The NBA’s In-Season Tournament: What worked, what didn’t, what was fun & what else can be done?
The In-Season Tournament has come and gone. What will we miss? What won’t we? How can the league build on it’s debut success? Zach Blatter and Kurt Schulte discuss
Zach: Kurt! A couple weeks ago, the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament (IST) reached its climax with LeBron and the Lakers (who else?) bringing home the cup. We’ve been going back and forth in The Strickcord about the IST since it was first announced – it’s a pleasure to bring our banter to the big leagues. If I remember correctly, you were quite the skeptic when news of Adam Silver’s latest big idea hit the Twitter streets. Where was your head at then, and where is it now?
Kurt: I figured it was going to be some cheap gimmick. I thought the Play-In Tournament was an interesting idea because you see that kind of concept mirrored in other sports, but this felt like an easy way to draw in sponsors with the promise of more intense, early regular-season games. Don’t get me started on when the designs for the court leaked. They looked like bad NBA2K custom courts. While those looked out of place, the intensity the players brought didn’t. There was some significant pocket change in the prize pool. What did you think of the incentive structure?
Zach: Much like you, I was initially worried whether a check for 500K was enough to get a bunch of multi-millionaires to break an extra sweat in the middle of November. The first two-ish weeks of the group stage felt like an awkward feeling-out process, but by week three the players looked to have bought in. As the stakes rose, so did the competitiveness. Some of the knockout stage games felt as close to playoff games as anything I’ve seen in any regular-season sport, let alone the NBA. It was interesting to hear the stories of end-of-bench assistant coaches and two-way players who could receive life-changing money from an NBA Cup win, and awesome to hear how the star players wanted to win it for them. That side of things was a big win for Mr. Silver, the NBA and fans like you and me.
Let’s go back to the courts, though, which were perhaps the topic of the most debate throughout this whole process. I applaud the NBA for taking another major risk, and I think the concept was effective in accomplishing what the league wanted (visually distinguish IST games from regular-season games). But they left a lot to be desired from a design standpoint.
One of my biggest gripes is that numerous teams elected to feature their City Edition alternate color palettes, rather than the traditional sets that have been long ingrained into our brains. I was pretty thrown off watching the Pelicans play on a purple and green court, and even more confused watching the Hawks run up and down their light blue slab. Next year, let’s stick with those iconic colorways and reduce confusion for all of the casual fans.
For the most part, the courts weren’t the eyesore I’d anticipated. I expected the saturated colors to be a painful distraction from the action for both fans and players, but it didn’t take us very long to get used to them. There were a few exceptions that I’d prefer to move on from next year – I’m looking at you, bright red Bulls and Rockets!
Kurt: Moving on from the courts themselves, the action on the court was the main event. We got a standout performance right out of the gate from Jalen Brunson in the Knicks’ IST group opener, dropping 45 against the new-look Milwaukee Bucks. After a deep tournament run with Team USA, Brunson started slowly this season, his field goal percentage a staggeringly low 38% coming into that Bucks game. It was refreshing to see him show some of that playoff moxie we saw last year. Unfortunately the Knicks lost the game, but it allowed their fans to take a deep breath and remember that Brunson is excellent.
One benefit to this type of high-stakes environment is it allows younger teams to feel what a potential playoff series is like, especially playing on the road. Obviously the collective unconscious is aware of the up-tempo Indiana Pacers by now; you can’t scroll through Twitter without seeing 30 Tyrese Haliburton posts. The Orlando Magic went 3-1 in their group and even whooped Boston along the way. Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero really got a chance to grow up and show up. The Rockets, quietly a winning team this year, beat the Nuggets behind a Jalen Green/Alperen Şengün tag-team throwdown.
Letting teams micro-dose the playoffs allows young players to get their feet wet while allowing more experienced teams practice things that will be expected of them when the playoffs come around. I think a fun twist to the group stage could be having cross-conference groups. We get so few inter-conference matchups with high stakes outside of the NBA Finals. Mixing up IST groups means you can create new rivalries or memorable moments between teams that don’t see each other a lot. What were some moments that stood out to you from the group stage?
Zach: It sure was nice to see Brunson put his early-season slump to bed during that group opener in Milwaukee, especially since I got to watch that one with a handful of Strickland staff and patrons at a fun bar in Manhattan. Although it would’ve been even nicer if we escaped with the win ;(.
It’s hard to think about the group stage and not immediately draw a big green circle around that Friday night comeback over the Heat at the Garden, where Immanuel Quickley provided the initial spark and carried the piano for Brunson and RJ Barrett to take over in the final moments. That night was beyond euphoric, the highlight of our young season, but I don’t want to overlook the contest in Washington just a week before.
