How can we replicate this in the regular season?

bledredwine · Post #1 » by **bledredwine** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 5:46 pm

When I was young, I remember how competitive and exciting regular season games were, particularly between contending teams.
I've got to admit that so far, the playoffs have been really enjoyable and exciting.

I literally can't bare to watch regular season games now, and I know that many fans share this sentiment.
It seems that the in-season tournament was created for this reason and it didn't really pan out.

So biases and cliche "yells at cloud" answers aside, what would you answer if proposed the following question by Silver.......

How can we replicate more of a playoff atmosphere during the regular season?

..... Imagine the excitement if we had games more similar to these DEN/LA games in the regular season. They're far more competitive.

Peregrine01 · Post #2 » by **Peregrine01** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 5:46 pm

Give defense a chance.

Post #3 » by **Nuntius** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 5:48 pm

bledredwine wrote:Beyond surface-level answers, how can we replicate more of a playoff atmosphere during the regular season?

We can't. The playoffs are 7-game series that determine which team's season ends. The regular season are 82 games that only determine whether you make the playoffs or not and which team you're playing against.

They aren't supposed to be the same. One is a marathon, the other is a duel.

bledredwine · Post #4 » by **bledredwine** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 5:49 pm

Nuntius wrote:
bledredwine wrote:Beyond surface-level answers, how can we replicate more of a playoff atmosphere during the regular season?

We can't. The playoffs are 7-game series that determine which team's season ends. The regular season are 82 games that only determine whether you make the playoffs or not and which team you're playing against.

They aren't supposed to be the same. One is a marathon, the other is a duel.

Part of me wants to agree, but part of me remembers the Bulls/Knicks games in the 90s, which were just as intense as the playoff games. Maybe the added aggression to the game naturally created more competitiveness though.

Then again, Miller, Ewing, and Jordan were some of the fiercest competitors and maybe it was for that reason.

Calvin Klein · Post #5 » by **Calvin Klein** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 5:53 pm

58 game season. It will never happen though

Post #6 » by **Nuntius** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 5:59 pm

bledredwine wrote:
Nuntius wrote:
bledredwine wrote:Beyond surface-level answers, how can we replicate more of a playoff atmosphere during the regular season?

We can't. The playoffs are 7-game series that determine which team's season ends. The regular season are 82 games that only determine whether you make the playoffs or not and which team you're playing against.

They aren't supposed to be the same. One is a marathon, the other is a duel.

Part of me wants to agree, but part of me remembers the Bulls/Knicks games in the 90s, which were just as intense as the playoff games. Maybe the added aggression to the game naturally created more competitiveness though.

Then again, Miller, Ewing, and Jordan were some of the fiercest competitors and maybe it was for that reason.

There are still a lot of very intense games throughout the season. As a Pacers fan, I have to say that most of the games we played against the teams that ended up close to us in the standings (New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Orlando, Philly, Miami) were pretty intense, with the ones against Milwaukee having playoff-level atmosphere.

But you will only get those kind of times when there's some kind of history between the two teams or when the two sides are close in the standings and it's close to the end of the season.

You are never, ever going to see this kind of intensity in a random Denver-Washington or Boston-Portland game in November.

EmpireFalls · Post #7 » by **EmpireFalls** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:00 pm

Only possible way is shortening the regular season and/or giving some extra incentive in the games.

But that’s what makes the playoffs the playoffs. They are meaningfully different games than regular season. This is true in every single sport with a playoff format not just the NBA.

tmorgan · Post #8 » by **tmorgan** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:04 pm

…and you never did in the past, either. Selective memory.

Yes, the game used to be a lot more physical, so if that’s what you want, you need rule changes to allow it. Not going to happen, though. But even in the Bad Boys to KG Celtics time frame, there were tons of meaningless, low effort games. The only sport mostly immune to this is football, and they play 17 games.

