NBA (Basketball)
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jackie17, specmvl, thank you for keeping this thread alive and well during the Playoffs. I think we can all agree that the last few days have been surprising – in a good way. I have had a hard time bringing myself to post in this thread since Monday's decision, by the owners, to keep the Kings in Sacramento. I fully understand that two wrongs don't make a right. However, the hypocrisy of Stern, Clay Bennett, and the other owners is frustrating beyond words. The article (below) in the TNT articulates my sentiments better than I can, at this moment. Like most Sonics fans, I am still in a state of shock.
" -- OF CHRIS HANSEN'S HURDLES, NBA'S RAMPANT HYPOCRISY IS TOUGHEST --
As a rule, it’s hard to work up a critical mass of sympathy over the disappointments of billionaire hedge-fund managers.
But when the NBA — overseen by what is viewed in these precincts as an irredeemable, dark-hearted despot — left Chris Hansen empty-handed in his franchise-relocation bid, Hansen responded with such admirable determination and resilience.
On his Sonicsarena.com site, he vowed redoubled efforts to purchase the Sacramento Kings and return the NBA to Seattle. He quoted Muhammad Ali’s decree that “impossible is not a declaration, it’s a dare … impossible is temporary … .”
If previous owners felt half his commitment, the Sonics could have been kept in place for half the price five years ago.
As inspiring as Hansen and his well-capitalized cohorts have been, they might be better served by going all-out Al Davis on the NBA and commissioner David Stern for having rigged the outcome.
Davis sued the NFL tirelessly over relocation of the Raiders and other matters, winning some, losing some, but making himself a massive annoyance to the status quo.
Hansen would be supported in legal action by the Maloofs, current owners of the Kings, who are on the brink of being forced by the league to accept a lower bid to stay in Sacramento, and thereby renege on a signed sales agreement already in place with Hansen’s group.
Monetary damages? Hansen already has a $30 million deposit down on the deal. He and his group have purchased the SoDo land site for multiple millions.
He’s also committed to providing millions to upgrade KeyArena as a temporary home for the new Sonics — improvements that will benefit the city thereafter. So, toss the city of Seattle in as an aggrieved party in an action against the league.
On Monday, seven members of the league’s relocation committee voted unanimously to reject the Kings’ move to Seattle. Three of those seven (Herb Simon, Pacers; Peter Holt, San Antonio and Micky Arison, Miami) also were part of the unanimous seven who allowed relocation of the Sonics to Oklahoma City in 2008.
Hypocrites.
Since he helped rip the Sonics from Seattle, Stern has stepped up in a conspicuously opposite degree to save New Orleans and Sacramento from having their teams moved. The theory is he learned that uprooting well-supported franchises was bad PR after what happened in Seattle.
So the best way to keep it from happening to Sacramento was to tilt the playing field so Seattle gets shafted a second time. That’s called irony in the rest of the country; something else entirely in Seattle.
Stern slapped away the invisible hand of the marketplace at one point when he warned Sacramento that its bid to keep the Kings was substandard, and they’d have to elevate their game to have a chance. That kicked the Sacramento forces into desperation mode in an attempt to get their bid close enough for the league to plausibly deny relocation.
After the vote of the relocation committee — which sets up a final decision on the matter by the Board of Governors — Stern said that although the Seattle bid was very strong, “there’s some benefit that should be given to a city that supported us for so long.”
The statement is a face slap to fans who supported the Sonics for 41 years in Seattle, and who were not given the same respect in 2008.
Hypocrite.
And, of course, there’s the nauseating complicity of Clay Bennett, the Oklahoma City Thunder owner who uprooted the Sonics and now serves as chair of the relocation committee.
“Seattle should be a future opportunity for the league, but a modern building must be built,” Bennett said on April 17, 2008.
But now that a Seattle building is approved, funded and drawn up, Bennett still voted against allowing the Kings to move to Seattle.
Hypocrite.
Wrongly, in too many quarters, this has pitted fans in Sacramento against fans in Seattle, when the two actually have so much in common. A decision to expand would be the logical way to satisfy two deserving fan bases. But owners don’t want to give up another share of the common gross income — even though the Seattle/Sacto bidding war just boosted the values of their franchises by untold millions.
Hypocrites.
Because relocation and the sale of the franchise actually are different matters in the eyes of the league, there’s some talk that Hansen’s group might fight to get their purchase of the Kings approved and move them later to Seattle.
The league rules hold that a “good faith” effort to keep a team in place must be made by an owner. (I’ll continue after you’re finished laughing at that one.)
