[Wavy BagelsParticipant]

…which team/individual:

– would benefit most from a shortened NBA season?

– would be hurt to a shortened NBA season?

[KHAM83Participant]

It’s obviouse that a shortened season will benefit the older teams like Boston, Lakers, San Antonio and Dallas (really Kidd) and hurt the younger team/ and players like Cleveland, Minnesota, and other lottery teams.

But to do a little digging, here are two not so obviouse teams.

Benefit:

Phoenix– The lack of practice/playing time hurts chemistry and progression, with that said, when has there ever been a chemistry problem with a Nash-led team? While other teams will be trying to gel on the fly, Nash and the Suns will be running the floor as if they’ve never missed a beat. They aren’t going to contend out west, but Phoenix goes from a lotto team to a bottom end playoffs team because of the early wins they’ll get over other teams.

Chicago– How far can this team go with a fully healthy Boozer? Plus, what if Brewer uses this time to learn to shoot?? Second one is a stretch, but a healthy Boozer and Bulls maybe beat the Heat.

 

Hurt:

Again, ALL LOTTERY TEAMS here! But a little extra didding:

Indiana– A young playoffs team, that made Chicago play harder than they expected. Psycho T came alive, Paul George showed real potential, Granger is still a jack-of-all-trades, and while Hibbert and Collison failed to meet expectations (which were too high for them already) they still have potentials and play vital positions very well. Plus the addition of George Hill…. Next step for them was to move from #8 seed to contend with the likes of Atlanta and Orlando for the last home-court advantage #4 seed. But agian, lack of practice and playing together will hinder chemistry thus also hindering the max progression for this young and talented team.

****New Jersey– It was an ESPN or CNNSI article that spoke about how the lockout hurts New Jersey as well. Mainly, where Deron Williams is concerned. They say Williams likes the Nets, but still isnt sold and that Nets were hoping that playing, and winning, with the team will make Deron fall for them. The shortened season however may not allow enough time for him to really feel connected with them.

 

 

[KHAM83Participant]

They are many on both sides, but Ill go with Kidd and Wall.

Benefit:

Kidd– A lot of older players, but I’ll say Kidd because he’s vital to the Mavs possible repeat. Note,  he showed no signs of wearing down did he?????

Hurt:

John Wall– Had a very good rookie season, and can very well make the jump to all-star level his second season. Everywhere Ive read compared him to Rose w/ better defense, and some say he’s grown to a legit 6’5. However, internet blogs/pics shows that he’s fallen for a well known "video-chic/stripper" here in Atlanta and are frequently out partying with her. Young often = lack of maturity, and without coaches there pushing him to practice, he may not do so, or work as hard, on his own. This sucks for him and the team as an improved Wall means a possible playoff berth for the Wiz. He will improve, but to what extent, depends on how hard he’s working. Wall-Young-Lewis-Blatche-McGee, with Crawford/Howard/Vesely/Jin Lian off the bench…sounds like a potential playoffs team in the East.

[TyroberParticipant]

Benefit

Any older team is going to benefit tremendously. Spurs, Celtics, Mavs, and Lakers would all LOVE to have an half season where there is still playoffs.

 

Hurt

I think the TEAM it would hurt the most is actually the HEAT. Wade was hurt during the training camps at the beginning of the year and you saw how long it took them to get used to each other… That great HEAT team was like 9-8 to begin the season weren’t they? They really started to click around the end of the season, but with such a big time off will they pickup where the left off?

[HitsterParticipant]

I agree that the older teams would benefit as their players would certainly be fresher come the play offs. But also a few lesser teams could have a good run and perhaps sneak a play off space especially out East where often well below .500 has got into the play offs. So you could have maybe say a 17-24 team sneaking into the play offs.

And I would expect that there would be a lot more teams in contention for the later play off spots as teams can often bunch up mid season before the longer season sorts out the real contenders. I’d also add that teams with strong starting squads but less depth would also be favoured over a shorter season as the coaches would not need to rotate so much due to the shorter season.

A fun thing could be if a team say went 1-10 early on, how soon would they throw the towel in and start trying to position themselves for a shot at Harrison, Drummond and co. You could see maybe some 5/4-36/37 or a bit better down the bottom of the league.

[aamir543Participant]

I agree with the argument that older players may be fresher, but they might lose a whole year of production. Remember, in 09, Shaq had 17 and 8, and two years later this past season, he had just 9 and 4. A lot could happen in regards to these older players.

[PlatParticipant]

Benefit: The older teams

 

Hurt: The younger teams

[Author]

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