Re: Do the Playoffs determine the best team?
 

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Let's assume that the better team wins 70% of the time in a 5 game series, and 80% of the time in a 7 game series.

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These are thoroughly ludicrous assumptions. For 2 "winning" teams anything over 55% is ridiculous as talent gaps aren't so dominant.

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I think he knows that. His point was that even under extreme assumptions it's still <60%.

Re: Do the Playoffs determine the best team?
 

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The better record over 162 games seems a better test of "bestness.


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I disagree with that assessment. Look at the NBA last season. The Phoenix Suns were the best team in the league at beating up on shitty opponents. But would anyway who watched the Spurs-Suns series and how diametrically opposite those two teams played in the 4th quarter with the game on the line possibly say that the Suns were the superior team? Also, in the Lakers second championship season with Shaq and Kobe, I believe they were the second seed going into the playoffs. Yet they went 15-1 on their way to the title, losing only to a superhuman performance by Allen Iverson. No way they weren't the best team that year.

Even though all my examples pertain to basketball, they can be applied to MLB. The regular season is played against all teams, including all the shitty ones. The teams that win the World Series usually match up the best against the other best teams, not just the shitty ones.

Re: Do the Playoffs determine the best team?
 

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The better record over 162 games seems a better test of "bestness.


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I disagree with that assessment. Look at the NBA last season. The Phoenix Suns were the best team in the league at beating up on shitty opponents. But would anyway who watched the Spurs-Suns series and how diametrically opposite those two teams played in the 4th quarter with the game on the line possibly say that the Suns were the superior team? Also, in the Lakers second championship season with Shaq and Kobe, I believe they were the second seed going into the playoffs. Yet they went 15-1 on their way to the title, losing only to a superhuman performance by Allen Iverson. No way they weren't the best team that year.

Even though all my examples pertain to basketball, they can be applied to MLB. The regular season is played against all teams, including all the shitty ones. The teams that win the World Series usually match up the best against the other best teams, not just the shitty ones.

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I don't think this applies at all to baseball. In fact, I think "matchups" are almost completely irrelevant.

Re: Do the Playoffs determine the best team?
 

Any hockey fan should vote less than 60%.

Re: Do the Playoffs determine the best team?
 

Not only that, but in his examples, he's vastly over looking critical injuries. For example, if Joe Johnson plays vs SA, SA struggles greatly. When the Lakers were the 2nd seed, I believe, they missed Shaq for a healthy chunk of the season.

Re: Do the Playoffs determine the best team?
 

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Any hockey fan should vote less than 60%.

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Yeah, hockey is interesting. Because one player can dominate sooo much in hockey (the goalie), really anything can happen. However, with the re-seeding after every round of the playoffs, the system works against the underdogs.

Re: Do the Playoffs determine the best team?
 

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The better record over 162 games seems a better test of "bestness.


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I disagree with that assessment. Look at the NBA last season. The Phoenix Suns were the best team in the league at beating up on shitty opponents. But would anyway who watched the Spurs-Suns series and how diametrically opposite those two teams played in the 4th quarter with the game on the line possibly say that the Suns were the superior team? Also, in the Lakers second championship season with Shaq and Kobe, I believe they were the second seed going into the playoffs. Yet they went 15-1 on their way to the title, losing only to a superhuman performance by Allen Iverson. No way they weren't the best team that year.

Even though all my examples pertain to basketball, they can be applied to MLB. The regular season is played against all teams, including all the shitty ones. The teams that win the World Series usually match up the best against the other best teams, not just the shitty ones.

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I don't think this applies at all to baseball. In fact, I think "matchups" are almost completely irrelevant.

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Plus, of the 4 major sports (I'll keep the NHL in for the sake of argument) the NBA has highest % of "best team winning the playoffs".

NBA
NFL
MLB
NHL (MLB and NHL are close though)