Most Exciting NBA Season ever?

[buzzy]

I think this season has been awesome so far. Sometimes I feel like the NBA is the WWE and they have their own storyline writers.



It all began in the off-season as the Boston Celtics made two major trades to get the All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
The Celtics around the 'Big 3' were now automatically a title contender. They started the season very strong and were a long time on the pace to beat the historic record of the '96 Bulls.

One of the most suprising teams were the Trailblazers, even without number 1 pick Greg Oden on the roster, they were a long time in the playoff picture.
Their highlight was on the 31st of December, as their winning streak hit 13, their second-longest winning streak in team history.

Aside the KG trade, many superstars have been traded. Jason Kidd was traded to Dallas, where his carrer began 13 years ago. Shaquille O'Neal was traded to his 4th team, the Phoenix Suns, Shawn Marion was sent to the Heat.
Ben Wallace is now in Cleveland to help LeBron, while Mike Bibby found a new home in Atlanta.

The Lakers also made a big deal, acquiring Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies, and became title contenders. The legendary rivalry between the Lakers and the Celtics has been rewritten, and is now everyones favorite Finals matchup.

Dwight Howard put on a show in the Dunk Contest, probably the best one since VC won it Oakland.

2006 Champs Miami Heat are now the worst team in the League, at the moment with the record of 13-60.

There are some more teams who surpised this season. The Magic early on, then the Hornets.
Led by Chris Paul, the Hornets have the best record in the West, 50-22, and because of that, Paul is a top 3 MVP candidate.

The Nuggets scored 168 points in regulation in a win over Seattle.

The Houston Rockets made history with their 22 game winning streak, which is the second longest in NBA history. Most of the games they played without an injured Yao Ming.

The Playoff Race in the Western Conference is as close as it gets. 9th placed Golden State Warriors are only 5.5 games behind the 1st placed Hornets. And all 8 playoff teams could still win 50 games.

In the East, things aren't that close, but it's also interesting. The 76ers made a strong push lately to even hold the 7th spot.
The Atlanta Hawks, currently on the 8th spot, may be able to play in the playoffs for the first time in 9 years.



So, the long and the short of it, what are your thoughts on the 07/08 NBA season?

[deihatein]

As you said it, this season is great. Yeah it started in Boston since they acquired both Garnett and Allen and the rest of the season goes interesting for me. Specially the all-star weekend, Howard, Kapono, everything.
For me Magic is not surprising because they have done that early last season then after half of the season they got worst. Hornets really surprised me specially Paul who deserve the MVP because of the leadership he bring to the Hornets. Without him Hornets might not be like this.

[Martti.]

Well, i have been following the NBA about 5-6 seasons, but this is the best so far. The Western Playoff race, and now - New Jersey, Indiana and Chicago are battling to be the 8th in the East.

All-Star Weekend was one of the best in a long time. Dwight, Kapono, 7-footers winning the Shooting Stars, amazing shooting by Ray Allen late in the All-Star Game.

The Trail Blazers - 13 straight. Sure they've now cooled off a bit, but they still have a 25-11 home record. No one thought they'll make it without Oden, but they proved everybody wrong.

168 points in regulation - that's unbelievable. Some teams score ~105 with 2 OT-s.

The Rockets 22 straight wins - 10 without Yao. (If my math is correct.) Scola really stepped it up and brought the game he played in TAU Cerámica.

Now the Heat made a Shot-clock-era low 17 FG's. They have like 8 players, with almost half of them being D-Leaguers. They sure hope for Beasley in the draft. (If they'll get the top pick. Not like Boston, who dropped to fifth.)

And of course - the trades. Jason Kidd, Shaq, Marion, Gasol, Bibby, Ben Wallace. And plus the off-season, where Danny Ainge made the Celtics the elite team in the league, with serious title hopes.

The Draft - Portland jumping from 6th to 1st in the lottery. And the draft day deals - Ray Allen, Jason Richadson and Zach Randolph were shipped to the East.

And then The KG trade - was the biggest bomb this year.

[GoHornets]

Yeah, this one is the best because of the big trades, Boston becoming the best team, and the wild race to the playoffs in the west.

My second option is that season when Dallas went 16 - 0 the first sixteen games, while San Antonio was 9 - 4 and they're won the ring at the end. I think it was 2002-2003.

[Lamrock]

Yeah, as far as regular seasons go, this is the best. I mean, the West race is as intense as a playoff series, there were 4 blockbuster trades in February, and the Hawks are likely making the playoffs.

Playoffs will decide whether this season is great as a whole.

