Two ways the NBA could be better to watch.

[pearljammer10]

Strongly disagree with the original post. The season is a great length. The one thing I might take away would be the length of the pre season. Let them go into training camp and then just start rolling.

I also disagree with taking more days off between games. 82 games is great but the season length could even be a little shorter.

Make the NBA better to watch? Add trampolines and get rid of fouls... Oh, wait.

[jdub1660]

More televised games. Look at MLB and NFL. Both percentage wise have more televised games. The whole NBA league Pass is overpriced.

Replays should be implemented more, and coaches should have the ability to challenge a call for the price of a timeout if coach is wrong.(like NFL)

Technicals for flopping - I don't care if it's KG,Bosh or Kobe
If you flop, you get a technical. No more hands on the waste, fall to the floor like you were shoved by Brock Lesnar. No more pinky touches the shooting arm and player kicks the legs and and flails their arms around like they were maced by Dogg the Bounty Hunter.

[incoherent]

I have heard Stern talk about the issue of the 82 long game season.

He very clearly stated it was never going to change and teams will have the learn to manage their players better over the course of the season.

[action781]

I have heard Stern talk about the issue of the 82 long game season.

He very clearly stated it was never going to change and teams will have the learn to manage their players better over the course of the season.

From an economic standpoint, keeping 82 games makes sense.  Lots of teams are still selling out, so the market is pretty saturated as is.  From a fan perspective, I'd love to see fewer games (even just 10 per team) by simply cutting out 1 game from every back-to-back in the schedule.  The celtics and other teams don't play basketball that is fun for the fans to watch on the 2nd night of back-to-backs.  It won't happen though.

I think the all-star game determining HCA is a great idea.  A big reason is the 2-3-2 format of the Finals.  Some people (not me) genuinely believe that the road team has the advantage in this format by getting the pivotal game 5 at home.  I'd still rather have game 7 at home, but I do agree that the advantage for the home team in 2-3-2 is less than in 2-2-1-1-1.  And this could make the all-star game much more entertaining, I mean really, with all the talent in the all star games, there would be ridiculous potential for some amazing games.

[Greenbean]

I have heard Stern talk about the issue of the 82 long game season.

He very clearly stated it was never going to change and teams will have the learn to manage their players better over the course of the season.

From an economic standpoint, keeping 82 games makes sense.  Lots of teams are still selling out, so the market is pretty saturated as is.  From a fan perspective, I'd love to see fewer games (even just 10 per team) by simply cutting out 1 game from every back-to-back in the schedule.  The celtics and other teams don't play basketball that is fun for the fans to watch on the 2nd night of back-to-backs.  It won't happen though.

I think the all-star game determining HCA is a great idea.  A big reason is the 2-3-2 format of the Finals.  Some people (not me) genuinely believe that the road team has the advantage in this format by getting the pivotal game 5 at home.  I'd still rather have game 7 at home, but I do agree that the advantage for the home team in 2-3-2 is less than in 2-2-1-1-1.  And this could make the all-star game much more entertaining, I mean really, with all the talent in the all star games, there would be ridiculous potential for some amazing games.

HCA is way too big of a factor in basketball to make an AS game be the determinant.

Remember how well the Hawks played at home in 07-08? If they had HCA in that series they would have won. there I said it!

The home team wins over 75% of the time in the finals.

Maybe some other kind of motivating factor...like money would do the trick.

[incoherent]

The AS game really should not be played for anything of meaning.

I do agree though that the game would be MUCH better if it was moved until after the Finals.

[KobeShesNotConsenting!]

I would think coming up with a better system for officiating would be one of the top things on most people lists of making the NBA better to watch.Personally i feel if they have an age limit to be on the court that can actually call a game.Once he/she has reached that age their job responsibity changes  into another capacity until he/she retires.If you noticed the majority of the officials people have the most problems with are the older ones.Another way to clean the game up is bring in a freshly trained group of officials for the playoffs that wasn't used in the regular season.That way you cut down on bias officiating and players having less of an idea of which officials might give them a break.

I was thinking along these lines but even further. I think the reffing should entirely come from a 3rd party entity, separate from the nba. For the entire season and post season.

[KobeShesNotConsenting!]

