The NBA Standings Look Ridiculous
 

Western Conference:
1) San Antonio: 21-7
2) LA Clippers: 16-10
3) Minnesota: 13-12
4) Dallas: 21-7

Eastern Conference
1) Detroit: 22-3
2) Miami: 16-12
3) New Jersey: 15-12
4) Cleveland: 17-9

So...because Dallas is in the same division with SA, and Cleveland is in the same division with Detroit...it doesn't MATTER if they end up far and away the second best teams in their respective conferences. They have to open the playoffs with the #5 seed, and play the #1 seed in the second round.

This sets up a situation where the two best teams in both conferences will be squaring off in the SECOND ROUND of the playoffs instead of the Conference Finals, while two of the four paper "division champs" get into the final four...where they'll get their asses waxed by the winner of the 1-4 series.

Does anybody else think this is just stupid? I can understand it somewhat in football and baseball...but with an 8-team-per-conference playoff system, why does basketball even NEED divisions? They only play one more game against division opponents than other conference opponents (and correct me if I'm wrong, but sometimes that's not even the case), and having these meaningless divisions don't do a damn thing but make it harder (and in the West's case it looks like impossible) for the best two teams in the conference to actually meet in the conference finals.

DUM

Re: The NBA Standings Look Ridiculous
 

i was looking at this the other day too. i guess you can make the argument that in order to get to the finals out of the west you will eventually have to get through san antone anyway so your seed doesn't really matter [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img].

regardless, like classic bob said in the mavs thread one more win and we are tied for first so who knows with a some luck we may get to play at home in the playoffs [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img].

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From a Mavs perspective, I agree that they have to beat the Spurs to get to the show...it'd just be nice to see two playoff series before that and get to play them on a bigger stage, with more recognition of their achievements (instead of "eliminated again in the Western Conference Semis").

This is not to say I don't think the Mavs can beat the Spurs in a seven-game series, because I think they're certainly capable of doing so. But...if such a series were to start right now, I'd definitely give the Spurs the advantage.

But either way, no matter who ends up in those 1-4, both with better records than the 2-3 spots...I find it ridiculous.

If they wanna keep divisions as a symbolic gesture, I suppose that's fine. But I think seedings should always be done by record, regardless of division.

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The exact same situation happened with both 3 seeds last year. If people thought it was horrible they easily could have changed it. Same thing happens in the NFL regarding a team with a worse record hosting the team with the better record in the 1st round of the playoffs, or MLB with reguards to wildcards and division winners.

There is no point in even having divisions if winning them gets you nothing.

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Phoenix will end up with the 2 seed easily when they get Stoudemire back, and they will be the 2nd best team in the west. This year though they will be MUCH better matched up against this Spurs with the added depth and defense.

The same thing should go for Miami if they learn to play together.

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Previous years the nba did something odd. With 2 divisons per conference, the first round of the playoffs, the 2 division winners would get the #1 and #2 seed. However in the 2nd round, it would change based on overall record. So a #3 in the first round, in the 2nd round the team with the better record would become a #2 seed (and get home court). It happened a few years ago, but now with realignment, I am not sure if they still do it. Like I said, nutty.

Blame David Stern for trying to make it the non thug, all happiness league. There's a good reason raitings have dropped and they no longer use that damn phrase "I love this game"

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Previous years the nba did something odd. With 2 divisons per conference, the first round of the playoffs, the 2 division winners would get the #1 and #2 seed. However in the 2nd round, it would change based on overall record. So a #3 in the first round, in the 2nd round the team with the better record would become a #2 seed (and get home court). It happened a few years ago, but now with realignment, I am not sure if they still do it. Like I said, nutty.

Blame David Stern for trying to make it the non thug, all happiness league. There's a good reason raitings have dropped and they no longer use that damn phrase "I love this game"

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It still works this way. As it stands right now, there may be an interesting shuffle at the end of the season in the Central. Assuming Detroit runs away with the Central, that leaves the Pacers, Cavs, and Bucks going for spots 4-5-6. In this scenario, it makes more sense for the teams to go for the sixth seed, since the 4th and 5th seeds will play each other in the first round and will be on the road in Detroit the second round.

For the sixth seed, they'd likely get a HOME first round matchup against the Nets (or maybe the Sixers), and get the Heat in the second round.

It sucks, but this has been happening in the Central ever since Charlotte came into the league (and making 6 divisions).

Re: The NBA Standings Look Ridiculous
 

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Phoenix will end up with the 2 seed easily when they get Stoudemire back, and they will be the 2nd best team in the west. This year though they will be MUCH better matched up against this Spurs with the added depth and defense.

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i disagree.

avery is tailoring dallas' team solely for SA, they are starting to play the way they do. phoenix will have to play some sort of half court game and defense in the playoffs to beat dallas or SA.

Re: The NBA Standings Look Ridiculous
 

It doesn't really matter what seed Dallas has, they can't stop anybody, and will crash and burn in the playoffs like they do every season no matter what seed they have. That team is a joke.

