This topic contains 12 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by AvatarAvatar OhCanada- 4 days, 9 hours ago.

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  • #1266637
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    Hitster
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    The NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has floated the idea of NBA games being 40 minutes in length with four 10 minute quarters so the game length is the same as the NCAA and most other leagues and international fixtures.

    He says this can get a game done in a 2 hour TV window but I would have thought the broadcasters paying top dollar for NBA content would want to get as much for their money as they can. I’m sure the players and teams would love a 40 minute game as it would be less minutes for the same money and teams would not have to worry about roster depth so much with the total team playing time reduced by a 6th.

    It would mean that historic stats records might become out of reach but a fair few already are. The top players wouldn’t likely see their minutes fall by a 6th but even a 5 to 10% drop would add up across the seasons and might give some guys an extra year or two.
    I like the idea but maybe the 48 min game is still kept for play offs or even just deciding games in a series or Conference or NBA Finals only.

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  • #1266638
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    OhCanada-
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    I hate it. 40 minute games completely changes the game at the NBA level. Theres going to be no more depth rotation players. Teams will only need 7 players to make it through a game. The rest of the roster will be development players. This type of change will have a serious impact on the game and it is not a solution to any of the NBA’s problems.

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  • #1266639
    NorrinRaddNorrinRadd
    NorrinRadd
    Participant

    I second that.

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  • #1266645
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    Hitster
    Participant

    Teams would still need the minimum roster numbers but it might make more teams competitive as they wouldn’t need to worry so much about depth beyond say 8 key players. Maybe have some development guys or vets like Haslem used to be at the Heat or say Taj Gibson has stuck around the league to be.

    My biggest query would be surely the shot clock would need to be reduced to 20 seconds but I still like the idea.

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    • #1266646
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      OhCanada-
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      It would be much less competiitve. Lets say on average the best players in the NBA you know SGA, Jokic, etc. well they play 36 mpg. That means for 12 minutes of the game they are not on the floor currently. Well now they are not on the floor for 4 minutes. That probably scales back a bit and they only play 32 minutes per game, but I doubt it. The perccentage of garbage time is gonna be higher as well. If your down big early in the game well theres 8 less minutes to come back which means essentially garbage time will start 8 minutes sooner. And since the best players dont have to leave the floor teams will be getting to garbage time faster.

      Players wont need to rest anymore because the game isn’t as long. Coaches like Thibs or Nurse will probably just play their go to guys all game more often than not. Knicks have OG, Hart and Bridges all playing 37 mpg or more this year. Maxey plays 38 mpg. So essentially the best teams that have the best players will always have those players on the floor and they will constantly be at an advantage.

      Sub out your superstar at the end of the 1st quarter. Bring him back in at the 8 minute mark. Do that again in the 2nd half. 36 minutes per game. It wont be a good thing. Role players are gonna get paid much less now as well. Players are going to get no oppurtunity to develop. Its gonna be to the point where other leagues will likely be more attractive options.

      Theres a hundred reasons why this is a terrible idea and I just dont see what the benefits are. Player longevity? Nope. Thats not gonna keep the players from getting injuries. The rate of which players get injured is not gonna go down because the games are shorter. 2 hour window for games? You gotta be kidding me. The game shouldn’t be put in a box like this its actually kind of disgusting how much they are trying to shape and package this sport into a product. Basketball is basketball stop trying to manipulate the game.

      Anyways I could go on and on about why this is a bad idea. I just really hope it does not happen. All these things Adam Silver has been doing like the in season tournament, the hundred alternate jerseys to sell more, the ugly courts. What they need to do but wont is reduce the games to 70 instead of selling us shortter games. See because a ticket to a 40 minute game and a ticket to a 48 minute game is going to be the same price. That they can do. However they cannot sell you 82 tickets if theres only 70 games and to keep the TV contracts flowing they need as many games as possible.

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  • #1266647
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    OhCanada-
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    Demin and Catchings both have 0 points for BYU with 4 minutes left. Richie Saunders once again has been a rock for them. He’s going to be an absolute star next year next to AJ Dybansta and is already starting to breakout this year.

    BYU was sendfing bodies at Keyshawn Hall this game and forcing the rest of UCF to beat them, As a result Mo Thiam had a huge 1st half and is now at 17 points. Hall had 2 points in the 1st half but has turned it on here recentl and is at 12 points.

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    • #1266648
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      OhCanada-
      Participant

      Wrong thread. Ignore that.

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  • #1266657
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    Gronounours
    Participant

    Apparently, ratings are down, and Silver is desperately trying to come up with solutions for his “product”.

    The issue with basketball is not the actual playing time, but the dead wood. The game is constantly interrupted, to the point of becoming pretty much unwatchable in my opinion. Why four quarters instead of two halves, why so many time-outs? For ads, probably, and obviously you cannot touch that.

    What you can reduce is the time between ads, ie the actual playing time. So I guess what Silver wants is even less action with the same amount of ads. Yuck.

    The main (and huge) argument against 40-minute games is stats and record-breaking. Sadly, with games being so boring, especially during regular season, all that matters is stats and records. By the way, am I the only one to roll their eyes each time a made-up record is broken (“it’s the first time in history that an international player under 6’4 scores more than 43 points without a turnover in a Western conference Christmas game”)?

