League Pass: Need Help to Pick 5 Teams

[RodneyRogers]

Celts fan in Philly here. League Pass for Apple TV has an option that lets you pick 5 teams. I'm obviously going to pick the Celtics, so if you could watch all of the (non-nationally televised) games of 4 other teams what would they be?

Details: http://www.nba.com/leaguepass/appletv/

[fairweatherfan]

Here's the teams I'd pick from - you could only get 4, though:

Warriors
Pelicans
Clippers
Cavs
T'Wolves (yeah they'll be bad, but lots of exciting young guys out there)

Those are pretty good options to me, especially since West games don't overlap with Cs games as much.  Only other teams I can think of are Portland if you really like Lillard/Aldridge, or the Spurs if you like ball movement and don't mind the best guys sitting a bunch.  Maybe the Wizards if you want to see Pierce and Wall.

Worth noting that the Clips and Cavs in particular will have a lot of big games on TV, so that might be a factor.

[Donoghus]

Pelicans
Warriors
Clippers
Cavaliers

So, I guess, same boat as foulweatherfan. 

[Lucky17]

Free pass for the next week, so you have some time.

Milwaukee could be exciting too. Young team, including Greek Freak and Jabari Parker.

[Who]

Milwaukee could be exciting too. Young team, including Greek Freak and Jabari Parker.

Saw them play a bit in preseason and thought the Bucks were fairly rotten to watch. Lots of bad basketball mixed with brief moments of promise.

They are likely to be one of the worst offenses in the league this year.

[D.o.s.]

Pelicans
Warriors
Clippers
Cavaliers

So, I guess, same boat as foulweatherfan.

I wouldn't do the Warriors and the Clippers because they play in the same division. Add in the TV games disparity and I'd take Golden State for sure. For me, I'd replace them with the Trail Blazers, and I have very little desire to watch the Cavs play basketball -- I might replace them with the Bobcats.

[Evantime34]

My roommate and I picked these teams
1. Boston (we cut the cord so I need to get a vpn to watch the C's live)
2. New York (he's a Knicks fan)
3. New Orleans
4. Minnesota
5. Dallas

[BudweiserCeltic]

Celtics
Wizards
Pelicans
Mavericks
Warriors

I'd say Cavs instead of Warriors, but there's only so much LeBron I can take. So I'll avoid him.

[sofutomygaha]

I'd want variety, so I'd avoid choosing two from the same division, that way you will have more options. Division opponents play each other six times.

That means don't pick both GS and LAC.

I would definitely sign up for the Celtics, Pelicans, and Cavs. Then I'd have to take the Suns, because they play the most EXCITING basketball (and I need that Pacific exposure to get 12 games with the clippers and warriors).

Last pick is tough. It's got to be northwest (I'll miss you, Paul Pierce). I'm going to go with Minnesota. I want to watch Rubio and the stable of young freaks, and I want to have those 6 games apiece with OKC, Denver, and Portland.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I'm surprised by the lack of love for the Wizards... Paul Pierce and a team that has plenty of youth to go with experience, and they look to be good.

[pearljammer10]

Celtics
Wizards
Pelicans
Mavericks
Warriors

I'd say Cavs instead of Warriors, but there's only so much LeBron I can take. So I'll avoid him.

I'll give you a TP cause I think this would be my list as well. I'd say Cavs but after 1 game I'd be so frustrated and annoyed that it wouldn't be worth it.

Celtics - obvious reasons
Wizards - Young exciting top tier playoff team who added my favorite player in Pierce. Should be fun to see if they can develop into a contender.
Pelicans - Just to watch Anthony Davis play. They should be a fun exciting team alongside him this year as well.
Mavericks - I'll still stand by my claims of Dirk being my favorite NBA player to watch over the past decade. It just seems like he is never going to miss a shot when he throws it up there. Its really a thing of beauty. He's got great passion as well and is just a likeable guy. Monta and Parsons should make that team more fun and I've always liked Chandler as the defensive leader.
Warriors - Are just exciting to watch. The splash brothers get going and its just incredible. Add Iggy, Lee and a healthy Bogut and that should be a good team.

