The Official NBA Playoff Thread—-20/21 Edition

[brothertona]

NBA players are taking a beating, ratings have been incredible this playoff run


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[bigjbasketball]

Originally Posted by brothertona

NBA players are taking a beating, ratings have been incredible this playoff run


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Incredible compared to what, the bubble? I’m pretty sure ratings are down compared to 2019.

[brothertona]

Originally Posted by bigjbasketball

Incredible compared to what, the bubble? I’m pretty sure ratings are down compared to 2019.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/202...s-bucks-hawks/


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[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by brothertona

NBA players are taking a beating, ratings have been incredible this playoff run


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Based on what? Conference semis were down 16% compared to 2019. And that’s with the benefit of Nielsen ratings changing to include out of home viewers. The Conference Finals ratings aren’t going to be any better.

The league and players were shortsighted in their decision to cram this season in. The fan fatigue is real.

[brothertona]

https://sportsnaut.com/nba-tv-ratings/


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[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by brothertona

https://sportsnaut.com/nba-tv-ratings/


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The info sourced here is weeks old.

[ballhawkdawk]

This season does feel like a bit of a drag. The regular season was unwatchable at times due to the Covid protocols, load management, and general player apathy (basically load management while still playing). We all look forward to the playoffs, and then everybody gets hurt. Even right now three of the four teams are missing their best player. That’s ridiculous.

[spurs50fan]

What’s the actual point to highlighting high or low ratings? I mean, to cut to the chase, when you mention low ratings what do you expect the league to do? Tilt the scale? What do you expect the players to do? Throw the game? Refs to do? Cheat?…well…nvm lol. And since the ratings bemoaning is decades long it’s not about a bubble or shortened season (which the players agreed to).

Just curious because you hear complaints about ratings as a negative when certain teams or players miss out. But then the next thread is about stars teaming up, preferential star treatment, big/small market and predictability. Just seems like a confused mindset

[oshmeehan]

Originally Posted by ballhawkdawk

This season does feel like a bit of a drag. The regular season was unwatchable at times due to the Covid protocols, load management, and general player apathy (basically load management while still playing). We all look forward to the playoffs, and then everybody gets hurt. Even right now three of the four teams are missing their best player. That’s ridiculous.

And the Suns' best player has a broken nose!

[bigjbasketball]

Originally Posted by ballhawkdawk

This season does feel like a bit of a drag. The regular season was unwatchable at times due to the Covid protocols, load management, and general player apathy (basically load management while still playing). We all look forward to the playoffs, and then everybody gets hurt. Even right now three of the four teams are missing their best player. That’s ridiculous.

Booker could have easily been out with that broken nose as well. I’ve never seen a playoffs like this with almost every team losing their star player(s). Almost all the teams left are missing their best player. And look at some of the teams that are out - Lakers, Nuggets, Nets were all missing key pieces. We’re in the conference finals now, and do we even have a top 10 player in the league that is actually active and playing?

[oshmeehan]

Capela could potentially be out as well after taking that elbow to the eye. Sounds like the Hawks are optimistic that he will be OK but he is going to be seeing an Ophthalmologist today. If he has an orbital fracture that could potentially make him miss the rest of the playoffs.

Props to Capela for sending thoughts and prayers to Giannis on Twitter

[TSonn]

With the exception of Luka getting booted (IMO by the clearly best team when healthy, which they were), I've really enjoyed these playoffs. It helps that I like Trae and I've lived in Milwaukee and have always liked the Suns a bit, if only for their jerseys when I was 10.

We've seen some incredible individual performances by KD, Luka, Trae, Booker, Kawhi - even PG13. We've also seen some teams overcome crazy deficits. I usually bet on the playoffs because they are fairly easy to predict - but this year has been a rollercoaster and I literally have no idea who is going to win each game let alone the entire series.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by spurs50fan

What’s the actual point to highlighting high or low ratings? I mean, to cut to the chase, when you mention low ratings what do you expect the league to do? Tilt the scale? What do you expect the players to do? Throw the game? Refs to do? Cheat?…well…nvm lol. And since the ratings bemoaning is decades long it’s not about a bubble or shortened season (which the players agreed to).

Just curious because you hear complaints about ratings as a negative when certain teams or players miss out. But then the next thread is about stars teaming up, preferential star treatment, big/small market and predictability. Just seems like a confused mindset

Are ratings not pertinent? The NBA clearly thought so when they got their media partners to pump the first round numbers. They haven’t said a peep since then, and the numbers tell you why.