It’s always a treat when IQ gets to visit the DMV and play in front of his entourage of family and friends, and the latest installment did not disappoint. Brunson led the scoring with 32, with Quickley’s 27 not far behind in a blowout win over the lowly Wizards. That night ended with booming “Lets Go Knicks!” chants from the many Knicks fans in the D.C. crowd, and gifted us with the iconic iqsmile Strickcord emoji that will live in the internet opus for many years to come.
The Knicks’ run in the group stage was almost as fun as it could’ve been, until the vibes came crashing down in Milwaukee during the quarterfinals matchup with the Bucks. I tried my best to forget about that Tuesday evening as quickly as possible. Did you take anything away from it?
Kurt: Surprisingly, I was less doom-and-gloom than the rest of Knicks Twitter. In the world of competition, I operate under a simple motto: “Some days you’re the bug. Some days you’re the windshield.” The Knicks were clearly a bug on the windshield of the Bucks’ 146-122 victory that night. Milwaukee shot 60% from deep while New York hit just 30%. It is damn near impossible to win when the other team is doubling you up like that. It stinks to lose in that manner, on that stage. But that's what comes with cheering for a good team – the losses can hurt more.
Stepping away from New York’s early exit, the rest of the IST quarterfinals were awesome. LeBron James had a near triple-double to hold off a fierce Devin Booker/Kevin Durant comeback from the Suns. The Pacers upset the Celtics behind a wild Haliburton performance. Brandon Ingram led New Orleans into Sacramento for a big road win. It was cool seeing the home crowds getting rowdy behind a brand new idea. Unfortunately, that's where my praise for the tournament slows.
Vegas really didn’t seem to be the proper host. Bucks vs. Pacers was a 5:00 p.m. EST tipoff, an awkward time for the rest of the country to watch. The arena had little energy and was also way too dark; it was hard to see any of the fans. It honestly felt like an early season NCAA Men’s Invitational. It's clear the NBA was scheduling to avoid Thursday Night Football, which is pretty soft from my perspective. Silver mentioned in an interview with Malika Andrews that the league will explore different hosting models for the future iterations of the IST, so it looks like he agrees with me. What did you make of the semifinals and final?
Zach: I agree with many of your words on the awkward Las Vegas environment, but I’m not ready to pull the plug on Sin City entirely. I’ll cut the T-Mobile Arena crowds some slack, considering this was the first ever go-around and it wasn’t in the best spot on the calendar. The Thursday afternoon slot was, as you said, very weird, a major factor as far as the (lack of) noise level. It was clear the league was trying to avoid a Nielsen embarrassment at the hands of Thursday Night Football, but they ended up embarrassing themselves anyway. How about this: let’s put those quarterfinal games on a Wednesday, followed by the final on Friday? Avoid the NFL entirely.
From a basketball perspective, all three Vegas games rocked. There was a tangible uptick in intensity and urgency from every team involved, along with a heavy dose of star power that made for some exhilarating TV. Love him or hate him, the league got really lucky LeBron is the first star to etch his team into IST history and make this whole concept matter.
Once the final buzzer sounded and the Lakers were crowned champions, much was made about the antics that followed. The Lakers were greeted with mountains of champagne, special edition merchandise and media attention in their locker room, and NBA Twitter had their fun. It seems the online consensus is that the league needs to save the party favors for the actual championship in June, but I’m one of few who stands on the other side. I think that the over-the-top celebration was not only warranted, but I think it was essential for legitimizing the occasion. The entire purpose of bringing these games to Vegas and broadcasting them in a primetime national TV slot was to make them feel special. If the league had treated the postgame experience like a traditional win, or even an early-round playoff win, the moment wouldn’t have felt nearly as special. Those locker room Instagram Live recordings are going to live on forever, and I’m sure they’ll be emulated by IST champions in years to come. Am I just being a kid who’s gravitated towards shiny new fun here, Kurt?
Kurt: I don’t think it's childish to enjoy something new. I’m with you, I think the league knocked it out of the park with this first iteration of the IST. It injected the early regular season with a jolt of electricity and intensity. Seeing the players buy in makes it a lot easier to get excited for this as a fan.
I want to talk about discussion regarding increasing the reward for winning the IST. I’ve seen suggestions ranging from a guaranteed Play-In berth to homecourt in the NBA Finals. I feel like that puts too much pressure on such a new event. Let it be its own thing for a while. If viewership or player buy-in drops off in a few years, then you can reassess the reward structure.
I also have to discuss the schedule. It stinks that the Knicks had to play an extra game against the Bucks, then immediately turn around and play the Celtics. I completely understand those who felt like we got the short end of the stick. This was just an awkward result of trying new things. It looks like the regular-season schedule was made first, and then the IST schedule was created around that. Hopefully next year the IST schedule is made first, and the regular season can be crafted around it. As much fun as this In-Season Tournament was, everyone knows the real fun begins in April.