NBA Random Discussion 2012-13 Season

[Phil89]

Watching Byron Mullens vs Hasheem Thabeet atm. 14 feet of epicness.

[Kenny]

That's our Earl

[rise]

Do not mention the Thunder's 79-25 lead on us.

For your own good.

[Cartar]

Do not mention the Thunder's 79-25 lead on us.

For your own good.

That is just beyond terrible, wow, just wow

[rise]

I wasn't shocked that it was a blowout as we were long overdue for a big loss, but when I heard we were down 40-15, then 64-24 at halftime, I kept track (couldn't bear to even watch), and we were down by a maximum of 54 in the early 3rd. That's where the bench units came in. I watched a couple minutes there. Hasheem Thabeet was decent for the Thunder.

[Stress Fracture]

Damn, it's like playing 2k.

[Andrew]

Wow...JR Smith with the textbook example of what not to do in the wide open court.

[Nash_Bryant]

Lakers Fiasco.

[Stress Fracture]

I wonder how OKC fans would welcome Harden in his return today.

[ixcuincle]

[shadowgrin]

KG proving once again he's a bitchass and needing the smaller Rondo to handle things for him.

[Phil89]

Rondo cost himself his assist streak. That foul on Garnett maybe looked worse than it actually was. Humphries got him on the shoulder, not the face.

[JaoSming]

[bowdown]

Rondo is such a prick. I wish Bynum wouldve leveled him.

[graybakflip]

Rondo acting like a tough guy there, overreacted and guess what he ended his streak of double digit assist?he got lucky it's not in brooklyn, lol. I think he's frustrated, few plays before he was erased by hump. Don't also think that was in KG's face as it was on his shoulders, and I think that was a hard foul either. As Coach Doc said on the postgame

Chris Forsberg ‏@ESPNForsberg
Doc Rivers comes out swinging … at his own team. Calls his squad “soft” and says Rondo dust-up wasn’t right form of toughness.

Hump's block on rondo few plays before the brawl:


And another celtic down:


Again, a statement win. This is not the same team last season or the previous, as what jay z said the previous night

Mr. Carter ‏@S_C_
The city is under new management.

[NovU]

Rondo may be a prick but Humphries is an ass pain.

BKN is still a shit team but seems like East as whole is shit conference.

EDIT: Bigger news for me today was a win by WAS. Finally.

[Phil89]

Ouch.

Kris Humphries ‏@KrisHumphries
Anyone know where I can get a quick Tetanus shot in Boston?

[Stress Fracture]

Rondo just bitched out on that play. Just a good foul by Humphries.

[Andrew]

Probably the most noteworthy thing about the game. A hard foul by Humphries but nothing out of line; definitely an overreaction and all around bad decision, despite Tommy Heinsohn's attempts to paint Humphries as the instigator and commend Rondo for his actions, drawing favourable comparisons to the Celtics teams he was a part of. As the analyst at halftime (whose name escapes me) said, it wasn't a smart move by Rondo at all. The double digit assist streak, while still noteworthy, is of the least concern. Bottom line, it took him out of a game that they were already trailing and will possibly net him a one or two game suspension while the team is struggling around the .500 mark. He's a top point guard but with incidents like this one and chest bumping a referee in the Playoffs last year, he still needs to play smarter...or perhaps just keep a cooler head.

[JaoSming]

[koberulz]

What exactly was Pierce thinking?

[mrmoves20]

Rondo shouldn't have done that. Cost him that streak, anyway it's just too easy for him to start another streak.

[Pdub]

Spurs sent their main 3 back to San Antonio, phoning it in against the Heat.

[Andrew]

Not a good couple of moments for The Truth there.

[mrmoves20]

I was hyped to watch the Spurs-Heat matchup, but then I heard Tim, Manu and Tony sitting out so I'd rather not watch.

[Andrew]

With that in mind, I'm going to change my prediction in the daily thread.

[shadowgrin]

What exactly was Pierce thinking?

