****OFFICIAL NBA Playoffs Thread****

[KC_Connection]

Have been banned from the other thread by an apparently sensitive snowflake (ironically after dozens of pages of political discussion from others) so I'll stick my thoughts on the NBA Playoffs here from now on. We needed a new thread anyway.

[Funkstown]

LOL @ the Heat being 2-0 against the Celtics. Also **** LeBron James and all things Los Angeles. Insufferable ****ers.

[ThaVirus]

The Heat are hooping.. would love to see a Heat vs Nuggies Finals.

[BigCatDaddy]

Giannis is now joining MJ as the only players to win multiple MVP and DPOY awards. Congrats!

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

The Heat are hooping.. would love to see a Heat vs Nuggies Finals.

Celtics being down 0-2 before the Lakers take the court is a real problem for the Nuggets, IMO.

The league's gotta be sweating bullets about their ratings right now and they can't have Denver wrecking the party.

So unless Denver is just unconscious from 3, they officials will be swallowing their whistles on plays inside and with the Lakers length, I'm not sure how Denver can pull it off.

If the games are called tight and Denver gets to the line a lot, they can win it. But if it's looking like the league's about to lose the northeast audience, they ain't gonna risk losing the west coast as well.

[BigCatDaddy]

Damn. I didn't realize so few people were watching. Honey Boo Boo reruns are drawing better.

[RealSNR]

Spoelstra is such an underrated coach. A lot of people thought he'd let the Heatles walk all over him as a new head coach at the time, but as it turns out it wasn't just him getting the job through inheritance. He actually deserved it.

The dude can coach. That's clear.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Damn. I didn't realize so few people were watching. Honey Boo Boo reruns are drawing better.

It's been a bloodbath.

But the truthers all have an excuse of some sort.

Televised golf out there setting records but folks still want to pretend like there's any reason OTHER than the obvious one for the decline in the NBA's ratings.

It's really strange to see the hand-waiving of it all. I don't think the Game 2 ratings are out yet, but they don't have the "well we started early so the Clippers could get the prime time slot" excuse. If those ratings are equally bad, I don't see how you just keep ignoring them.

Oh sure, they'll blame a Bengals/Browns game (because there's always something), but c'mon - this has to be a concern to them at this point.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by RealSNR

Spoelstra is such an underrated coach. A lot of people thought he'd let the Heatles walk all over him as a new head coach at the time, but as it turns out it wasn't just him getting the job through inheritance. He actually deserved it.

The dude can coach. That's clear.

He really is.

The Heat aren't as talented as the Celtics and I think Stevens is an excellent coach in his own right.

But man, Spoelstra is putting on a clinic.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

It's been a bloodbath.

But the truthers all have an excuse of some sort.

Televised golf out there setting records but folks still want to pretend like there's any reason OTHER than the obvious one for the decline in the NBA's ratings.

It's really strange to see the hand-waiving of it all. I don't think the Game 2 ratings are out yet, but they don't have the "well we started early so the Clippers could get the prime time slot" excuse. If those ratings are equally bad, I don't see how you just keep ignoring them.

Oh sure, they'll blame a Bengals/Browns game (because there's always something), but c'mon - this has to be a concern to them at this point.

There are A LOT of people in denial about this.

Hell, I have completely stopped watching since the Clippers were eliminated because it’s a foregone conclusion that the Lakers will win it all now and I’m not going to support it at this point.

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

It's been a bloodbath.

But the truthers all have an excuse of some sort.

Televised golf out there setting records but folks still want to pretend like there's any reason OTHER than the obvious one for the decline in the NBA's ratings.

It's really strange to see the hand-waiving of it all. I don't think the Game 2 ratings are out yet, but they don't have the "well we started early so the Clippers could get the prime time slot" excuse. If those ratings are equally bad, I don't see how you just keep ignoring them.

Oh sure, they'll blame a Bengals/Browns game (because there's always something), but c'mon - this has to be a concern to them at this point.

