I actually kind of like the play-in tournament the NBA has added. And while I
agree, it was originally added to the NBA due to the Covid situation (and as a
way to give additional teams a chance to make the playoffs in a shortened
72-game season) and certainly there is the money aspect of it for the NBA. But
the NBA made it permanent for several reasons. And while I agree - our league
being 24 teams vs. 30 for the NBA does make it a little different, but I would
add the following to what has already been discussed.
1. One of the main reasons the NBA has kept the play-in is because it
discourages tanking. Something I think is an even bigger problem in a Strat
leagues vs. real life - where teams need to try to win so they can sell more
tickets & merchandise. In a Strat league, it's often advantageous to just "not
try to win so hard" if you are a borderline playoff team cause the benefit of
getting in the lottery vs. a first round exit is huge. And while that might be
somewhat true in the NBA, there is a financial disincentive to doing so that
doesn't exist in a Strat league.
2. I would also note that a play-in round would not increase the number of
playoff teams. There would still only be 16. Teams participating in the play-in
are not considered playoff teams... only those that advance out of the play-in
are officially considered playoff teams and those that participate in the
play-in but lose, still participate in the lottery.
That being said, I understand the desire to not have teams with a really low
winning percentage in the actual playoffs (which is certainly more likely when
a play-in round is added) and to not dilute the value of the regular season.
But to me, what's most important is the integrity of the league and the
promotion of parity, which the play-in round goes a long ways towards
increasing both of those things.
I also wouldn't be a fan of having a minimum winning percentage to make it to
the play-in as that would change the number of teams (and the format) of the
play-in round from year to year. For starters, that's not what the NBA does -
and if we are going to even consider adding a play-in round, I do agree that
one of the main reasons we do that is to closer align our rules to the real
life NBA game. And this year, the NBA is going to have a team who is 10 games
under .500 participate in the play-in.
That all being said, if the vast majority is strenuously against it, I'm fine
with just sticking with what we have. Since we do have 24 teams vs. the 30 in
the NBA, we are already a little skewed towards having a higher % of teams
participate in the playoffs, which is a good thing in my mind. But if I had to
cast a ballet one way or the other, it would be in favor of adding the play-in
round.
Frank On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, 10:33:33 PM PDT, Jason Blaze
<jason@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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Hello Coaches,
What are your thoughts on having a Play-In Tournament? It certainly is an
interesting idea but keep in mind that we only have 24 teams in SOMIBA compared
to the 30-teams of the NBA. That means there are a lot more teams in the middle
compared to our league, and this year we really have exceptional parity.
If we want to go with a Play-In Tournament, I personally think that we should
cap teams eligible based on the winning percentage such as only teams with at
least a winning percentage of 0.450 (37-45) should be eligible for it. And most
years that would probably eliminate most ninth and tenth place teams from
participating, just as it would this season. If we went any lower 0.400 (33-49)
that really seems low, but it would get more teams involved. What do you think?
Here are the standings after block 4:
EASTERN CONFERENCE WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC# ACTWON ACTLOST
ACTPCT
1. 2020-21 GRAND RAPIDS GRG 47 19 .712 ---- 10 1 1
.500 (Central)
2. 2020-21 DAYTONA DAY 44 22 .667 ---- 16 1 1
.500 (Southeast)
3. 2020-21 LEXINGTON LEX 43 23 .652 1.0 63 19
.768
4. 2020-21 HICKORY HIC 36 30 .545 ---- 12 46 36
.561 (Atlantic)
5. 2020-21 INDIANA IND 40 26 .606 7.0 1 1
.500
6. 2020-21 FORT LAUDERDALE FLI 36 30 .545 8.0 1 1
.500
7. 2020-21 WILMINGTON WIL 34 32 .515 10.0 1 1
.500
8. 2020-21 VERMONT VER 31 35 .470 5.0 1 1
.500
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. 2020-21 ROCKFORD ROC 30 36 .455 17.0 1 1
.500
10. 2020-21 NEW YORK NYG 27 39 .409 9.0 30 52
.366
11. 2020-21 READING REA 20 46 .303 16.0 36 46
.439
12. 2020-21 PRINCETON PRI 18 48 .273 29.0 31 51
.378
WESTERN CONFERENCE WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC# ACTWON ACTLOST
ACTPCT
1. 2020-21 DAVIS DAV 58 8 .879 ---- *WON* 58 24
.707 (Pacific)
2. 2020-21 DAKOTA DAK 51 15 .773 ---- 6 1 1
.500 (Northwest)
3. 2020-21 KOHLER KOH 40 26 .606 11.0 1 1
.500
4. 2020-21 MISSISSIPPI MIS 37 29 .561 ---- 15 1 1
.500 (Southwest)
5. 2020-21 LOS ANGELES LAM 35 31 .530 23.0 60 22
.732
6. 2020-21 LAKE K LAK 35 31 .530 2.0 29 53
.354
7. 2020-21 LA CROSSE LCC 34 32 .515 17.0 32 50
.390
8. 2020-21 MADISON MAD 29 37 .439 22.0 30 52
.366
9. 2020-21 SAN DIEGO SDB 29 37 .439 29.0 1 1
.500
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. 2020-21 ARIZONA ARI 17 49 .258 20.0 1 1
.500
11. 2020-21 BAYOU CITY BCV 16 50 .242 21.0 1 1
.500
12. 2020-21 SANTA CLARA SCJ 5 61 .076 53.0 24 58
.293
Note, Madison and San Diego would have a one game tie breaker game to determine
who
participates in the playoffs and who does not, and therefore one of eight
lottery
teams.
Also, Indiana would have four home games in round one while Hickory only three.
