NBA Finals not living up to standard
Another NBA Finals is history, and here are my thoughts:
1. The Finals, as an event, has an identity problem. The Finals are too much about the individual. It’s always, can Kobe win without Shaq. Or can Kevin Garnett get the ring. It’s never focused on the team or franchise.
The Super Bowl isn’t that way. The World Series isn’t that way. But the NBA Finals are. Not since Detroit in 2003 has the NBA championship been about a team winning the crown, though you could argue San Antonio isn’t mired in the individual morass that plagues the sport.
I love the NBA playoffs and have written about that extensively. But the Finals are a different story.
2. Here’s an example of the Finals’ slump. In the last 21 years, we’ve had exactly two NBA Finals that went seven games. Two out of 21. And neither were exactly memorable: 2005, San Antonio over Detroit; and 1994, Houston over the Knickerbockers. Those Game 7′s weren’t duds, but neither were they classics. The Spurs beat the Pistons 81-74, and the Rockets beat New York 90-84. The NBA could use a great Finals.
3. There seemed to be minimal talk this year about an unfair format, which is good. There is nothing wrong with the 2-3-2 format. Heck, I’d use it for all the series. The idea that it’s too difficult for a team to win three straight at home is silly, on two fronts.
For one thing, the team that gets three straight at home is not the superior team, based on the regular season. So there’s no reason to think that team is routinely capable of winning three straight.
But more importantly, the main reason teams don’t win three straight is that teams rarely win TWO straight. In the 25 Finals played since the 2-3-2 format was adopted, only once has the team without homecourt advantage won the middle three games — the 2006 Miami Heat.
But only three other times has the team without homecourt advantage won its first TWO home games. Think about that. No matter how long the series goes, every series includes at least two home games for each team. But only four times in 25 years has the team with the inferior regular-season record won its first two home games in the Finals. You can’t win three in a row without winning two in a row.
The format is not the problem. The problem is the better team wins.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
hi berry,
that is a really funny name you have there, berry. its like a normal name, barry, but its got the wrong letterz. isnt that lulzy?
signed
Nietzy
The NBA is rigged in favor of LA. They stole Fisher with a fishy story and got Gasol (an all-star) for nothing of value. How do they just “happen” to be smarter than everyone else? It’s a acam.
What team in any sport doesn’t have a star player that you guys in the media write or speak about over and over and over? The stars are what gives you something other than a box score to write about.
RIP Berry , your death is a tragedy