End the NBA All-Star game

The 2024 NBA All-Star game ended with a bloated score of 211-186 with the East defeating the West, and many have said that the NBA needs to either make major changes or eliminate the game in general.

The term ‘load management’ has been used especially amongst the game stars to rest when necessary even if it means some fans don’t get to see a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see LeBron James.

The All-Star game has changed so much in the last 30 years. In comparison, the 1994 NBA All-Star game ended with the East beating the West 127-118.

The game has changed dramatically in the last quarter century but the players are just playing basketball like they would as a kid on their driveway at home as many NBA players can still recall those moments to this day.

The NBA is still sticking to this antiquated model under the belief that fans will watch and get extremely involved while watching the game from home. Many NBA fans prefer games where it is almost guaranteed that both teams will score 100 plus but to see any game where one team scores 200 looks really bad for the NBA.

It makes sense that stars in this game play with a different mindset vs. a regular season game. In general, All-Star games have become a liability for professional sports, everyone knows what to expect when watching these games and for the sake of the players, they have bigger plans than just a ceremonial game that means nothing and has turned off fans for years.

For the benefit of the players, making Steph Curry and Jayson Tatum play an extra game with no meaning could be better served by giving them rest and helping them perform better as the playoff push intensifies.

Instead, the NBA should continue doing what it did this year by embracing the WNBA-NBA crossover. Curry, the NBA all-time leader in three-pointers and Sabrina Ionescu, the single-season 3-point record holder, competed against each other in a 3-point shooting contest.

“This was so authentic for the both of us to be here,” Ionescu said, via ESPN. “Obviously very thankful to kind of make this dream that we both had a possibility, and knowing that it’s changed the landscape of how people are going to view what we’re doing, and we’re very excited to see what the future has to hold with more people having the opportunity to do stuff like this.”

Curry edged Ionescu 29-26 where Ionescu took her shots from the NBA 3-point line, which is different than the WNBA line. This competition was separate from the traditional 3-point shooting contest.

Most NBA fans would prefer watching the game’s best stars play in a game that matters such as for playoff positioning. The intensity of a game with every player being an all-star isn’t quite what a March regular season game resembles.

The NFL eliminated the Pro Bowl recently and replaced that weekend with skills competitions and the NBA would be wise to follow in their footsteps. The best way to recruit young people to pursue dreams of playing in the NBA is to have skills competitions such as dribbling contests. Most fans don’t see what NBA players do to make it to the association and more people would be impressed by players dribbling the ball behind their back or between their legs rather than play an extra game just for being a superstar and being voted in.

Altering the NBA playoff format

Daryl Morey, the 76ers team president wants the NBA playoffs to be a single-elimination and a reduced regular season.

"I like 58 games"@dmorey tells @ColinCowherd how to shorten the NBA season. pic.twitter.com/tABnSntRsO

— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) February 17, 2022

NBC revealed that over 100 million people watched Super Bowl 56, and 11 million more streamed the big game between the Rams and Bengals. If you compare the championship clinching game of last year’s NBA finals, the NBA had about 10 percent of the NFL’s ratings.

The NBA imposed a play-in tournament where 4 teams play for 2 spots to the playoffs to face the top 6 seeds in each conference and that idea raises the stakes of win and advance or lose and go home for the summer.

AP Photo/Chris Szagola

In the MLB playoffs, there is a somewhat similar structure to the playoff series but with one fewer round, but all of the rounds end within a week. The playoffs last a month at the longest, where the NBA playoffs start on April 16 and including the finals series would take 2 months to complete. If this year’s finals series were to go 7 games, that would last two weeks looking at this year’s schedule. The NBA finals starts on June 2 and if it goes the distance, the series won’t end until the 19th.

Morey has a point, the fans tend to lose interest if it is not their team in the finals or championship series and a 7 game series seemingly never ends. It can be hard to keep up with all of the off days sandwiched in between games. I understand having extra days off when traveling from one city to another but why should a NO. 1 seed have to win 4 games against a NO. 8 seed in the first round when it is fair to assume the NO. 1 seed will advance? Why not save an extra game for the Phoenix Suns for when the competition starts to get even stiffer assuming they make it to the conference finals?

