They give the Warriors 10 days off and the Cavs 7 days off before the Finals. The playoffs have been horrendous and all this superstar teaming up has led to a watered down product with 28 teams that have zero chance of making the Finals.

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God is the uncaused cause of the universe. He had no beginning and has no end. He is not bound by the laws of the universe he created.

The Final Countdown
Final Cut
Final Destination

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While I understand why they want their games on the most watched TV nights (Thursday and Sunday nights) it is ridiculous to have 7 or 8 days in between series.

As to the balance (or lack of) of the NBA, is that new? Typically, the NBA is dominated by the best players in the playoffs. LeBron James is an incredible player, and his teams go to the NBA Finals each year. That will probably be the case for the next 2-3 years as well.

I can't understand being an NBA fan anymore, really, I can't.

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What about all those games LeBron and Kyrie were given during the season so they could "rest" ?

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

The regular season in the NBA has very little meaning. Players do want to put up their numbers (and they do), but I don't think teams like Cleveland really care what seed they have or are playing to avoid a specific matchup in the playoffs. There are some teams that will claim making the playoffs shows a level of quality or improvement, but we typically know the final four in the NBA most seasons (this year, Washington vs. Boston was pretty even).

MLB has too long of a regular season - it would be fantastic if the playoffs were started/completed in September while the weather across the country is still warm as opposed to October and occasionally into November. I'd love to reduce the regular season by 30 games, but I realize that it isn't likely to happen. NFL regular season games are all big. With the current setup, you really need to win 10 games to feel good about a playoff spot outside of the occassional weak division where 8 wins can get a team in.

Yeah, remember the good old days when parity ruled the NBA and every team had a chance?

1989 Detroit Pistons 4-0 Los Angeles Lakers
1988 Los Angeles Lakers 4-3 Detroit Pistons
1987 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Boston Celtics
1986 Boston Celtics 4-2 Houston Rockets
1985 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Boston Celtics
1984 Boston Celtics 4-3 Los Angeles Lakers
1983 Philadelphia 76ers 4-0 Los Angeles Lakers
1982 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Philadelphia 76ers
1981 Boston Celtics 4-2 Houston Rockets
1980 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Philadelphia 76ers

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There are MANY days off right now because both of the conference championship series were cakewalks. If either series would have gone 7 games, there would have been games played this past weekend. The same thing would happen in LCS series' in MLB.

In conclusion, you're an idiot.

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If either series went 6 games, you're looking at 4-5 days off until the Finals. It's just a few more days. Not a big deal. If you're an NBA fan, you should want both teams to be well rested. Everyone knew the Cavs and Warriors would meet again this season and they just played about 100 meaningless games the past 7 months. 7 or 8 days off will do them good. Game 1 should be phenomenal.

You know what the best game of the series will be?

The last game, because then we don't have to deal with another NBA game for a few months.

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The NBA is king, frank

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Both teams swept through their conference final opponents in 2015 and enjoyed long breaks, and I'd say that finals, while competitive, featured some really ugly basketball.

Indeed this entire playoffs reminds me of that year as pretty much every single series was an utterly dreadful affair, though this year's been more fatalistic. I think there's an excellent chance Golden State runs through Cleveland in 5 or so, and while I'd like to see competitive basketball, I have also gotten sick of the hot takes that all the pointlessness in the playoffs will somehow be justified because the final simply must be a classic.

I was wondering when someone would point this is out. The only notable difference for me and it is relevant pertains to conf playoffs. I don't remember a time when teams were going 12-1 or 12-0 during the conf rounds. That's a joke but you always knew that the same 2-3 teams would be there every year during the 80's. Boston-L.A with a little Philly/Houston sprinkled in during early mid 80's. Later Pistons replaced Philly.

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Nobody had a chance against Jordan in the 90's. Then it was pretty much the Lakers or the Spurs for the next decade.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

I like it when the best of the best play for it all each year.
If Boston got to the Finals people would be complaining about being letdown that Cleveland didn't make it.