If you're gonna win the east you're gonna go through Detroit. That much is obvious. It's way too early though to call Cleveland the second best team in the conference, so I can't see any case being made for their 4th or 5th seed being "unfair" at this point atleast. If they actually finish with the second best record I'll be impressed and surprised, but when Miami gets rolling and teams really D up on LeBron close to playoff time I bet they drop down a spot or three.

Re: The NBA Standings Look Ridiculous
 

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It doesn't really matter what seed Dallas has, they can't stop anybody, and will crash and burn in the playoffs like they do every season no matter what seed they have. That team is a joke.



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Have you watched basketball lately?
Is Barkley your favorite analyst?

Re: The NBA Standings Look Ridiculous
 

My two cents, coming from a Pistons fan:

These are the teams that worry me the most about the upcoming postseason (regardless of conferece):

1. San Antonio- this should be self-explanatory
2. Miami- HOF Coach, GoaT Center, tons of talent and the management to coddle and massage those egos
3. Indiana- Played us tough last year without Ronnie and JO being injured. Jasikivicius is the real deal, and anyone they get from trading Artest(icles) is just a bonus. Defense wins championships, and this is a hard-nosed team that is great at grinding games out.
4. Dallas- always plays D-town tough. My only concern is regarding their killer instinct. They just need time to play together and gel. Maybe a year or two away from a title, but they could make the leap this postseason.
5. Cleveland- LeBron is going to put it ALL together within a few years... when that happens, watch out!

My $.02.

Re: The NBA Standings Look Ridiculous
 

As a die hard Rockets fan obviously I am not pleased with their 10-15 record. We have had probably 6 guys off our roster due to injury. But hey, that happenes to every team. I am hoping come after the all star break when we get all our players back we can sneak in for final playoff spot. Hard to say, because with the upsurgence of Golden St, Clippers, and Seattle, it will be tough.

Re: The NBA Standings Look Ridiculous
 

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It doesn't really matter what seed Dallas has, they can't stop anybody, and will crash and burn in the playoffs like they do every season no matter what seed they have. That team is a joke.

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13th in the league in defensive efficiency (points allow/100 posessions) seems okay to me. Especially when Detroit is, oh, 10th...

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It doesn't really matter what seed Dallas has, they can't stop anybody, and will crash and burn in the playoffs like they do every season no matter what seed they have. That team is a joke.


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you obviously don't watch basketball, this is basically a different team than previous years and though san antonio is the best team dallas is definately not a joke and by far the second best team (not too far behind SA) and can stop anyone but apparently kobe.

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4. Dallas- always plays D-town tough. My only concern is regarding their killer instinct. They just need time to play together and gel. Maybe a year or two away from a title, but they could make the leap this postseason.


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i agree with this, especially the "being two years away part." i will say though that this year they seem to at least have some killer instinct out there.

my favorite moment this year (and i have seen just about every mavs game) actually came from teh game that kobe scored 62 in 3 quarters (which outscored the entire mavs team). it was early in the third and kobe drove the land and josh howard clothes-lined him across the face and when kobe popped up pointing his finger in his face howard just swatted his hand out of the way and smiled at him as if to say, "[censored] you, you may be unstoppable tonight but i am going to get mine!" previous years kobe would have left the game w/o a bruise, now it seems there are less and less free baskets, players are getting taken to the floor. its becoming a fun team to watch.

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i disagree.

avery is tailoring dallas' team solely for SA, they are starting to play the way they do. phoenix will have to play some sort of half court game and defense in the playoffs to beat dallas or SA.

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The problem the mavs have is the players Phoenix had that owned them last year are still there. They had no answer for Nash, Marion, Stoudemire they all went crazy. Joe Johnson missed most of the series and Q Rich almost disappeared anyway so given the depth they will be better against the mavs as well. Sure they may play better defense, but they were playing better defense last last year too, and when they got to Phoenix they just couldn't slow them down at all.

They may be playing better defense, but they just dont have the personal to defend any of those 3 players.

As for the spurs it was just Stoudemire and Nash that consistently owned them, but still all those games were so close. The problem was the suns couldnt slow down anyone at all, including the full bench. This year though they will be able to slow down some of those roleplayers and have a very good chance to take the series. Of course it will help the Spurs will have to deal with the mavs this time around, and the Suns can run through whatever the garbage 3 seed is.

Re: The NBA Standings Look Ridiculous
 

phoenix is a pretty good defensive team, it's just that they play such a fast-paced game that the other team gets many chances to score.

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They may be playing better defense, but they just dont have the personal to defend any of those 3 players.



