Gregg Popovich: Playoff seeding needs to change immediately
Gregg Popovich has a bone to pick with the NBA.
The San Antonio Spurs head coach believes teams that win their division should not be guaranteed a top four seed, according to ESPN's Arash Markazi.
"That should be changed immediately. It doesn't make any sense," said Popovich, before his team lost Game 7 to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.
It is easy to see where Popovich is coming from. The Spurs were forced to face the Clippers in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs despite both teams being in the running for the second seed. The Portland Trail Blazers, who finished with sixth-best record in the conference, earned the No. 4 seed after winning the Northwest Division.
"It seems odd that a team that won 55 games and a team that won 56 games end up playing in the first round," said Popovich. "That's a tough, tough West. Every year we beat ourselves up in the West to get over to the East for the Finals. This is a ridiculously tough first round as everybody knows. But it has been competitive, and I think the fans enjoy it."
Having eliminated San Antonio, Los Angeles moves on to face another tough opponent in the conference semifinals: the Houston Rockets.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers expressed the same sentiment as Popovich at the end of the regular season.
"That's a flaw," said Rivers. "I think the divisions are important. They're nice to have. They're nice to be celebrated, for some and some not, but I don't know if they should be celebrated as far as in the standings. I think it's something that the league will absolutely look at and try to fix. You shouldn't be rewarded if your record (isn't as good as others)."