Thank You, Joey Crawford

You better stop laughing or I’m gonna tell on you!

Thank you, Joey Crawford. Your two pointless Technical Fouls called against Spurs forward Tim Duncan may have helped. We already know you’re a bitter old man who throws T’s around like Kobe throws elbows. But, all you’ve woken a giant. And don’t worry…Tim Duncan won’t be laughing on the bench anymore. He’ll be focused on another ring with the supporting cast (see here and here) to do it.

Your timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Right before the playoffs, right before NBA fans start alleging that each series is influenced by questionable calls. I mean really…when is the last time a #6 seed won a championship since the 1994-95 Clutch City Rockets much less get beyond the first round? Oh yeah. I forgot about the 1999 NBA Playoffs following the lockout season. We get the asterisk after defeating the #8 New York Knicks (also the #1 TV market). Ok…I’m done ranting. Not even Mark Cuban would comment about Joey C’s questionable T’s.

EDIT: This just in at 1:04pm CST — Crawford Suspended For The Rest of the Season

NBA Playoff Seeding
The premature matchup between Spurs/Mavs last season was thought to be the awakening for the NBA to make the changes they did. Since the regular season ends tomorrow, I thought I’d show you how the seeding process works (according to NBA.com).

• The top four seeds will be the three division winners plus the team with the next best record. Those four will be ordered by record (and tiebreakers if needed), so it’s possible that two teams in the same division could hold the top two spots, with the other two division winners at #3 and #4.
• Seeds 5 through 8 are the next four teams according to record (and tiebreakers if needed).
• First Round matchups are as follows: 1 vs. 8, 4 vs. 5, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6
• Conference Semifinals matchups are as follows: 1-8 Winner vs. 4-5 Winner, 2-7 Winner vs. 3-6 Winner
• Homecourt advantage for any series is determined by record, not seed. So, it’s possible that the 5 seed could have homecourt advantage over the 4, or that the 6 seed could have homecourt advantage over the 3.

And the “tiebreakers” mentioned in the seeding process are as follows:

1. Head-to-head
2. Division record (if the teams are in the same division)
3. Conference record
4. Record vs. Playoff teams, own conference
5. Record vs. Playoff teams, other conference
6. Net points, all games

For current seeding, check out the NBA’s Nifty Numbers, which help put the seeding into perspective.

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