I understand the reason why the first round to the finals series is a best-of-seven but these games are absolutely grueling for the players, and for the teams that get in through the play in tournament. If the NBA wants to increase viewership in the playoffs, they should reduce the first round to 5 games at the bare minimum.

One-and-done is a stretch too far, but you could make the first round after the play-in tournament a best-of-3 and more fans would watch knowing that there is a sense of urgency to win now and not a week later.

The Lakers are not a championship team

The LA Lakers fell to 7-6 after an embarrassing lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, there should be concern about the direction of the team in the long term.

Anthony Davis and the Lakers have been outscored by 83 points in the third quarter this season, the worst points differential by any team in any quarter this season. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Power forward Anthony Davis expressed his frustration after a 24 point loss at home. “We sucked,” Davis said when asked about the third. “No defense. Can’t score. That’s not just this third quarter, it’s every third quarter we’ve played this season. We come out slow, lackadaisical offensively and defensively. We got to get it together. Why? I can’t tell you. But we got to do a better job.” The Lakers got outscored 40-12 in the third quarter and the team has been marred by inconsistency.

Albeit LeBron James has missed 5 consecutive games, Lakers guard Wayne Ellington says that should not be an excuse for losing games the way they have. The Lakers are the oldest team in the NBA despite all of the names that would make you believe they should run through the western conference. The west is very stacked and the Warriors will be a major factor this season with most of their team healthy.

Looking at the Lakers roster, Dwight Howard is 35, Russell Westbrook is 33, James is 36, turning 37 in December, Carmelo Anthony is 37, Rajon Rondo is 35. The day will come where the Lakers will not be able to rely on the veterans to score points to win games against tough western conference teams. Anthony Davis has had an injury history, he is only 28 but eventually those injuries will catch up as he gets to his mid 30’s.

When the Lakers acquired Westbrook, the expectations increased that this is a championship or bust team. If you take the notable names off the roster, the Lakers are closer to where the Houston Rockets are right now. The expectations from the fan base are that this year matters, it doesn’t matter if you won a championship as they did in 2020, expecting a losing season and being satisfied with 35 or fewer wins doesn’t work with Laker fans.

Again, how much longer can the Lakers expect to play at such a high level being the oldest team in the NBA and playing against stiff competition in the west night after night?

Yes the Lakers are not at full strength but they should win games against the Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder, they have lost two games against OKC. Even being the oldest team in the NBA, the Lakers should be better given the talent on paper. When they are at full strength, there will need to be a bigger emphasis on a more balanced scoring team given that most games in the west will have over 100 points scored.

It’s one thing to have talent but to have the determination to take the talent and show it is another. Currently, the Lakers are not a championship team given the way how they have played against bad teams, this may not bode well against the better teams.

It’s one thing to have talent but to have the determination to take the talent and show it is another. Currently, the Lakers are not a championship team given the way how they have played against bad teams, this may not bode well against the better teams. Furthermore, the Lakers are a discombobulated team that is not clicking at key parts of the game. You can have all the talent on the court, but teams with LeBron will have trouble winning as long as the team is disconnected from each other.

More NBA matchups to watch

The 2021-22 NBA season is a month plus a week away and opening night should not disappoint, but there are matchups later on in the season to watch.

October 30: Atlanta Hawks at Philadelphia 76ers, the 76ers finished with the NO. 1 seed and seen by some as the eastern conference finals favorites, but the 76ers lost to the Atlanta Hawks. Plus there’s lots of uncertainty surrounding Ben Simmons and whether he will still be in Philadelphia come mid-October. Simmons is under contract for four more seasons and his camp and the 76ers are at a stand still. Simmons has indicated he wants to be dealt. Simmons is just 25 and is a three-time all-star in addition to being a two-time All-defensive selection.

