I've wondered this too. The only thing I could imagine was that in mid-cycle, for like a week or two, the conferences are perfectly aligned. Once every couple decades. David Stern is r****ded
I agree. Best teams should be in the playoffs, plain and simple. Conferences and divisions are pretty much meaningless. I still remember last season we have the 4th best record, but ranked the 5th just because Utah is the division champion. What kind of bs is that? Why does it even matter?
well that can be fixed by just giving the 14 worst records a lotto pick weather or not they made the playoffs. something that i was thinking of as an alternate to changing seeding or schedules around.
damn skippy. 80-81 Rockets. They went to the Finals with a 40-42 record. Relax people. I know it sucks seeing below .500 teams make it to the playoffs. The Rockets did it, and we made it to the finals.
ish use. I think the structure works best as is. There are teams left in the dust, so what. As much as I want the Rox to make the playoffs, I wouldn't want them to do so by a rule change or technicality. Plus, if all the teams that made it went it would suck for ratings. If ratings go even further down the possibility of a telecast of all games will go down and eventually we become the NHL. The NHL is for Canadians and masochists. I for one am insulted by the notion of Canadians, I don't know about you. Please, I am joking about the Canadians part, I love Canadians, my brother's Canadian.
Is David Stern the only guy who can change the playoff seedings? I wonder why team owners and coaches don't think about this matter and tell this to Stern? Can they vote on this matter? I think the divisions should be dropped. It's not like there is a playoff within a division before a playoff within a conference.
I bet we wouldn't have this conversation if the Rockets were sitting pretty and safe in a playoff position.
You know what I wouldn't mind, though.... the Rockets end up a 50-win team AND the luck of the lotto giving them a top pick. Might be upset in April, but sure would be happy in June.
Just want to add that I don't remember anyone complaining about how the most memorable seasons in Astros history were strongly aided not only by a bad conference(NL), but also by the worst division in that conference(central). I'd also like to point out that due to unbalance scheduling, the Astros get to play the Pirates, Brewers, and the Cubs many times, while many AL teams faced playoff calibur opponents seemingly every week. I don't agree with this. There's a grand history of bad teams simply wasting lotto picks. Just because you get a high pick doesn't mean you'll do anything with it. Last year's draft is a perfect example. The Eastern conference had #1, 2, 3, 5 in the draft. The best 3 players in the draft in hindsight were(in no particular order) were Gay, Roy, and Aldridge. And guess how many of those players the East picked up? Or you can look at the Atlanta Hawks, who have had so many high picks they could've literally put together the best starting 5 in the NBA had they drafted even remotely decently. But passing on CP3/Deron for Marvin Williams? Drafting Sheldon Williams last year? The list goes on. Crappy teams sometimes suck because of the management, not because of "cyclical" or other reasons.
I don't think any lottery teams that had the most wins ever won the lottery. It's the smallest of remote chances to win it, not even worth "thinking" there is a silver lining to missing the playoffs.
if you kill the current seeding in favor for a top 16 idea then there would be no point to having conferences, or divisions for that matter. there would be less rivalry, and lets face it, rivalry is where all the fun comes from. and besides, it makes it more fun to be able to laugh at the east and b**** about them...then kick their asses into oblivion when we face such teams!
I seem to remember that Orlando did pretty well in Shaq's first year, then they got the first overall pick (drafted Webber and traded for Penny). They have changed the lotto odds since then.
But we aren't talking giving picks to bad teams. We are talking giving picks to good teams, who are presumably smart. There are mistakes (Darko) but over time, it's an advantage.
that's exactly why they changed it. and that means .5% chance for the 14th team in the lottery winning it. Make the playoffs or bust should be our thinking.
Not in the GARM. I think its a legitimate problem. The same thing is true with the arguments against the way that college football championship contenders are decided. There are two sides of the story but the problem is still a valid concern. As Carl pointed out, a team that struggles is supposed to get a lotto ball to improve their team, but if they are in the middle of the East they are much worse than the teams in the middle of the West. Mismanagement is definitely part of the problem, but the facts are that each year there is a talent disparity between the East teams and the West teams.
"top" and "bottom," just like "best" and "worst" are measured by records (for lottery and playoff seeding), but currently every division's schedule differs from the other divisions. Houston has to play Dallas, San Antonio, New Orleans more often than Orlando has to play them. So a Houston team with a worse record than an Orlando team may still be more deserving of a playoff spot. A selection committee could do it, but everybody would be unhappy with them all the time.
