Ok not much but still. http://www.interbasket.net/forums/s...rs-paid-extra-money-for-advancing-in-playoffs
I see no real need for a change, it will eventually balance out. Does anyone really feel like Suns had a shot at a title anyways? It's kind of like the 8th place team in the Big East comlaning they didn't make the big dance because some undeserving or lesser conference team won their conference. They are not contenders. Now they have a tiny chance to get Wiggins, Parker, etc. instead of getting bounced in the first round.
All we can do is not tune in. If the ec playoff ratings continue to be dismal then they will have to make a change. Who wants to see the pacers duke it out with kyle korver, paul millsap, and who else? Or the heat going 6 games with the freakin bobcats because the nba is trying to get people interested in the series like they did with the bulls and giving them all the calls against the heat in game 1 of the playoffs.
I don't buy the "eventually balance out" argument. The West has been dominating the East for over a decade with no end in sight with young teams like Houston, Portland, the Suns, GSW, OKC and the Clippers just growing into their own. And if you're going to use the "shot at a title" argument, why not just make the play offs 4 or 8 teams? The play offs also currently severely impacts teams in the West disproportionately. Guys like Kevin Love are going to leave their teams due to not making the play offs. You're either really good, or you're basically screwed. And this is also about creating a more fair run to the championship. I don't like that teams like Miami and Indiana get a free ride to the conference title playing the likes of Atlanta and Toronto instead of having to face real teams like Houston, Memphis, GSW and the Clippers. Championships should be about the Best teams beating the best competition. It should NOT be about having the play off equivalent of a "bye" for the first 2 rounds.
And you've hit upon the crux of the problem. It's not a recent one; it's been this way for 30 years. The West franchises just have better owners/front offices top to bottom. The East will have a handful of elite franchises and a huge pile of garbage. The West has one or two elite franchises with another 6-8 really, really good ones. By the time you get to the Finals, the winner of the East has been on a six week vacation, while the winner of the West has undergone the Bataan Death March.
Keep the west/east conferences, just make a rule that no under .500 teams are allowed in the playoffs. If your conference has 2 teams that are under .500, the top 2 seeds get to rest the first round. This would promote teams to finish with over a .500 record if they want a shot at the playoffs and it would also promote teams like the pacers/heat to fight for that open first round of the playoffs.
haha this comment made me laugh. You speak of respecting tradition... yet you want to break it. You have a good idea/intentions, but that tradition comment was funny.
You want to "balance" this out, simply align the lottery/draft order based on wins and losses, e.g. allow an Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington draft ahead of Phoenix despite the former teams making the playoffs and the latter excluded. Letting better talent go to teams that perform worse (while still trying, unlike the assortment of 76er-esque teams this year) would balance things out a LOT better than allowing West (or one day East) teams play in the other Conferences playoffs.