How did this come to be? In the eastern conference finals game 7, Simmons passed up a clear shot dunk and passed the ball to Matisse Thybulle with less than 4 minutes to go, some league experts believe that it is only a matter of time before Simmons is out of Philadelphia.

Simmons has incredible potential on the court, he is 6’10, plays the point and can also matchup with other teams big men. In his 4 seasons, Simmons is averaging nearly 16 points a game but his free throw shooting is abysmal and he isn’t as aggressive as he should be. If he were to impose his will more often, those scoring numbers would be closer to 20 a game if not more, the talent is there. His assist numbers are excellent, he needs to know what he can do on the court because if he does, #25 will be a force to be reckoned with.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – JUNE 14: Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers calls out to his teammates against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half of game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at State Farm Arena on June 14, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

November 10: Detroit Pistons at Houston Rockets, this game is significant in that this will be the first matchup between the top two picks, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Houston’s Jalen Green. Cunningham is just 18 and Green is 19 and Green made some headlines where he said he didn’t want to be selected as the NO. 1 pick and play in Detroit. Thankfully for Green, this game will be in Houston but he will get some negative reaction when the Rockets go to Detroit.

Going into the much anticipated NBA season, Cunningham is the favorite to win rookie of the year but the last time a first overall pick won that award was Ben Simmons in 2018. Despite being the favorite by some, Cunningham will have some competition for that award, the afore mentioned Green will be in the conversation, Evan Mobley, Scotty Barnes and Jalen Suggs will be mentioned as contenders for this award.

Christmas day, there will be five games but the most anticipated will be the Brooklyn Nets at Los Angeles Lakers. In this matchup, there will be former teammates going head to head. LeBron James vs. Kyrie Irving, James Harden vs. Russell Westbrook, and Harden vs. Carmelo Anthony. The Lakers and Nets are super teams with the names mentioned above. This game should be the most exciting of the five on Christmas day. Irving and Durant were not completely healthy in the eastern conference finals series and that could have cost the Nets a trip to the NBA finals. The Lakers lost in the first round to the Phoenix Suns and you can expect a LeBron led team to be eager to erase the way how last season ended from the get go.

January 29, Brooklyn Nets at Golden State Warriors, while this won’t be Kevin Durant’s first game back in the bay area, it’s expected that Klay Thompson will be fully healthy for the Warriors. This could mean a more competitive game between two potential finals opponents and Durant made some headlines for why he left the Warriors.

There has been some speculation that Durant left the Warriors when he got into it with Draymond Green after a loss to the LA. Clippers in the early part of the 2018-19 season. Durant wasn’t pleased with Green’s decision making just before the game went to overtime. Green took Durant to task about going to free agency and that action cost Green a game for conduct detrimental to the team. That interaction was talked about for much of that season.

Will that moment from three years ago carry over to this matchup? The headlines going into that matchup should be about how talented both teams are but if anything else comes out about that run in, those headlines may take a back seat.

Another aspect not to forget about is the sneaker culture. Three years ago, the NBA eased it’s on court sneaker restrictions and players are taking advantage of this, expect players to take the sneaker culture up another notch this season. The sneaker culture is trickling down to fans and expect to see fans in jerseys dressed with some really slick kicks.

This will be the 75th NBA season and it will be thrilling to watch incredible matchups and headlines off the court. In some ways, news off the court could be more interesting than games itself, although the NBA has a world of great talent that will entertain die hard fans. for many years to come. The best way that sports leagues can relate to fans is for fans to feel like they are part of the game and the NBA is doing a stellar job at that.

Mark the day

The 2021-22 NBA schedule was released this week and there are some very interesting matchups right from the start and the headlines from these matchups will be as impactful as the games itself.

Opening night: October 19, the world champion Milwaukee Bucks host the Brooklyn Nets in an east finals rematch. There will be plenty of topics surrounding these teams, the Bucks will receive their championship ring against a team they beat en route to their first championship in 50 years. The Nets were without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant was in and out of the lineup, but Brooklyn should be healthy and the first game of the 2021-22 season will set the tone of what fans should expect.