    Anyway, without stats – or more accurately, without stats comparability over decades -, the emperor is naked. Who wants to see a barrage of 3s, if it doesn’t somehow lead to crazy records and box scores heroics? And since less minutes means less records, I don’t think shortening games is an option. But I may be wrong.

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  • #1266671
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    Hitster
    Participant

    People rave on about regular season stats but surely the most important ones are those from the play offs where the title is won. Maybe these should be combined as Melo has retired and its not unfair on him anymore.

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  • #1266683
    BothTeamsPlayedHard-BothTeamsPlayedHard-
    BothTeamsPlayedHard-
    Participant

    The issue with tv ratings is that everything is relative, and going from 48 to 40 minutes won’t change it. The ratings are good for the NBA when they not only capture the major markets (usually when those teams are involved) but also have the star appeal to get people in non-NBA cities to watch. The NBA is in a transition period right now. The best known stars are no longer the best players. This happens in every sport. I still maintain the reason the NFL ratings decline in 2016 had more to do with it no longer having Peyton Manning in island games than it did Colin Kaepernick taking a knee. The NFL isn’t as star-driven as the NBA, but there was a reason Peyton Manning was never playing early window games with ten other games going on at the same time. He brought in casual viewers, and then was gone. Now, with the NBA, LeBron, KD, and Steph are not on the best teams, and other players have passed them by. Casual American basketball fans have never embraced international players (mostly the guys who didn’t go to school in the US) in huge numbers, so it does not help that Jokic, Luka, and Giannis are among the best players in the league. The champion Spurs were a great team playing beautiful basketball with likeable players, but were a small market team with international players never fully embraced by the nation. Their success always had a relatively negative impact on tv viewers nationally. People are intrigued by Wemby, but it starts from a relatively small base because of the size of the San Antonio market. Toronto is a huge market, but their viewers don’t count in US ratings, so their title run was carried by the big market, big star Warriors. If we get into May, and the Knicks play the Celtics in the ECF, the ratings will be good. NY is a Knick city. The 20 million in the area and millions of those who moved elsewhere make for a large enough base to get good NBA ratings even without classic star power. If the Lakers go on a run with LeBron and Luka, it won’t matter who they play, the ratings will be good. The Lakers are the biggest brand in the league, and that is why their success drives tv ratings, and they have LeBron who has his own gravitational pull for some viewers. When the Bulls had a healthy Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler, the league benefited. Chicago is a big market, and the Bulls probably have the second biggest fan base in the NBA because of the Jordan legacy. So many in the media have tried to push Anthony Edwards and Ja Morant as the next face of the league, but they play in small or mid-sized markets (the Twin cities is viewed as being smaller than it is). They know the American players drive interest and viewers in those non-NBA cities the league needs to go on the relatively strong end of its range of viewership. That is where Cooper Flagg comes in. I am sure the league would love him to land in Chicago or Golden State, because its media partners would not have to sell him as the league’s next star in the same way they have Ja and Edwards. The cities and the fan bases will allow it to happen naturally.

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  • #1266685
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    Hitster
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    Great points as always BTPH. I see the biggest markets as the California teams, New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Miami and Houston from here in England.

    With this year’s draft is Cooper more “marketable” than the more flasy players like VJ, Ace, Dylan Hatper etc. Cooper would strike me as being marketed say how Larry Bird was for the more working class Boston Celtics vs the Showtime Lakers.

    Players coming through the age ranges in the US then college and NBA get a huge buzz and build up. Wemby as the next great has got a lot of internastioinal hype a bit like Yao did when he came to the NBA. I’m sure the league would love another top player from China or even say India which could help grow the global game.

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  • #1266688
    BothTeamsPlayedHard-BothTeamsPlayedHard-
    BothTeamsPlayedHard-
    Participant

    Of course, because the league benefits from global popularity. The tv ratings are about broadcast partners and sponsors. They want to keep them happy, but that has nothing to do with the absolute joy that comes with greater interest in China, India, Japan, France, or wherever. Whether Yao moved the needle for ESPN was far less important than what Yao meant to creating new and more partners abroad.

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  • #1266694
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    OhCanada-
    Participant

    Toronto is one of the largest markets but Rogers Communications (a Canadian cable/internet/phone company) own 75% of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and Larry Tanenbaum who is Canadian and owns Canadian buisnesses owns the other 25%. So the revenue earned by the Toronto Raptors generally goes back to Canadian buisnesses and interests. This is why ESPN and other American buisnesses (like the NBA) do not try to promote the Toronto Raptors and its players. I’ll stay out of “conspiracies” and spare everyone the detailed results of this but as a lifelong day one Raptors fan I can at the very least say the Toronto Raptors get completely different officiating than the LA Lakers.

    My limited understanding is the success of the Toronto Raptors will increase veiwership for Rogers which in a way is kind of a monopoly by defenition and bad for the league. It also does not directly help the Major broadcasting companies ESPN/TNT/etc. which is at the end of the day who is paying the bills and keeping the cash flowing for the NBA and its employees.

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