Will teams rethink the IST?

[celticsclay]

I know a number of us were publicly ok with the Celtics getting knocked out against the pacers arguing hanging a banner for a made up tourney was not worth extra wear and tear on old or injury prone players like Horford or porzginas or adding to the massive workload players like Jaylen, jrue and Tatum have experienced playing 15-20 playoff games every year the last half decade. What has happened since that tournament has only reinforced what many of us were concerned about. The lakers are 1-5 with the only win a 3 point win over the spurs and bad losses to the bulls and spurs. The pacers are the same at 1-5 with a win over the hornets. And for those that will say this is all a coincidence Lebron specifically mentioned how long the lakers have been on the road and their minutes load as part of the reasons for their losses. Do people think this may make teams less into playing stars 42 minutes for games in December to run up a point differential or hang a joke of a banner? I know I’ll certainly be relieved if the Celtics can avoid the wear and tear of it next year also and the league needs to tweak this to not burn teams out or cause injuries in December.

[SparzWizard]

I'm all for the Celtics staying healthy. Never was a fan of IST tbh-- simply because of the health and long-term impact to the team's success.

IST is just a mickey mouse gimmick. The only games that I do care about are the regular 82 season games playing through IST season because they count towards team percentages and home-court advantage matters in the NBA playoffs. At least, it looks like it's starting to matter for the Celtics this season.

Since Laker fans like using their IST banner as an actual NBA championship banner against Celtics fanbase, one upping them for fun would be hilarious. They have 17.5 banners is what they say. I just hope the C's can win the championship banner that matters in June...long overdue.

[Neurotic Guy]

This is exactly why I hated the IST for the Cs. Wish they had just beaten the Bulls by less than 23.  No way the Cs go 5-0 on the post-IST home stand  and who knows what their psyche would be right now if they’d played the two games in Vegas.  I really despise the tournament whose finalists are now the 8 and 10 seeds in their respective conferences.  If it bothers anyone that the Lakers won that’s giving it way more meaning than it should have. 

[BudweiserCeltic]

I don't see why people have such a strong opinion over this. Got better things to do than worrying about something that has little impact on a basketball season.

[celticsclay]

I don't see why people have such a strong opinion over this. Got better things to do than worrying about something that has little impact on a basketball season.

Person with 18k posts on a basketball forum wonders why others make posts during regular season. lol

[CelticsWhat35]

Why do people think the Lakers and Pacers are struggling because of the IST?  They’re both mediocre teams that got hot for a short period of time.  Winning the IST says nothing about a team’s prospects for success in the playoffs.

I think the IST was fine.  It gave some games a little more juice, but it doesn’t change the fact that the title in June is still all that really matters

[scaryjerry]

No? It’s perfect for teams that have no real shot at the real title but want to compete and win something, just like the lakers and pacers. I don’t attribute there struggles to playing in the in season tournament. They’ve just regressed to what they are since…average

[Neurotic Guy]

Why do people think the Lakers and Pacers are struggling because of the IST?  They’re both mediocre teams that got hot for a short period of time.  Winning the IST says nothing about a team’s prospects for success in the playoffs.

I think the IST was fine.  It gave some games a little more juice, but it doesn’t change the fact that the title in June is still all that really matters

More so, I thought the Cs would have a very rough stretch with their post-Vegas schedule given an extra game, added minutes/intensity, an additional cross country travel.  So, since I didn’t care at all about the IST, I preferred the Cs not be involved in Vegas. I believe the Celtics would now be behind the Bucks and Sixers in the standings if the Cs had played in the final IST game.  Who knows what wi old have happened, but that explains my dislike for the Cs to have played in Vegas.

The post-IST woes of the Lakers and Pacers is just a convenient argument even if you are correct that their slides have nothing to do with the IST. 


Mostly, with regard to the tournament, I found it uninteresting and unnecessary. But I think I’m in the minority on that. No big deal.

[Surferdad]

No? It’s perfect for teams that have no real shot at the real title but want to compete and win something, just like the lakers and pacers. I don’t attribute there struggles to playing in the in season tournament. They’ve just regressed to what they are since…average

For that reason alone, the IST should be abandoned. This is what the regular season is for.

