Unocal 76
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Post by Unocal 76 on Jun 9, 2018 5:24:15 GMT -5
The Eagles, Astros, and Capitals going into their respective seasons were far from sure things to win their titles.
Philly was projected as maybe a Wild Card, but everyone loved Dallas/Giants, certainly no Super Bowl favorite.
Astros were probably picked to win their division, but they were far from a World Series favorite.
Capitals given all their playoff woes were written off as a Cup threat given the great teams they had and lost with.
Then..... we have the Warriors.
In the other major sports, being the favorite/most talented team guarantees nothing (Steelers had most Pro Bowlers, Lightning most NHL All Stars..... we saw what happened)
But with Golden State.... different story.
It is as simple as relying on fewer players, lack of variance?
Things like a bad bullpen, turnovers, puck luck, goalies can derail you in other sports.
The Astros had 5 All Stars last year, but it isn’t viewed the same as Golden State’s FOUR All Stars.
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Post by The Barber on Jun 9, 2018 5:55:25 GMT -5
The NBA needs more parody.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2018 9:26:27 GMT -5
I think it does basically come down to math.
In the NBA your 5 starters are playing around 80% of the game. In the NHL your 1st line is maybe playing 33% of the game. In baseball your best pitcher only plays every 5th game, your best batter is only batting every 3rd inning or so. In the NFL there are different variables, you have a good QB, but bad receivers, a good RB but a bad offensive line etc.
Basketball is the most one dimensional of the 4 major sports. Where one good signing or trade can completely change your team.
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pegasuswarrior
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Post by pegasuswarrior on Jun 9, 2018 10:34:34 GMT -5
The NBA needs more parody. While it would be nice to see more parody and laughs, it could use parity too. Been impressed with commissioner’s response to these comments from fans though. Not combative, but a lot of sensible responses that de-escalate Warriors and Cavs haters.
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Post by Cyno on Jun 9, 2018 11:45:46 GMT -5
The NBA has never had parity. This isn't some recent phenomenon. Just that the last time it was as blatant as it is now with GSW is maybe the Bill Russell-era Celtics.
Okay, Warriors I get. But the Cavs without Lebron and Love are an awful team. It's just that Lebron is such a phenomenal player that he can drag Kevin and a team of scrubs to the finals. And from his time with the Timberwolves, we know Love isn't the type of player that can carry a team to the promised land on his own.
Anyone complaining about the Cavs making the finals all the time is basically saying "Lebron, stop being so good!" Maybe the rest of the East can stop acting so shook when they play him in the playoffs.
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pegasuswarrior
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Post by pegasuswarrior on Jun 9, 2018 12:03:22 GMT -5
The NBA has never had parity. This isn't some recent phenomenon. Just that the last time it was as blatant as it is now with GSW is maybe the Bill Russell-era Celtics. Okay, Warriors I get. But the Cavs without Lebron and Love are an awful team. It's just that Lebron is such a phenomenal player that he can drag Kevin and a team of scrubs to the finals. And from his time with the Timberwolves, we know Love isn't the type of player that can carry a team to the promised land on his own. Anyone complaining about the Cavs making the finals all the time is basically saying "Lebron, stop being so good!" Maybe the rest of the East can stop acting so shook when they play him in the playoffs. That’s exactly what the commish said. I agree. I’m not bashing NBA or the Cavs. I was correcting misuse of the word parity. I think the commissioner makes good points. You could put Lebron on all but one or maybe two teams in eastern conference and they’d immediately be a Finals consideration. The Cavs overachieved and I dig it.
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Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Jun 9, 2018 15:31:14 GMT -5
The NBA has never had parity. This isn't some recent phenomenon. Just that the last time it was as blatant as it is now with GSW is maybe the Bill Russell-era Celtics. Okay, Warriors I get. But the Cavs without Lebron and Love are an awful team. It's just that Lebron is such a phenomenal player that he can drag Kevin and a team of scrubs to the finals. And from his time with the Timberwolves, we know Love isn't the type of player that can carry a team to the promised land on his own. Anyone complaining about the Cavs making the finals all the time is basically saying "Lebron, stop being so good!" Maybe the rest of the East can stop acting so shook when they play him in the playoffs.
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Post by Citizen Snips Has Left on Jun 9, 2018 22:38:24 GMT -5
By all rights, it should've been Houston/Boston this year but between the Chris Paul injury and choking I guess, we didn't get it.
