It doesn’t really make sense if the whole point of the tournament is to promote tryharding early in the season. If that’s the goal, then reward the teams that are successful for all games not just in their group.
The emphasis on point differential has also led to some awkward moments where players or coaches are forced to “break the code”. While I think that will continue to happen I think putting more value regular season wins more will minimize those situations.
I feel like the whole “broke the code” thing is so dumb anyways. If a team or a player wants to play to the last second, how are they the asshole? If you don’t like them continuing to try and score, give up or play defense imo.
There’s a new code in town, and it’s called “playing 48 minutes of basketball per game.”