I would think coming up with a better system for officiating would be one of the top things on most people lists of making the NBA better to watch.Personally i feel if they have an age limit to be on the court that can actually call a game.Once he/she has reached that age their job responsibity changes  into another capacity until he/she retires.If you noticed the majority of the officials people have the most problems with are the older ones.Another way to clean the game up is bring in a freshly trained group of officials for the playoffs that wasn't used in the regular season.That way you cut down on bias officiating and players having less of an idea of which officials might give them a break.

I was thinking along these lines but even further. I think the reffing should entirely come from a 3rd party entity, separate from the nba. For the entire season and post season.

[KobeShesNotConsenting!]

Also, we all know the nba (and everything) is about money, money, money. So even though they know the level of play would be improved if they shortened the season, they wont do it cus it would mean cutting profit. (even though i think improved play might actually draw more fans and change the general view that players often dont care in the nba)

[wdleehi]

I think the piece most people don't think about when they talk about the officials, the way they call the game is making the NBA happy.



The NBA market stars, not teams.


The NBA officials call games to help the stars.



Stars then seem even better then they are.



NBA can market them more. 




Until the NBA gets to promoting team first, they are not going to ask the officials to change how they call games. 

[Finkelskyhook]

Adjust the rules of the game on fouls inside. Right now there is way too much ambiguity and the rules put too much control of the game in the refs hands.

I dont blame the refs, I blame the rules.

LOL.  Which set of rules are you referring to?  The rulebook the messiah plays under?  The rulebook Nash, Pierce, Howard, Bryant, Wade, Anthony, and Stoudemire play under?  Or the rulebook that the rest of the league plays under?

Concerning the 52 game idea....Was the NBA game any more competitive when there was a 50 game season the year of the strike?  I remember that season.  I'd say no.

I'd say abolish the all-star game before bringing any postseason relevence to it.  It works for baseball but I can't see where it works here.  Not only are the dynamics of the game different.  But with the way NBA players are officiated...If that game became relevent, we'd have the most confused crew of officials in sports' history for that game.

[SHAQATTACK]

I think the NBA has a diluted player roster per team now days compared to the 70's .

1)To many WEAK small franchise teams. dragging the league down. But this is the trend to ADD teams , like NCAA , not reduce the number.

2) Too many games played.  Players need 2-3 days recovery time . I hate seeing a bunch of guys limping around all the time. Make every game , like NFL be more important , and the players will be healthier and able to make a better showing .  NO BACK TO BACK games.

[arctic 3.0]

big fan of fewer games. means healthier teams meet in playoffs
and less midseason slog.
 

from a tv standpoint, leave the stupid video game graphics to football.

[Andy Jick]

I know this will never happen, but make players stay in college for 3 years...  Years ago guys would leave "early" after their third year and it was then referred to (un-politically correct, I recognize) "hardship."

The college game would greatly improve and as a result NBA players would be more pro-ready.  We wouldn't see all the Gerald Green's of the world getting drafted so soon because everyone would acknowledge how stupid that is.

The Moses Malone's, KG's, Kobe's, Amare's, and LeBron's of the world are rare and special cases.  The game is suffering because it's become more athletic at the expense of basketball IQ.

I remember 1980's NCAA basketball...it was amazing how awesome it was to see the great rivalries.  That doesn't happen any longer, and it's sad because many miss out on that today.

[wdleehi]

I know this will never happen, but make players stay in college for 3 years...  Years ago guys would leave "early" after their third year and it was then referred to (un-politically correct, I recognize) "hardship."

The college game would greatly improve and as a result NBA players would be more pro-ready.  We wouldn't see all the Gerald Green's of the world getting drafted so soon because everyone would acknowledge how stupid that is.

The Moses Malone's, KG's, Kobe's, Amare's, and LeBron's of the world are rare and special cases.  The game is suffering because it's become more athletic at the expense of basketball IQ.

I remember 1980's NCAA basketball...it was amazing how awesome it was to see the great rivalries.  That doesn't happen any longer, and it's sad because many miss out on that today.

I am all for the "wait 3 years after high school" rule, but I don't care as much if they go to college.


If they need to make money right away, I am happy to see them spend those 3 years overseas playing. 



Either way, NBA teams get a real long chance to scout them and track their improvement.