The NBA is going in the tank...

[DipSetVC]

What other professional sports league only has 3 or 4 teams that legitimately can be called championship contenders? The lack of true parity in the NBA is sickening and the huge drop in national TV ratings backs that up. Now excuse me as I prepare for another vomit inducing Pistons/Spurs Final, I know you Pistons and Spurs fans will say that I'm not a "true" basketball fan if I don't want to torture myself watching those two teams play "basketball", but those two teams will be the death of the NBA.

Rant over.

(God, I hope someone like the Mavericks, Heat or Suns prove me wrong.)

[TRUball]

(God, I hope someone like the Mavericks, Heat or Suns prove me wrong.)

Wouldn't it be great if it was the 8th Seed in East (Sixers/Bulls/Magic) vs. 8th Seed in West (Kings/Lakers) in the Finals? It won't happen, but it'd be cool.

[DipSetVC]

Anything to get the casual fan interested in the game again. When you market individual players over teams much more than any other sport like the NBA does, it only makes sense that those popular players are needed in May and June to garner more interest in the playoffs. Like I said before, we need LeBron and the Cavs or Wade/Shaq and the Heat or Steve Nash and the Suns or Dirk and the Mavs to make a serious run at the title or the watered down game we see from the Spurs/Pistons will kill any hope of the NBA gaining any more casual fans. The huge drop-off in the national TV ratings and the fact that playoff ratings continue to drop really has me concerned.

[Fewrookies-From2kW/Love]

If you would have posted this a weak earlier, I was going to boast about Nets like hell but so much for that.

[The X]

what league are you comparing it to? if you look at English Premier League, only 3 or 4 teams ever win it (Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal & maybe Liverpool if they have a great year)....you look at most soccer leagues & the same 2 or 3 teams win every name....domestically or internationally....

[Matt]

yeah. 1 of 3 the 60 win teams will win a championship this season.....and the East bracket is pathetic.

[Buckley]

(God, I hope someone like the Mavericks, Heat or Suns prove me wrong.)

Wouldn't it be great if it was the 8th Seed in East (Sixers/Bulls/Magic) vs. 8th Seed in West (Kings/Lakers) in the Finals? It won't happen, but it'd be cool.

Preferably, I would like that, since my Sixers could probably only be the 8 seed. Theres a 99% chance it wont happen but if u ask George Mason, theyll tell u anything can happen.

[MetalHead]

You're right, the talent pool in this decade is incredibly poor compared to the 90s...although its somewhat too one-sided, seeing as in the early 90s, literally every team had at least one superstar. And I'm not talking about some snivelling, money-hungry whiner, I'm talking about a legitimate all-star.

[Andrew]

It's nothing out of the ordinary though. I can't remember a time when there was, say, ten or more legitimate contenders. There's usually only around five or six teams tops that have a really good shot at going all the way and could be considered legitimate title contenders, with a few more on the edge that have one or two deficiencies that (as expected) end up costing them the opportunity to even make it past the Conference Finals or Semi-Finals.

[koberulz]

look at the NBL. the last few years there was only one legitimate contender. last year there were two. this coming season there will be two.

[Andrew]

The NBL's problems extend far beyond that though. The NBA's not exactly in danger of becoming like the NBL.

[koberulz]

the point was more that four title contenders is in no way a small number, and not many leagues have many more. look at the afl. a few years ago it was just essendon. they lost one game all season or something. then it was brisbane, and its now evened off a bit, but i doubt that by this point in the nba season in the afl season (if that makes sense), there will be more than three or four real candidates.

[BIG GREEN]

What other professional sports league only has 3 or 4 teams that legitimately can be called championship contenders? The lack of true parity in the NBA is sickening and the huge drop in national TV ratings backs that up. Now excuse me as I prepare for another vomit inducing Pistons/Spurs Final, I know you Pistons and Spurs fans will say that I'm not a "true" basketball fan if I don't want to torture myself watching those two teams play "basketball", but those two teams will be the death of the NBA.

Rant over.

(God, I hope someone like the Mavericks, Heat or Suns prove me wrong.)

The facts speak for themselves..and you're right. People may debate about the specifics reasons..but the fact is...the ratings for the nba are worse and worse. This year's all-star game had the lowest ratings ever. If the knicks were a contender..and shaq was still with the lakers..i'm sure it would "help" things.

People don't want to see "team" ball..and two teams filled with average players. The casual basketball fan...which is 60% of the audience..wants to see lebron vs. kobe in the finals. Micheal Jordan vs. karl malone/charles barkley, bird vs. magic/wilkens....chauncy billups vs. tim duncan?..lol..no thanks.

[TRUball]

The facts speak for themselves..and you're right. People may debate about the specifics reasons..but the fact is...the ratings for the nba are worse and worse. This year's all-star game had the lowest ratings ever. If the knicks were a contender..and shaq was still with the lakers..i'm sure it would "help" things.

People don't want to see "team" ball..and two teams filled with average players. The casual basketball fan...which is 60% of the audience..wants to see lebron vs. kobe in the finals. Micheal Jordan vs. karl malone/charles barkley, bird vs. magic/wilkens....chauncy billups vs. tim duncan?..lol..no thanks.