Nothing. Just being old.

[RedPhazon8]

I was hyped to watch the Spurs-Heat matchup, but then I heard Tim, Manu and Tony sitting out so I'd rather not watch.

I like how Stern commented saying, "substantial sanctions will be forthcoming". Oh man, let the decision of the coach to rest players be the undoing of major viewing numbers... It's an 82 game season, is anyone complaining when a team does it close to the post season?

[benji]

http://www.basketball-reference.com/box ... 40BOS.html

Also on TNT...hmm...

[mrmoves20]

Stern should stop being on the Heat bandwagon

[rise]

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201204240BOS.html

Also on TNT...hmm...

Good find, but that was in the last couple games of the regular season where most teams rest their starters.

I'm on Pop's side. He's the head coach, he can sit whoever the fuck he wants to sit. Stern should stay out of it.

[benji]

Yeah, but what does it matter if it's at the end of the year or the start or the middle? You're still "denying the hard working fans" by not playing them which is Stern and Laker fans' anger here.

It's not the Spurs fault they're the only contender with legitimate depth. (Duncan only played 28 mpg last year for example.) What do they gain from grinding it out for 48+ minutes, stars playing 35+, with the Heat to try and get a single regular season win?

Pop should sit them another game (say on Jan 9th) and list "DNP - Basketball Reasons", "DNP - Substantial Sanction" and "DNP - French" as the reasons.

[NovU]

Typical Stern on power trip. Tactical resting for the better interest of future, but hurts the TV rating and ticket sales upset Stern. How about well being of SAS as a franchise. Who da fuck does Stern think he is anyways?

Anyways awesome games tonight. Both the games were exciting. Loving Ray Allen. Bet Boston Dirtics fans miss him. The Heat are great in clutch now with Ray. Loving it so much. As for the Golden States win, it was fucking crazy. 0.3 and yet Nuggets nearly got the shot off and stole the show. The Nuggets led most of the game but that 4th quarter meltdown...

[moe szyslak]

Duncan is 36, Manu is 35.
Somehow, the team has to learn how to play without them. I think it's a good idea to play every now and then without them, just to see how they have to work in a future re-building, if necessary.
Actually they only lost by 5, it's not that they lost by a huge difference.

[moe szyslak]

Doesn't he looks like mr.fantastic in this pic?

[shadowgrin]

The Heat are great in clutch now with Ray.

Another player along with Wade to carry Lerbon's choking ass during crunch time.

[Andrew]

I can understand where Stern is coming from and it was unfortunate timing being a marquee matchup on national TV, but it's an overreaction to a legitimate decision. As long as Stern's in the mood to make apologies though, "sorry for the lockout" wouldn't go astray.

[Martti.]

Spurs without Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Green, Leonard and Jackson and it takes a 20-8 run to win that game at home? I guess 3 games in 14 days isn't that good.

[mrmoves20]

Spurs without Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Green, Leonard and Jackson and it takes a 20-8 run to win that game at home? I guess 3 games in 14 days isn't that good.

They had too much rest, I guess. That's why.

[Andrew]

David Stern stumbles again in his failed culture war against the Spurs

Enjoyably scathing.

[NovU]

U beat me to it Andrew. Just finished reading it and was going to share it.

Woj has it right on most accounts I believe.

[RedPhazon8]

Spurs got fined $250,000 for what they did yesterday...

[volsey]

Way out of line. I can understand being upset if you're a fan, and you paid good money to watch 2 of the best teams go at it at their fullest, but still, it's the Pops call, and it's only one game, they have the entire season to think about. If it was Spurs vs. Charlotte, this wouldn't be an issue, and that's kind of what I have a problem with. I understand it's as close to a 'main event' as there is at this point in the season, but it just doesn't seem like a fair or just at all.

