I'm really struggling to understand what the point of the in season tournament is. Why do I want the season to stop, and any momentum to stop, so that our players can... Keep playing in games that don't actually matter? I really don't get it.
Oh on a specific level I agree. I'm so not sold here. But I did think the play in was dumb and it ended up being fun, so maybe I'm missing something with this too.
Everyone seems really cynical about this, but I think the games will end up "mattering" a lot more than people expect, and I think that may be really fun. It may give players lower on the roster time to shine in higher intensity games, which could be great. Plus, from a spectator perspective, ending the tournament in early December in Vegas could make it pretty desirable for people interested in making the trip. I know if my team made it that far, I would consider it.
So is it like game played in the tournament and won is less games that have to be played for the rest of the season? Confused, since some teams would rather opt for load management.
@NightOwl no, all tournament games count as regular season games (except the final). Teams that don't advance to the knockouts will continue playing regular season games as the tournament is happening. But this is super confusing and the NBA has done a terrible job of explaining it. I think maybe even some teams haven't understood the concept yet.
I'm very confused too. Have a hard enough time having teams care about regular season, all star, and even play offs is pretty much championship or bust depending on the expectations of a team. So I don't understand what the draw of mid season tournament is. Some players don't even want to hold the ECF or WCF trophy.
Since they also count for regular season games, I think it won't be that different from a handful of normal games in December, but with a bit of an edge hopefully added.
Idk, we'll see how it turns out, but I'm hoping the players just decide to try and give it some meaning. It'd be cool to see some near playoff level basketball in December