( ( ( ( ( nba bubble ball 2020 ) ) ) ) )

it’s been two pretty bad and very close losses, i get how it could become that heated and not be the sign of deep chemistry issues, given the stakes

i just don’t see the celtics crumbling like they did last year. that team waved the white flag like 2.5 games into the bucks series bcuz everyone knew the “best” player on the team was skipping town 45 seconds after the final buzzer. that just isn’t the case this year.

they also had an emotionally rough series against toronto after taking the first two easily, prob feels like a pretty big hole for them

I still don’t feel like the Heat are going to win, which in a way means they cannot truly win

the heat were a terrible match up for the bucks and still may have lost in a scenario where the bucks have a true home court. extrapolate bubble playoff results — game situations that will almost certainly never be replicated in nba history — at your own risk!

NBA don't want it to happen and it probably won't, but a Heat & Nuggets finals would be great.

Heat somehow win it all, they would have had 3 different ERAs of club win the title. I guess Wade was a carry over from the Shaq club to the Big 3, but still not even the Lakers or Celtics have pulled that off (yet) in recent memory.

You got to wonder how the ceiling is for a guy like Herro. It boggles my mind how much he has improved since he started at UK to now and really not that long a period. He went from incoming freshman bench player to a one and done and getting some minutes to turning into an NBA star in like a year.

'how high the ceiling'

activating league agent kelly o

has anyone done a side-by-side video of the clippers bench reaction to MKG shooting a 3 off the side of the backboard and the paul george’s shot in game 7?

league is not gonna let the possibility of a lakers celtics final get snuffed out this easily

NBA don't want it to happen and it probably won't, but a Heat & Nuggets finals would be great.

Still sort of following post-Raptors...I was thinking about the same thing. From the standpoint of Maximum Possible Error (like when Sports Illustrated picked Cleveland to win the World Series in 1987 and they ended up as the worst team in baseball), would a Denver-Miami final be the worst possible pairing out of the eight remaining teams from the standpoint of the networks? I guess Denver-Toronto would have been the worst, but I thought Toronto might have a little extra ratings boost as the defending champions.

(No reflection on the two teams--Miami/Denver would be an exciting series, I'm sure.)

Bubble Stat of the Day #48!

The Heat have played 37 clutch minutes in the playoffs, per https://t.co/rPv60Gynsd (last 5 minutes, score within 5 points).

They've scored 128 points per 100 possessions in those minutes—and allowed only 92, for a net rating of *plus-36*.

— Zach Kram (@zachkram) September 18, 2020

celts were lost vs zone d

― johnny crunch, Thursday, September 17, 2020 9:39 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

basically

I'll take Celtics drama directly in my veins, thanks.

To me the only bad outcome is the Lakers winning the title. Every other champ would would be very very cool

has anyone done a side-by-side video of the clippers bench reaction to MKG shooting a 3 off the side of the backboard and the paul george’s shot in game 7?

lakers and clips both falling before the finals wld be great IMHO cause theyre both mercenary super teams also IMHO celtics drama isnt anything i mean marcus smart yelling isnt news

celtics not being able to play against the zone for two straight series well brad got some splainin to do

sorry you cant claim good vibes anymore. sad day for you i know

vibes are not to be claimed but to be rode --lao tzu

heat are taking the ball away from the celts whenever they want to and frankly outplaying them and even so they're only barely winning. i do not think this is over but yeesh they got 30 hours to figure it out.

the heat are playing shockingly good basketball from where they were pre quar

we call that shogoball for short

would a Denver-Miami final be the worst possible pairing out of the eight remaining teams from the standpoint of the networks?

this is unquestionably true and wholly irrelevant to anyone here on ILH because we love hoops, not ratings. even if it meant a smaller network contract next time around, that only would affect salaries and profits, not the quality of play.

is miami that small a market for bball still? compared to like philly or w/e

I would be personally be pretty psyched about that final and pretty excited to see how it played out! but i don't think your average person could name two (maybe even one?) player from either team

yeah, exactly. does Joe America know the Joker or Jimmy Butler? Probably not. them's the breaks, NBA billionaire owners!

prob wld be the worst series from a general interest pov since spurs pistons

we call that shogoball for short

― ciderpress, Friday, September 18, 2020 2:11 PM (forty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

shogob

wholly irrelevant to anyone here on ILH because we love hoops

I kind of get that, aimless, which is why I added "No reflection on the two teams--Miami/Denver would be an exciting series, I'm sure."

def one of the better series from an interesting teams perspective

I just find the possibility of Miami/Denver amusing, knowing how badly the networks wanted L.A. (either) vs. the Celtics--happens all the time in baseball. I'm becoming interested in Jamal Murray--Kitchener's sort of down the road from me.

if people don't know jokic or jimmy butler they probably don't know kemba walker or jayson tatum either. or anyone besides lebron

the "casual nba fan" is my favorite strawman

Idk what the nba can do to get ratings and I’m worried about it

don't be. poor ratings in the USA will just slow down their plans for world domination and starting expansion teams in Europe and China.

they gotta get rid of blackouts, ppl under 30 don't have cable tv and will just watch bootleg streams if there's no convenient alternative

ppl under 30 also dont have money though so maybe the solution is to focus on middle aged ppl

show commercials for money

I know there's been talk about lower ratings and blaming it on matchups or the teams or the BLM stuff but I mean there were a lot of games being played during the day on weekdays and triple headers etc which makes it hard for a lot of people to watch

plus last year the finals I'm assuming Canadian TV doesn't show up in US ratings so it's hard to calculate, I'm sure ratings in Toronto were off the chain

remind me again why I should care about the nba's financials

adam silver needs new shoes

I have good news you don't have to

I guess I was just more interested in this "too political fans are leaving" storyline that's being puked out everywhere and seems kinda b.s.

celtics not being able to play against the zone for two straight series well brad got some splainin to do

xp yeah i dont think thats a real thing

i also dont think the league is in any danger

i really can’t bring myself to care about the ratings at all... the players should care bcuz the cap is tied to revenue but as far as fans go, there’s gonna be 30 teams and 82 games for the foreseeable future, and i don’t think the league is going to get any less visible

TV ratings are a measure of popularity that again matters to the league bcuz of how they take in money, but the league remains as culturally relevant as ever imo. i don’t think there’s a problem at all beyond ppl under 35 not paying for cable.

any serious fallout from less sports revenue will show up in mlb well before the nba i'd think

Just finished first half. Hadn’t thought about Scott foster all bubble but here we are.

jordan otm about ratings, idc either

very resigned about the nuggs