Nothing Too Important Here...

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I'm serious.

I just want to write this down so that the idea is "out there" somewhere for someone in the NBA office to stumble upon.

My girlfriend often complains about the length of the NBA season, and I remind her that baseball is FAR more boring and FAR longer in number of games. In fact, it's DOUBLE the amount of NBA games. But she is on to one thing - Shorten the Goddamn playoffs!! Jesus, just get it over with already. I want to see the action happen and end, not languish eternally.

This is not an ADHD thing. I have plenty of attention span for things worth watching, but watching two teams play a seven game series over two weeks when much of nothing exciting happens in the first three quarters of each is excruciating. I'd rather lose some games and watch some scripted programming. As it is, I don't watch the first two and a half quarters of most games anyway.

IDEA:
1. Shorten the NBA playoffs please. 10 teams in, instead of 16 (right now, 1+half of the league gets in, as long as they're in the top 16. No matter their record. Not a very exclusive club, I say).
The playoffs SHOULD be exclusive. It SHOULD be the elite teams. Instead of half, make it the top third. When the league has forty-eight teams, then go back to 16 in.
Right now, two LOSING teams are going to make it in the East, while Phoenix is a winning team in the West and can't get a spot. If they were on the East coast, they would be SOLIDLY in 5th place, AND would have a fighting chance of going deep. Cleveland, Boston and Orlando not withstanding, the East is an embarrassment, and has been for years. If you're good enough to have a winning record but you're not in the top five in your conference: sucks for you. Get even better.

2. Reset the first round to five games. In fact, make it three games.

3. Make the second round onward five games.

4. 10 minute quarters (Playoffs only). Makes the playoffs a much more intense viewing experience for the spectator. Creates more of that "sudden-death, death match" atmosphere.

Might be intense for the players, but for all the money they're making, the majority of them should work harder.

That is all.