Many expected the Nets to cruise to the finals but key injuries prevented that from happening. On paper, the Nets have one of the best rosters of any team. Brooklyn added Patty Mills to their roster in early August on a two-year $12 million contract.

“It’s one of those things that’s an exciting opportunity for me to even know that there’s a different opportunity to be able to see how I can fit,” Mills said Thursday. “And the conversation that I’ve had already and the conversation that I had with Kevin was so pure and so genuine, you know? Being able to understand a pure hooper and to go back and forth about basketball specifics, I think … it was exciting for me to know that there’s an opportunity there for me to try to be who I am — like I am with the (Australian) national team,” Mills said in part this week.

Where will Mills fit with the Nets? Potentially as a 6th man or occasional starter. Mills has been in the NBA for 10 years and his experience can help the big three in their quest to win a championship.

Another potential under the radar factor is Blake Griffin. Yes his best days are behind him but he can still be an intimidating force inside as a power forward. Expect him to improve on his 10 points a game and more importantly, getting defensive rebounds in the paint against physical forwards and power forwards.

The second game of opening night will feature Steph Curry against LeBron James at Staples Center. It won’t just be the players that dress for success for opening night, given that the weather in southern California is warm all year long, expect to see the cameras pointing at fans dressed in basketball sneakers in Curry and James jerseys. Klay Thompson is not expected to return until around Christmas per a report from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.

“He could come back a little bit before that, but in terms of getting his conditioning right, they’re targeting that Christmas Day game against the Suns. I know that sounds a little late to people, but he was injured on Nov. 18, so this is 13 months from an Achilles injury,” Shelburne said in part on ESPN’s The Jump.

The Lakers will have two new veterans, Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook. Will Westbook be able to take pressure off James given #23 will be 37 at the end of the year? What are the downsides of having a Westbrook on the Lakers? He is a ball dominant player and does not shoot well from downtown. Those two concerns could loom big given that the western conference is expected to live up to it’s hype where many of the NBA’s top elite scorers play.

Klay looks good hitting that corner 3-pointer. 💦

[Via @KlayThompson / IG] pic.twitter.com/LRNVheBeXS

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) August 20, 2021

When #11 returns, if he can come back from two straight years of injury and score from downtown like he is capable of, expect the Warriors to be in the playoff discussion. His enthusiasm he exerts after making buckets not only motivates and makes his teammates better but the fans feel the enthusiasm and it reverberates.

They aren’t the team from a couple years ago when Kevin Durant but they have some real solid talent that isn’t as well known as Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green. Keep an eye out for Jordan Poole. Last season, Poole averaged 12 points a game and shot 35% from downtown. This is just the beginning of exciting matchups that NBA diehards are waiting to tune in to or see in person.

Bulls season preview

Ever since Derrick Rose entered the league as a 20-year-old in 2008, the Bulls have had extremely high expectations. In 2011, they made the conference finals against the Miami Heat but were dispatched in short order in 5 games led by LeBron James. Last season, they made the conference semifinals only to be dispatched by a team led by James in 6 games, that team being the Cleveland Cavaliers. Shortly after the team’s season ended, head coach Tom Thibodeau was fired even with the successes his teams achieved in the regular season, they could not get over the playoff hump and win a championship like many expected when he was hired back in 2010. During the regular season the Bulls won 255 games and lost 139 under Thibodeau’s watch but won just 23 out of 51 games in the playoffs. Shortly after that move was made, the team hired Iowa State head coach and former Bull Fred Hoiberg to be the team’s new coach. With the new head coach, the team’s focus will shift from defense to offense despite the fact that the team has not seen much turnover in their roster since their last game in the 2014-15 season.

One of the stories that has been dominating the team is whether star point guard Derrick Rose will be able to play over the injury bug that bulls fans have seen all too often since winning the MVP award in the 2010-11 season. This year’s team has some more depth and the Bulls can win more games in which Rose doesn’t score 35+ points. One of the other key players on the team will be Jimmy Butler, who has the ability like we’ve seen from Rose in the past to draw fouls driving to the rim. However, Bulls fans would like to see Butler’s shooting percentage go up and some believe that if he can average 25 or more points per game, that could make him a “dark-horse candidate for MVP.”

