Players and coaches are divided over the National Basketball League's finals format after the collapse of Sydney and Brisbane trimmed the competition from 13 to 11 teams.
The Mercury interviewed three coaches and three long-serving players yesterday and support for the existing play-offs system was split down the middle.
Coaches Eric Cooks (Wollongong), Al Westover (Melbourne) and Alan Black (Cairns) are leading calls to retain a top eight, while Brett Maher (Adelaide), Mat Campbell (Wollongong) and Sam Mackinnon (free agent) believe the finals should be cut to six teams.
"It has to be a top six. They have to reduce it," Maher said.
"With an 11-team league, it becomes a bit of a laughing stock if it stays at a top eight, especially in the eyes of the other codes."
But Cooks believes taking two teams out of the play-offs would go against Australia's "fair go" culture.
"Australia is a country built on the underdog tag and if you limit the play-offs to six teams, you're cutting out the fairytale story," Cooks said.
"Of course, hopefully we'll be in the six, but it's a very competitive league and the teams in seventh or eighth will be in there with a fight."
The NBL increased the play-offs from six to eight teams in 2004. Nine teams with losing records have since participated in the post-season.
The 2007-08 season marked the first time a losing side did not finish in the top eight.
"A top eight has merit, but I'd like to see it changed back to six now that we're back to 11 teams," Campbell said. "It seems the logical thing to do and a top six will always mean more to me personally because that's the format we had when we came from fourth spot to win the 2001 title."
Mackinnon, the 2007 NBL MVP who is about to sign with Melbourne, was confident the eight-team finals would be scrapped.
"There'll be a few amendments and adjustments with the national basketball review and I'm sure it won't be an eight-team system anymore," Mackinnon said.
"A six-team finals would have to be the best scenario."
Perhaps surprisingly, NBL chief executive Chuck Harmison was thinking along the same lines as the players.
"My preference would be to reduce it to six teams, but there's arguments for both sides," Harmison said.
"We'll look at the different options and make a recommendation to the NBL board and it should take a few weeks before the board votes on it."
Black urged the league to keep the finals format as is.
"Most teams understand you've gotta finish in the top two to win the thing, or at least the top four, but a top eight keeps it interesting," Black said. "It gives teams an opportunity to taste play-off basketball and gives them a shot at it."
Westover endorsed the eight-team format and called on the league to scrap sudden death matches.
"I'd like to see best-of-three series all the way to the championship series. That way every team in the finals gets a home game," Westover said.
"With eight teams it gives everyone a bit of hope, and the more teams in the finals, the better it is. The more the merrier."