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Post by RadcapRadsley on Jun 10, 2018 0:00:35 GMT -5
I think it does basically come down to math. In the NBA your 5 starters are playing around 80% of the game. In the NHL your 1st line is maybe playing 33% of the game. In baseball your best pitcher only plays every 5th game, your best batter is only batting every 3rd inning or so. In the NFL there are different variables, you have a good QB, but bad receivers, a good RB but a bad offensive line etc. Basketball is the most one dimensional of the 4 major sports. Where one good signing or trade can completely change your team. Not only is your best hitter only batting 1 out of every 3 innings,he is only taking 1 out of 9 of the at bat's. Also in baseball aside from the fact your pitcher only appears every 1 in 5 game's he does 1 specific thing.The Dodger's are **cked if Kershaw is having a bad night with his pitches,on the other if James Harden's jumper if off he can still help on defense,he can still draw defenders and get points for his teammate he can still draw fouls,rebound etc. An Ace pitcher's pitches are off and he is a huge net negative to the team,even if James Harden,Lebron or Steph's Curry have a bad night shooting they are always a net positive on the floor for their team.
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Post by Toilet Paper Roll on Jun 10, 2018 0:04:04 GMT -5
NBA has always been a dynasty league.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2018 0:05:34 GMT -5
I think it does basically come down to math. In the NBA your 5 starters are playing around 80% of the game. In the NHL your 1st line is maybe playing 33% of the game. In baseball your best pitcher only plays every 5th game, your best batter is only batting every 3rd inning or so. In the NFL there are different variables, you have a good QB, but bad receivers, a good RB but a bad offensive line etc. Basketball is the most one dimensional of the 4 major sports. Where one good signing or trade can completely change your team. Not only is your best hitter only batting 1 out of every 3 innings,he is only taking 1 out of 9 of the at bat's. Also in baseball aside from the fact your pitcher only appears every 1 in 5 game's he does 1 specific thing.The Dodger's are **cked if Kershaw is having a bad night with his pitches,on the other if James Harden's jumper if off he can still help on defense,he can still draw defenders and get points for his teammate he can still draw fouls,rebound etc. An Ace pitcher's pitches are off and he is a huge net negative to the team,even if James Harden,Lebron or Steph's Curry have a bad night shooting they are always a net positive on the floor for their team. Basketball player feeling off needs a rest? Bench him for a few minutes and bring him back in. Pitcher feeling off? Stall for time the best you can, get through innings, but you take him out, and he's done for the day.
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Shark
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Post by Shark on Jun 10, 2018 0:59:24 GMT -5
NBA has always been a dynasty league. It really has. In the 50's it was the Lakers. The 60's it was the Celtics/ The 80's it was the Lakers and Celtics. The 90's it was the Bulls. The 2000's it was the Lakers and Spurs. 2010's it's been the Heat, Warriors, and Cavs. 70's was when it was most wide open (8 different teams won the title that decade). This has always been a league where a team gets hot and rules the roost for several years.
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Post by The Barber on Jun 10, 2018 6:20:21 GMT -5
The NBA needs more parody. While it would be nice to see more parody and laughs, it could use parity too. I stand by what I said. If more teams started copying the Harlem Globetrotters instead of the 90s Chicago Bulls, they'd have higher ratings.
HE'S SPINNING THE BALL ON HIS FINGER! JUST TAKE IT! TAKE THE BALL! THAT GAME WAS FIXED! THEY WERE USING A FREAKING LADDER, FOR GOD'S SAKES!
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Reflecto
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Post by Reflecto on Jun 10, 2018 15:43:17 GMT -5
The NBA is a predictable major sport because basketball, on its own, is a broken sport if you really think about it.
With baseball, having the best player on the field may actually HINDER a team instead of help them: The other team can merely refuse to pitch to them and intentionally walk them whenever they make it to the plate, and try not to hit it to them when they're in the field.
With football (both footballs, really), it's such a intense turnbased strategy game at its core that if you have the best player on the field, it doesn't matter. You need all 11 players on the field to play their role just right to succeed, and if one fails, the whole thing falls apart.
With hockey, there's a small number of players- but the goalie is the only player who can change the game.
Basketball, on the other hand? Everyone who knows anything about the game kind of knows the fact about the sport of basketball: All other things being equal, the team that has the best player on the court WILL PROBABLY WIN THE GAME.
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fw91
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Post by fw91 on Jun 10, 2018 20:11:59 GMT -5
because it sucks
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Push R Truth
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Post by Push R Truth on Jun 10, 2018 20:17:04 GMT -5
NBA is the only sport I know of where you can get free points (free throws) with regularity by tossing yourself into your opponents and they get called for the foul.