During last season, big man Joakim Noah spent most of the season dealing with a knee injury that kept him from being the force that bulls fans have seen many times in the past. After the end of last season, he had knee surgery in early May. According to ESPN.com’s Nick Friedell, during the off season, Noah spent a good chunk of the summer working out at the Peak Performance Project in Santa Barbara, California, an athletic training facility that to a certain extent helps athletes get back on track after suffering from certain injuries.

“I just feel bouncier, just lighter on my feet. Just waking up in the morning and moving good, that’s a good feeling. Doing a lot of yoga every morning before I come in. Just taking care of myself a little different. This isn’t my first rodeo,” he said.

With Mike Dunleavy Jr. out for at least the first half of the season and possibly longer, sophomore small forward Doug McDermott who was drafted from Creighton in the 2014 NBA draft, he will get a chance to prove that he should be getting more minutes than he earned last season due in part to defensive liabilities. However, with a new head coach, McDermott is being given more freedom at least during the preseason and it is paying off. As of the preseason games played through October 14, he has scored more three-point shots than anyone else in the league and is making over 43% of shots from behind the three-point line.

The main question going forward is do the Bulls have a legitimate shot at making the NBA finals? If they are to make the leap to the finals, they will likely have to defeat #23 on the Cavaliers and star point guard Kyrie Irving. Some have set a threshold of how many games the team should win in the regular season and the consensus is around 50. My personal prediction is that they will win 52 or 53 games in the regular season but they will need to bring the intensity on the defensive end because there have been too many instances of the team having defensive lapses that could easily have been prevented.

Greatest individual sports accomplishments

In the world of sports, there has been a debate on the most impressive individual accomplishments by professional athletes that in some cases are more than 50 years old.

In December 2006, Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers scored 81 points in a game vs. the Toronto Raptors. However, while that is impressive, a famous NBA player surpassed that number when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points on March 2, 1962 for the Philadelphia Warriors over the New York Knicks.

In the world of sports today, much more focus is placed on how do I help my team win a game and championships are won with that mentality, not how to necessarily pad my stats in a game that one’s team may lose in a blowout.

I have compiled a list of what I believe are the greatest individual accomplishments in each of the 4 major sports.

In baseball, that is a real difficult one, you have DiMaggio’s 56 game hit streak, Rickey Henderson with 1000 stolen bases and Cal Ripken Jr. who had a streak of 2,652 consecutive games played from May 30, 1982 to September 19, 1998. To me Ripken’s consecutive games played streak wins the title of most impressive individual accomplishment in baseball. The longest consecutive games streak played by one Major League Baseball player in the 2000’s was Miguel Tejada, who played 1,152 consecutive games that covered a 7 year span. It is truly amazing that one player was able to play every single game for a span of more than 15 years and considering that injuries are part of any game. Plus you consider that players on every team go through slumps and it is not uncommon for a manager to sit a struggling hitter for a game or two.

In basketball, there is a competition for rights to the most impressive individual stat. The Chicago Bulls won 3 consecutive titles twice in the 1990’s and the LA Lakers won 3 consecutive titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. This is an exceptional stat because one of the most difficult accomplishments in any sport is to repeat as champions. I’ve seen it many times, the season after a team in whatever sport wins a title, the feeling of we can repeat often does not exist because the rest of the league has it sights set on defeating the reigning champs and tends to bring their A game more often than not. Having said that, the Boston Celtics won 8 consecutive NBA championships from 1959-1966. While the Bulls and Lakers records were impressive, that comes no where close to beating the Celtics record and considering the 21st Century NBA lives in a salary cap era, that record is safe.