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I've said this a couple times here and I'll say it again here because I think there's merit to it: the NBA (and maybe a few other sports) doesn't lend itself to market expansionism in terms of creating a good product (the business side of the product might be fine). You continue to expand then you'll continue to see a watered down league where the disparity between the haves and the have nots only increases. The league has tried to incentivize superstars to stay in place to spur better competition but if those stars continue to take less to go elsewhere or team up then you're going to continue to see things like this year's playoffs.

I don't think you can continue to expand AND have a good product because, frankly, there's only so many LBJs and KDs to go around. To really reach the heights of NBA stardom you need to have some combination of the following:

- be at least 6'5
- be supremely skilled at dribbling, shooting, defense/rebounding, or some combination thereof
- have preternatural athleticism, especially if you don't have the height

Obvious exceptions apply. There's not that many guys like that, and the guys who are like that end up tilting the balance of the league in their team's favor because they're so uniquely dominant. You can stop that by basically shutting down 3-5 teams so those players are redistributed to less-talented teams to boost up the level of competition within the league. Obviously that's not going to happen but if it did then you'd have better competition. Like other leagues the NBA probably depends on its skills and outreach programs to create future superstars, but frankly I think the NBA, maybe more than any other league, depends on its star players winning the genetic lottery, so the superstar pool is limited to begin with. You can coach a guy to pitch, to tackle, to skate, but you can't coach a guy to be 6'8 and touch the top of the backboard.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

I think it comes down to the number of active players on most nights. In a league where you'll run teams with just 8 players giving meaningful minutes, each one of those eight is more important collectively than the 22 (+ 3 special teams guys) that the NFL runs. Imagine if we were playing hockey penalty shot games with 30 cities each having 6 man teams. Anyone with a really good shooter or goalie would immediately jump to the top of the league. Baseball is similar (although there is a pitching rotation, there's a greater imbalance of success/failure based on your pitcher, so having a great one can be the same as having two great fielding position guys.)

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

I agree. That's also why it's much easier for the unremarkably athletic to excel in the NFL - there's more opportunity. Because the NBA is so exclusive it's easier to create a quasi monopoly on talent.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

It's not just that it's the same two teams in the Finals for a third straight year (and LeBron for seven straight), it's that we knew it would be the Finals since October, and they blew through their conferences like it was nothing. It's one thing that it already feels utterly pointless to be a fan of two-thirds of the league, but this year even made following the Spurs, Rockets, and Celtics feel pointless. Oh well, Appreciate Greatness, I guess.

It's a funny contrast with the NHL, which is currently suffering from too much parity due to the lousy CBA and cratered Canadian economy. The NHL regular season is meaningless because the playoffs are a crapshoot; an 8 can beat a 1 because the 1 seed's captain smokes too much weed and forgets you have to score goals to win. The NBA's regular season is meaningless because the best teams are predestined. Neither seems fan-friendly to me, but again, who gives a fuck, the NBA is balls-deep in Chinese money now.

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When the NBA had fewer teams it was still dominated by 2-3 teams. I think the 70's was the only decade in which you had different champions almost every year. That may have been influenced by the influx of talent from the ABA more than anything.

During the 80's you knew which teams were going to be in the Finals each year before the season started. 90's same thing at least as far as the East goes. West was up for grabs so you did have that I guess but the Bulls were going to be there.

I think what what is absolutely killing the league now this teaming up for the purpose of creating super teams. When Durant pulled that stunt last season I criticized him for doing it because he'd departed from a team that was more talented with than the one he'd decided to join.

There were people here that disagreed. They stated that he had a right to go wherever he wanted. That's true but I wasn't looking at it from a right to work standpoint. Mine was from the perspective of competition. If Durant remains with OKC you get a helluva Western Conf playoffs. Spurs 3rd Clippers 4th. All barring injuries of course.

As long as guys are bouncing from team to team chasing rings instead of seeking out competition you are going to keep getting this. The perception of Durant will forever be changed beccause of the move that he made.

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Following the Spurs wasn't pointless. They had a great chance of beating the Warriors if Kawhi doesn't get hurt when they're up by 20 in game 1.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

To be fair this is the third consecutive finals featuring Cavs/Warriors

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Yeah, I don't know how different that is than LA vs philly 3/4 years followed by LA vs Boston 3/4 years

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Go fuck yourself.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul