Even Charles Barkley thinks fans should watch NHL playoffs

[The Undertaker]

The Spurs or Rockets can challenge the Warriors, the Spurs have been the third best team in the league the past 4 years and are capable of an upset and it would not be considered huge.

Boston is underrated and can put up a fight against Cleveland, they are the number 1 seed in the East for a reason.

Warriors in 5.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

Warriors in 5.

It took the Warriors 7 games and a comeback down from 3-1 in the series last year to beat the Thunder. 6 games to beat Portland. This from a team that beat the bulls for all time regular season wins. Their road was anything but easy. Houston this year is better than last years Thunder team, and the Spurs are even more deep and talented than last year. Its not going to go 5.

 

[Stuzchuk]

Wwwwwoooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[OldMilIce]

Love Charles but what the hell is he talking about?

The Bucks and Raptors series was great and went 6 games. Boston Chicago ended in 6 and was close. What about the Grizzlies taking 2 from the spurs and being competitive throughout. The Jazz and Clippers went 7 and was back and forth. In the second round you have Boston vs Washington which is tied at 2-2 and a great series so far. What about Houston being up on the spurs currently in the 3rd quarter with the series tied 2-2?

There have only been 4 sweeps so far, 2 by Cleveland and 2 by the Warriors, teams better than everyone else and expected to dominate. Are you guys not entertained by the other series? Houston vs San Antonio is as good as it gets as far as entertainment goes in the NBA so far.

The other series might be good, but at the end of the day they are inconsequential because no matter what its going to be Cleveland and Golden State in the finals. There is no parity in the NBA because of how much impact the truly great players have, and therefore there are only a couple series that are truly worth watching.

Im not really a big basketball fan. There is not a chance in hell I'm watching a regular season game because it does not matter in the grand scheme of things. Id rather watch whatever hockey game is on at the same time since I'm a much bigger hockey fan. Im not going to watch an NBA playoff game in the first couple of rounds because as a "casual" it desnt matter to me personally and I know what the outcome at the end of the playoffs is going to be. I will definitely tune into the NBA finals though, Lebron is an all time great and Golden State is an all time great team, it matters in the grand scheme. Nothing else does and that is the problem with the current NBA.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

The other series might be good, but at the end of the day they are inconsequential because no matter what its going to be Cleveland and Golden State in the finals. There is no parity in the NBA because of how much impact the truly great players have, and therefore there are only a couple series that are truly worth watching.

Im not really a big basketball fan. There is not a chance in hell I'm watching a regular season game because it does not matter in the grand scheme of things. Id rather watch whatever hockey game is on at the same time since I'm a much bigger hockey fan. Im not going to watch an NBA playoff game in the first couple of rounds because as a "casual" it desnt matter to me personally and I know what the outcome at the end of the playoffs is going to be. I will definitely tune into the NBA finals though, Lebron is an all time great and Golden State is an all time great team, it matters in the grand scheme. Nothing else does and that is the problem with the current NBA.

Do yourself a favor and watch James Harden play. Hes an amazing talent and super entertaining to watch. He gets less attention because the NBA is terrible at marketing anything beyond Lebron. If you believe one player makes a huge impact in the NBA, this is the guy that can win a series on his own, almost Lebronesque.

 

[Frosty415]

NBA is in a transitional era where the teams that have adjusted to 3 point volume shooting have developed a huge edge over traditional teams that use the 3 pointer sparingly. They'll figure out it.

NHL needs to figure out how to increase scoring chances so they're hardly home free. The scores have more variance but that's the extent of it.

This is so true.

I've been following the NBA more the past 2 years, and I've noticed the 3 point shot is key to massive success in today's NBA.


I watched the NBA as a kid/teen in the late 90s and 3s weren't even close to this common.

 

[Pyromaniac]

Love Charles but what the hell is he talking about?

