In conjunction with Tuesday’s schedule release of the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament, Pelicans.com gathered media members who cover other teams from the Western Conference’s Group B. Independent journalist Justin Russo (LA Clippers), Dallas Mavericks TV play-by-play broadcaster Mark Followill and Houston Rockets radio play-by-play broadcaster Matt Thomas joined us to discuss the first edition of the November/December event. Defending NBA champion Denver rounds out the group.
What was your initial reaction to the idea of an NBA In-Season Tournament?
Jim Eichenhofer, Pelicans.com: I’ve long believed there’s potential to make the 82-game schedule more fun and marketable, so I was in favor of it. Some of the NBA’s recent schedule tweaks (two-game series in the same city, longer stretches of homestands/road trips) have made the regular season slightly easier for fans to follow. I like the idea of having distinct segments of the schedule, instead of just one, long, 82-game block. Breaking up the regular season in some way seems like another minor positive step. Also, the rampant success of the play-in tournament made me more optimistic about new NBA format ideas.
Justin Russo, Clippers writer: My initial reaction when it was first announced was one of great skepticism. It felt like something that was added just to break up the monotony of the regular season, and I struggled for a bit in the beginning to understand the rationale for putting the tournament at that point of the season. But I’ve slowly come around to the idea since then and been more sympathetic towards the reasoning behind it taking place. I think it could add a lot more intrigue to a part of the season that was missing some oomph prior to its inclusion.
Mark Followill, Mavericks TV: I loved the idea of it. I know this is something people have compared to European soccer, and as someone who has been part of a World Cup broadcast, soccer broadcasts for two different Olympics, and MLS on Apple TV, I support that. However, it’s important to note every domestic basketball league in Europe does a cup competition like this as well. There are different formats but many of them just incorporate regular season performance into seeding a group of quarterfinalists and those eight play a knockout tournament over a weekend. The Copa del Rey in Spain and the Coppa Italia in Italy, for example, are important and prestigious events to win. The idea of giving teams another piece of silverware to compete for besides the championship is very appealing to me.
Matt Thomas, Rockets radio: I am very much in a wait-and-see mode. I have always been a proponent of starting the NBA later in the year (like Dec. 1 or so) as to not compete with college and pro football. That has fallen on deaf ears. This tournament’s goal is to spark interest in November games. I’m just not sure it will. The final four event in Vegas sounds cool but I don’t know if anyone outside of those four teams are going to care. Also, will fans of those teams travel to Vegas on short notice when they are budgeting for the holiday season? Again I need to see it in action before it gets a huge endorsement.
Now that you’ve had some time to learn more details, what are you most looking forward to about the tournament? What aspects of the format are you still hesitant about, or may like to see potentially adjusted in the future?
Jim Eichenhofer, Pelicans.com: It could be fun to have a separate set of standings to follow in November, where you’ll be tracking your team’s record and the other four clubs within Group B. One potential format concern is that there may end up being too many in-season tournament quarterfinal spots determined by tiebreakers, since every team only plays four pool-play games. An unrelated suggestion: I think there should be bigger team incentives beyond a cash payout for players – my idea is if you win the in-season tournament, in April you automatically win all standings tiebreakers through 82 games and get to move up one spot in the seedings.
Justin Russo, Clippers writer: The fact that games will be split and put only on certain nights — Tuesdays and Fridays — is a good thing since fans won’t be confused as to which games mean what at that juncture of the season. It makes those nights feel special, at least in some capacity. I’m still hesitant about the schedule in regard to teams who don’t make the knockout rounds. We know those eliminated teams will still have to play games to bridge the gap, but not knowing who your opponents are (or where you’re traveling) ahead of time could get dicey.
Mark Followill, Mavericks TV: I’m looking forward to seeing how the teams and players view the specific group stage games in the early regular season and how fans gravitate towards the games. Will the games instantly take on a different energy and will that be something palpable through what we do on the broadcast? I’m hesitant because there are a lot of people who simply do not like the idea of this and there will be a lot of loud voices in the media who are against it. I hope the league is willing to endure criticism to give this a chance. All traditions were new at some point and have to start somewhere. I hope this is allowed an opportunity to grow.
Matt Thomas, Rockets radio: The goal of this has to be to spark more interest in early-season games. Another goal has to be to get players to buy into playing a meaningful game in November. If the stars promote this properly and actually play, this could be a major spark the NBA needs before the calendar turns. If you get guys who sit out via rest, then the time and planning behind this will not have been worth it.
What impact might the In-Season Tournament have on your specific team? Could there be benefits from participating and/or how much emphasis will there be on the tournament?
Jim Eichenhofer, Pelicans.com: A very young team playing November games that are a tad more meaningful than standard early-season contests seems like it could be beneficial; the Pelicans have gotten out to several poor starts in recent regular seasons. With many recent roster additions having played in the NBA for two years or less (Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Jose Alvarado, Dyson Daniels, Jordan Hawkins), New Orleans does not have much playoff experience, so some small added pressure isn’t a bad thing.
Justin Russo, Clippers writer: Not only are the Clippers the only team in the entire in-season tournament to not have another team from the same time zone in their group, but they’re also the only team without an opponent within 1,000 miles. I’m unsure how much the Clippers will attempt to go gung-ho in this setting, but since the games count towards the regular season standings, I’m sure they won’t decide to sit players unless it’s the second night of a back-to-back. Truthfully, the Clippers could use a good showing to springboard their season and give them confidence as a championship contender going forward.
