NBA Regular Season 2012/13

ButtersSuki

malistheman wrote: »

This is awesome !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U65T2x2oxo

Like that? Try this:

Full link in case it won't open:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQnu83R5CuM&sns=em

Nuri Sahin

Miami pushed all the way by a Spurs side who had sent home their Big 3

Shooting percentage wise, in the first half was one of the most appalling displays I've seen from a top side this season.

GoldFour4

Stern is furious with the Spurs for sitting the big 3 for the Thursday night game (Only 2 games, both nationally televised on TNT). He's promised tough sanctions on them, whatever that means.

Thought this was a funny tweet about it from basketball writer Nate Jones

Stern would have him executed RT @Mar118: @JonesOnTheNBA imagine pop pulled this on a christmas day game

Nuri Sahin

Well, Pop is a crafty SOB. He saw this schedule, his small market team playing 4 road games in 5 nights, ending with a nationally televised game against the reigning champions and face of the NBA (Lebron). He knows how this game is played, and not just on the court, and saw the set-up and basically flipped Stern off. The schedule they were dealt with was ridiculous but not surprising.

Grizzlies is a bigger game coming up next for them and while I was looking forward to last night's game and thus somewhat disappointed, I find it admirable what he did overall on the face of it.

After my half time spread bet lost, I was desperate for Spurs to stick it to them and win.

ButtersSuki

The Hand of Stern again. Technically, Pop can and should be allowed to do what he wants with his team, but Stern is keen to ensure that the NBA maximises every last potential cent of revenue. I expect a fine, but Pop has form on this and I doubt will be put off by fines. And his players will back him up.

It's daft though. I mean Pop could have brought them and sat them for the whole game or given them until the first whistle and then what would Stern do? He even did this during their winning stretch last year. Ultimately he is trying to do what is best for his team. Can't fault him for that.

ButtersSuki

Spurs fined $250k. Sports illustrated's take:

NEW YORK -- Somewhere in the NBA's offices in Olympic tower, someone had to have begged David Stern to stop. You flew off the handle, David, I'm imagining someone saying, let's see if we can find you a graceful way out. Let's put this talk of slapping "substantial sanctions" -- whatever that was supposed to mean -- on the San Antonio Spurs back into the cereal box you pulled it out of and live to fight another day.
No one did, of course, and we are left with this: The NBA fined the Spurs a whopping $250,000 on Friday for doing what was in the best interests of the team. In electing to leave Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green at home, in telling them that after playing five games in eight nights and with a critical showdown against Memphis on Saturday to sit one out, the Spurs had, in the eyes of Stern, compromised the integrity of the game. Nevermind that San Antonio had done this multiple times before. Or that other teams had spit in the face of paying customers for far more diabolical reasons.
Remember in 2006, when Minnesota benched Kevin Garnett and Ricky Davis for the final game of the season? When they allowed Mark Madsen to play like Ray Allen just to keep its draft pick?
How about that same year, when the Suns sat Steve Nash and Raja Bell late in the season against the Lakers to ensure a loss that would elevate L.A. -- and its terrible transition defense -- over the Kings and into a first round matchup with Phoenix?
Or how about in 2002-2003, when the Cavaliers kicked away game after game in a blatant attempt to secure Akron, Ohio native LeBron James?
In pinning a quarter of a million dollar fine on San Antonio, the NBA has opened a Pandora's Box it can never close. So San Antonio didn't suit up its starters. Nevermind that the Spurs held a lead against Miami going into the final minute, and yes, the outcome matters. Where is the line? If Boston sits Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in a game against Washington, do they merit a fine? If Mike D'Antoni sends Kobe Bryant home after a long road trip, are the Lakers writing a check? If the Raptors, who owe Oklahoma City its draft pick if the pick falls between 4 and 14, start giving Quincy Acy 30-plus minutes in March, should they be cutting a check?
David Stern believes Gregg Popovich purposefully showed the league up, and on this point, I agree. Popovich could have manufactured reasons for sitting his Big Three. He could have said Parker had the flu, Ginobili had a bum ankle and Duncan had a balky knee. Lying about injuries is commonplace. Before the NBA eliminated the injured list, cases of plantar fasciitis were so rampant you would have thought every team needed a foot doctor on the payroll.
Popovich didn't, believing he could do what he wanted, and Stern took offense. Others did, too. "The Spurs think they are above the league," said an Eastern Conference team executive. "If he wanted to rest guys, he didn't have to do it all at once. He could have said they were injured but he was pissed about the schedule."
But getting sand kicked on your shoes is no reason to nuke the beach, which is what Stern did when he levied the biggest fine since Heat owner Micky Arison broke ranks and tweeted out damaging information during the lockout. Arison broke a confidence, and Stern reacted harshly. San Antonio tried to better position itself to win a championship, and Stern had a similar impulsive reaction.
Make no mistake, San Antonio's decision was about winning. The Spurs don't hate TNT, don't hate the Heat, don't want to stick it to its fans. Think viewers like watching the Spurs anyway? San Antonio's sweep of James' Cavaliers in 2007 was the lowest rated Finals in NBA history. Popovich simply had a choice: On the last leg of a long road trip -- a trip that the Spurs were 5-0 on going into Miami and yes, again, circumstances matter -- and with a showdown with the high powered Grizzlies looming on Saturday, Miami was a game they could afford to lose.
Popovich's responsibility isn't to TNT, isn't to the Heat fans who were not coming to see his team anyway. If San Antonio stumbles again in Game 7 of a playoff series because its players are too tired, Kenny and Charles don't have the power to declare it a best of nine.
"I don't like [the fine]," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "You gotta coach your team to win in the long run. You have to do whatever you need to do. If that's sitting players, you sit players."
Said former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy on NBC Sports Network, "Are people going to send their lineups into David Stern's office before every game and get them approved? And even when they are in the game, how many minutes do they have to play? It's just not feasible to legislate it.
"And if you are a true leader in David Stern's position, then lead. Take the moral high ground and get out and persuade people. Lead on the issue. David Stern is not able to do that because, especially among the coaches, he has not built that kind of trust or shown them that kind of respect. What he is stuck with is bully tactics, a my way or the highway approach, and that's just not going to work in this case."
Indeed, with 14 months left in office, Stern has placed himself and his successor, Adam Silver, on a very slippery slope. At the first sign of tanking, the Twittersphere will erupt and call for Stern to come down on the tankers as harshly as he came down on the Spurs. And they will be right. If trying to help your team win a championship is punishable, then there should be an equal penalty for trying to lose.

