Jason Ross: A Possible Solution To Resting NBA Players
Commissioner Adam Silver said he was going to look for possible solutions to the "resting epidemic" that is currently going on in the NBA. I may have one for him.
First let's start with the issue. Resting players really started when coaches elected to give "older" players a day off here and there to preserve them for later in the season. This was a rare occurrence but did happen from time to time. This NBA season we have by far the most amount of games ever deemed as "rest days" and I imagine this will only increase.
Young players, older players, players from good and bad teams are all resting. I actually understand the concept from playoff teams but please don't rest everybody on the same day. I just don't understand that. Resting 3 and 4 players on the same day seems to be a disservice to the team and certainly is to the fans.
This happens most frequently when teams feel an injustice with the scheduling. Too many back to backs, 4 games in 5 nights, and just an overload on the roster seems to trigger the resting phenomenon.
So how to we tweak the schedule, limit the travel, preserve the players, keep the integrity of the game and not lose any of the 82 game schedule? Well here's my thought....
I think at the core this is a scheduling issue so let's start there. I would keep the 82 games but work the schedule a little. We will use the Sacramento Kings in the Pacific Division as our example. The Kings would continue to play everyone in the Eastern Conference one time at home and one on the road as they do now. That works out to be 30 games. The Kings would also play the teams from the other 2 Western divisions one time and home and once on the road. That works out to be 20 more games. That is now 50 games leaving 32 remaining.
Here is the key to this most likely flawed plan, but a plan none the less. How about playing the teams in your own division (in this case the Pacific Division-Phoenix, Golden State, Los Angeles Clippers, & LA Lakers) 8 times each? The Kings would play each of those teams 4 times on the road and 4 times at home for 32 more games to equal the 82 total. I would treat this portion of the schedule like baseball does where they start the season against the division and finish the season against the division. I would also put a portion of those matchups around the all-star break as well.
This leads to less travel at the end of the season leaving playoff teams fresher for post-season action. Also the benefit here could be more leniency on players resting in these "windows" of the schedule. For example, if Steph Curry elected not to play in one or two of the games at Golden 1 Center it would be easier to handle because he played in the others. This also promotes more games against "rivals" across the league from each of the divisions. Players and organizations that felt rest was paramount for their guys could pick these division games as more of the prime targets to sit players. If fans knew that, and players knew that, and the league knew that, it might become accepted and understood without as much debate.
This plan may not be perfect but neither is the scenario we have now. The other part of that plan would be to put the back to backs in all those division weeks. That means everyone is playing under the same rules. You know there are times now when one team is fresh while the other is playing their 4th game in 5 nights. If you have the Kings playing back to back against Phoenix and then the Warriors, it would work well in that division scheduling because the Warriors would likely have been playing the Lakers the night before too.
I am just trying to even the playing field, while keeping players, owners, and fans happy. So commissioner Silver if you like this plan, you can take it, if not, it didn't come from me. I am out, I need some rest.
