Russ Granik Teams Quotations

I think the one thing there may be some interest in ... would be to maybe look at how you seed the top four teams. One thing that we have kicked around is whether you might say, all right, those same four teams are going to get the top four seeds, but maybe you do it in accordance with their records.

I think that one problem is ? and we really haven't looked at this seriously ? is where you draw the line. I think lottery protection ? I don't think it's one that's too serious because I think teams want to be in the playoffs, not the lottery. When you draw the line in other places, that's where a fan or a journalist could say what's the difference whether they're between 10th or 11th or 20th or 21st? And I think we just have to look at how that works, but I don't think we'd be limiting lottery protection entirely, we may just be limiting some type of protection.

My view is that there are just a lot of anomalies that come into play when you talk about playoff pairings, particularly in the first rounds. I think the concern this year is because we have two teams in the West that seem to be way ahead of everybody else.

I think our view has always been we expect teams to try and win games, and if a player is not injured, you are supposed to play him. And from everything I have heard, these players are legitimately hurt. I think we ought to look at whether and how we allow trades to be made in the future. That is really the issue. But I don't think we have any particular problem with Minnesota right now. But it may be the same reason we have a lottery now is to give teams that don't win games a better percentage in the lottery.

It's very unlikely we would go to reseeding after the first round. It's also very unlikely we would go to a system where we would seed teams one through eight.