In football, this one is not as difficult considering how dangerous the sport is. The accomplishment is kicker and quarterback George Blanda, who played for the Chicago Bears, Oakland Raiders, Baltimore Colts and the Houston Oilers, he holds the record of seasons played, that being a whopping 26. I’ve mentioned that the NFL has seen players like Terrell Davis, who played for the Denver Broncos retire at the age of 29. The problems for football players often do not end after they retire. The average life expectancy of a retired NFL player is just 55 years. One other factor to take into consideration is the fact that despite making millions during one’s playing career, a good chunk of that money is gone after a career is over to treat injuries like concussions. These two factors are starting to make more people who would want to play football otherwise to think twice.

Lastly, comes hockey where I think the most impressive individual accomplishment is when Wayne Gretzky when he scored 215 points in one season while playing for the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980’s. Since 2000, the highest point total by one player was Joe Thornton in the 2005-2006 season for the San Jose Sharks and Boston Bruins. In today’s NHL, there is lots of emphasis on defense and shot blockers, thus that tends to cut down on the amount of goals scored. Another factor that doesn’t get as much attention is goalies and how much of the net that many tend to take up such as Anders Lindback of the Arizona Coyotes, he stands at 6’6 and 210 lbs.

What does this list have in common? It is very unlikely that these accomplishments will ever be broken partly because while we see many great athletes in every sport, they pale in comparison to the likes of Gretzky.

The most overrated statistics in sports

In every sport, fans are reminded of stats that may mean something to some but not others. There has always been and always will be a debate on whether stats like saves in baseball or time of possession in football tell the entire story or just part of it. While the list of most overrated stats may seem to never end, I have compiled what I feel is the most overrated stat in each of the 4 major sports.

Back in early May, Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said that he believes that Home runs are overrated. “It’s a statistic [on which you get] judged because you took 25 good swings a year that happened to [hit the ball] over the fence? As long as you do the little things, get on base, get runners over.”

Of course fans love to see baseball’s best sluggers hit 425 foot home runs but when there are three men on base, the bases are now cleared when the next batter steps to the plate. Another factor to take into consideration is when a situation like this is happening in a 10 run game, the team who gives up the grand slam is leading, the lead is usually still comfortable. Then you add if the team who is leading gets the third out without any more damage done, what is the value of the home run if it happens late in the game and the trailing team doesn’t muster more than just a grand slam the rest of the game.

When it comes to the most overrated stat in football, I had a hard time for a while because there are many stats that I do not believe tell the entire story of a team/game/season. After watching many football games, high school, college and the NFL, I have to say that the most overrated stat in football is time of possession.

I understand that in a league that has Quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees that one of the main goals for the opposing team is to keep those guys off the field. However, it does not mean much if your defense forces a turnover or three and out and your offense comes back on the field for a five minute possession that ends in a punt.

The 2012 Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens ranked 29th in TOP and the New York Giants finished 23rd in that category the previous season and they won the Super Bowl.

RICHARD SHIRO/Associated Press

According to ESPN stats, in the 2014-15 NBA season, stars like James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant were near the top in average turnovers per game. In fact among those who played enough games to qualify, Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder led the pack in turnover per game at 4.4. This stat to me is a slam dunk because basketball is such a competitive game and the 10 players on the court at a given time are running back and forth with no whistles for more than a minute on occasion.

Turnovers need to be put into context, how did a player like Westbrook turn the ball over to the other team because there is more than one way to have a turnover go against you. For instance when a star like Westbrook turns the ball over, it does not guarantee the other team scoring at the other end. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to see team A turn the ball over to team B and B gives it right back to team A.

This is another debatable one but I think that shooting percentage is the most overrated stat in the game of hockey. Shooting percentage is a big driver of goals and there are goaltenders in the NHL like Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning who are big and take up a good part of the net and crease area. If you look closer and add 1.5% to Sidney Crosby’s shooting percentage, we could be looking at 5-6 more goals.

If there is a surprise player who is near the top of the league in goals, the reason for that is often because of having an anomalously high shooting percentage, but it is common to see a big drop-off as the season progresses. Add a couple other factors to that and even the likes of Crosby will not get as much on his shot as he would like to, which often makes it easier for the goaltender to stop the puck. The next factor that I notice is that when anyone on the ice lines up to take a 100 mph slap-shot and there is no screen in front of the net, it is often easier for the goaltender to stop the puck.

