It's hockey...hockey...a thousand times hockey. Anyone who votes otherwise has never....ever....watched the NHL playoffs. Most exciting playoff sport period.
(Full Disclosure....If an NBA basketball game was being played in my back yard, I would close the curtains and complain about the noise)
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The NBA playoffs are one of the most predictable things in the world. The reason why the NHL playoffs are more exciting is because there are more chances of an upsets happening. The Mavericks winning the championship back in 2011 is probably the only unpredictable thing to have happened in the NBA in the past decade. A team like the Kings who were an 8th seed that won the cup would not happen in the NBA. One and done. NHL playoffs>NBA playoffs.
Game 7 between the Lakers and the Celtics was the last NBA playoff game i really enjoyed.
First Two Rounds: NHL easily and it is not even close.
Finals: This is actually closer then I think we want to admit. Since the NBA usually has a couple of power houses the later rounds are actually pretty entertaining. Since the NHL has upsets the later rounds actually have some pretty boring matchups on occasion.
Usually I find myself paying less attention to the NHL playoffs as they reach the finals, while in the NBA it is the opposite as I don't pay attention until the final 4 as that is when you usually get some good basketball for the first time all year.
Last edited by SuperMatt18; 05-01-2013 at 04:24 PM.
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Hockey is exciting for 60+ minutes. Basketball is exciting for the last 2 minutes....although that can feel like 60 minutes.
I haven't followed basketball much since the Bulls days, but to me it's a sport that lacks flow. Way too many whistles, and seems like you can't breathe around someone without a foul.
Why does ESPN do polls of sports they don't represent?
I generally agree they don't feature the NHL all that much, but they probably do in proportion to the readers of their site that are passionate about it. When I brought up the site when I noticed the poll - It had Marc Andre Fleury looking at me...
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Last edited by Dr. Pepper; 05-01-2013 at 04:30 PM.
I played both sports growing up... played and watched more basketball when i was in highschool.. now I rather watch/play hockey than have anything to do with bball... It's almost as boring as soccer....
Hockey is exciting for 60+ minutes. Basketball is exciting for the last 2 minutes....although that can feel like 60 minutes.
I haven't followed basketball much since the Bulls days, but to me it's a sport that lacks flow. Way too many whistles, and seems like you can't breathe around someone without a foul.
Full disclosure: I enjoy both basketball and hockey immensely, but I know quite a bit more about basketball than hockey. I came to Canada at age 8, and we were poor, so Hockey wasn't really an option for me. But for Bball just some shoes and I was in - plus I'm tall so that helps.
I would disagree about the overall hockey more exciting than basketball statement. As with many sports, the more you understand the more you find exciting things in what some people would find mundane. I'm sure lots of people enjoy things like line matching, face-off technique, neutral zone traps, power play formations, dump/chase vs. puck possession, etc. when it comes to hockey that many people, including those who like watching hockey, never really see. The same holds true for basketball. Granted, while the last 2 minutes of SOME games seem a little silly, there is still strategy involved, and the story of the entire game matters to those 2 minutes.
Reason I posted the link to the poll was just that the Americans have so much more exposure to basketball than Hockey, I thought it was illustrative.
I love watching both - so I get the best of both worlds! (much to my wife's chagrin...)
One thing that holds the NBA back in terms of entertainment, is that teams don't "steal" games. In hockey, a goalie can "steal a game". In Baseball, a good pitcher can even out any disadvantage. In the NBA, the better team on the night simply is going to win the game, nearly every time.
This makes the first couple of rounds in the NBA playoffs mostly predictable, because the chances of the higher seed winning is way significantly higher than the NHL.
Overall, the NHL playoffs are much more exciting than the NBA - especially the opening rounds.
The first round of the NHL Playoffs is easily the most exciting sport in the world, nothing compares to it. Doesn't even have to be your team. Case in point, the Blues vs Kings game last night. I wasn't even planning to watch much but I couldn't stop watching it once I started. What a game. Everything the sport is about.
Obviously the playoffs are exciting right through to the finals but the initial rush of the first round just has an extra gear of intensity.
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A few weeks after crashing head-first into the boards (denting his helmet and being unable to move for a little while) following a hit from behind by Bob Errey, the Calgary Flames player explains:
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I found the percentages for each state interesting too. But I think the percentages favor the sport which currently holds competitive teams. For instance, there is no way Illinois would vote the NHL more exciting when Jordan was playing for the Bulls. California's numbers are a little disappointing, given the LA Kings being the NHL champions, and the Sharks and Ducks being pretty good teams, but whatever.
Personally, I find the later rounds of the NBA more exciting. In the NBA finals the best players are always still around. In the NHL, the teams go out and kill each other for two rounds (a good example was that crazy series between the Flyers and the Penguins last year), usually leading to a winner by default, instead of the best team winning the championship. In my opinion, hockey suffers when its best players are not battling each other for the Stanley Cup.
Personally, I find the later rounds of the NBA more exciting. In the NBA finals the best players are always still around. In the NHL, the teams go out and kill each other for two rounds (a good example was that crazy series between the Flyers and the Penguins last year), usually leading to a winner by default, instead of the best team winning the championship. In my opinion, hockey suffers when its best players are not battling each other for the Stanley Cup.
I like that hockey requires more than two players to be elite. It isnt as good when you want to watch two teams that arent yours in the final but it is way better as a fan of a team. Each year in the NBA 3 teams might have a shot at the NBA title and 0 have an outside chance. In the NHL that list is at least 5 or 6 with a good shot at the title and another 4 or 5 with an outside chance.
So while watching the NBA finals its nice to see the best players but that sucks for all of the 25 teams who have zero shot at a championship in the net 5 years.
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ESPN Poll: NBA or NHL playoffs - which is more exciting?
