NBA or NHL Playoff Format?

[kq76]

Which do you prefer: NBA or NHL Playoff Format?

Perhaps the most obvious difference is in the second round where the NHL "re-seeds" the teams whereas the NBA doesn't. Re-seeding means that if 8 beats 1 while 2, 3 and 4 all get in then 2 will play 8 while 3 and 4 meet. In the NBA the winner of 1 and 8 will meet the winner of 4 and 5 regardless of who wins.

There's another big difference though. In the NHL the 3 division winners are guaranteed the top 3 seeds whereas in the NBA they're only guaranteed a 4th seed. And what's better, home court in the NBA is determined by record, not seeding, so even a 4th seed doesn't necessarily get you home court.

Personally, I'd like to see the NHL's re-seeding, but with the NBA's home advantage based on record. I could go with the NBA's at least 4th seed for the division winners or no guarantee. The thing is, though, the NHL's re-seeding makes sense in a way (you do want the best two remaining teams in the 3rd round, right?), but it doesn't in another (guaranteeing the top 3 spots means you're not guaranteeing the best two remaining teams will get to 3rd round since the #4 seed is could easily be the 2nd best team in the conference).

There is of course a downside to the NHL's re-seeding. It can be frustrating when trying to figure out whom your team will be playing next. In the NBA, OTOH, you know right from the start of the playoffs that the winner of your match-up will be playing the winner of another specific match-up. There's nothing complicated or confusing about it. Neither guarantees that the two remaining best teams (by record) will meet each other in the second round though and that just doesn't make sense to me.

[bubba22plus]

As much as i hate the NBA, i like their playoff system best.

[mgom27]

They are much better then baseball because it just has 8 teams all together and the NBA/NHL 16 all together.
NBA gets it's Championship Games on ESPN While MLB has to be on FOX.
Also NHL has less off days.

[boblight24]

Originally Posted by mgom27

They are much better then baseball because it just has 8 teams all together and the NBA/NHL 16 all together.
NBA gets it's Championship Games on ESPN While MLB has to be on FOX.
Also NHL has less off days.

I find it humorous that the most physically demanding sport (hockey) gets less days off as opposed to the NBA during the post-season. The Charlotte/Orlando series went Sun/Wed/Sat, 3 games in a week?

Wonder what would happen if the NCAA Men's Tournament re-seeded after each round?

[canadiancreed]

Giving a top three standing to a team that wins the weakest division int he league (SouthEast) ptus the NHL behind the eight ball already.

[Ragnar]

Correct me if i'm wrong, in the NHL the team with the better record gets home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup whether or not they are a div winner.

In the NBA, does a division winner get home court over a non div winner with a better record. If it came to be? If not then there is no reason to have divisions.

Other than that I like NHL's better but am not crazy about either.

IMO the worst part about both sytems is how many teams make it in. When your league has over 50% of the teams making the playoffs it becomes a joke. I'm not saying that some of the teams can't do well, just that many of them don't deserve the right to play in the playoffs. What do you play the regular season for? To be almost average?

[William Satterwhite]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

Giving a top three standing to a team that wins the weakest division int he league (SouthEast) ptus the NHL behind the eight ball already.

Without looking it up I can only think of two times the Southeast Division winner received a top 3 seed in a season in which that team didn't actually finish in the top 4 (which would basically be the NBA model) and in one of those years the team ended up going to the Stanley Cup finals if I'm not mistaken.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by Ragnar

Correct me if i'm wrong, in the NHL the team with the better record gets home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup whether or not they are a div winner.

Yes, in the Stanley Cup finals home ice advantage goes to the club with the better record. See the 1999-00 season for an example: Dallas won its division and was the #2 seed overall in the Western Conference, while New Jersey finished second in its division and was the #4 seed in the Eastern Conference. But in the Stanley Cup finals home ice went to New Jersey, which had 103 points on the season compared to Dallas' 102 points.

[Afino]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

Giving a top three standing to a team that wins the weakest division int he league (SouthEast) ptus the NHL behind the eight ball already.

Don't say that - you'll get all of the Caps' fans happy horse**** that they actually did better against the NE and ATL than the SE.

[AirmenSmith]

I choose NHL but I would also like to see the Nba shrink how many teams get in. To me if your a sub 500 team then they shouldn't be in playoffs.

[kq76]

Originally Posted by Ragnar

In the NBA, does a division winner get home court over a non div winner with a better record. If it came to be? If not then there is no reason to have divisions.

They don't:

However, because the NBA does not re-seed its teams and because home court advantage goes to the team with the better record, not the better seeding, division winners are guaranteed no better than a five seed, as their 4th seeding does not guarantee home court advantage in the first round

So yeah, I still like giving it to the team with the better record, but you're right in that it makes the divisions less meaningful. It's still somewhat meaningful, but not as much as in the NHL. For example, a division winner could have the 6th through 8th best record in the conference, but because they won their division they'd get the 4th seed (effectively the 5th since the 5th would have a better record). Getting the 4th seed and thereby playing the 5th seed is still better for them than playing the 1st through 3rd seeds as they would without divisions.

[Le Grande Orange]

Well, divisions are essentially meaningless in the NBA anyway since it plays a balanced schedule. The NHL plays a divisionally-weighted schedule, but the weighting is fairly weak so it's not that far from a balanced schedule.

[MarCn]

Originally Posted by kq76

Which do you prefer: NBA or NHL Playoff Format?

Perhaps the most obvious difference is in the second round where the NHL "re-seeds" the teams whereas the NBA doesn't. Re-seeding means that if 8 beats 1 while 2, 3 and 4 all get in then 2 will play 8 while 3 and 4 meet. In the NBA the winner of 1 and 8 will meet the winner of 4 and 5 regardless of who wins.

There's another big difference though. In the NHL the 3 division winners are guaranteed the top 3 seeds whereas in the NBA they're only guaranteed a 4th seed. And what's better, home court in the NBA is determined by record, not seeding, so even a 4th seed doesn't necessarily get you home court.

Personally, I'd like to see the NHL's re-seeding, but with the NBA's home advantage based on record. I could go with the NBA's at least 4th seed for the division winners or no guarantee. The thing is, though, the NHL's re-seeding makes sense in a way (you do want the best two remaining teams in the 3rd round, right?), but it doesn't in another how to use seroquel and how to take phentermine (guaranteeing the top 3 spots means you're not guaranteeing the best two remaining teams will get to 3rd round since the #4 seed is could easily be the 2nd best team in the conference).

There is of course a downside to the NHL's re-seeding. It can be frustrating when trying to figure out whom your team will be playing next. In the NBA, OTOH, you know right from the start of the playoffs that the winner of your match-up will be playing the winner of another specific match-up. There's nothing complicated or confusing about it. Neither guarantees that the two remaining best teams (by record) will meet each other in the second round though and that just doesn't make sense to me.

I prefer NBA

[theasfl]

NBA, it's a whole lot easier to code a pickem game for a straight bracket.