The main takeaway from all of these ‘overrated’ stats is that every sport especially at the highest level is extremely competitive and even the best of athletes are prone to have bad games. Too much emphasis tends to be placed on two or three stats when they do not always tell the entire story. Announcers often mention in baseball, “it won’t be reflective in the box score, but can make a big difference at the end of the day.” When a batter has a 13 pitch at-bat and walks, that could lead to a big inning in which a team scores a few runs that ends up deciding the result of that days game. From time to time, the most accurate stat predictors are those that are not as easily seen when the game summary has been written.

Age limit debate in the NBA

A number of the NBA’s best stars made their debuts as teenagers, including but not limited to LeBron James (2003) and Kobe Bryant (1996). Effective by the 2006 NBA draft, the age limit was raised from 18 to 19 because some believed that potential participants out of high school were not ready for the big stage and the level of maturity at that age.

Shortly after becoming commissioner in early 2014, Adam Silver has made it clear that he wants the NBA to raise the age eligibility rule from 19 to 20.

“I’ve been a proponent of raising the age from 19 to 20 because I think it would make for a better league,” Silver said at the league’s office in a conference with sports editors back in April 2014. “I believe and continue to believe it will be in the best interest of the league. I think that the extra year in college will be a benefit for these young men to grow and develop as people and basketball players.”

However, the NBA players association says this not an idea they would support.

On NBA Age Limit: "Raising the age limit is not something we are willing to consider." NBPA COO Domonique Foxworth #SLAC15

— Liz Mullen (@SBJLizMullen) May 16, 2015

A couple reasons why some argue it is a bad idea to have the minimum age at 20 is because future draft picks may not have a say in whether one ends up being drafted or not.

Second, raising the age can and often does tamp down stars salaries. The NBA salary structure is based on when one signs with a team and their service in the league. The very best stars are restricted to a quarter of the teams salary until one has been in the league for at least 7 years. Then, most if not all of the players can sign contracts that is at 30% of their teams salary cap.

Steve Kerr, who is now the coach of the world champion Golden State Warriors believes that franchises should not have the burden to develop a player that at one time colleges could assume that role for them. Back in the 1980’s, a number of the sports greatest athletes took at least a few years before taking more prominent roles with their respective teams. They include, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and Kerr has a solid point, the likes of Jordan weren’t rushed into the league even when there may have been doubt whether he can have an immediate impact.

At the end of the day, it is understandable that a player like Derrick Rose would feel he is ready for the NBA draft after just one season at the University of Memphis after all he accomplished both at Memphis and in high school. He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2008 having attended high school in Chicago, and while he won the MVP award in the 2010-11 season, since then, he has suffered from injuries that have made it difficult for him to stay on the court.

While there are similarities between high school, college and the NBA, there are many differences. One of the biggest differences between high school and the NBA is that there are many more games in the NBA and many players who have been in college for just one season are not ready to make that jump in such a short period of time. Another difference is that a player like Rose, when he debuted had to compete against veterans right off the bat and many veterans are able to expose their weaknesses.

While I did not watch much of Derrick Rose’s career in high school, he did make mistakes but those mistakes made in high school are magnified in the NBA and that is part of the reason why he has not fully lived up to his potential.

If he wasn’t going to finish college, it would have been highly recommended that Rose spend a year or two in the D-League. The D-League is the NBA’s version of the minor leagues and one of the problems with making the quick jump from high school to the NBA is that most coaches at the high school level have no experience with coaching in the NBA, whether as a head coach or assistant.

The game from a strategic point of view is much different in high school than in the NBA. In order to have success at the highest level of basketball, one must have the strategic parts of the NBA game implanted into their minds. One of if not the only way to ensure that is to require that players right out of high school spend at least two seasons in college and one season in the NBA D-League.