Honorable Mentions:
Spurs - Some people think its a thing of beauty. Others think its completely boring basketball. I'm 100% on board with option one. But I like to not watch them all season and then get my mind blown come playoff time.
Heat - Honestly, without James in Miami I can see me liking Bosh and Wade again. I've already started. I enjoy Deng. I hope Miami plays Cleveland in the Eastern Semis and blow them out, then lose to the Wizards.
Chicago - I'd like to be able to watch what Pau and Noah can do together with Rose. But I feel like their defensive heavy style doesn't make me want to watch them enough.

[fairweatherfan]

Honorable Mentions:
Spurs - Some people think its a thing of beauty. Others think its completely boring basketball. I'm 100% on board with option one. But I like to not watch them all season and then get my mind blown come playoff time.

The biggest problem with picking the Spurs for me is that on any given night you might find yourself watching a starting lineup of Patty Mills, Belinelli, Austin Daye, Bonner, and Aron Baynes.  I mean, they'll probably still win, but it's just too much of a crapshoot to pick as one of 5.

[RodneyRogers]

Thanks for all the help guys.

I think the Cavs are a must-do. Surprised to see the Pelicans pop up on so many lists. That's the power of the Brow I guess.

[mgent]

Dallas
Washington
My last 2 would be between Golden State, Memphis, and SA

Actually, I'll take all 3 and then watch Mike and Tommy/Scal every game on CSN.  It wouldn't really make sense for me to pick the Celtics if they're going to be blacked out right?

[bdm860]

I wouldn't do the Warriors and the Clippers because they play in the same division.

I'd want variety, so I'd avoid choosing two from the same division, that way you will have more options. Division opponents play each other six times.

I'm confused by people's thought on this (and I hear it all the time), because I see no difference between division and conference.

You only play people in your division 4 times, not 6.  You play everybody in your conference 3 or 4 times.  There's 10 teams in your conference that are not in your division, you play four games against 6 of them and three games against the remaining 4.

Like LAC and Warriors, they play each other 4 times each.  If you stuck with LAC and switched out GS for Portland or San Antonio (teams in different divisions) you still get the same 4 game overlap as LAC plays them all 4 times.  (Though to be fair, GS only plays Portland and San Antonio 3 times, so you do gain an extra game there).

So why do you guys advise picking teams in different divisions?  Is it just that potential 1 extra game overlap?  Personally not enough to really sway me from picking a team I really want to see.


Personally, I don't think you need to focus on division, but time zone and national tv schedule.  National TV games you won't get, and if you pick a team like Cleveland or LAC or Thunder or Bulls, etc, just about every single game you want to see (Cleveland vs LAC, Thunder vs Bulls, LAC vs GS, Bulls vs Cavs, etc. will be on national TV anyway.  Getting League Pass for those teams you'll be stuck with a lot of games vs the Sixers, Bucks, Jazz, Magic, etc.  Fine if you want to watch rookies play, but not so great when you realize you paid to watch a good team play lottery teams, and you're only getting 50-55 games vs 65-80 for a not so popular team.  So personally, I would stay away from the top of this list:

Team   Number of Appearances
Los Angeles Clippers   32
Oklahoma City Thunder   32
Chicago Bulls   30
Cleveland Cavaliers   29
Los Angeles Lakers   28
Golden State Warriors   25
Houston Rockets   25
San Antonio Spurs   25
New York Knicks   23
Portland Trail Blazers   23
Miami Heat   20
Dallas Mavericks   18
Phoenix Suns   17
Washington Wizards   15
Denver Nuggets   12
Brooklyn Nets   10
New Orleans Pelicans   10
Memphis Grizzlies   9
Toronto Raptors   9
Indiana Pacers   8
Charlotte Hornets   7
Sacramento Kings   7
Atlanta Hawks   4
Boston Celtics   4
Minnesota Timberwolves   4
Detroit Pistons   3
Utah Jazz   3
Milwaukee Bucks   2
Orlando Magic   2
Philadelphia 76ers   2


Time zone is something else to consider.  You don't want all the teams you picked to have games starting and ending at the same time when the teams you picked are all playing at home.  I personally like it if I have 1 or 2 new game starting/ending every hour.  Also for an East Coast guy with a regular job, it's tough for me to stay up to watch a lot of those West Coast games, so I might leave them off my list, or only pick 1, because I don't want to fall asleep before the 2nd quarter even starts.  That also feels like a waste for me.