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ToyfareMark
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Post by ToyfareMark on Jun 11, 2018 6:36:14 GMT -5
It's time for the NBA to dump the whole Western/Eastern setup, and change to a National/American setup.
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BRV
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Post by BRV on Jun 11, 2018 11:07:16 GMT -5
Maybe the rest of the East can stop acting so shook when they play him in the playoffs. If the Celtics had a healthy Kyrie Irving, they would have beaten the Cavaliers in the Conference Finals. Add to that a healthy Gordon Hayward, they probably would have swept Cleveland right out of the playoffs. But to answer the question at hand, the reason the NBA is the most predictable of the four major American professional sports is because it's a league driven by singular talents. If you have the best player in the world on your team, you can surround him with a bunch of spare parts and you're getting to the Conference Finals at the very least. There are only five players on the court for a team at a given time, so if 20 percent of that is an otherworldly talent, it can compensate for the rest of the roster. In football, it's a team sport. Look at the 2017 Patriots. They have the best quarterback in the world under center, but he can only do so much. He can't go out there and play defense, which is how the Patriots end up losing the Super Bowl. In baseball, even the greatest hitter in the world only bats four or five times in a game, and there are ways to pitch around him. If a team has the best pitcher alive, you only have to worry about facing him once every five days, or once every three or four games in a playoff series. In hockey, there are ways to neutralize a single talent, and even if you've got an unstoppable scorer or a lights-out goaltender, if the players around him aren't up to par, there's not much he can do on his own.
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riseofsetian1981
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Post by riseofsetian1981 on Jun 11, 2018 11:38:24 GMT -5
I have stated my opinion regarding this circumstance many times as virtually every poster in the NBA thread knows. To me I think it's a combination of league protection, corruption, and favoring more of big markets rather than having a proper balance. Now I grew up in the 80's during the Laker dominance, as well as the nineties with Chicago, Houston repeat, and the 2000's as well with the Lakers again. So when I say I lived through those I am not lying one bit. The difference is that those teams were evenly matched, competitive, and not as predictable when it came to the outcome of the game in and of itself.
The league now is just more about the offense and less focus on defense. Okay, that's a lie. The only team that's allowed to play tough physical defense is Golden State. You breath on Curry, Klay, or DuRant it's a foul. It's become predictable because fans continue to eat up what the NBA presents rather than simply putting their foot down, stop watching the games, and demand some significant change and start holding officials accountable for mistakes and stop protecting teams like Golden State, Cleveland, Houston, and let these guys actually play what they're paid to do and what they're allegedly the best at.
These men are professionals they don't need a helping hand. Situations like DuRant going to a ready made championship team shouldn't be allowed, I don't care if he's a free agent, that team should automatically be disqualified from receiving a player of his caliber. Have it like the old school days where the core team remained intact, none of this super team concept, simply have it be the way it used to be and have great talented players be utilized elsewhere. Remove the guaranteed big money contracts when certain players did nothing to deserve them, and once again start holding officials accountable for mistakes and obvious bias with certain teams and players. I think if they can get those down and be honest with the fans we'd see some great, exciting, and unpredictable basketball.
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Post by cabbageboy on Jun 11, 2018 14:27:33 GMT -5
I think the 1990s had a decent amount of parity in a weird sort of way. Yes, the Bulls won 6 titles that decade. But look at the West. There were a lot of excellent teams that could all make a case for the Finals in the 90s (Portland in the early 90s, Phoenix, Houston, Seattle, San Antonio, Utah, and the Lakers at a couple of points). It's hard to compare it to the 60s where there were only 8-9 teams and it was easier for the Celtics to dominate all the time. The 70s had a lot of weird stuff going on. The ABA was around for the first half of the decade, the Celtics faded a bit but still won a couple, Lakers were excellent but never could win more than once, and even oddball teams like Golden State, Portland, and Seattle struck gold. The Knicks even won a couple!
Maybe parity doesn't work in the NBA? I'd hardly call the 70s some golden era for the league. Who wants to see dreary Finals with the Sonics vs. Bullets? Or a barely .500 Suns team in the Finals? There were some all time great teams in the 70s oddly enough. The 1971 Bucks and 72 Lakers come to mind, but neither really maintained it long enough to win titles.
It's awfully hard to beat the best team in the NBA or the best player 4 times. I guess there was the weird 2007 Dallas/Golden St. series but that's about it. In MLB the best team in a league isn't hugely better than a fellow playoff team, so anyone has a shot. And in one and done sports obviously anything can happen, although in the NCAA tourney you tend to get solid champions when all is said and done (UConn in 2011 and 2014 being the exception...they sucked).
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