Streaming!
Out of season!
No fans!

Lets the LeExcuses begin.

The most enjoyable thing about the NBA now is Charles Barkley.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by staylor26

There are A LOT of people in denial about this.

I still can't see how even FLAT ratings would've been considered a success.

My god, people were BEGGING sports to come back. And yes, many people are still shutting themselves in and watching TV rather than going out into public spaces, especially in dense population areas. Social interaction scores are still way down.

So how can they just act like they weren't situated for excellent ratings? This idea that there's a perfect venn diagram of football/basketball fans (and the irony of NFL citing the NBA to explain their reduced ratings) is just wrong. There's not a 1-1 overlap here.

If basketball fans were truly starved for the product, they damn sure wouldn't be watching Bengals/Browns instead of an eastern conference finals game. And those that were would be easily offset by the simple increase in people at home right now.

It's just...weird. I have to figure that behind the scenes they're handling this differently than they are in public. That or they're just going to accept that they're largely held hostage and try to ride it out.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

I think he had legitimate impulse control problems that he learned to control with therapy and maturity. Stephen Jackson's story about Artest's response in the immediate aftermath of the Malice was extremely telling-- the guy didn't understand the consequences of his actions in a truly childlike fashion.

Artest to Jackson: Do you think we'll get in trouble?
Jackson: Ron, we're probably going to get kicked out of the league.

So I listened to an interview Artest did about a year ago regarding it and...well...let's just say I'm not so sure he's grown up THAT much.

I mean he's harping on the fact that he went into the stands and punched a guy that punched him first. He just keeps saying "I defended myself after I got hit" and conceding only that he takes some responsibility, but he was not terribly contrite about it.

And he kinda glossed over the fact that he just hit some random dude - NOT the guy that hit him.

So I still don't really know what to think about the guy.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

It's been a bloodbath.

MLB is up 6% on all of the RSN's.

The Fox NFL double header on Sunday was up 10% over last year and averaged over 20 million viewers for each game.

You may disagree but I don't think it's fair to compare the NBA's numbers in September to NBA's ratings in the Spring. The real determination will come next Spring and if the NBA's playoff ratings continue to decline, then they will have a serious problem on their hands.

I'll be honest: I've tried to watch NBA games but it just doesn't "feel" right and I have far less interest in tuning in when the games are on midday or early afternoon. Add to that, I really do not care for ESPN's coverage of the NBA, at all. I don't care for their announcers, their halftime or post game shows and I just find them to be boring overall.

I'd be far more interested if TNT aired all of the games because I love their announcers and for me, Ernie, Chuck, Shaq and Kenny host the best pre-game, halftime and post-game show of any sport or sports network. More often than not, I find them to be more entertaining than the games.

But overall, I'm just disinterested in Fall NBA overall and I doubt I'm the only one.

[ModSocks]

With MLB playoffs nearing (and the Padres for the first time in like two decades having a team worth watching), the NFL is here, i've completely forgotten about the NBA until seeing this thread today.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

MLB is up 6% on all of the RSN's.

The Fox NFL double header on Sunday was up 10% over last year and averaged over 20 million viewers for each game.

MLB being up is an indictment on the NBA - it's a demonstration that the appetite for sports is still there and the viewership is certainly there as well.

And c'mon - you cited the one NFL time slot where viewership was up when at least through last nights game it had been down everywhere else. That's the kind of thing the NFL is doing right now as well and I think it's a mistake. It's excuse-making rather than a sober analysis, IMO.

That said - I suppose your 'seasonal' discussion could have some merit, but it's also fair to point out that NBA ratings had been falling in the spring a bit as well before really bottoming out on the re-start. I don't imagine your alone but surely that's not enough to drive a 25%+ decline.

Ultimately I think it probably is a confluence of factors, but it seems very odd to me that the public face is very Baghdad Bob/Frank Drebin esque. Nothing to see here folks, all is well, move along...

I don't think that's right.