It's kind of sad... but it's so true at the same time. I like the LeBron vs. Kobe in the Finals idea.

[Immali]

I understand why the casual baskeball fan want to see a "big star" final....but do you really think that a Spurs-Pistons final would be without stars???
Well, last year i really enjoyed the finals (even if my heart was with the Pistons... ). There was really good games and, moreover, i think that Duncan+Ginobili+Parker+Horry and Rasheed+Tayshawn+Billups+Hamilton+Big Ben (well, the entire detroit lineup) is a great thing to watch.
Watch how TD moves, how complete he is; watch Horry's ability to make ALL the important shots; watch Tayshawn great defence; Big Ben energy...well if you're a casual basketball fan and don't love basketball after all of this....you can change TV channel and watch something else.
I agree it's great when a 8th seed team advance to the finals. Watch what happened in the NFL this year with the Steelers...
I really think the only sport that is going in the tank is Soccer. In my youth i was mad for soccer...but now the games are soooo boring In a soccer season there are only few enjoyable games...you can count them on the fingers of an hand.
So i don't think NBA is going in the tank.
Just my opinion...

BTW...i'd really enjoy a Suns-Heat final....

[Matt]

too many teams, not a lack of talent.....80's would have been the same as the current NBA if they too had 30 teams.

I think 26 teams would be good for the NBA. Getting rid of 4 teams would drastically improve some others

[1CenT]

if only houston had their full team ( like 2nd half of last year ) with addition of stromile, rafer, ultra smooth superstar mcgrady + #1 scoring center yao ming would haf spice up the ratings..

also the nets with the kidd, carter, jefferson trio would be nice to watch, if they were doing damage like they did a week ago...
Amare's out too... gosh

I want to see spurs lose, i don't see the pistons losing to the heat, but maybe if wade has a super series, it'll be fun to watch, or the nets get into the finals

[J@3]

Didn't you go spastic at RealGM after the Raptors lost, spammed up the Bucks forum and got banned?

[gnohgnek]

What other professional sports league only has 3 or 4 teams that legitimately can be called championship contenders?

if i could talk about England soccer(which i will)...
try the EPL...
for the last hmmmmm 10-20 years... until today, there are only 4 teams that can be considered championship contenders which are : Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United.

and 2-3 years ago, Arsenal kept an unbeaten record for the whole season.
and 2-3 years ago, Pistons won..., who would had thought they would, seriously...?

[MileSquare]

The NBA needs somebody like LeBron or Wade in the Finals to capture popularity.

What I can't stand about the NBA playoffs is the amount of time it takes. I hated it when the NBA switched the first round series to seven games (hmmm I wonder why $$$). Why doesn't the NBA just make the playoffs like the NFL (I know I know $$$ again), but they would be much more fun to watch. Honestly, how many people are looking forward to an epic Sixers/Pistons matchup?

[TRUball]

What I can't stand about the NBA playoffs is the amount of time it takes. I hated it when the NBA switched the first round series to seven games (hmmm I wonder why $$$).

Yeah, I disliked that also, it made it a lot less likely of any upsets in the first round.

[shadowgrin]

I don't think the NBA is in danger of dying anytime soon. With the crop of young stars like Lebron, Wade, and even Chris Paul, the NBA will be ok.

[Matthew]

What other professional sports league only has 3 or 4 teams that legitimately can be called championship contenders? The lack of true parity in the NBA is sickening and the huge drop in national TV ratings backs that up. Now excuse me as I prepare for another vomit inducing Pistons/Spurs Final, I know you Pistons and Spurs fans will say that I'm not a "true" basketball fan if I don't want to torture myself watching those two teams play "basketball", but those two teams will be the death of the NBA.

Rant over.

(God, I hope someone like the Mavericks, Heat or Suns prove me wrong.)

This has to be one of the dumbest posts. You say only 3 teams are legit in the nba? I refer you back to the 2004 season. Everyone felt the championship would be decided with the spurs/lakers series, but what happened? "but the nba is so predictable"...

as for the ratings being down, thats primarily becuase of the tv deal with little games on free to air. theres also other factors, like high schoolers comming in, but its mainly the tv deal. look at attendence and tell me the game is struggling.

[Colin]

^Very true. The reason the all-star game is getting worse ratings is that they've moved it to cable. If you're comparing it to network TV it seems bad. Before Family Guy got picked up again it's re-runs were doing 500,000 on the Cartoon Network (cable channel) and it was considered very impressive. Whereas Arrested Development was on the verge of being cancelled on Fox with a million viewers (and was eventually cancelled.) Perspective is key.

[dinocarlo]

All 16 teams are championship contenders until the time they are eliminated. The NBA is never predictable based on history, just ask the 1995 Rockets, 2004 Pistons, among others.

Oh and by the way, I think all the teams are talented . The Knicks have Starbury, Steve Francis, Q, and a lot of promising rookies. The problem is attitude.