Are we reading this accurately?

[Bob Steele]

There are a couple of ways to look at this.
At first I didn't see it but perhaps now it is becoming more clear.

We have to make a couple of assumptions...(I am not agreeing with them but they have to be made for the new seeding system to make sense..)

Assumption One: Teams that score more points should be seeded higher.
Assumption Two: Teams that score more points against losing teams that score more points should be seeded higher....

OK
In any match a team gets the game score they scored
The losing team gets the same...(plus any penalty points that the winning team scored...)

AND the winning team gets twice the score of the losing team (without penalties)

SO... Teams that can score more points against teams that score well too will be seeded the highest....

This is simply a refinement of past year's seeding systems.

The problem in the past is that the first qualifier for seeding (WIN-LOSS)
Didn't take into account the quality of the teams on the field)
Again please refer to the assumptions above....

A team could win by 1-0 and you get the same "seeding points"
It was only in the second qualifier that the quality of the opposing teams came in to play.

This year.... that is not true. You will be seeded by the points you score... and if you win you get your opponents score doubled...

In a great match... both teams scoring at will and going right to the end...you will see the highest seeding scores...

In a defensive match you will see low seeding scores... so a premium is placed on offense this year...

caveat... the gloves come off in the elimination rounds...but by then we have the best teams on the floor (see assumptions above...)

So you see that it is NOT about letting your opponent score... or being gracious or anything like that.... it is simply about making the game more exciting to an "American" audience ..

it is rather ironic though... that the game and the game pieces emulate
"soccer" which prizes the ebb and flow of the game and strategy over high scoring.

I have played the beautiful game my whole life... I shudder to think what soccer would be like with even 2 balls on the field... let alone 2 goals for each team...

We should be prepared to score.... and score again....