Postseason Discussion
Of the 28 teams we have selected in our challenge, 25 of the teams are between 24 and 34 points…or basically, a good team and a bad team are basically either a good week or a bad week away from making the playoffs.
Parity.
Is.
Not.
Good.
At least the NBA understands this. And I hate the NBA. But, this, they get right. Of all four sports, the NBA is the single most likely to crown the actual best team at the end of the year as a champion. The baseball and hockey playoffs are absolutely a crapshoot, with hockey much more so than baseball even. Football tends to crown the best team, but even so, in a 60 minute game, anything can happen.
In short, here is my ranking in terms of postseasons and the reliability that they crown the best team over the course of the regular season:
1) Basketball
2) Football
3) Baseball
4) Hockey
Thoughts?
posted by David at 1:57 PM
2 Comments:
Original Matt comment:
I think Dirk Nowitzki disagrees with your assessment about the NBA Champion being the best NBA team, but he's a cry baby.
I think the NHL post season is a good crucible for testing NHL teams and that the NHL champion is usually the best team. The real problem is that the regular season which isn't a good predictor of post season success.
Some hockey critics will say the NHL playoffs are a crapshoot, because all a team needs is a hot goalie. That's partially true, but it's no accident that the hottest goalie has usually been named Roy, Belfour, and Brodeur.
12/06/2007 9:21 PM
My dignified response.
Matt = Loser.
Really, that should be the topic of debate. But, since I posed the question, I guess I will extemporize on it.
I want to argue this greatly, but I simply can't. I don't know anything about hockey from a professional sense, except for the rules of the game. But I do know that 5-8 seeds win all the time, while that doesn't happen nearly as often in basketball. In fact, I believe there are only two #1 seeds to ever lose in the first round of the basketball playoffs (since it went to 16 teams).
Matt raises a good point, though. A team can suck in hockey but if the goalie is good, they can win it all. This is what makes hockey unique. In no other sport can one great player carry a team like a goalie can in hockey. So, where do you draw the line of the importance of a goalie in assessing an overall teams strength? I was likely devaluing it and Matt has forced me to rethink it.
All that said, there were few people last year who were predicting the Mavericks to win the NBA Championship once the playoffs started. Few thought they were the "best" team, even if their record indicated it. Most thought it was SA or Phoenix, and predictably, either one of those teams would have won the trophy last year.
Anyway, time to pass the baton.
12/06/2007 9:30 PM
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