Also 8th position as of now is held by the Dragons at 8-12 (40%).

That is a joke getting into the play offs with a 40% win rate.

That is of course if the season ended now. The sad thing is if they lose, 8th spot would be 8-13 (38%)

Thr problem with everyone's thinking about this is that you have the mentality that making the playoffs is a reward which is not deserved unless you have so many wins. Its really just a cut off point and you make it or you don't.

Been discussed many times and I dont think you will find to many people who will argue it. But a top 8 means more money for the NBL so I doubt it will change.
I personally have thought for ages it should be the top 6.

ELIMINATION FINAL
1st & 2nd - BYE
A - 3rd v 6th (best of 3)
B - 4th v 5th (best of 3)

SEMI FINAL
C - Winner of A v 2nd (best of 3)
D - Winner of B v 1st (best of 3)

GRAND FINAL
Winner of C v Winner of D (Best of 5)

Current format gives a minimum of 11 and maximum of 15 playoff games

This format gives a minimum of 11 and a maximum of 17 playoff games.

That way, the league still would make as much money (perhaps a little more) and it would be a little more respectable.

i dont agree with a team having a bye in the 1st round. if you have done enough to finish top you should be able to beat the 8th ranked team. NO lucky loser here,
or 1 game elimination should be scrapped

hows this format

ELIMINATION FINAL
A.1st v 8th (best of 3)
B.2nd v 7th (best of 3)
C.3rd v 6th (best of 3)
D.4th v 5th (best of 3)

SEMI FINAL
E.Winner of A v Winner of D
(best of 3)
F.Winner of B v Winner of C
(best of 3)

GRAND FINAL
G. Winner of E v Winner of F
( best of 5 )

This format gives a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 23 playoff games.

Just a thought.

I the Dragon's loe, 8th would be held by the 36er's (9-13). Still not proud to say your team is in to make the number up. But i'll take it. Perhaps email this on to the NBL, as the point your making is a goo one. But we can't do much else about it on this forum!

Also as they sixers have shown in years past there is no benefit in finishing from 3 down apart from home court.

Sixers have lst momentum with a weeks break in past seasons and have been over run by teams still cohesive from playing against opponents.

As long as we can make the 8 anything can happen.

EC's exactly right - it's not about deserving anything, it's merely about finishing higher than 4 other teams and to take an extreme example if those 4 teams have only won 4 games each for the entire season and you win 5 then you 'deserve' to make the finals. You were better than the other teams that finished 9-12. Simple as that.

My biggest problem with the final system is having knockout games rather than series. Basketball is a sport in which series should determine who is the best team not one game knock-outs. Having a team bust its gut to finish 3rd in the regular season for 30 odd games then have its season end in one game on a last second shot doesn't seem right to me. It renders the regular season somewhat meaningless in my eyes. The rewards are there for those teams that finish 1 and 2 only.

Would Adelaide have lost a series to Brisbane or Cairns over the past 2 seasons rather than one game? I don't know but I think that we should have been rewarded for finishing higher than those 2 teams by having at least another game against them. Yes, we had home court advantage but too much can happen in one game no matter where it is played - a team can get hot and shoot the lights out (Brisbane in 2005), a player can hit a last second shot (Cairns last season) or one bad call by the refs can end a teams season. Or a key player can get in foul trouble in one game. The chances of these things happening over a series are less likely and the longer the series go for, the best team will prevail.

Furthermore, I believe good rivalries between teams are built over series not one game. How many great finals series have we had against arguably our biggest rivals in Perth? How good were the finals series against the Magic and the Titans? Having one game knock-outs robs us of building on these rivalries or creating new ones.

Anyway, I'd really like some payback this season and for us to finish 8th and take out say, 5th placed Sydney at the Kingdome with Maher hitting a last second shot.

Eligibility to any finals series should be limited to the elite teams of that competition. To have two thirds of the league in finals, some, as others have pointed out, with less than 50% win rate, rewards teams 7 & 8 with the same opportunity as those who have been consistent hard workers all season. 6 teams maximum for me. I'd prefer less than that, but then $$$$$ would be an issue.

Rat10, you are spot on. Couldn't agree more. While the current format remains, atleast this season if we finish 8th, it won't be so painful to be instantly eliminated because we didn't do too much throughout the season. The last few years was very hard to take when the team did really well throughout the season only to be eliminated after 1 playoff game. It made me wonder what the hell we worked so hard for. My concern regarding this current format is under rewarding teams that have done well throughout the season rather than over rewarding the ones who didn't.