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Fun fact…if you think about it, we are actually first in the wildcard standings right now. Technically Minny is, but one of Minny or Sac will have to lose their next game and we have a higher point differential than either at the moment. So whoever loses has to drop below us and that puts us 1st. Just smoke Memphis please so no one can catch us.

Split T wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 21, 2023 10:23 pm

Fun fact…if you think about it, we are actually first in the wildcard standings right now. Technically Minny is, but one of Minny or Sac will have to lose their next game and we have a higher point differential than either at the moment. So whoever loses has to drop below us and that puts us 1st. Just smoke Memphis please so no one can catch us.

Just one wild card team from each conference?

Yep…also Lakers did what we needed to do…they smoked Utah by 32…Do they seed the single-elimination portion? Because I’m pretty sure LAL just locked up the 1 seed

Good question. I'm not sure about that.

My preference would be to mix the conferences for the knockout to try to prevent a group stage rematch as much as possible, but my gut tells me they won't do that.

Ya I’m curious because now it seems we would almost definitely play LA if we make it…I’m gonna see what I can find out

Yep just looked it up and they stick to conference…so team with best record during group play in the west will host the wild card team. So if we make the tournament our first game will be @LAL…well as long as Minny or Sacramento don’t make up like 60 points in point differential over their next 2 games

I'm sure the NBA is salivating at the thought of a Suns v. Lakers knockout matchup.

Yep, KD vs LeBron again

It's weird to use scoring margin to determine who gets into the later parts of the tournament. The NBA has a culture of NOT running up the score. Guys will hold the ball near the end of the game, even taking intentional shot clock violations, to avoid rudely scoring on the opponent when the outcome is already determined.

That's supposed to add more excitement for fans and maybe some competitive fire for the players. The winning team is trying to run the score up, the losing team is trying to avoid being embarrassed. I was annoyed yesterday when the Blazers sent their bench in at the 2 minute mark and we left our starters in for another 2 plays to try and get an extra basket. Might seem like I'm overreacting by all it takes is one sprained ankle during that time for people to realize how stupid it is to keep players out there for what's essentially a meaningless game in November.

How would you guys create tiebreaker between teams that haven’t played eachother if you don’t use scoring margin? Also the nba clearly followed what soccer does for their tournaments…seems like we don’t have a lot of soccer fans in here

ShelC wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 22, 2023 8:22 am

That's supposed to add more excitement for fans and maybe some competitive fire for the players. The winning team is trying to run the score up, the losing team is trying to avoid being embarrassed. I was annoyed yesterday when the Blazers sent their bench in at the 2 minute mark and we left our starters in for another 2 plays to try and get an extra basket. Might seem like I'm overreacting by all it takes is one sprained ankle during that time for people to realize how stupid it is to keep players out there for what's essentially a meaningless game in November.

Thank you for saying this.

Don't forget the entire reason for this tournament is due to having too many meaningless games in the first place and the NBA being unwilling to reduce the 82-game schedule.

The whole point is to give meaning to these games. Maybe you and some others think they're still meaningless, but clearly the Suns and many other teams don't.

I'll clarify by saying the game itself is meaningful, the reason they were out there - to run up some more points for the Tournament with 2 minutes left - was meaningless. I think the overall point of the Tournament and prize isn't meaningful to me, as a fan, or most of the NBA players making millions. If last night's Tournament game affected something later on like playoff seeding or some kind of playoff game bye, then I'd be much more interested.

And I think the Suns and the rest of the NBA are going along with the Tournament as good soldiers. No one's going to outwardly talk bad about a new NBA initiative (well maybe Pop would) but the real prize is the championship. Always will be.

It has meaning if you give it meaning. You’re simply just refusing to give it meaning..your loss. I chose to give it meaning and it’s made my investment and enjoyment of these games increase.

And yes of course the real prize is the championship…I don’t know why people keep thinking this is trying to replace that or take some of the value away from that…it’s not.

We're also talking about only 4 games in which point margin is a factor.

Split T wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 22, 2023 1:49 pm

It has meaning if you give it meaning. You’re simply just refusing to give it meaning..your loss. I chose to give it meaning and it’s made my investment and enjoyment of these games increase.

And yes of course the real prize is the championship…I don’t know why people keep thinking this is trying to replace that or take some of the value away from that…it’s not.

You think Lakers fans wouldn't try to take some of the value away? If the Lakers win the tournament and the Suns win the title, the Lakers fans will say, "You won the Larry O'Brien, but you didn't win the Cup." To have a "real" championship season, a team will start having to sweep both.

JeremyG wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 22, 2023 7:14 pm

You think Lakers fans wouldn't try to take some of the value away? If the Lakers win the tournament and the Suns win the title, the Lakers fans will say, "You won the Larry O'Brien, but you didn't win the Cup." To have a "real" championship season, a team will start having to sweep both.

There is no way that teams or fans are ever going to think, "Team X won the title, but it isn't a REAL title, because other Team Y won the bullshit November Who Gives a Flying Fuck (tm) Tournament."

Mori Chu wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 22, 2023 7:53 pm

JeremyG wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 22, 2023 7:14 pm

You think Lakers fans wouldn't try to take some of the value away? If the Lakers win the tournament and the Suns win the title, the Lakers fans will say, "You won the Larry O'Brien, but you didn't win the Cup." To have a "real" championship season, a team will start having to sweep both.

There is no way that teams or fans are ever going to think, "Team X won the title, but it isn't a REAL title, because other Team Y won the bullshit November Who Gives a Flying Fuck (tm) Tournament."

Jeremy’s right, at least as far as Lakers fans go. Not sure anyone else will take them seriously in that situation.

Why in the hell should I care about a Lakers fan's opinion of the Suns or whoever else?

Such a dumb middle school playground argument.