Prince187 · Post #9 » by **Prince187** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:08 pm

Get rid of guaranteed contracts. Make salaries directly related to the amount of games your team wins. Imagine how much intensity and passion players would have each game if they knew their weekly paycheck was at stake

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2338717&p=109793680#p109793680

Post #10 » by **boomershadow** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:12 pm

Maybe the problem is you have become more jaded than when you were a kid.

Your team wins a game when you're young and you're excited for what seems like eternity. For days your team is on top of the world. The playoffs arent on your mind. Theyre a lifetime away. Win the same type of game these days, and especially if you are tuned into the ridiculous Twitter crowd, it becomes "WHY DID THE COACH PLAY X PLAYER 40 MINUTES JUST TO WIN A MEANINGLESS REGULAR SEASON GAME".

SeanieWard · Post #11 » by **SeanieWard** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:13 pm

Less games for one. Another thing I'm seeing is the refs are letting the players play much more physical on defense in the playoffs without question. If they called the games this way during the regular season we might be a more physical, defensive game during the regular season

dhsilv2 · Post #12 » by **dhsilv2** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:13 pm

bledredwine wrote:
How can we replicate more of a playoff atmosphere during the regular season?

Go back to having 95% of the games only shown on regional TV so fans get a massively skewed view of what a regular season game looks like because players used to get up for the national tv games more so because it was the only time people saw them. Now every game is available to anyone with internet and google. So they don't get up for the massively biased selection of games we as fans got to see.

Karate Diop · Post #13 » by **Karate Diop** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:15 pm

Gotta let the dawgs out. I mean those dudes who go hard and play physical just to survive. Give them a place in the league again and the intensity gon rise.

Shock Defeat · Post #14 » by **Shock Defeat** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:20 pm

Play in tournament

levon · Post #15 » by **levon** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:23 pm

Cancel the regular season

Okay, good-faith response: create series' in the regular season. Have teams play each other 3 times in a row so that adjustments can be made, mimicking small playoff series'. You can't fake the urgency but you can at least create more nuanced and less broadstrokes basketball.

Right now most teams are just on auto-pilot all year and hardly even practice.

mademan · Post #16 » by **mademan** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:28 pm

This year was the most competitive ive ever seen teams play in the regular season. Your memories are biased

amcoolio · Post #17 » by **amcoolio** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:32 pm

20 total regular season games lol

Post #18 » by **Domejandro** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:40 pm

Some people hate it, but the answer has pretty clearly been the Play-In. The end of the season has gotten much more exciting with teams jostling for sixth place, eighth place, and tenth place.

Post #19 » by **tsherkin** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:44 pm

bledredwine wrote:When I was young, I remember how competitive and exciting regular season games were, particularly between contending teams.
I've got to admit that so far, the playoffs have been really enjoyable and exciting.

...

[b]How can we replicate more of a playoff atmosphere during the regular season?
.

You can't. And the regular season has never been as exciting as the playoffs on a consistent basis. In any season. Ever. That is just nostalgia talking, straight up.

sp6r=underrated · Post #20 » by **sp6r=underrated** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:44 pm

bledredwine wrote:When I was young, I remember how competitive and exciting regular season games were, particularly between contending teams.
I've got to admit that so far, the playoffs have been really enjoyable and exciting.

I literally can't bare to watch regular season games now, and I know that many fans share this sentiment.
It seems that the in-season tournament was created for this reason and it didn't really pan out.

So biases and cliche "yells at cloud" answers aside, what would you answer if proposed the following question by Silver.......

How can we replicate more of a playoff atmosphere during the regular season?

..... Imagine the excitement if we had games more similar to these DEN/LA games in the regular season. They're far more competitive.

Only way to get the same excitement in the RS is by limiting the number of teams that make the PS. The NBA basically allows every team with a decent record into the PS so teams go on autopilot.

Contrast that with something like college football in which very few teams make the post-season. So everyone goes all out in the RS.