Hopefully the folks in the D-League office watched Saturday night's Eastern Division final between the Dakota Wizards and the Sioux Falls Skyforce, because it was Exhibit A in the case for adopting postseason series instead of a single-elimination format.

You had two evenly matched teams - the Wizards and Skyforce had split six regular-season games, with a total of three points separating them - battling it out to a thrilling finish.

More important from the league's perspective, they did it in front of more than 3,800 enthusiastic fans - including a small but vocal contingent from Sioux Falls - even though the game was available for free on television.

Perhaps the D-League's biggest problem - and despite all its good points, there are quite a few flaws - is that it rewards ineptitude. There is no better example of that than the way the league lets the worst teams have the perpetual first cracks at the player pool, punishing well-run teams who do their homework in the draft and propping up teams that don't.

The postseason system is another example. The D-League doesn't want playoff series in part because it is afraid that in many cities, they wouldn't draw. The truth is if the franchise is strong enough - and none are stronger than the Wizards and Skyforce - series will add to rivalries, increase interest and generate revenue.

CBA legacy

It's certainly no coincidence that the four teams that had the best records during the regular season and lasted longest in the D-League playoffs were See Babiarz, Page 5D

the ones that made the jump from the CBA.

Dakota, Sioux Falls and Idaho were proven organizations with track records of success exceeding those of their new rivals in the D-League. Colorado, while a first year-team, was originally supposed to be a CBA expansion frachise. The 14ers also had Joe Wolf - who cut his coaching teeth in the CBA - at the helm.

The great advantage the D-League has over the CBA is that it has NBA muscle behind it.

Formalizing ties between major and minor league teams shifted the balance of power dramatically in the D-League's favor, as did the defection of the four CBA clubs. There's no greater evidence of that than the number of NBA call-ups this season.

For the first several years of the competition between leagues, the CBA held its own in that category. This year, 16 D-League players were called up a total of 22 times. Not one player was called up from the CBA.

Still the CBA managed to survive, as it always does, in addition to establishing a valuable legacy in the D-League.

(Lou Babiarz is the Tribune sports editor)