"Serious Sanctions for Spurs"

[Dave Gray]

^ BFD

It's not like it was a playoff game.  The HEAT have long roads trips to the West where they lose to Denver pretty much every year.  Whining about the schedule is pathetic.  It's a long season.  This isn't the playoffs yet.

[mecadonzilla]

Keep in mind the Spurs will have to take a 2 week road trip fairly soon when the San Antonio rodeo comes in town.

There's lots of reasons to shit on David Stern, and this is certainly one of them.  What a dumbass.

[EDGECRUSHER]

It's not whining, it's maneuvering over rough patches. They have played a lot of games in a short period of time and they are resting their aging players. It just so happens their older players are their stars.

If Stern's argument is that the Spurs threw in the towel, the game was tied with 22 seconds left, so that doesn't hold up at all. If his argument is that the fans were robbed of seeing the stars, too frigging bad. That is a coach's decision. James Dolan and Isiah Thomas absolutely killed the Knicks brand for over a decade, why didn't he interfere then? Between the scandals and ridiculous payrolls and signings, they were definitely not what was best for the league. What is so special about this instance?

I imagine the Spurs will pay this fine just to be done with it, but if they wanted to fight it, they would win. Stern has no argument. The game was down to the wire and Poppovich has a history and legitimate reason to rest his players.

[bsmooth]

$250k fine for the Spurs. Hardly significant for a team worth that much. Just shows what egomaniacal dick Stern is.

[Phishfan]

  Whining about the schedule is pathetic. 

Oh, I definitely sense some whining but I don't feel it coming from the Spurs.

[Dave Gray]

^ I don't know what you're referring to.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Mark Cuban has come out and said the fine is justified because the NBA's big revenue comes from it's TV contracts. He also said if he did that, the fine would be 10 times higher.

I understand his point of view and don't necessarily disagree with it, I disagree with Stern not coming right out and saying what Cuban is saying. The game was a nailbiter and he rests his stars en masse all the time, so just say "It was a nationally televised game and they want to see stars and I don't care if it makes your team better or worse, you have to play them on national tv".

He wouldn't please everyone by saying this, but it's more understandable.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I don't see what the Spurs doing as anything different than if when an NFL team has clinched their playoff berth week 16 and has the backup QB play week 17.  I might not like it as a fan (particularly if said QB is on my FF team and it is SB week), but it isn't up to the comish to micromanage a team's roster. 

[Dave Gray]

First off, it's very hard to compare the NFL and the NBA.  The NFL markets its teams.  The NBA markets its players.  Nobody gives a crap about the HEAT.  They care about Lebron.  They want to see Lebron go up against Duncan.

Also, in the NFL, as well as the NBA, the concept of resting players for maintenance after you've clinched a spot is an understood concept by players.  Inexplicably doing so in the middle of the year all at once is not.

And let's be clear -- this wasn't about resting players.  This was Popavich giving Stern the finger.  He rested all his guys at once.  And by rested, I mean FLEW THEM HOME.  Who leaves 80% of the starting lineup at home for a game against the defending champs on National TV?  He did it to make a statement.

[mecadonzilla]

First off, it's very hard to compare the NFL and the NBA.  The NFL markets its teams.  The NBA markets its players.  Nobody gives a crap about the HEAT.  They care about Lebron.  They want to see Lebron go up against Duncan.

Also, in the NFL, as well as the NBA, the concept of resting players for maintenance after you've clinched a spot is an understood concept by players.  Inexplicably doing so in the middle of the year all at once is not.

And let's be clear -- this wasn't about resting players.  This was Popavich giving Stern the finger.  He rested all his guys at once.  And by rested, I mean FLEW THEM HOME.  Who leaves 80% of the starting lineup at home for a game against the defending champs on National TV?  He did it to make a statement.

So what?  He rested his players at the end of a LONG road trip and to do the right thing (in his opinion) for this team.  Isn't that what he's paid specifically to do?  Sorry that TNT got screwed (not really) on their crappy telecast, but in the end, isn't it about the sport and not the short sighted interests of half-assed cable networks?  If the viewers of the game were actual fans, they would have stuck around anyway.

[EDGECRUSHER]

First off, it's very hard to compare the NFL and the NBA.  The NFL markets its teams.  The NBA markets its players.  Nobody gives a crap about the HEAT.  They care about Lebron.  They want to see Lebron go up against Duncan.

Also, in the NFL, as well as the NBA, the concept of resting players for maintenance after you've clinched a spot is an understood concept by players.  Inexplicably doing so in the middle of the year all at once is not.

And let's be clear -- this wasn't about resting players.  This was Popavich giving Stern the finger.  He rested all his guys at once.  And by rested, I mean FLEW THEM HOME.  Who leaves 80% of the starting lineup at home for a game against the defending champs on National TV?  He did it to make a statement.

He's done this before in similar situations. It was a brutal road trip and his stars are all old guys. I am not saying that he didn't take joy in telling Stern to go screw himself, especially considering how the schedules lined up, but this wasn't out of the blue.

Wouldn't surprise me if he does this a few more times during the season.

[el diablo]

The NBA loves to rig games without the obvious notion of rigging. The Heat had an obvious advantage going into that game. Which of course, would have been downplayed in the media (ESPN). It kind of reminds me of Maximus being wounded before his last fight against the emperor in Gladiator. The fans didn't know and wouldn't care. As long as they are entertained. The job of the coach is to win championships. Its the NBA's job to build the brand. The NBA messed up. They can't fine themselves or admit wrongdoing. Like cancelling trades for "basketball reasons". This was a joke.  If it was such a "marquee" game, why was it on a Thursday night?  Seriously, Stern and the NBA dropped the ball on this one. When you fine an organization for making a basketball decision, you lose credibility.

[Phishfan]

^ I don't know what you're referring to.

The NBA and people whining about who a coach determines should play and when. It defintiely has a sense of whining, while the Spurs (to my knowledge) simply made a decision and played a game with their mouths shut (no evidence of whining).

[Phishfan]

The NFL markets its teams.  The NBA markets its players. 

To an extent this is correct but it is not exactly true. If they are promiting the Saints game you and I both know you hear them say something like, "Watch Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints take on ..." while showing individual players photos up on the screen. They both definitely do their share of player promition.

[el diablo]

To an extent this is correct but it is not exactly true. If they are promiting the Saints game you and I both know you hear them say something like, "Watch Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints take on ..." while showing individual players photos up on the screen. They both definitely do their share of player promition.

At the same time, this is a media driven issue. Remember when Peyton was seen "upset" on the sidelines when his team didn't go undefeated. The NFL stepped in and made week 17 "meaningful" by scheduling division games that week. If a coach can't determine who plays when, then why have coaches? Yes, there is the entertainment value. But the teams pay the players. And if the team that hired Pop doesn't have a problem, I don't have a problem.