason being that unlike big-time college coaches, NBA coaches aren’t pleading for a TIMEOUT every 10 SECONDS!
That said, having watched basketball 20 years ago and having watched even more today, well, the game just doesn’t compare. That goes for the college game, the high school game, the pro game, the women’s game, ALL of it.
But it has less to do with basketball and more to do with our society changing. Kids used to really work on their games, BY THEMSELVES, in the summer. Now, they always have coaching, sometimes seven days a week. And sometimes, I think some of these coaches RUIN the kids. On top of that, we have video games, the Internet, 792 channels on cable TV, and around-the-clock coverage like this very newsletter. There is a lot more to keep us occupied than “working on the fundamentals.”
And so we have an NBA filled with remarkable athletes, but very few basketball players. And the ones who do actually use ball fakes and pinpoint passes and mid-range jump shots are praised to the point where it makes you want to throw up. Back in the day, EVERYONE played the right way. And that’s coming from someone who loves the pro game deeply today.
Anyway, I‘m rambling.
CAV CONSIDERATIONS
Michael Proll (Westlake, Ohio) e-mailed to ask, "Hey, what's wrong with the Cavaliers?"
Dear Michael … well, I'm no coach, but as long as Mike Brown insists on giving meaningful minutes to Sasha Pavlovic (rather than Wally Szczerbiak) and Anderson Varejao (rather than Joe Smith), the Cavs are likely to get bounced in the first round of the playoffs -- even if they play Washington, a team they seem to own.
Some Cavs insiders can't figure out why Brown is so determined to keep playing Pavlovic and give him chance after chance after chance. Let's face, Sasha just doesn't have it this year. He held out for too long at the beginning of the season, then got injured midway through. Since he's been back, he's been extremely inconsistent -- and there never really has been any evidence he's an NBA starter.
One theory is Brown is trying to follow the Spurs' game plan to international success. But Varejao and Pavlovic aren't exactly Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.
The bottom line for the Cavs is they still haven't been able to mesh since the trades for Szczerbiak, Smith, Ben Wallace and Delonte West. Again, Brown knows more than I do, and there will never be any doubt about that,
But I wonder if things would be different if the coach were giving Szczerbiak and Smith as much playing time as the international guys.
K-MART SPECIAL
Denver forward Kenyon Martin? Scoring 30 points in Saturday's 119-112 win over Golden State? Did anyone outside of Colorado even know Martin was still on the team?
Well, good for Martin, who also pulled down 11 rebounds in the Nuggets' biggest win of the season. They overtook the Warriors for the No. 8 seed (as of today, they have a half-game lead) -- proving that in the Western Conference, the playoffs have already started.
By the way, did you notice the Nuggets still managed to win despite just getting 14 points from Allen Iverson, who made just 4 of 20 shots? So, yes, the Nuggets really needed someone else to step up, and Martin came through.
NUGGETS VS. WARRIORS
The teams meet again April 10 at Golden State. Other big games on the Nuggets' remaining schedule -- a home-and-home with Phoenix (Monday and Tuesday) and a road game at Utah (April 12).
Meanwhile, the Warriors play at San Antonio on Tuesday, at Dallas on Wednesday, at New Orleans on April 6, and at Phoenix on April 14.
This is likely to come down to the season's final game. And it when it comes to the playoffs, it really will be a shame that one of these teams is likely to be left out.
