The NBA's In Season Tournament Got Off To An Awesome Start And There's A Chance It Might Actually Be A Pretty Good Idea
Joe Murphy. Getty Images.Like with most things in life, people hate change. Whenever there's something new, it's almost a default reaction for people to hate it or think it's the worst idea ever. Think of how many times a social platform has changed, everyone bitches about it and how terrible it is, and then after two days nobody gives a shit and some actually even start to like the new idea.
The same thing applies to the NBA. When we heard about the Play In Tournament idea, many people hated it. They thought it was dumb and unnecessary, and really were just stuck in their old ways. Because it had never been done before, people were resistant. As it turns out, the Play In rules. Not only does it help make the end of the season more enjoyable, but the games themselves have been wildly entertaining. Hell, the Heat just made the Finals after an insane postseason run that all started in the Play In. That idea has turned out to be a smashing success, and I'm not really sure that's even up for debate.
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Enter the In Season Tournament idea. As you can imagine, it was met with the same type of reaction as the Play In. It was stupid, it was pointless, nobody gives a shit etc. Well, after our first look at it last night, the early results seem pretty awesome as well
A couple of things after watching all these games last night
- I actually kind of like the new full-color courts for most teams. Something about it just works for my brain. I really liked the OKC combo, I thought the full red in the Bulls was cool, and I know this might have me in the minority, but I thought it was a unique viewing experience. I didn't love the bright green down the middle on the MIL court, I feel like they should have all purple or all dark green or something instead of that light court + highlighter green, but for the most part, I actually liked how they looked in real life. It's one thing to see the mock up design where it may not translate to the actual court, but for the most part I thought these did.
- I didn't get the sense that players were trying hard because these were "tournament games", I felt like they were just playing hard because these were mostly big matchups involving good teams. Maybe this is just because I'm a basketball guy, but I think these early season games are awesome solely because there is basketball being played. I didn't really think the idea of a "tournament" added anything. If these were non tournament games on a regular court, I feel like players would have tried just as hard and the games would have been just as exciting.
- With all the close games and dramatic finishes, I think we all knew who played a role in that. It was a nice ode to a guy who absolutely would have pulled the strings to make his new idea a smashing success right from the jump. I dunno how Silver did it, but the league's fingerprints had to be all over this somehow. Look at the stat in that tweet. Coincidence? No way.
- The league and us fans should move away from calling it the In Season Tournament and just call it the NBA Cup 100% of the time. Much better name. The same way most people trimmed The Play In Tournament to just "The Play In", in my opinion you need a shorter name to help it really stick. Nobody is going to refer to it as the IST either. I saw that float around and that's terrible. Just call in the NBA Cup and be done with it.
Overall, I thought the experiment was fine. Entertaining actually. Even if that had more do to with there just being good games on and less to do with the "new idea", I don't see why fans shouldn't give the NBA Cup a fair shake. Again, the Play in worked out well so why can't this? It might take decades for anyone to actually truly give a shit or think the NBA Cup trophy has any sort of legitimate significance, but who cares? You have to start somewhere and last night was a pretty damn good jumping off point.