It was all too predictable.
The moment the NBA released its schedule for the first round of the playoffs, every Nuggets fan knew exactly what was coming — red-eye game times sprinkled with a dash of NBATV.
Oh, did NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the folks in Secaucus, N.J., deliver.
NBA — D-
Someone might want to remind Silver and Co. that the presumptive MVP calls Mile High country home.
Based on the tip times, and channels, the Association gave the first three games of the Nuggets-Trail Blazers series, it appears they may have forgotten.
A rundown: The Game 1 opener is set for 8:30 pm. Saturday (ESPN), followed by an 8 p.m. tip for Monday’s Game 2 (TNT) and another 8:30 p.m. start for Thursday’s Game 3 in Portland (NBATV).
That’s one game that will likely end no earlier than 10:45 p.m. in the oft-forgotten Mountain Time Zone, and two others that will almost assuredly run past 11 p.m.
And, yes, Nikola Jokic has been relegated — for one night on Game 3 — to a national TV broadcast (NBATV) that will be blacked out to Comcast and DISH subscribers in the Denver metro who don’t have access to Altitude TV. (Although, that last part is something Nuggets fans, sadly, are quite used to.)
Even with one of the teams residing on the West Coast, those times strike the folks inside the Grading the Week offices as at least one hour too late. Especially for the young fans these playoff games should be cultivating.
All of which leads us to wonder: Does the NBA really need to spread out its games like this? Is there a law against having Eastern and Western conference games overlap, with one finishing as the other approaches halftime?
The NCAA Tournament makes it work by utilizing four channels to televise its first round — and it’s dealing with a 64-team bracket. Why can’t the NBA do something similar? We all know there are enough channels to go around. We can flip back and forth with the Heat-Bucks game.
Of course, the NHL hasn’t fared much better setting times for its first round (the earliest Avs game thus far was Friday’s 7:30 p.m. puck drop). And the MLB playoffs are often even worse.
In the end, this boils down to one thing: If these leagues want to show they care about the Denver market, they should stop burying the most important games on channels and at times that will preclude fans from watching to their conclusion.
If you can’t outdo the NCAA, something is clearly wrong.
Nazem Kadri — F
Add another chapter to the Nazem Kadri playoff brutality file.
With the Avalanche center’s vicious hit to the head of St. Louis’ Justin Faulk in Wednesday night’s Game 2, Kadri now has three playoff suspensions on his resume.
Depending upon how one views the tape, a case can certainly be made that Kadri wasn’t targeting the head of the Blues defenseman. Faulk, after all, did dip his head ever so slightly at the time of impact.
Unfortunately, Kadri lost the benefit of the doubt a couple of suspensions ago. Recidivism must be punished.
While the folks at Grading the Week might not go so far as to suggest Kadri should never wear an Avs sweater again, it seems more than fair he won’t see any more ice time against the Blues.
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Grading the Week: Time for NBA to start caring more about Nuggets fans, and less about TV broadcast times - The Denver Post
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