2019-2020 Season Daily Discussion

I'm really surprised they're about to go through with this. If it does indeed happen I'll be happy, but it seems more sensible to just cut their losses and start next season on time. The season would be wrapping up now anyway, but this weird playoff tournament thing is going to give next season a bit of an asterisk as well. I'm not complaining though.

I'd prefer to see teams play to 70 or 72 games so that everybody plays the same number of games, and so they get a few games to warm up before the postseason. I don't hate the group stage idea though. I like the classic 16-team playoff format too, but I think it's because it's all I know. With dwindling ratings, it seems like Adam Silver has been pretty anxious about shaking things up anyway, with the talks of in-season tournaments and the like, and this gives him an opportunity to try some stuff out. If we're to expand it to 20 or so teams (which wouldn't matter, the Pelicans and Blazers both suck this year, that's why they're behind Memphis of all teams), I'm intrigued by the idea of giving the top four teams first round byes, then they play the winners of the four groups (seeds 5, 12, 13, 20; seeds 6, 11, 14, 19; seeds 7, 10, 15, 18; seeds 8, 9, 16, 17) and from there it's an 8 team playoffs...

I enjoy nerding out about this stuff, and if this does happen, I can't wait to see what they decide to do.

I think changing up the format and ideas of midseason tournaments and whatnot are misguided as far as improving the ratings. To me, there's been a cultural shift and a dumbing down/homogenisation of the game that's causing fans to lose interest. I can see radical changes driving more people away, especially those that feel like change for change's sake.

I definitely agree that the way the game's changed over the last decade or so is the main culprit. However, I think that changing the format could still be beneficial in terms of propping up the largely meaningless regular season. I think that first round byes are the perfect answer to load management

The thing is, we never used to think the regular season was meaningless. It was always a roller coaster, the ebb and flow as teams got off to slow starts but finished strong, or teams looked liked contenders only to falter and be exposed over the course of the year. I know it sounds cliche, but it seems like we have no patience these days, an inability to look up from our phones for more than five minutes.

I think when teams started overtly tanking or even tanking a whole season from the beginning, it's a bit disheartening even more so than if a team tried and actually sucked

That's probably part of it as well.

Sothe season is officially back, with a 22 team restart (Spurs, Suns, Kings really have no business being there) with specific rules about how many games teams will need to avoid a play in for the final spots.

I guess the only caveat is that some players especially on bubble or losing teams may not want to come back due to health concerns.

I'm just glad they didn't cancel the season as the Lakers and LeBron have a good chance of winning it all. Even if they don't I will take beating Pat Beverley and the Clippers in the playoffs as a consolation

Considering that a lot of players may be sitting out and replacement players suiting up in their wake, it's probably going to be a very lacklustre postseason. I'm not a fan of the concept of asterisks as it's a cheap way of discrediting teams that still had to get the job done at the end of the day, but whoever wins this year, it's probably not going to be one of the more impressive championship runs; especially if a lot of big names do sit out.

I don't see any major players on contending teams sitting out, but they might surprise us. If they have a shot at winning it all I think they would put everything aside to attain their goal

There's talk that it might happen, but I suppose we'll see. Concern for their health and the health of their families may well win out, and understandably so.

Kyrie has been leading the charge to sit out but rumor has it that he wanted to be in Orlando but was denied because he would not be playing. This seems like a very Kyrie move to try to keep people from playing. He also floated the idea of players playing in their own league.

Dwight Howard also seems unlikely to play

I understand his viewpoint that sports are a distraction from the BLM message. I don't think the movement would have been as big if we had sports going on but I think now players can use their platform to spread the message even more, especially if they are the only athletes playing at the moment

Also I think Stephon Marbury posted the CBA is returning July 23rd. I may be desperate enough to try to find a way to watch lol

Schedule is out, Zion and Clippers vs Lakers the first night back. They know what we wanna see lol

I thought they were going to make random schedules but they tried to keep as many of the remaining regular season games in as possible, which I can appreciate. Of course you won't get your easy games against bad teams but at least they tried

6 o 8 Pelicans games are on national TV. They also have a easier schedule compared to other teams. I think everyone wants the Zion v LeBron matchup.

With all the spiking Covid cases in Florida, and 16 NBA players already testing positive, I feel like restarting the season is going to be a really bad idea with ramifications that could potentially carry over into the 2021 season as well.

the bubble idea is actually better imo than the NFL and MLB plans to still go travel to all the home arenas of all the teams. it isnt foolproof as the disney employees servicing them all will be coming and going (not living on site) so if anything gets in it will probably be from that.

Considering what's happening in WWE at the moment, it feels like a disaster waiting to happen.

This is a pretty interesting video from 76ers' Matisse Thybulle on what it is like for the players heading into the bubble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DzaVY5tPZg

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That's cool, a really well edited video. Looking forward to seeing more

Some of these NBA players really need to get a clue. Jay Williams was right to call them out;

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2020/07/nba-bu ... -tone-deaf

I'm not a fan of Jay Williams and his commentary/takes, but he's on the money there.

Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook has tested positive for COVID.

Another one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVj1ZK86HFw

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Here's the scrimmage schedule....I'm watching Nuggets/Wizards now;

https://www.nba.com/article/2020/07/04/ ... e-schedule

I'm not a fan of Jay Williams and his commentary/takes, but he's on the money there.

Yup; the fact you can be 34 years old (Rondo) and be so tone deaf about life and the world...

Seen some games the other day, and am kind of confused: why do some players have their names under the jersey numbers while others on the same team have names and statements over their numbers?

It's an option the players were given, if they wanted to put those messages on their jerseys for the Restart. Not everyone chose to.