The Bucks and Raptors series was great and went 6 games. Boston Chicago ended in 6 and was close. What about the Grizzlies taking 2 from the spurs and being competitive throughout. The Jazz and Clippers went 7 and was back and forth. In the second round you have Boston vs Washington which is tied at 2-2 and a great series so far. What about Houston being up on the spurs currently in the 3rd quarter with the series tied 2-2?

There have only been 4 sweeps so far, 2 by Cleveland and 2 by the Warriors, teams better than everyone else and expected to dominate. Are you guys not entertained by the other series? Houston vs San Antonio is as good as it gets as far as entertainment goes in the NBA so far.

I can only imagine what the fans of those teams must be thinking. This is the year we go all the way and win the privilege to lose to the Warriors/Cavs. I think the NBA should give a plaque commemorating the teams that end up getting swept in the conference finals.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

I can only imagine what the fans of those teams must be thinking. This is the year we go all the way and win the privilege to lose to the Warriors/Cavs. I think the NBA should give a plaque commemorating the teams that end up getting swept in the conference finals.

Where are people assuming that a sweep is going to happen. Cleveland are a year older and not as explosive offensively as last year, they struggled at the end of this season. Last year the Raptors took them to 6 games in the conference finals, there were no sweeps that late.

The teams left are not chump change, they might lose but it will be close, just like last year. The Western conference finals were full of drama and its a better conference in terms of talent anyways. Golden State always have a tougher road than Cleveland who's only main competition were an overrated Raptors team who still played them close.

Boston in 7.

 

[Gnashville]

It took the Warriors 7 games and a comeback down from 3-1 in the series last year to beat the Thunder. 6 games to beat Portland. This from a team that beat the bulls for all time regular season wins. Their road was anything but easy. Houston this year is better than last years Thunder team, and the Spurs are even more deep and talented than last year. Its not going to go 5.

Warriors now have the reason it went 7 last year on their roster. Winning 1 game by anybody in the Western conference finals would be a surprise.

 

[OldMilIce]

Do yourself a favor and watch James Harden play. Hes an amazing talent and super entertaining to watch. He gets less attention because the NBA is terrible at marketing anything beyond Lebron. If you believe one player makes a huge impact in the NBA, this is the guy that can win series on his own, almost Lebronesque.

I'm not exactly an uninformed fan. If theres a close game with an interesting team I'll watch a quarter or two. I watch highlights and listen to sports radio talking heads and know, in general, how the league functions and who the good and great players are. I know there are a lot of players that are great, including Harden, and Westbrook and many others, but at the end of the day none of them are Lebron and none of their teams have a great shot at putting out Curry and Golden State. Its really terrible for the sport at the end of the day, it makes someone like me, who definitely doesnt choose basketball first, not tune in more often than I tune in.

 

[MardyBum]

He's right, NBA playoffs for the most part are ****.

 

[VainGretzky]

The Spurs or Rockets can challenge the Warriors, the Spurs have been the third best team in the league the past 4 years and are capable of an upset and it would not be considered huge.

Boston is underrated and can put up a fight against Cleveland, they are the number 1 seed in the East for a reason.

No no they can't lol Warriors are dominant Durant not going you have Curry if he is not going you have Thompson not to mention AC Green who is a blocking and steal rebounding machine. Warriors bench alone would be a playoff team.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

I'm not exactly an uninformed fan. If theres a close game with an interesting team I'll watch a quarter or two. I watch highlights and listen to sports radio talking heads and know, in general, how the league functions and who the good and great players are. I know there are a lot of players that are great, including Harden, and Westbrook and many others, but at the end of the day none of them are Lebron and none of their teams have a great shot at putting out Curry and Golden State. Its really terrible for the sport at the end of the day, it makes someone like me, who definitely doesnt choose basketball first, not tune in more often than I tune in.

One guy is basically going to win the series against the Spurs who are almost there in terms of being as good as Golden state. 32 Points 10 rebounds and 9 assists so far in game 5. The game is on right now, watch it!

 

[VainGretzky]

This is so true.

