SPANISH HARLEM – On Tuesday the New York Knicks beat the Charolette Hornets to advance to the Quarterfinals in the NBA In-Season Tournament. They will face the Milwaukee Bucks on December 5th and though I have yet to fully understand what is going on, anything positive for the Knicks is something to write about. Still, I want to focus more on the tournament itself.
While I’m happy for my team, I still don’t know what to make of this NBA In-Season Tournament. At first, I didn’t care much but as more games were played, I sensed a different atmosphere from the players and the fans in attendance. The games are played on Tuesdays and Fridays, and you can tell from the court design that something is different about these games, so they aren’t hard to miss. Even the sports announcers give details about the rules every time and again, but you really need to google it to understand the full scope.
From what I can tell, the players understand what is going on and want to win. It may not seem important to the casual fan but if you are really into the NBA, you can tell that the games feel different. Usually, early season games are about jelling as a team and making mistakes but that is no longer the case, as teams are looking to outscore their opponents because that has value in possibly progressing. Even the coaches want to win, as blow-outs see starters stay in longer than normal.
I think I like it and want to see how the NBA expands on this in the future. Are the rules set or will they change over the years? What they have now seems to work out fine, but we have gotten to the end just yet as there still are more games to be played. It’s exciting to see where this all goes and for being the first year, I believe that fans and players are happy with the results so far.
Thats it for now, let me know your thoughts and come back tomorrow for more content.