Bennett swore to the league that his group satisfied the good-faith clause in Seattle, even though emails between owners revealed that moving the team had been their goal all along. Didn’t matter, the league’s Board of Governors voted 28-2 to allow the move.
The two opposed? Paul Allen (Trail Blazers) and Mark Cuban (Mavericks). Hansen’s going to need more help than that.
Hansen has the money and the resilience and the determination. And he certainly has a positive attitude about dealing with the NBA.
But even if he believes that the impossible is temporary, hypocrisy has a damnably durable shelf-life.
Dave Boling: 253-597-8440 dave.boling@thenewstribune.com @DaveBoling"
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Eff yes! Big night here in Boston (I'm a NY native and am NY everything except basketball). Go Celtics!
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Yea it would be awesome. They gotta show up to the frigging game! Although my house is divided: my wife when to Cuse when C. Anthony was there and they won so she is NY all the way.
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^Thanks, man. Yeah, it was a shock. We aren't giving up, though.
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I'm stoked for the 2nd round to start today, as well. I think MEM is going to beat OKC pretty handily (5 is my guess). The Thunder are really going to struggle scoring with one consistent (albeit excellent) threat against such a great defensive team.
The IP/NYK series will be good. I still like the Pacers to pull the upset, though (let's say in 6). The MIA/CHI series will be 5, or less (I'm guessing sweep).
The series I am really looking forward to is SA/GSW. I think the Spurs are superior in nearly every way, but there is no defense for hot shooting. If Curry, Thompson, and Jack get hot, they could make the series interesting. Bogut has to play his best basketball in 5 years, too. Hopefully, David Lee's hip continues to heal, as well. I still like SA in 6, or less (If we're betting, 5).
I know I have adjusted my previous predictions. Feel free to hold me to my original picks. I am just speculating based on how the Playoffs have gone, so far.
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Sean, I can't believe they pulled that crap. I really hope you guys get a team, somehow, some way. When you do, I'll be one Okie pulling for them. The hypocrisy is appalling.
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Thanks, Joe. I really appreciate it. Ultimately, I think it will end in the best case scenario. It will probably take a few more years, but expansion is what we're all hoping for.
As much as we all want a team, it still feels wrong taking them from another city. Hopefully, SAC is able to follow through. OKC is thriving, and will continue to do so with Sam Presti at the helm. Their core of young talent is still the best in the league.
If our investors (Hansen & Ballmer) continue developing the arena property - which they have promised - I think a team is inevitable.
As you can probably tell, I am really conflicted on this issue. I desperately want a team (like most people in Seattle), but I know what it feels like to lose one. It's going to be a huge uphill battle, but there is a way to satisfy everyone. We need the league to do well. The Playoffs have to be very competitive; continue to generate increasing revenue and interest; and maybe the owners won't mind sharing another 1/31 of the pie.
Meanwhile, we still have great basketball to enjoy. Good luck to all of your teams in the 2nd round!
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that spurs comeback was insane! is anyone else as annoyed as i am with all the praise mark jackson continues to receive? he is friends with kenny & reggie from tnt and worked at espn before coaching the warriors so you don't hear anybody really criticize or even question his coaching decisions on either network. but what a game it was. at this point i wouldn't be surprised if the spurs win in 5 or the series goes 7….
i totally overlooked the bulls because i just didn't see them scoring enough and didn't know how much noah could play and how healthy he was going into the playoffs. they have to be the best story so far although steph curry's emergence as a superstar and the excitement surrounding the warriors is a lot sexier than the relatively boring play of the bulls.
very happy to see memphis take care of business in game 2 and close out the game strongly. gasol and randolph continue to dominate and thoroughly embarrassed kendrick perkins. as for the rest of the series: durant will keep being durant and between jackson/martin/a rejuvenated fisher/sefolosha you can get 40-50 points. this leaves serge ibaka and nick collison responsible to chip in 15-20 combined. collison is a lot more versatile offensively than perkins(as is everyone else on the team, aside from hasheem thabeet) and can do a decent enough job of defending randolph. he didn't contribute much offensively and when he fouled out with 3 minutes left, coach brooks put perk in to finish the game. ouch. as well as memphis has played, if serge ibaka plays better(the organization has invested heavily in him) and nick collison does nick collison things for 25 minutes/game okc can win this series.
as for memphis, was anyone else cringing watching tayshaun prince attempt to post up durant with about 4 minutes to go last night? what a waste of a possession.
tonight's games should be interesting. i think a lot of people expect the heat to respond to the game 1 loss with a blowout win. while this wouldn't surprise me and the bulls could have a let down game like the pacers did last night, content to start the series off with a road split, this team has overachieved so much that a close game wouldn't surprise me(although another bulls win would).
as for the second game, i can't wait for tip-off.
