I thought this was a good take on once again an easily correctable issue resulting from the IST. Obviously if the Knicks go on to win it, it's the best idea ever, but with that caveat it seems like a lot more effort has been spent hyping this thing up rather than on execution.

To whit, Silver has been talking about this since he took over but somehow the whole court design gimmick was rushed through in the days just before. Only a very specific sub- set of players have complained about the courts being slippery with dead ball areas, that sub-set being guys who have recently inked long term max deals.

The point differential aspect has also been a travesty for anyone taking a look. Orlando finished their games early so they got to watch from home as Boston fouled Andre Drummond to run up the score. When I think of Andre Drummond I only want to think of two things: how did a rebound and passing machine become a minimum salary player just as he hit his prime and a million questions about his brief fling with iCarly (when he got on his knees to propose to be her boyfriend, was he still a foot taller (also, on your knees to propose to a girlfriend, oh to be 20 again!) and (how to put this delicately?) how did his fifth appendage compare to her torso?). A cap on the point differential could have easily solved these problems and saved DeRozan from being humiliated in the basketball town he saved from its post Vinsanity funk by the Raptors needlessly pursuing points when they were already eliminated.

And to the thread title, couldn't a late season matchup between the Bucks and Knicks just be cancelled in lieu of the Knicks playing 3 road games in Milwaukee? This doesn't seem so complicated to me. Granted there will always be differences in which conferences non division rivals play 4 vs 3 games but 5 vs the top teams seems like it's enough to cause major problems come playoff seeding time. Of course this could all have been avoided by just grouping the teams by division rather than the semi random method decided on, but that would have interfered with next seasons monetized hour of Silver picking logos from a box.

Next time I hear that "for all it's problems, the IST is pretty awesome" from some overpaid shill, remind me to pour a stuff drink. Unless, of course, the Knicks win.

The courts were done in August but some were not have correct measurements and in the days leading up to it needed repair.