Boring 50 point game takes the Joy away

Now I have to admit that last Friday was not one of my favourite games, but let me explain.

When you have been around basketball for as long as I have then things come around again and again. 

Some years ago I wrote a paper about what should happen to some of our competitions.  I have to say that, as far as I can remember, no aspect of it was adapted and so be it.

Last Friday was never a contest.  With all due respect to my very good friends at Cheshire, they were never in this contest and looking at my scoring on the game and the tie, at one point they were 50 points down. No let me say that again 50 points down.

How can that be?

Well for years I have been suggesting that we need to go to a three game series for the semi-final of the BBL Cup. 

What would have happened last week had that been the scenario, is that Cheshire would have arrived with a wholly different attitude, knowing that they were one down in the series but knowing that two wins would have put then in the Final.

The Sharks would have known that they were just one win away from the Finals.

In my opinion, last Friday’s game would have been much more interesting had it been a best of three.  It is quite possible that the outcome, Sharks win it in two, could have been exactly the same, but Cheshire would have put a lot more fight into the game.

If by any chance Cheshire had won the second game, even by just one point, then we would have had a deciding game three.  I put it to you that we would have had a full house for Game two and for Game three.

I remember discussing things like this some years ago with Nick Nurse then, I think, Head Coach of Manchester Giants or was it London Towers.

His comment was that we should be looking at the NBA and taking the best of their ideas and bringing them to the BBL.  This situation would never happen in the NBA!  Now I know all about the arguments about having enough time to plan and promote a game three but I am afraid that with all the networking that exists at the moment, that argument really does not stand up.

I hope I am not teaching my mother how to suck eggs but something really needs to be done.  We still have a situation with the two game format where a BBL game can end in a draw.  This is the only place I know of in the world of Basketball where this is a possibility. It should not be allowed to happen.

I hope we manage to move to a new format next season, where the semi final games are either a single game situation or a best of three.

I suppose this suggestion will be ignored as in the past but hey there is now written evidence that I suggested it in at Christmas 2010.  You are actually holding that evidence in your hand.

A very Merry Christmas to you and I hope you get all that you wish for.

Later
Mike S