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wrong, they didn't have the personnel to play the running game with phoenix. you slow the pace, like the mavs are doing this year, developing more of a half-court game but still with some explosiveness and the suns are vulnerable.

there is a reason donny nelson couldn't ever win anything big no matter how good his team was, i loved watching his teams, they were exciting but you can't win the way he played. avery is molding the mavs into a team that can play a well balanced game and the suns simply can't do anything with that. it wasn't personnel that beat the mavs last year it was the fact that the suns could expose anyone in a fast court game and that was all the mavs knew how to do(b/c of don nelson's style), so of course they were exposed.

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wrong, they didn't have the personnel to play the running game with phoenix. you slow the pace, like the mavs are doing this year, developing more of a half-court game but still with some explosiveness and the suns are vulnerable.

there is a reason donny nelson couldn't ever win anything big no matter how good his team was, i loved watching his teams, they were exciting but you can't win the way he played. avery is molding the mavs into a team that can play a well balanced game and the suns simply can't do anything with that. it wasn't personnel that beat the mavs last year it was the fact that the suns could expose anyone in a fast court game and that was all the mavs knew how to do(b/c of don nelson's style), so of course they were exposed.

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Its not that simple man. You cant just slow them down. The only way to is to shoot a very high percentage, or getting to the free throw line constantly. Those would be the things that take the suns out of their game. The mavs dont have that post player that can constantly get to the line, and your not always gonna shoot that high a percentage. In fact, the Spurs didnt beat the Suns by slowing them down, on 3-4 of the games they actually got caught up in the same pace. The thing is they had like 6 players constantly draining 3 after 3 when the Suns tried to double Duncan, this will change this year though.

And about the half court. The mavs couldnt defend Nash in the pick and roll, and none of the mavs can handle Stoudemire off the dribble in the low block. Thats how the suns closed out those games in last years series, since usually in the playoffs it becomes a half court game late.

Re: The NBA Standings Look Ridiculous
 

i am actually holding todays sports page from the dallas morning news where our lead columnist is apologizing for saying they didn't have any center play and haven't added any speed this year (a comment he made earlier in the season bashing them).

the article talks about how their increase in rebounds and block shots this year has been a key element as well as the overall team speed with the emergence of devin harris to complement jason terry. i actually think the mavs do have the big game to clog up the post b/c its what they have been doing for 28 games so far and its why they are tied for first in the west with san antonio (this is also one of san antonio's greatest starts in the history of their franchise FWIW). i guess you haven't really been paying attention b/c the mavs win games in a completely different way then they have in a very long time, if ever. we don't see those 128-125 shootouts too much anymore, and its a very good sign that they are where they are right now with the new style of play.

of course anything can happen over the course of an 82 game season, i know that...but i also know that the mavs are only getting better and that is not good for the suns. i still don't know what they would do in a 7 game set against the postseason veteran team like the spurs but to call the mavs a joke is well uh a joke.

Re: The NBA Standings Look Ridiculous
 

I never said the mavs were a joke heh, they have a good chance to win the west. They have a ridiculous amount of talent. I just think especially when you consider the 2 games these 2 teams have played this year they dont match up that well against Phoenix. In the most recent game a reporter asked Jason Terry at half time how they easily could penetrate and finish against Phoenix, and he said its because without Stoudemire they dont have an inside presence, which is true.

Still with all of this Phoenix had a chance to win that one in the end, and obviously should have won that opening game. Its really not a knock on the mavs that they cant handle Stoudemire down low either, cause no team in the league can. He averaged almost 40 points a game against the spurs.

Once again they have a good chance especially if they come up with that 1 seed, but I dont see how you can completely overlook Phoenix considering the way they played against the mavs without their best player (or maybe 2nd best).

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I dont see how you can completely overlook Phoenix considering the way they played against the mavs without their best player (or maybe 2nd best).

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i don't remember overlooking the suns, maybe i did? (i will have to go back and look) if i did, i certainly didn't mean to b/c they are dangerous.

you just said that dallas was a joke blah blah blah and its starting to get tiresome hearing the same old song and dance from people that obviously aren't watching them play or else they wouldn't make half the comments that they do.

yes, they could very well lose in the first round. this does not mean that they aren't twice the team that they have been in recent years and i am getting really excited/anxious for the playoffs to see them perform.

i would actually like to see a suns/mavs playoff series...i think it would go 7 games.

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you just said that dallas was a joke blah blah blah and its starting to get tiresome hearing the same old song and dance from people that obviously aren't watching them play or else they wouldn't make half the comments that they do.

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The poster that said they were a joke is TheRegulat0r. If you think any of my posts implied something like this then just know that its not what Im saying at all. And I know what you mean when you talk about people that throw out idiot comments they have no idea about.

Both these teams have a good chance to knock off the Spurs and I dont think anyone realizes it. I know this because I DO know whats going on.

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The poster that said they were a joke is TheRegulat0r.

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you are correct, i apologize.
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Both these teams have a good chance to knock off the Spurs and I dont think anyone realizes it. I know this because I DO know whats going on.

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and i would like one of them to knock them off b/c i would like to see something other than spurs/pistons this year.