Saturday, May 23, 2009

Why don't we have ties like hockey??

I have read all about the first four games of the conferences finals (two for the east, two for the west).  And the result of all four games so far would have to be correctly called a tie.  So who wins when its a tie?  
Well, if the first four games of the conference finals are any suggestion, pretty much anybody can win.  The outcome is random.  The first two games can of each series were played to standstills.  And each team came away with a win.  

How does one classify a good team?  A good playoff team?  I think a good playoff team can be classified as one that closes out an opponent on the road.  That is the standard.  Orlando and Cleveland are both good playoff teams.  So neither of these good teams will suffer on the road or benefit from being at home.
I'd define a team's "normal" game as what happens at home.  And they may suffer on the road.  So Cleveland fans shouldn't worry about facing a better Orlando team at home, they need to worry about the Cavs playing worse.  But they have proven to be a good road team this postseason (4-0) on the road.  So they shouldn't drop off too much.  I think the blowout wins at Orlando may have been a case of "mistaken identity".
A game of "mistaken identity" means that Orlando circled it on the schedule and made it a huge game for them.  And Cleveland considered their big road games to be at L.A. and at Boston.  And certainly not at Orlando.  
A basketball game is only 48 minutes long.  And if 24 minutes through you realize you are in a huge battle  and are already losing, you simply don't have enough time to come back.  

Lets say that Cleveland is two points better than Orlando over 48 minutes.  If Cleveland and Orlando played forty games, each one serious, they would outscore Orlando by an average of two points.  If half the game has gone by, they are only one point better on average for the rest of the game.  And if they are losing at the half by twenty, well they simply don't have much time to come back.  They have to play wayy above average to come back.  

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