Now I have not always been complimentary towards the NBL and how some things operate, but I think they are taking a little too much heat about the playoff format.
At the start of the season all teams comment on how being in the top four is such an advantage come playoff time, so the team goal is to achieve top 4 status. This is very true and it should be this way. Everyone knows how it works when we begin the season.
If the playoff format becomes a level playing field you are actually taking away from the regular season play. There is no doubt that travelling over to Perth after playing the Blaze less than 48 hours before is tough. We also lost games to Singapore and Wollongong during the season. Wins here and we would have had a mortgage on fourth. Every team has their hard luck story!
Maybe to put of an emphasis on the playoffs, we shorten the regular season and turn the playoffs into three game series again.
Please remember in the "Glory Days" the season was 26 games long, you played each team twice, and you only played on weekends. Do we need to revisit this format? Crowds were pretty good too!
With a shorter regular season, you can extent the length of the playoffs and make teams really earn their way through to a championship.
Have a top six that play a best of three game series. 1 vs 6, 2 vs 5, 3 vs 4. After the first round the highest losing seed gets a second chance. You still need to reward having a good regular season with a second chance, just in case you have a hiccup.
Semi finals remain a three game series, while the championship can be five if you think that is the right thing to do.
Sure we can all throw our ideas out there and say they are the right one for the situation, but once the first game got underway this year, we all knew how the playoffs would work.
Sure it is a tough road for a low seed to advance, but who said life was fair!
At the start of the season all teams comment on how being in the top four is such an advantage come playoff time, so the team goal is to achieve top 4 status. This is very true and it should be this way. Everyone knows how it works when we begin the season.
If the playoff format becomes a level playing field you are actually taking away from the regular season play. There is no doubt that travelling over to Perth after playing the Blaze less than 48 hours before is tough. We also lost games to Singapore and Wollongong during the season. Wins here and we would have had a mortgage on fourth. Every team has their hard luck story!
Maybe to put of an emphasis on the playoffs, we shorten the regular season and turn the playoffs into three game series again.
Please remember in the "Glory Days" the season was 26 games long, you played each team twice, and you only played on weekends. Do we need to revisit this format? Crowds were pretty good too!
With a shorter regular season, you can extent the length of the playoffs and make teams really earn their way through to a championship.
Have a top six that play a best of three game series. 1 vs 6, 2 vs 5, 3 vs 4. After the first round the highest losing seed gets a second chance. You still need to reward having a good regular season with a second chance, just in case you have a hiccup.
Semi finals remain a three game series, while the championship can be five if you think that is the right thing to do.
Sure we can all throw our ideas out there and say they are the right one for the situation, but once the first game got underway this year, we all knew how the playoffs would work.
Sure it is a tough road for a low seed to advance, but who said life was fair!
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4 comments:
The regular season is unfair at the moment with some teams playing each other 3 times while other teams only 2 times. Should go back to 1 game at home and 1 game away for each team, that is the fairest option. Especially now that the league has grown a bit.
Top 6 is still good while our league has a small number of teams, final 8 cant really happen until we at least have 14-15 teams.
Good to see you didn't blame the schedule on your loss. Definitely agree everyone knew what was in store going in. Finish higher and you have a better chance, simple equation. Just thought you didn't accomplish what you said you needed to in previous blog, handle the peaks and troughs - ride out the rough patches. Ex-e-cute.
One thing I do think should happen is the season finish earlier. Whether it be shortened games wise, or not, it needs to finish early Feb - well and truly BEFORE the footy seasons starts. This will ensure maximum exposure, something the league badly needs.
Snoop Wogg
Some of your friends don't agree with you...
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2008/02/26/10923_hpsport.html
Snopp:
As always, you are on the money.
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