Guest marlins02 Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 Thursday, May 13, 2004 Updated: May 14, 7:45 AM ET Associated Press SAN ANTONIO -- Like most NBA fans, David Stern doesn't like the long wait between games this postseason. As the league's commissioner, he's going to do something about it. "I can assure you it's going to be tighter next year," he said Thursday. Stern said he reviewed a workup of the 2005 playoff schedule during his flight to San Antonio for Game 5 of the Spurs-Lakers series. It includes 14 days for a full series, down from as many as 17 this year, and less waiting time between rounds. Because many NBA teams share arenas with NHL teams, there's the chance for conflict with the hockey playoffs. "I don't envy our scheduling department," Stern said. Another scheduling issue that personally affects Stern is the late hour that Western games finish for fans in the Eastern time zone, such as Minnesota's overtime victory in Sacramento on Monday night that ended about 2 a.m. in the East. Stern said he was OK with it because moving up the 7:30 p.m. local start time "wouldn't be fair to their fans." He also noted that the ratings haven't suffered. "All you can do is focus on who is watching when," he said. "The best judge is the ratings." Among other topics, Stern said he believes NBA players will be safe at the Athens Olympics and if some players bow out for security concerns or any other reasons, he's confident there are enough other players capable of taking their places. Stern also said the league and the players association met again this week to discuss the collective bargaining agreement. More meetings are being set up in hopes of reworking the existing deal. "Both sides are determined to talk this through," he said. "If we had our druthers, we'd have a new deal this summer. It's going to be hard, but both sides seem committed to getting it done." http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2004...tory?id=1801217 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passion Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 David Stern = :notworthy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzie Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 I think it's good for game spans to be every other day. Thing is that that's not really possible in the 1st round with 8 games. The western games being on so late here sucks but you can't really do anything about it. i mean they cant ask their fans to come at like 5 just so we can watch the game over here. plus then it would interfere with the eastern games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miami15 Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 The western games being on so late here sucks but you can't really do anything about it. i mean they cant ask their fans to come at like 5 just so we can watch the game over here. plus then it would interfere with the eastern games. It would be nice if they started the games at 6 here and 9 on the left coast but that's not gonna happen. With these games starting at 11ish I can't even watch 10 minutes of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebirth Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 Finally, and they need to stop the afternoon games. It's way too early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzie Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 i don't mind the afternoon games on the weekends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miami15 Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 i don't mind the afternoon games on the weekends Yeah no big deal having games at 1 on the weekends: it's gotta be better for ratings than at like 11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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