I am not sure why fans care about the IST. At least for players there is a financial incentive.

[Roy H.]

The IST isn't going anywhere.  It brought eyeballs and revenue, and the players were engaged.

I'm not sure that one extra game is to blame for the Lakers / Pacers slumping.  Maybe they're just unfocused teams that needed a short-term goal.   The Lakers have played 30 games (29 regular season, 1 IST final).  The Pacers have played 28.  That's in line with other teams, such as the Jazz (30 games), Cavaliers (29), Nuggets (29), Pelicans (29), etc.

I don't think the Celts would be playing significantly differently if they'd had one extra game at this point.

The trophy / banner is meaningless, but it's nice to see the players occasionally exert effort.  If the team is pushing for regular season wins, that will pay off in seeding.

[Moranis]

No? It’s perfect for teams that have no real shot at the real title but want to compete and win something, just like the lakers and pacers. I don’t attribute there struggles to playing in the in season tournament. They’ve just regressed to what they are since…average

For that reason alone, the IST should be abandoned. This is what the regular season is for.

I am not sure why fans care about the IST. At least for players there is a financial incentive.

I know the Cavs saw an increase in viewership for the IST games verse the regular games in the same time-frame.  I suspect that holds across much of the league

[Phantom255x]

Anthony Davis himself said this doesn't really count as anything of value lol.

And also, again, what's the incentive for the fans? Cool, there's a few days in November that are funner than the others because of the scenarios to qualify. Now that it's over, it's back to the same and in fact there's still a lot of "load managing" going on.

The players get some money and go to Vegas for some days. Again, that does nothing for me or fans.

[Vermont Green]

The IST isn't going anywhere.  It brought eyeballs and revenue, and the players were engaged.

I'm not sure that one extra game is to blame for the Lakers / Pacers slumping.  Maybe they're just unfocused teams that needed a short-term goal.   The Lakers have played 30 games (29 regular season, 1 IST final).  The Pacers have played 28.  That's in line with other teams, such as the Jazz (30 games), Cavaliers (29), Nuggets (29), Pelicans (29), etc.

I don't think the Celts would be playing significantly differently if they'd had one extra game at this point.

The trophy / banner is meaningless, but it's nice to see the players occasionally exert effort.  If the team is pushing for regular season wins, that will pay off in seeding.

I agree with this.  I don't believe that a couple of games in Vegas 2 weeks ago is having any physical impact on the players.  Maybe there is a mental let down.  Going from a "title" game to just another weeknight game, may have impacted motivation, I don't know.

I could not care less if they do this again or not.  I had to stop and think if the Lakers or the Pacers won.  I couldn't tell you who the semifinal losers were.  I admit that I did get caught up in the manufactured drama a little, at the time, but I am so completely over it now.

[Roy H.]

No? It’s perfect for teams that have no real shot at the real title but want to compete and win something, just like the lakers and pacers. I don’t attribute there struggles to playing in the in season tournament. They’ve just regressed to what they are since…average

For that reason alone, the IST should be abandoned. This is what the regular season is for.

I am not sure why fans care about the IST. At least for players there is a financial incentive.

I know the Cavs saw an increase in viewership for the IST games verse the regular games in the same time-frame.  I suspect that holds across much of the league

Very anecdotally, but I definitely paid more attention to the game against Chicago than I would have otherwise.  Same with the Indiana game.

[Roy H.]

And also, again, what's the incentive for the fans? Cool, there's a few days in November that are funner than the others because of the scenarios to qualify. Now that it's over, it's back to the same and in fact there's still a lot of "load managing" going on.

The players get some money and go to Vegas for some days. Again, that does nothing for me or fans.

Well, as you mentioned, it led to some increased fan interest during the regular season.  Ultimately, it's meaningless, but I do think it gave us the opportunity to evaluate the team under some increased pressure scenarios.  It didn't turn out great for us, so hopefully that's a learning opportunity.