[benji]

My second option is that season when Dallas went 16 - 0 the first sixteen games, while San Antonio was 9 - 4 and they're won the ring at the end. I think it was 2002-2003.

If only there was some way to look these things up..maybe some kind of fancy adding machine, that's connected to other adding machines through a series of tubes...

[Skills]

It's been a great season so far..
One of the best in a long time.
If the Lakers meet the Celtics in the finals, that could easily top it off.

[GoHornets]

My second option is that season when Dallas went 16 - 0 the first sixteen games, while San Antonio was 9 - 4 and they're won the ring at the end. I think it was 2002-2003.

If only there was some way to look these things up..maybe some kind of fancy adding machine, that's connected to other adding machines through a series of tubes...

Im a lazy man, Benji

[mvpshaq32]

It will only get more intense next season when Oden comes back and makes things even more interesting in the Western playoffs.
The West could possibly have 10 teams reaching 50 wins and hopefully somewhere down the line, Stern will change the playoff format and make it the top 16 teams with no regards to Conference.
Edit:Oh and I almost completely forgot about the Clippers when this caught my eye. I don't how effective he will be though....Hopefully not another one of those Webber/Mcdyess incidents. And Al Thornton has been looking really good these last couple games.
Return of Elton Brand

[Mayerhendrix]

16 teams without conference isn't the way to go. This way's keeping it more interesting at the moment. If it was top16 then you'd be taking New Jersey, Indiana, Philadelphia, and Atlanta out of the drama right now because they wouldn't even be close to contention. Also the NBA's a business and the drama has to be equally distributed across the USA (and Toronto) to get the game's popularity up. All the good teams in the West wouldn't work for the league because ratings in the East would tank, especially when you consider that many major Eastern seaboard media-spotlight cities would be taken out of the equation.

[benji]

Yeah, it'd be terrible for the top Eastern markets, you know, New York, Chicago and Miami to be "taken out of the [playoff] equation."

Also the NBA's a business and the drama has to be equally distributed across the USA (and Toronto) to get the game's popularity up

Or, the league could get the games popularity up by actually having a playoffs where the entire thing is worth watching instead of just one conference until the Conference Finals.

Those teams could also find good GMs instead of recycling Billy King around. Build some good teams instead of needing playoff welfare.

[Matthew]

Whoever Cleveland plays in the 2nd round will be an ok series too, whether its Boston or Detroit.

Every first round series in the west is worthy of being a conference finals though.

[Chaser7]

16 teams without conference isn't the way to go. This way's keeping it more interesting at the moment. If it was top16 then you'd be taking New Jersey, Indiana, Philadelphia, and Atlanta out of the drama right now because they wouldn't even be close to contention. Also the NBA's a business and the drama has to be equally distributed across the USA (and Toronto) to get the game's popularity up. All the good teams in the West wouldn't work for the league because ratings in the East would tank, especially when you consider that many major Eastern seaboard media-spotlight cities would be taken out of the equation.

Wrong.

I wonder why NJNetsFan wants to make sure New Jersey stays in the playoff equation... There is no drama for the Eastern Conference playoffs, because honestly who gives a fuck if Atlanta makes the postseason 8 games below .500. Drama is Denver, Golden State, or Dallas NOT making the playoffs with a record that would have been 4th best in the East. Not to mention Eastern teams play easier teams more often so if a Western Conference team was in the East they would have an even more bloated record!

[Mayerhendrix]

Being in New Jersey, the state which rarely has any standout sports teams, I can say from experience that a significant chunk of the population only really gets into a sport when a local or close-to-local team has major success. The NBA really needs to stop adjusting its playoff format every single year to make minor fixes just because a single team gets stuck in an unfavorable situation of circumstance. The teams may not be as good record-wise, but those Eastern Conference playoff games will still be interesting. They've still got their upsets, side-stories, and red-hot/ice-cold teams.

Or, the league could get the games popularity up by actually having a playoffs where the entire thing is worth watching instead of just one conference until the Conference Finals.

Too bad millions of Americans only watch the NBA when their local team's doing well in the playoffs. Not the die-hard fans, but this is the case for many people who would be lost in this format.

[benji]

Too bad millions of Americans only watch the NBA when their local team's doing well in the playoffs. Not the die-hard fans, but this is the case for many people who would be lost in this format.

No, they wouldn't. The United States is not two geographic halves and one half has no access to things the other half has.

Under a sixteen-team, conference free format, Hawks and Sixers faux-fans would be left out, but Nuggets and Blazers faux-fans would get in. You're not "leaving out half the country" like your insane idiotic argument claims. You're leaving out not as good teams for better teams.

The NBA really needs to stop adjusting its playoff format every single year to make minor fixes just because a single team gets stuck in an unfavorable situation of circumstance.

That's not the reason to change it. The reason to change it is because it is structually flawed. You don't ignore the structual flaws of a building because well, only one or two floors collapsed this year, and hey, the people on the other floors don't mind because theirs didn't!

As the next NBA commissioner my plan will be simple: Eliminate the conferences, take the top eight teams. Having more than half of the league make the playoffs is completely stupid. Fuck the fans, all they do is make stupid message board posts repeating media memes anyway. The real ones will stick around, the ones doing it because it's trendy aren't worth having.

[Mayerhendrix]

Several things, man.

1) Chill out, there's no need to escalate your tone and say things like "insane idiotic argument claims".

2) Your brilliant fuck the fans plan doesn't work either. Who buys tickets? Who boosts media ratings, to get the NBA games more lucrative television contracts to GENERATE LEAGUE REVENUE. Sports are a business and you're talking like a fan which is fine but keep in mind that "the love of the game" and "the honorable sport of basketball" are job two and three, respectively, behind making money.

[benji]

I love when people make stupid assumptions. Because I accurately described something that they take personally, I must need to "chill out."

Your second statement assumes I want to continue the NBA as a marketing enterprise.

[Mayerhendrix]

Sorry that I took your blatant attack at my thoughts and reasoning as personal. Of course I was being wrong in thinking that.

And since when is any sports league NOT a marketing enterprise? I'm not assuming I'm just stating a fact that every sports league is in it for cash first. David Stern doesn't give a damn about the city of Seattle deserving a basketball team, if the place can't make money he's set to leave for Oklahoma City to milk the cash cows there. It's about the $$$ first. Never been anything other than that. If you want a "love of the game" type of league go watch NCAA basketball.

[shadowgrin]

"love of the game"
"NCAA basketball"



So that's why players would rather stay in college and finish their four-year scholarship than apply early for the NBA draft. "love of the game" is so beautiful.

[Carmo]

I love when people make stupid assumptions. Because I accurately described something that they take personally, I must need to "chill out."

Your second statement assumes I want to continue the NBA as a marketing enterprise.

He was right in saying what he said I believe. A lot of the time it does seem like you think you're above everyone else and you thoughts and stats mean more than anyone elses.

[Andrew]

It's not my personal favourite thanks to the Bulls' performance and there's plenty of other seasons that stand out in history for their own reasons but I'd agree that the season has been exciting thus far with the race in the West, the blockbuster trades, the subplots and feel good stories and what I felt was a fun All-Star Weekend. Putting aside personal bias, it might top recent years for excitement across the league.

[Leander]

This season has been fun to follow so far. The AllStar weekend was great, especially Dwight Howard.

I love the old days though. Still wallowing in memories, back in 1994. Why?

New York Knicks. Tight defense. Ewing and Oakley averaging double-digit RPG.
Shawn Kemp. Horace Grant. Stockton and Malone.

Centers at their best. Just look at the leaders in PPG. O' Neal, Ewing, Robinson, Olajuwon. In addition, great shotblockers such as Mutombo.

Fortunately, the Knicks still have a great center and play tight D!

...

..

.

Oh... Was just a dream...

[Matthew]

You have to love how fans of certain teams think the league revolves around them.

[benji]

He was right in saying what he said I believe. A lot of the time it does seem like you think you're above everyone else and you thoughts and stats mean more than anyone elses.

I also, and really, love how having an argument and supporting it is "thinking you're above everyone else."

I wonder how we went from a discussion board being a place for people to make arguments, to where it's just to post your opinion without any challenging the argument behind it, lest that be labeled "attacking" others.

He assumes I do not understand that the NBA as currently run is a business, but he fails to realize I am not arguing for running the NBA as a business but as an ideologically purist league, reality be damned. He is arguing that my argument is flawed because it does not conform to how things are, when it is an argument based in a "perfect" world and is used in contention to those who argue the currently playoff system is "fine." He is also basing his argument on a dubious proposition that it "locks out" half the American market simply because those teams currently suck and aren't making the playoffs anyway.

It only seems like I'm "above everyone else" because nobody else on here wants to even make an argument and defend it. Everybody wants to blog.

[shadowgrin]

What the fuck is a blog?

I am not arguing for running the NBA as a business but as an ideologically purist league, reality be damned

when it is an argument based in a "perfect" world and is used in contention to those who argue the currently playoff system is "fine."

benji has his own reality?
I'm reminded of that Simpsons quote about communism.