10 Comments

I always thought that the NBA should have a "conference schedule" like they do in college football. Get all the east v west conference games out of the way at the start of the season, then really focus on intra-conference at the end - you can even zoom down into a "division month" - to boost rivalries and reduce jet fuel usage

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yeah, if Silver wanted to get complicated (and this is in no way complicated) he could have a lot of fun with this. Especially with so many teams along the Mississippi, hardly 'West'

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“That’s my charge, selling readers on what makes me clap.” It is a joy to clap along with you. Thanks.

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Keep banging the drum, word'll get around eventually

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I'm gonna Blogger Biasone this thing into reality.

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I couldn't agree more. It's really come home this year with the Bulls jacking at a furious rate (I went out and bought a digital antenna so I could watch while glaciers melts with the Reinsdorfs and Comcast). I like your 33 shot limit idea a lot but doesn't it is strange and takes some thinking to get your head around--basically, doesn't feel like it would get traction.

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you got the antenna! Wowser.

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right on

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just found out the Boston Garden scoreboard was housed in a museum before the museum went under, it was purchased by an apartment complex, modified to fit video screens, and cut in two?

https://youtu.be/fkJpalRPP8E?t=1340

anything else going on

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Here's a different idea. Eliminate the 3 pointer IN THE FIRST HALF ONLY! Start counting them in the second half. This incentivizes the midrange but avoids moving lines, changing court dimensions, incorporating difficult rules like a cap, 4-pointers, 2.5 pointers, etc. Simple: the 3rd and 4th quarters would look exactly like current NBA games, but each game would also feature 24 minutes of something a little more similar to pre-Curry hoops, with a very significant exception: today's shooting skills would still make open looks from downtown "good shots" for SOME shooters, even without the extra point, thus maintaining some of the current spacing. Scoring would go down only marginally, back to something reasonable, and each game would feature different strategic battles in both halves. It's the simplest, least complicated solution. Midrange and post play would be re-emphasized, practiced more and therefore those skills would improve (ie, come back). AND we still get 24 minutes plus clutch time/OT with exact same current rules!

PS: an even less extreme, but equally simple, variation would be a first half with a 26-foot line and a second half with current line.

PS2: other variations are 3s allowed only in 2nd and 4th quarters, or 3s allowed only in last 6 minutes of each quarter.

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