By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Before the championship game of the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament and the Los Angeles Lakers becoming the first team to lift the NBA Cup, league commissioner Adam Silver opened up on the latest addition to the annual schedule.
“I want to thank all of the players in the league and the coaches, of course, the teams, for embracing this new concept,” said Silver on Saturday, “I know it doesn’t come without challenges. There’s no doubt there are some things that we are learning this time through. I mean, overall, we are thrilled with the interest we’ve seen so far this season. But again, probably people are tired of hearing the word “tweak.” So we’ll come up with another synonym for that.”
Silver, 61, noted various potential changes, heading to the second edition of the In-Season Tournament.
“I love the court we are using here for the semifinals and final game, but I think there could be some more creativity and set some parameters for the teams,” he pointed out after praising the unique colors highlighting the courts around the NBA throughout the tournament.
“The point differential issue to break ties was a concept that is well known in international basketball and FIBA and Olympic competition. I’m not ready necessarily to move away from it, but if ultimately there’s going to be a sense, particularly from our American fans, that somehow it is an indication of poor sportsmanship, that’s not a good idea for us to be doing it,” he added on the tiebreaking process used in the group stage, “Maybe there are some ways to tweak that where it only matters up to a certain point in terms of point differential.”
“I think the scheduling,” he added another area for possible improvements, “This doesn’t get as much attention, but it’s something my teams are very focused on. That for the teams that did not advance to the knockout stage, then have to essentially schedule games at the last minute. I want to make sure we are being fair to them, their season-ticket holders.”
“My sense is there’s no question there will be some changes for next year,” concluded Silver.
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