The State OF The NBA- Parity Rules!!

[Wurider05]

With all of the parity in the league every team thinks that they have a shot to make the playoffs or better. I mean I would call Miami a dynasty. I mean anybody has a chance of winning the championship (just about anyone). I have never seen this much activity in the NBA ever. As a fan I love it because I am starting to believe that the Hawks are going to be in the playoff hunt next season and anything can happen once the playoffs start. Hell we beat 13 of the 16 playoff teams last season.

[sturt]

If the much-talked-about reduction in low-post brutality actually comes to fruition, and if the game thusly regains its alikeness to the college game, it won't matter to me how much parity there is or isn't.

That's because it will be reborn to be a game enjoyable to watch again, and for all of the reasons that this rabid Hawks fan truly relished watching each and every Celtics/Lakers final all of those years.

It was a time when officials called the first game of the season similar to how they called the first game of the post season similar to how they called every game of the Finals. It was a wonderful thing to know that generally a foul was a foul was a foul, and that as a fan, you could feel there was integrity and no wink-and-nod, "Jordan" rules.

By almost anyone's measure, that hasn't been the case since Stern became so desperate to reclaim the NBA's marketing niche (in-between the Bird/Magic years and the Jordan years), and correspondingly involved in how the game is officiated.

I'm optimistic... but still stew that the NBA doesn't handle the situation like the NFL does, wherein an owners' group meets regularly and determines both rules changes and particular emphases for officials to attend to from season to season -- which stands in stark contrast to the evident dictatorship that Stern weilds over basketball refs.

Thank God, literally, for Mark Cuban. Only wish there were more of him.

[Lascar78]

there is increased parity. Still every year, there are about 3-4 teams tops that had a shot.

Last year there was really SA-Dal-Phx in the west and Mia-Det-NJ.

What's interesting is that with the increased parity, those contenders can change FAST from year to year. Chicago went from barely squeaking into the first round to becoming a contender.

[Diesel]

I wouldn't say that Chicago barely squeaked.

They put a serious scare into Miami!

[Lascar78]

they won 12 of the last 14 to finish at .500 and make the playoffs. They barely squeaked into the playoffs.

Now they're a contender

That's my point