Friday, February 7, 2014

How NBA could overtake NFL as #1 sport

new NBA commissioner Adam Silver's priorities

First of all, the NBA  won't overtake the NFL in a positive sense.  Meaning, without the total collapse of the NFL because of scandal or mismanagement.

But let's say that we had to come up with a plan:


1.  Dramatically shrink the schedule to 41 games.  Start  the season on Christmas day.  Play no more than 2 games maximum a week.
2.  Shrink the number of playoff teams to 12. Two first round byes in each league.  First round best of  3 games  all at home for team with best record.  Next round  best of 7 games  with 5 at home and 2 on road (h-h-r-hhr-h).  Championship rounds best 7( hh-rrr-hh).  The team with the best record gets home court advantage.  Seeding determined by divisions and wild cards. This would make the games more meaningful.
4.  Develop a robust minor league system between college and the pros, using baseball minor leagues as model.  Have those small town teams linked to a big league city
5.  Shorten the games to 40 minutes.
6.  encourage and allow more personality on the court.
7.  Then wake up, because NFL is still king!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. i agree they should shrink the calendar but not that much. the way the nba works is:
Each team have to play:
4 games against the other 4 division opponents, [4x4=16 games]
4 games against 6 (out-of-division) conference opponents, [4x6=24 games]
3 games against the remaining 4 conference teams, [3x4=12 games]
2 games against teams in the opposing conference. [2x15=30 games]

2. i agree to some extent. it should be 5 games all the way through the playoffs. top seed gets the first 2 games then the next 2 go to the other team then the last is played at top seeds city. the playoffs test a teams ability to endure. 7 games, a game every 2 days. its hard on a player especially since this is not regular season. you cant sit out a game or two because your sore. you go full throttle and it adds another dynamic to the game.

3.(you skipped 3) the NBA has a minor league. for example my home town thunder is affiliated with the tulas 66'ers.
4. I have absolutely no idea why you added that in. shrink the game 8 minutes? why? the game is fine as it is, i go to a lot of thunder games and the length is perfect. i dont want to pay 120 dollars for a seat and leave after an hour.

5.i agree the nba has some strict dress codes and rules about self promotion. but i am not the most informed person in that area so ill leave it at this, players wear shorts and sleeveless tops. and shoes. there is not a lot of room for "personality". if your not talking about dress then i am not sure what you mean. what do you want? player celebration after every basket?
7. No shit i thought this article was about the NBA becoming king, not who is the current king of american sports.

Anonymous said...

Basketball in my opinion is already starting to take over as americas sport. From a business standpoint, arenas are cheaper to build than stadium, they get more games and events a year, and they are multipurpose. Which is why cities might prefer an nba team over a football team. Also basketball courts are in every school, park, neighborhood driveway in america. all a kid needs is a ball. The game being so available to youth has contributed to its increase in popularity over the years. And not to mention teams are smaller so a person or kid getting into basketball would know every single guy on his favorite team and the rotation. Basketball does lack the hard hits of football but it is faster pace and id rather watch a buzzer beater rather than a tackle any day of the week. a city does not have to be giant to have an nba team. if anything smaller medium sized cities are better because you get more of a community feel. look at the success of san antonio and oklahoma city. and the Bucks in the early 2000s.