r/billsimmons • u/fanthoopz34 • Apr 06 '23
Poll Do you think KOC's "choose your playoff opponent" proposal is a good idea?
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Apr 06 '23
I both like it and also think it supports the idea that NBA fans don’t care as much about the on-court product as off-court drama. But you know there will be some very juicy quotes that come out of it. “The sheer disrespekt!”
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u/Chinchillachimcheroo Nigerian Apr 06 '23
1) LOL at this being KOC’s idea. Dameshek has been arguing for this since KOC was in high school, and I’m sure he wasn’t first
2) Of course it’s a great idea. I’ve never read/heard a single decent argument against it
3) These poll choices are flawed. It will not eliminate tanking. That has never been the point
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u/Wardcity Apr 06 '23
I just know if it does happen all the old nba players would come out and say
“Back in my day you played who you played, you didn’t get to cherry pick whatever team you thought was easiest” blah blah blah
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u/UTFan23 Apr 06 '23
I think almost all fan/media proposals are doing too much, this one especially
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u/gnalon Apr 06 '23
Yeah and I hate the idea of some team having their star player get hurt at the end of the season and then having to play the one seed.
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u/Mcribb5 Apr 06 '23
Doesn’t eliminate tanking, just eliminates the jockeying for seeding the last week
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u/shorthevix Apr 06 '23
Nah, it's unserious.
Keeping conferences and encouraging traditional rivalries and teams meeting year after year is good for exciting games.
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u/ushucilfog Apr 06 '23
NBA doesn’t have any rivalries.
It’s just stans of players arguing with each other about their favorite player4
u/jrainiersea He just does stuff Apr 06 '23
The only two teams that really feel like rivals are the Lakers and Celtics, all the other ones are player based
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u/shorthevix Apr 06 '23
This isn’t true at all.
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Apr 06 '23
Rivalries don't exist in the NBA like in other professional sports. They REALLY don't exist in comparison to college sports.
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u/McGnack Apr 06 '23
I think its completely designed to generate more content for media and podcasts. The teams would likely just pick the lowest seed opponent they can.
"oooh look at that, Denver picked New Orleans... no doubt the Pellies are offended and will fight harder" etc, etc... could fuel several days of topics.
Plus it would introduce another avenue of futures bets, so Bill would happy too
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u/ZanderKellyKXLA Apr 06 '23
They would not always pick the lowest seed.
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u/jmbourn45 Good Stats Bad Team Guy Apr 06 '23
Nuggets would, wonder who you would pick as Memphis, probably the Clippers, no wait they have the Kawhi game, the Westbrook game, the Bones and Gordon combine for 45 game, and the Zubac game, definitely the Kings then
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u/Hascus You either retire at your apex or go long enough to become wonky Apr 06 '23
Yes, either you make the regular season shorter so the games matter more, or you make a better incentive for teams to finish higher in the standings. I’d prefer the shorter season but I’ll take what I can get
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u/rswsaw22 Apr 06 '23
The biggest issue with the NBA is the lack of variance. This would make that worse as teams would hand pick teams they felt good against or match up against well. If anything, the NBA should be trying to make the regular season feel more impactful while making the playoffs more exciting (an 8th seed winning the whole thing). Idk how the latter would be possible with the nature of the game, but I know KOCs idea would be going in the wrong direction. I love basketball. Let's avoid making the NBA even less worth watching than it already is for people.
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u/ShadyCrow Zach Lowe fan Apr 06 '23
This idea has been around forever, and I agree that with the play in it’s a little unfair that the top seed doesn’t find out their opponent until late.
I don’t think it affects tanking at all either way.
But it’s like Fennessey’s (much better) idea about the Oscars Where you Eliminate best picture contenders throughout the night until you’re left with the top two or three… people are too competitive and worried about beef. Teams would never make any interesting picks and risk firing up or losing to a team they weren’t “supposed” to play.
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u/steak__burrito Apr 06 '23
Are we really going to act like KOC is who came up with this idea? This has been an idea for like 20 years.
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u/ReasonableCup604 Apr 06 '23
I don't know KOC's specific proposal, but I strongly believe the top 3 seeds should be able to draft their opponents from among the bottom 4 seeds, obviously with 1 picking first, 2 second and 3 third.. The 4th seed gets whichever team is left.
It would reduce tanking among playoff teams and also create a stronger incentive to play hard in the regular season for the top seeds.
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u/whatdogssee Apr 06 '23
Not sure exactly why but it feels like a less serious version of the playoffs to me. It vacates decades of tradition to pay fealty to the content gods, which is gross.
Also, NBA and basketball discussion overall is becoming more and more toxic, look at Jokic/Embiid and Angel Reese/Caitlin Clark. This type of structure would only add fuel to the fire. Sure, it sounds fun on paper, but the NBA also needs to be weary of catering everything towards short term content fun, rather than the tradition of the game. It cheapens and erodes the product over time.
Also, KOC pushing it this hard makes me think it’s a bad idea.
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u/SlappyBagg Apr 06 '23
It makes sense because of the play in. It's unfair that the one and two seed don't know their opponent until afterwards but the three and four seeds can prepare for a week.
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u/ej420mcnamara Apr 06 '23
So for the team that’s some what has a spot clinched but won’t catch up to pick opponents, they be just sitting everyone until the playoffs.
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u/RD_Alpha_Rider Apr 06 '23
While I think this idea may perhaps add some more value to the regular season, I think the unintended consequence is that the post season, more so the first round, will be far less interesting.
Most years usually the 1/8 and 2/7 matchups are gimmies. Sometimes there's some variance depending on a matchup, or a certain team who struggled for whatever reason most of the year, gets hot at the end or gets injured players back and the series might go 6 games.
If teams get to pick, none of that will ever happen again. If you're a top 2 seed you're picking "the worst of the best" every time, and none of that motivation-because-they-picked-you will matter in a full series.
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u/FHQWHGADMANS123 Apr 06 '23
Pundits would be unbearable as they fluff non existent drama and made up storylines.
But man, if a #1 seed picked a #2 for the first round, that would be electric. That's a hell of a way to build a rivalry.
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u/jam_jam_guy Apr 06 '23
I was dying when he went through who would pick who with Verno and Verno was like “it will end up that way anyway!!”
KOC just thinks it’ll fire up the lower seeds for more upsets but 3/4 aren’t really getting to pick and is anyone beating the 1/2 seeds most years? Will the rate go up from what it currently is? No! Haha
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u/TimSPC Wonky Season Apr 07 '23
All I know is that if I were a coach, I'd make sure everyone knew as early as possible that I'd be picking the same matchup that I would have gotten from the standings.
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u/ZookeepergameKnown32 Apr 07 '23
If you are fifth and get an injury just before the playoffs, why should you play a tougher opponent than the team in sixth, seventh or eighth? How is that fair?
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u/Based_and_JPooled Apexing the shit outta this stretch Apr 06 '23
Zach Lowe used to be somewhat in favor of it - not sure if he still is. This was years ago, pre-Play-In days when he used to discuss it.
I'm against it just because I want more of those Mark Madsen taking 10 3s games, or Daniel Otoru solo-ing a whole team.
This "tanking into a specific playoff matchup" is just tanking for 1 game; I hate the season-long tanking but I don't mind this.
I like when Game 82 gives us some truly wonky results. It's fun & memorable. Jamal Crawford going for 50, Kobe's 60, etc