2020 End of Season / Playoffs

[golden]

NBA top-seeded teams are trying to figure out a way where they can generate a home court advantage in the playoffs per ESPN:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...off-advantages

Bringing in the home floor is dumb. I think the last bullet point makes the most sense.

Funny thing is that Golden State and the Raptors were believed to have the best home-court advantages in last year's playoffs. What actually happened?They beat us twice in a row at Scotia-Bank and we swept them at Oracle. For true championship level teams, home court might not be all that important.

[The Great One]

I like it

[planetmars]

I like it

I wonder how they will decide which 8 teams each team plays? Also this is all about honouring their TV deal so they can get paid in full.

[planetmars]

Funny thing is that Golden State and the Raptors were believed to have the best home-court advantages in last year's playoffs. What actually happened?They beat us twice in a row at Scotia-Bank and we swept them at Oracle. For true championship level teams, home court might not be all that important.

I think it can help in some circumstances (like a game 7).. but most elite teams avoid game 7's

[slaw]

Glad they finally got their act together on this but July 31 is a long, long way away. When does college football start? Last week in August/early September? So, you're going to have the NBA playing in Disney World cordoned off while the Gators play in front of 80,000 people down the road and the NFL following right on its heels?

I wanted the season back but given the ludicrous delay (why they can't be ready this month is inexplicable) and the potential for this to look second-rate, I am now kind of on the why bother coming back side of things.

[planetmars]

So that means teams like Dallas are safe.. which is good.

[G__Deane]

I wonder how they will decide which 8 teams each team plays? Also this is all about honouring their TV deal so they can get paid in full.

I believe it's teams who were in positions 8, 9, 10 and 11 in bother conferences play to decide who wins the 8 spot

[planetmars]

I believe it's teams who were in positions 8, 9, 10 and 11 in bother conferences play to decide who wins the 8 spot

According to Woj, each of the 22 teams play 8 regular season games to determine seeding. There may be a play-in to decide the 8th seed though, but only if the 9th seed is within 4 games of the 8th seed team.

[chris]

i like playing games as a tuneup but don't like that it will result in an unequal number of games played amongst the teams. they should pick a number of games played for teams to get to.

anyhow, no idea how schedule will be determined.

if it's just the next 8 games on the raptors schedule, minus the 8 teams that will be stating home, we might give up ground to boston:

philly
boston
denver
lakers
memphis
memphis
bucks
bucks

[Rudy Bargnani]

So the 8 games count for seeding. Raps 3 up on Boston. Hopefully will hang on to the 2 seed. Brooklynn or Orlando are most likely matchup still. Very interested to see what the 8 game schedule is.

[007]

I guess the “regular season” games are basically a tuneup for the playoffs. Just got to stay ahead of the Celtics

[golden]

I think it can help in some circumstances (like a game 7).. but most elite teams avoid game 7's

Lowry plays better on the road, but he doesn't like practice games. Kawhi doesn't care about fans. Young players generally play worse on the road in hostile environments. Then there's the refs. A lot of new & interesting dynamics. It will be like Rico Hines UCLA runs or Summer League, except that you're playing for the most important trophy.

[S.R.]

As for games in the summer, at first I've grumbled about the idea too, but then I asked myself, who am I kidding. Summer is busy but on that stretch between mid-July to early September (aka the dog days), I'm still coming to this dang board almost every day looking for Raptors news and rumours. If there are Raps playoff ball in August, I know I'd be watching, doesn't matter how much BBQ'ing I'll be doing.

I've always wanted to try a backyard outdoor projector screen for games. Maybe if I have a playoff game on outside in July, grilling something on a nice evening out with some beers, I could finally get some of my neighbours into bball (I know a couple of them have been curious since the Raps won the title)

And if the quiet months end up being October and November instead, those are the months I'm on my own beer-leagues anyway. That's also when my wife likes to throw dinner parties, which tend to be right on game days (Grrr!), so I'd be free then. Between that, and catching up on new netflix seasons that come in the fall, I could get behind a X-mas opening day. There, talked myself into it.

Exactly. I'm 100% ready for the return of the NBA and the proposed schedule. For a few reasons:
- Ready for some shared experience again. See how much everyone got into The Last Dance? How about an actual basketball playoff. Let's go.
- The Raptors are good and fun and I want to see these guys play.
- The NBA actually has some good and meaningful storylines this year. It's not stacked Warriors vs crappy Lebron team. There's the Battle of LA, Giannis nearing the end of his contract in Milwaukee, these uppity Raptors, Boston trying to prove something post-Kyrie, good young talent on the bubble like Ja and Luka and Zion. There's lots to watch, I'd be interested in multiple series - that's not always the case.
- The real NBA doldrums aren't games in January and February, it's the late summer-early fall stretch. Shorten that gap between seasons, sounds good. If I've had enough and ignore some mid-season games, I'll make that choice. But I'll have the option to make a choice.
- It'll be interesting to see how a recalibrated schedule works out. They've discussed a later start date (like Christmas) before, let's see what happens. It's a pilot project year, maybe we have some permanent changes out of it, or at least have some questions answered and go back to the original format instead.

[golden]

So the 8 games count for seeding. Raps 3 up on Boston. Hopefully will hang on to the 2 seed. Brooklynn or Orlando are most likely matchup still. Very interested to see what the 8 game schedule is.

We've beaten up on bottom feeders, so it will be a challenge to hang on to the 2 seed. That said, we haven't had the whole team healthy either.

[S.R.]

Anyone heard if KD can play?