I was noticing how many back to back games the Rockets have this season and became curious as to how many back to backs the major contenders have. The results were upsetting. This article explains how the NBA schedule is determined: http://www.nba.com/celtics/inside_front_office/zarren102008-trades.html One guy, this Matt Winick, puts the schedule together. L.A., the two time defending champions, get at least 22% fewer back to backs than all of their major competitors in the East and the West. Why not just GIVE them the 1 seed and HCA in the finals................................................................
I found this article on ESPN some months back rather interesting. Talks about the same topic. http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/19219/how-to-build-the-nba-schedule I haven't checked the Rockets schedule that far ahead but it seems like we're getting our back-to-backs out of the way early. I guess that's a good thing.
1) Look at the Fakers playoff record with Joey C. vs without him. 2) See Joey ref 3/7 Finals games (including game 7) when other refs in the pool only ref 1/7. 3) Ask David Stern how refs are selected. 4) *crickets*
IF you can find the same chart for last 2 seasons for comparison sake then it can further prove whether NBA is favoring the Lakers or not!
Part of it has to do with a time zone and travel thing. The Lakers do happen to be bit disadvantaged playing out on the West Coast. It would be interesting to see the number of back to backs for the Warriors, Clippers, and Blazers as well.
I just looked through the schedules. GS has 18 back-to-backs, the Clippers have 22, Sacramento has 17, and Phoenix has 16.
Interesting that Sacramento and Phoenix are on the lower side -- I don't think anyone would claim a conspiracy in favor of the Suns. However, it's pretty hard to justify the huge disparity between the Clippers and the Lakers based on geography!
i think all returning champs deserve that as another reward if they did that for everyteam the year after they won the title, thats fair
I thought about that, too. But Phoenix still seems to be on TV a lot, Amar'e or no Amar'e. The NBA looooooves that team.
Also you have to factor in sharing with other teams plus leasing out days. Staples Center happens to be a popular venue. It sucks, but whatever.