Edit: To add to this, where do you draw the line. Say a team thinks an all-star caliber player is better coming off the bench, so for strategic reasons they make him a sixth man rather than a starter and slash his minutes a bit. Should Stern be apologizing to the fans as now this player is getting less airtime (obviously a slight extreme)? As stated similar to cutting minutes as playoff spots are locked up. It's thinking about the season and not one single game for the fans. It's not like SA threw the game and lost on purpose, it was a close match regardless, so why does Stern have to stick his big nose in it?

[NovU]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/22 ... 000_By_NBA

"The result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this case," said David Stern. "The Spurs decided to make four of their top players unavailable for an early-season game that was the team's only regular-season visit to Miami. The team also did this without informing the Heat, the media, or the league office in a timely way. Under these circumstances, I have concluded that the Spurs did a disservice to the league and our fans."

Upsetting when it's clearly the vice versa. Stern did a disservice to the league and its fans.

The NBA contends that the Spurs' actions were in violation of a league policy, reviewed with the NBA Board of Governors in April 2010, against resting players in a manner contrary to the best interests of the NBA.

Best interests of the NBA or TV rating?

One could argue well taken cared superstars will perform better and return more profit in a long run. Especially the Spurs with aged stars know too well that their goal is to contend for the title not for the regular season. For both the league and Spurs' best interest, the decision should have been respected. Stern is a grumpy old man that's gone too far with his so called business mindset. Can't stand him no more.

[Phil89]

Westbrook flirting with a quadruple-double. 21pts, 9reb, 8ast, 6stl with 6:00 left against the Jazz.

[Pdub]

Jamison and Meeks for the Lakers are putting up some nasty numbers off the bench. 33 and 21, respectively.

[Andrew]

This situation with the Spurs has reminded me of the discussion that took place when Kobe was suspended for a couple of games a few years ago for that side swipe he was doing to try and draw shooting fouls. It was suggested by some here, and others elsewhere, that his suspension should be delayed because the Lakers were about to embark on a road trip that included their lone visit to New York to face the Knicks, and the people attending the game deserved to see Kobe in action.

The argument of course was that the league was doing a disservice to the fans by suspending him immediately and thus shouldn't do so, which is what the league is now saying about this situation. And to be fair, it seems to me if the league should cater to fans by showing lenience when handing out disciplinary action, teams should also have to field their best squad, barring injuries or other excused absences. However, I'd actually disagree in both situations. I understand the arguments in favour of those positions and there's merit there, but if a player is suspended for their actions then those are the consequences; likewise, if a coach elects to rest some of his players to weather the grind of the lengthy season and risk losing a big game, that's his choice to make and risk to take.

This is where it gets interesting though:

The NBA contends that the Spurs' actions were in violation of a league policy, reviewed with the NBA Board of Governors in April 2010, against resting players in a manner contrary to the best interests of the NBA.

To play devil's advocate for a moment, since that rule is in place, the Spurs do have a responsibility to handle the situation accordingly. Perhaps they needed to inform the league sooner, citing the rough schedule and age of their core. It's certainly possible that they could have handled it better and to that extent, brought the situation on themselves. It's actually good to know that there are rules like that in place. After all, we wring our hands and bemoan the idea of teams tanking, so it would be hypocritical to deride the league for trying to prevent it and ensure everyone is being sporting.

However, the Spurs obviously aren't tanking. They simply rested some key players to try and keep them fresh during a part of their schedule that's a little rough for an older team. Again, it's possible that they could have communicated their objections and intentions a little better and/or sooner so it's probably fair that they accept some responsibility for that, but they are being maligned here. On top of that, Woj noted some disturbing double standards and cases of injustice in his column, which doesn't leave the league or Stern looking very good.

Depending on the exact rules that the league has referred to, some kind of fine may not be completely out of order, but nevertheless it was handled poorly and Stern doesn't come off well at all.

[Pdub]

Especially after how close the game was in the final minutes.

[rise]

DId Sheed really get ejected for yelling "Ball don't lie!"?

[NovU]

One tech for the foul and complaining, and one extra tech later for still bitching and screaming "i love balls!". It's only his first ejection though.