Emotions tend to get the best of high school basketball players because many of them feel like they are on top of the world during those years. Most athletes in whatever sport when in high school do not look at the big picture and tend to feel over confident as they make the attempt to ascend. The sport is extremely competitive and for some reason, some are not made out to succeed at the highest level of basketball. Its time for once to make high school basketball players and athletes in general do some more critical thinking and self assessing themselves, something that has been lacking for some time. This starts with the people who are responsible for guiding them through the best of times and the worst of times.

Proposed new playoff format

In nearly a 10 year span, 3 of the 4 major sports have had a change in commissioners and a trend has been noticed and that is, testing new ideas. This week I wrote about MLB commissioner Rob Manfred talking about changing the non-waiver trade deadline. Next in line is NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

NBA moving forward w/plan to seed conference playoff teams 1-8 regardless of division winner starting in 15-16, per high-ranking NBA exec.

— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) June 25, 2015

Winning a division guaranteed a top 4 playoff seed but that will not necessarily be enough to get in the playoffs. This past season, the Portland Trailblazers won the Northwest division and had the No. 4 seed as a result. There is a caveat in this and it is that they won 51 games, which was good for 6th in an extremely competitive Western Conference. The San Antonio Spurs won 55 games and were bumped down to the 6th seed and that mean that they had to play the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round, who won one more game than the 2013-14 NBA champions. Both LA and San Antonio ranked second and third respectively in point differential but in the same round in the east, the Atlanta Hawks who won 60 games went up against a 38 win team in the Brooklyn Nets.

“That’s a flaw,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said, via ESPN.com’s Arash Markazi. “I think the divisions are important. They’re nice to have. They’re nice to be celebrated, for some and some not, but I don’t know if they should be celebrated as far as in the standings.”

This past season, the Boston Celtics, 40-42 and the Brooklyn Nets 38-44 made it into the circus but were eliminated in relatively short order in the first round.

Year-By-Year Look at West’s No. 9 Seed vs. East’s No. 8

Season	West’s 9th Seed	Wins	East’s 8th Seed	Wins
2014-15	OKC Thunder	45	Brooklyn Nets	38
2013-14	Phoenix Suns	48	Atlanta Hawks	38
2012-13	Utah Jazz	43	Milwaukee Bucks	38
2011-12	Houston Rockets	34	Philadelphia 76ers	35
2010-11	Houston Rockets	43	Indiana Pacers	37
2009-10	Houston Rockets	42	Chicago Bulls	41
2008-09	Phoenix Suns	46	Detroit Pistons	39
2007-08	GS Warriors	48	Atlanta Hawks	37
2006-07	LA Clippers	40	Orlando Magic	40
2005-06	Utah Jazz	41	Milwaukee Bucks	40

Basketball-Reference.com

What does this tell us? In the eastern conference, it only takes 39 wins to make it to the playoffs whereas if a western conference team wins 4 more games, that is not enough to make it to the playoffs. Note: the 2011-12 season was shortened due to a partial strike and there were 66 regular season games played.

Of course, this is just a proposal and as of now has not received approval from the appropriate folks.

This is a good start in improving a flawed playoff system but there will have to be more changes made in the future because this is just the first step. As any NBA fan will attest to, the western conference is much better than the east and the east will not be thrilled about more playoff revenue headed to the western conference.

In the past, when a team who wins 58, 59 games would play out a few of the games in the latter part of the season like it means nothing. As a result, games 80, 81, and 82 will be many teams playoffs and these games will actually mean something instead of which team will get the third or fourth seed. Seeing an extension of what could be a preview of the playoffs to come can increase the suspense level during the latter days of the regular season instead of people with the tendency to tune out in game 82. If not, fans who go to a game 82 would not see stars like James Harden and Stephen Curry play as often but relatively unknown players that fans are not too aware of.

It will take some time to adapt to this change but if approved, we will not see a team who is under .500 and still makes it to the postseason, that is my biggest issue with the current system. We know that a team like the Nets are an automatic first round exit but the first round could be more difficult to predict.