A broken playoff system

By Chris Furnari

The NBA. Where winning 48 games and not making the playoffs happens.

The last time I checked, playoffs were about the best teams in the league squaring off against one another.

The last time I checked, the Warriors won 48 games and didn't make the playoffs. That's the most wins of any team in history (since the NBA went to the 16-team playoff format) not to make the playoffs.

Under the current system, eight teams from the Western Conference and eight teams from the Eastern Conference advance to the playoffs. The assumption is that the best 16 teams will make the postseason, and eventually, the two best teams from each conference will face off against one another in a best-of-seven championship.

The assumption is wrong.

This year, the West was so strong that they could have potentially sent 11 teams into the post-season. The Warriors, in ninth place in the West, would have been the fourth best team in the East, ahead of the Cavs.

I can't be the only person who finds this format flawed.

I understand that much of this whole situation has a lot to do with money. Eastern Conference fans wouldn't be happy if only five of their teams made the playoffs. But by the same token, aren't we essentially just robbing NBA fans of the best match-ups possible?

Honestly, teams like Atlanta and Philadelphia, that aren't even .500, don't deserve a playoff spot.

I find it utterly shameful that a team like the Warriors won't be able to showcase their skills because of how the postseason structure is set up. What I suggest is to do either one of two things.

First, we could simply take the best 16 records throughout the league, re-seed all of them together and build a bracket from there.

Another much more plausible idea would be to take the top four teams from each conference, and then take the next best eight. Not only will this add incentive for teams to aim for those top four spots, increasing the level of play in the regular season, but it will also ensure that both the Western and Eastern Conference would have the same amount of guaranteed teams in the playoffs.

This structure wouldn't leave out talented teams like the Warriors. Just last year, the Warriors were the miracle team who beat Dallas. This year, they are nothing but a team that played even better during the regular season this time around and are stuck just watching the postseason go by.

For now, I guess I will just wear my "We Believe" T-shirt and pray that next year, something will be different.