Mark Followill, Mavericks TV: I think the Mavs’ approach will be positive, if for no other reason, a European superstar like Luka will perhaps have more appreciation for the concept. I think he will be driven to do well in it and consequently the team will feed off that.
Matt Thomas, Rockets radio: This is the team-proclaimed phase 2 of the rebuild. It’s time to win more games. It’s time to contend for hopefully a play-in game spot. There have been times in the last three seasons that the perception of the Rockets was that they were just going through the motions. This event gives them something to strive for as a sign that the status quo in Houston is changing.
Which opponents in Group B has your team matched up well against – or had difficulty with – in recent seasons?
Jim Eichenhofer, Pelicans.com: New Orleans is 9-2 overall vs. the Clippers over the past three seasons, including a road win in a 2022 play-in elimination game. The Pelicans have also been relatively successful against Denver, prevailing in high-altitude Ball Arena at least once for five consecutive seasons. Luka Doncic has been a handful and then some for New Orleans, with the Pels playing roughly .500 at home against the Mavericks in recent years. NOLA has taken advantage of Houston’s struggles post-Harden, especially in the Smoothie King Center (5-1 vs. Rockets).
Justin Russo, Clippers writer: The Clippers have fared well against Houston over the last three seasons, as the Clippers have won nine of the 10 meetings between the two squads. However, that also coincides with the Rockets being a poor team, so good results are expected. They’re 8-6 against Dallas in the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George era, but just 5-9 against New Orleans and a pitiful 4-10 against Denver in that time. In all seriousness, this was probably the single toughest group the Clippers could have been drawn against based on past results when looking at the Leonard-George era.
Mark Followill, Mavericks TV: The Mavericks have had recent playoff series with the Clippers in 2020 and 2021, losing both of those. So, since then all of the games against them have some extra juice. The Mavs have actually played some really good games in Denver in the last two or three seasons. It seems like the matchup against Jokic brings out another level in Luka because of their relationship. The Mavs have won a lot of games against the Rockets during their down time in recent years but many of them have been close, hard-fought games. When it comes to the Pelicans, it’s tough to get a read on the matchups over the last three seasons because so many of those games have been more notable for who has not played than who has played.
Matt Thomas, Rockets radio: When you have won so few games in the last few seasons, every team in this group poses problems. The Rockets-Mavericks series has been the most interesting over the last couple of seasons and that includes the Rockets winning in Dallas on a few occasions.
Not including your team, which head-to-head matchups are you most anticipating in Group B?
Jim Eichenhofer, Pelicans.com: Denver vs. Dallas obviously features two of the NBA’s premier players in Jokic and Doncic, so it won’t be surprising if that game ends up being featured on national TV (Editor's note: It did make the airwaves. ESPN will broadcast Dallas' trip to Ball Arena on Nov. 3). The Nuggets also have a rivalry of sorts with the Clippers, based on a 2020 playoff series in which they came back from a 3-1 deficit to overtake LA and advance to the West finals.
Justin Russo, Clippers writer: It feels like the stock answer would be Mavericks at Nuggets because of the Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic factor, but Nuggets at Pelicans intrigues me because New Orleans was looking quite formidable before injuries really took the wind out of their sails last season. Seeing a team with that much promise face the defending champions could be a spectacle.
Mark Followill, Mavericks TV: Outside of the Mavs, give me any matchup within the group against Denver. The Nuggets as the defending champions are in a position they’ve never been in before. As the defending champs, you presumably are going to get everyone’s best shot anyway and with the addition of the Cup format then the games involving Denver could go up even another level in intensity.
Matt Thomas, Rockets radio: Some of the NBA believes that Alperen Sengun has some of the same traits as Nikola Jokic. Passing, dribbling, court awareness, etc. Plus when you face the champs early on, you get to see how far you’ve come with all the new player additions and coaching staff.
Is Group B the toughest in the Western Conference? If not, which group is the most difficult competition?
Jim Eichenhofer, Pelicans.com: Based on last season’s records, Group A is the most formidable, partly because all of those teams won at least 33 games. I’ll give a slight edge to them, though Group B boasts the defending NBA champions, as well as three teams (New Orleans, Dallas, Houston) that probably believe they can make a major jump this season, based on upgraded talent or better health.
Justin Russo, Clippers writer: From a superstar standpoint, Group B is probably the toughest group. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, etc. That’s a loaded group. It feels like four of the five teams could potentially convince themselves of winning, which I can’t say for the other groups in the Western Conference right now.
Mark Followill, Mavericks TV: Yes, West Group B is the “Group of Death” if I may borrow a World Cup analogy. The defending champion Nuggets, two recent conference finalists (Clippers, Mavericks) and the Mavericks especially looking to prove something in a bounceback year from a very disappointing 2022-23 season. The Pelicans could look at the standings early last season and see themselves as the No. 1 seed in the West, and the Rockets spent big on players and brought in a new coach this offseason as they expect to be a vastly improved team. West Group C is a close second with three playoff teams in the Kings, Warriors and Timberwolves. That group also features the rapidly improving Thunder and the Spurs, who now have one of the most hyped prospects of all-time.
Matt Thomas, Rockets radio: Group B has plenty of star power… will Zion play and be a factor? How are the new Rockets fitting in? Are Luka and Kyrie getting along? Good storylines throughout this group. Group A looks the best top to bottom.