Which playoff format do you prefer? Would you like the 2-2-1-1-1 extended through the Finals? Or would you prefer 2-3-2 be the norm for every single round in the playoffs + Finals?
2-3-2 is good for the finals, (because of all the travels) but for the rest of the playoffs 2-2-1-1-1 is good.
I never understood 2-3-2, the Rockets almost got burned in 1994 because of it but we had Olajuwon and a performance by Cassell in game 3 that is unprecented.
only having a best of 7 in the finals would makes things more interesting and exciting prior to them.
I actually think the 2-3-2 favours the team with home court advantage, because the lower seeded team not only has to steal a game on the road, but win three in the row against the same team to stay "even" so to speak. I think it should be a week and a half long at a neutral location, somewhere with a quality arena where no team plays like Seattle or Vegas. You'll have game 1 and game two back to back. A day of rest. Game 3 and game 4. A day of rest. Game 5 and Game 6. A Day of Rest. Then Game 7.
I wonder how Neutral Seattle would be in this series. But, I like the idea. Vegas is probably a no - go as well, because of Tim Donaghy.
I was hesitant to put Vegas, because I think they had problems when the all-star game was there, but I just threw it out as an example. I'd be hesitant to do it like the NFL, because the really nice arenas belong to good teams. Nobody wants to see 7 games in PowerBalance Pavillion, but nobody (except Laker fans) wants to see LA have 7 straight home games to decide the end of the season. The only way for it to truly work is to appoint a backup that's nearby in the same conference. So if it's set to be held at Staples Center and the Lakers make it to the final, it gets moved to Oracle Arena or something like that.
2-2-1-1-1 for competitiveness. Thats 5 travel trips instead of 3 almost twice as costly to the teams. But not my money though. I think 2-3-2 gives a better chance for the home team to win it on their floor. There's a lot of series that only go 5 games but probably half are right at 6 games
I think about it in this way: 2-3-2 is great for the finals because it rewards the home team. With this setup, it gives the home team games 6 and 7 which are elimination games. And I think that is huge. Just look at the Boston-Miami series. This means OKC will have games 6 and 7 at home which will give them the edge to win it all. Which is fair because they had the better record. It helped Houston in 94. I cant imagine game 6 being in New York then
2-3-2 sucks. The non hca team has to win 3 in a row at home if they lose the first two. Very difficult against a top 2 team