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wow golden state is playing well. even with their best player having a subpar game(after a solid first quarter though), they were in control the entire game.
the play of barnes, landry and green in place of david lee has been enormous.
crazy how barnes, green and ezeli are part of the rotation and play key minutes. all 3 are rookies(a 4th rookie kent bazemore hit the reverse layup at the end of 2OT to put golden state up by 1 before ginooooooobilliiiiiiiiiii won redemption).
the spurs shot the 3 poorly, despite getting some solid looks that are a key component of their offense. they also missed plenty of good looks, parker and ginobili have yet to string together an entire half of good ball, much less a game. parker is going to have to start hitting the elbow jumpers.
ginobili can be so frustrating at times. i can only imagine how pop feels. the same freelancing that makes him who he is hurts when he is off.
you know sometimes when you have an irrational distaste for certain players? why does watching gary neal put up ill-advised shots bother me? i like what he brings to the spurs. i get a similar feeling when jerryd bayless is launching contested 20 footers off the bounce. must be something about my view on what a backup "point guard" should contribute.
on a related note, this leads to me thinking how patty mills is looking in practice and how nando de colo finished off his season. i love watching the game from my couch and wondering why the best coach in the nba doesn't give patty mills some of gary neal's minutes to try and provide some scoring spark off the bench. never mind patty mills career highlights have come in regular season games against inferior opponents, often during garbage time. but how irrational i am during the game.
seriously though, i hope boris diaw didn't aggravate his back in game 1. he made some big plays down the stretch of game 1 and without him they don't win that game. does anyone know if he was hurting?
a part of this(maybe all of it) was the return of splitter, who will hopefully regain his form as the series moves on and allow the spurs to go big.
the warriors did a great job of limiting the turnovers in game 2. this and their superior 3-point shooting won the game.
damn, everytime i post way more than intended. and i didn't even get into the officiating in game 1….
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Anyone think the NBA is NOT totally fixed?
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Keep the long posts coming, jackie17. They allow me to keep my posts relatively short; excluding Sonics rants, of course.
How about that Klay Thompson, huh? GO COUGS!
I think the Patty Mills question is a very valid one. The Spurs need more scoring; especially off the bench. The Warriors just have so many guys that can get hot, hot, hot. Each Splash Brother can take over a game, himself. And Barnes and Jack are each capable of taking over a quarter, if the focus shifts squarely to Steph and Klay.
SA just looks slow. They have to work really hard for quality attempts, and GSW can penetrate and dish, at will.
If I'm Popovich, I am really, really worried, right now. GSW should not be outscoring you in the paint.
Seriously, how fun is this series to watch?
BTW, the Sacramento Kings could have drafted Curry, Thompson, and Barnes. They drafted Evans, Fredette, and Robinson, instead. Crazy.
Oh, and no, the NBA isn't rigged. Get over it.
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my main beef is really with the league office. basically stern for dictating the policies. these refs are just calling the games how they are told to.
ever since the pacers & pistons brawl the league has been terrified of having another fight. so they have overreacted and now there are flagrant fouls and double technicals handed out for almost any "hard" foul that results in a player landing on the floor. what sucks is the refs look at the replay every time a flagrant is called and have the opportunity to downgrade the call upon review yet rarely do. a lot of times it is the way the fouled player lands that results in the flagrant, not the actual foul.
i cannot stand the double technical. it reminds me of how fights are now treated in school. the person who merely defends himself(or sometimes has the misfortune of getting hit) gets in trouble, too.
and the technicals issued for "taunting" drive me crazy. during the course of a heated game if player A dunks on player B and stares too long or talks trash he is getting T'd up. last year stephen jackson hit a big corner 3 and stared at OKC's bench as he got back on D. the same bench that was undoubtedly yelling at him, clapping or stomping the floor to try and distract him. it was in a big moment of the game but of course he got a tech.
what made basketball so great in the 80s and 90s were the rivalries. guys like bird, MJ and gary payton are some of the best players of all time and part of their legend is the trash talking. imagine if reggie miller and spike lee went at it today like they did in the 90s. the nba has no problem running the highlights to get everyone hyped for the playoffs. even though he never won a title, those battles are what reggie is known for to most people. that shit would be cut off instantly today and it sucks.
i love watching games when van gundy is doing color. he calls it like it is. last night you had steve kerr and marv albert exaggerating the physicality of the game, backing up the refs the whole time. i'm not saying the game wasn't chippy, but it would've been nice to hear steve say that some of the fouls weren't even hard, let alone flagrant. barkley wasn't having any of it at halftime, though.