I've been following the NBA more the past 2 years, and I've noticed the 3 point shot is key to massive success in today's NBA.


I watched the NBA as a kid/teen in the late 90s and 3s weren't even close to this common.

And all the big men that can shoot the 3 now , used to be your smaller guards but now almost everyone can drop them now.

 

[swint]

NBA: Whoever has Lebron vs. Whoever is stacks their team in the West.. who could've predicted that?

NHL: Sens make the conference finals because a guy playing on one good foot has suddenly transformed into Wayne Orr.. who could've predicted that?

 

[SpookyTsuki]

They always have like 5 teams that could contend. Sometimes 7. And 5 of 7 always do nothing for some reason they just give up or something

 

[Habsrule]

To me I just have never liked basketball because of the way many games are ended.

Oh my team just lost. Oh well. Let's just all go to centre court and hug it out. Give a couple of high fives and catch up with the opponent. Congratulate them on their win. Act as if nothing is the matter.

Screw that. Maybe I am just competitive but I would never want to do that. I just lost and I want to get to the dressing room. Losing is not fun. I do not want to go and hug the guy who beat me.

Maybe you can call me a poor sport but I like to win. Now if you eliminate my team from the playoffs I will line up at centre ice to congratulate you and wish you luck. Not after every game.

 

[Mr Positive]

The path of the NHL's #1 team, the Caps, has been interesting to say the least. First, the plucky Leafs put some real fear into them, and now they've had to fight tooth and nail to get to a 7th game vs the Pens. If they win the cup, it will have been a long war for them.

And teams have character. Many impartial fans are picking the Preds to win it all, and they are defense-heavy.

 

[Mubiki]

no parity at all. get a bloody hard cap. NBA stars control where they want to go and stack their teams. they just make the owner pay 40-50 mill luxury taxes. let GMs actually be GMs.

The issue with the NBA is the player cap. Guys like LeBron can't actually make their worth. He should literally be making 75% of the teams salary.

 

[Paradoc]

I like the NHL playoffs a lot more than the NBA playoffs because there is more parity and the game can be very exciting while a lot of NBA's matches, especially the quarter-finals, can be very one-sided.

However, the NBA finals are WAY more hype and almost always contain the best team in the league vs the next best team in the league, which I don't mind. I honestly don't remember the last NHL finals that was very exciting to me since the Vancouver vs Boston series back in 2011. Compare that to Golden State vs Cleveland which had one of the best game 7 I've ever watched and you can see how they pull ahead in that department.

 

[Knave]

NBA finals should be good.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

It took the Warriors 7 games and a comeback down from 3-1 in the series last year to beat the Thunder. 6 games to beat Portland. This from a team that beat the bulls for all time regular season wins. Their road was anything but easy. Houston this year is better than last years Thunder team, and the Spurs are even more deep and talented than last year. Its not going to go 5.

1) Steph Curry was hurt throughout that playoff run
2) They beat Portland in 5 games with Curry missing most of the series
3) Kevin Durant is now on the Warriors

Do yourself a favor and watch James Harden play. Hes an amazing talent and super entertaining to watch. He gets less attention because the NBA is terrible at marketing anything beyond Lebron. If you believe one player makes a huge impact in the NBA, this is the guy that can win a series on his own, almost Lebronesque.

I can't stand watching Harden. At least half of his "shot attempts" consistent of him jumping into someone, flailing his arms in the air and looking for a foul. It's everything I dislike about the current NBA.


Just realized that I quoted you twice and bashed your opinion in both cases. I swear it was a coincidence.

 

[Eternal Leaf]

Love the NBA but the first three rounds are utterly pointless. Finals will be amazing though.

 

[Butch 19]

I cannot understand how any HFers can also watch basketball. srsly?!

The NHL series have all been good so far, and the NBA series have been... actually I have no idea how they've been - I can't waste my time on basketball.

 

[Esq]

Interesting comment considering the first round in the NHL playoffs had zero game sevens.