I think we’re all rooting for healthy interest in the league. It’s just not there right now. And the reasons seem obvious. Very short offseason, Covid, boring regular season, record number of games missed by all-stars and still climbing. Sans Covid, you can blame all of that on the league and players’ decision to start in December.

[Randallk34]

Originally Posted by oshmeehan

And the Suns' best player has a broken nose!

When did Chris Paul break his nose?

[jcardstore]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Are ratings not pertinent? The NBA clearly thought so when they got their media partners to pump the first round numbers. They haven’t said a peep since then, and the numbers tell you why.

I think we’re all rooting for healthy interest in the league. It’s just not there right now. And the reasons seem obvious. Very short offseason, Covid, boring regular season, record number of games missed by all-stars and still climbing. Sans Covid, you can blame all of that on the league and players’ decision to start in December.

It's not like they had any other options. The contract stipulated a 70 game season.

You can't just say sans Covid because that's the entire reason we're in this situation. It sucks but it is what it is.

Hopefully next season gets back to somewhat normal in terms of offseason work out and ramp up to the season

[Akphillips86]

Originally Posted by ballhawkdawk

This season does feel like a bit of a drag. The regular season was unwatchable at times due to the Covid protocols, load management, and general player apathy (basically load management while still playing). We all look forward to the playoffs, and then everybody gets hurt. Even right now three of the four teams are missing their best player. That’s ridiculous.

Yep, getting through the height of COVID protocols was extremely maddening. After all this, there was actually a pretty decent buzz at the beginning of the postseason and then the absolute onslaught of star injuries really killed it. The outcome of this season will forever be plagued with the statement, “if only _____ was healthy…” It’s complete and utter insanity.

With nearly every team’s star down, I think everyone is just ready for this circus to end so we can speculate about next season and root for all of our teams that got eliminated. I feel bad for whoever wins this championship in a way because it’s always going to carry that asterisk stigma. Not their fault at all, but I think it’s inescapable.

I wouldn’t mind a shorter regular season with fewer back to backs and five game playoff series until the finals. Anything to avoid a repeat of this season’s result.


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[indyguy]

If they shortened the season, they wouldn't shorten the series length along with it.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by jcardstore

It's not like they had any other options. The contract stipulated a 70 game season.

You can't just say sans Covid because that's the entire reason we're in this situation. It sucks but it is what it is.

Hopefully next season gets back to somewhat normal in terms of offseason work out and ramp up to the season

Are you saying the only option they had was to start in December?

[jcardstore]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Are you saying the only option they had was to start in December?

The NBA TV deals essentially had a 70 game minimum so they needed to work around that. Not many options.

I'm sure they optimized as much as possible to work around that.

The only other option was a massive pay cut and nobody wanted that

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by jcardstore

The NBA TV deals essentially had a 70 game minimum so they needed to work around that. Not many options.

I'm sure they optimized as much as possible to work around that.

The only other option was a massive pay cut and nobody wanted that

Well that’s my entire point. They put money above all. I get it, but neither the players nor league should be complaining about the outcome here. They sacrificed success in the long term to get their money now.

They should have cut the schedule down to 50-60 games and started in January. Compensate the regional sports networks for the lost revenue. They would have made up for it long term with better ratings.

[atoaz12]

Originally Posted by oshmeehan

Capela could potentially be out as well after taking that elbow to the eye. Sounds like the Hawks are optimistic that he will be OK but he is going to be seeing an Ophthalmologist today. If he has an orbital fracture that could potentially make him miss the rest of the playoffs.

Props to Capela for sending thoughts and prayers to Giannis on Twitter

Can’t believe he was still in the game at that point

[ballhawkdawk]

Originally Posted by Randallk34

When did Chris Paul break his nose?

A couple nights ago Paul George broke his ankles. Does that count?

[daeve]

Originally Posted by deemsterz33

Where did this info come from? Just curious

https://twitter.com/Farbod_E/status/1410078754135703557

I don't know much about this guy as a source, but the comments on reddit made it seem like he usually won't report something like this without there being some merit to it...

[yiguiri2002]

This season sucks. I'm honestly happy for any franchise that wins it but this is a paper championship at this point. All of the big favorites had major injuries, I don't know if whoever wins would even be considered a Top 5 team compared to the other teams fully healthy (except maybe the Suns if CP3/Booker recover for the Finals)

[Randallk34]

Originally Posted by ballhawkdawk

A couple nights ago Paul George broke his ankles. Does that count?

I think he broke his own ankles by flopping