Paully D

Stern has well and truly jumped the shark.

buyer95

I'm looking forward to seeing Pop's riposte, will it be subbing his starters out after the first stoppage in play, or will he sit the starters in street clothes on the bench, or will it be something else? It may take awhile but he will get Stern back just watch

Raif Severance

What a truly bizarre move by Stern. Like the article above said, there were already precedents. Teams punting games to benefit them in the season or beyond is nothing new.

It's not like Pop deliberately set out to lose the game. Heck, the Spurs actually played well enough to almost win it and that's with 4 of their Key Players resting. And like the writer said, there'll be some unforeseen repercussions because of this.

The only thing I can fault the Spurs with, is that they should have at least invented "Illnesses" for the players they were resting. Though suspicious, the NBA Office won't be able to do anything about it.

As for this, if I were the Spurs I'd definitely contest this one in the courts. I know it will muddle it even further and strain the relationships more, it's at least better than swallowing the Bitter Pill the NBA has given them.

ButtersSuki

Raif Severance wrote: »

What a truly bizarre move by Stern. Like the article above said, there were already precedents. Teams punting games to benefit them in the season or beyond is nothing new.

It's not like Pop deliberately set out to lose the game. Heck, the Spurs actually played well enough to almost win it and that's with 4 of their Key Players resting. And like the writer said, there'll be some unforeseen repercussions because of this.

The only thing I can fault the Spurs with, is that they should have at least invented "Illnesses" for the players they were resting. Though suspicious, the NBA Office won't be able to do anything about it.

As for this, if I were the Spurs I'd definitely contest this one in the courts. I know it will muddle it even further and strain the relationships more, it's at least better than swallowing the Bitter Pill the NBA has given them.

He was honest about resting them, ironically if he lied and said they had the flu he'd have been fine. Daft!

GoldFour4

The basketball jones talked about it in depth during their friday show. They also discussed Rondos style of turning down open layups to kick it out for an assist

They basically made the point that Stern was punishing the Spurs for a number of reasons. 1) Stern has been mad at Pop since he wrote down "old" on the teamsheet as a reason for Duncan not dressing. 2) It was a nationally televised game. 3) They rested a relatively unknown wing player along with the big 3. and last but not least 4) It's absolute bs to use rest for the postseason as an excuse for letting guys have the night off. It's only November, most teams have only played 18 or 19 games. If he does this in March there will be a lot less controversy.

When they were talking about Rondos suspensions so far this year it occured to me that he's been suspended for nearly 25% of the season so far. That's a serious number and it's quite frankly ridiculous that he only got the 2 game ban.

padraig_f

Bulls beat the 76ers to extend their winning streak to 2

My new favourite player.... Jimmy Butler. Didn't see a lot of action last year as rookie, but getting some more minutes now. Coming off the bench playing the 2 and the 3. Does everything well...defends, rebounds, shoots, gets to the rim. Plays with intelligence and has some good athleticism.

Nuri Sahin

Stern must have been loving it when Spurs were down by 15 heading into the 4th Great comeback.

ButtersSuki

Apologies for the delay....they're not the best (no cameras with a lens allowed in the stadium) but hopefully you'll get an idea. The practice courts looked pretty cool. Have loads more but limited to 5 pics here.

ButtersSuki

And some more....

steve_r

Looks quality, good game to see as well!

how do people rank the top teams this year?

for me its Miami, Spurs and Thunder on top.

Then you have Clippers, Grizzlies, Brooklyn, and Knicks.

With the players they have, you can't count out the Lakers, Celtics, and the Bulls, but all of that assumes players are back from injuries, and the old players are still playing at the same level.

Love the see the timberwolves do well, loadsa players on that team I like.

ButtersSuki

steve_r wrote: »

Looks quality, good game to see as well!

how do people rank the top teams this year?

for me its Miami, Spurs and Thunder on top.

Then you have Clippers, Grizzlies, Brooklyn, and Knicks.

With the players they have, you can't count out the Lakers, Celtics, and the Bulls, but all of that assumes players are back from injuries, and the old players are still playing at the same level.

Love the see the timberwolves do well, loadsa players on that team I like.

No question, at the moment the Top 4 teams seem to be the Heat, the Spurs, Thunder and the Grizzlies (in that order). Next up I'd put the Kincks and Nets. After that....meh. The Lakers can't be judged until Nash suits up but I do think they're going to trade Gasol before the All Star break - possibly for Josh Smith, which given his athleticism would be interesting. But I don't see them as serious contenders this year now. Too much to fix in too tough a Conference. Hurts me to say it as a Celtics fan but can't see them getting beyond Round 1 of the Playoffs if they even make the Playoffs this year. Losing Jesus Shuttlesworth seems to have had a psychological impact on the team too.

The West overall looks much tougher than the East so you could have whoever emerges from the West severely beaten up by the time they get through to the Finals, while I think the Heat will have a relative smooth passage. What's a little surprising for me is how little attention the Heat are getting this year from a media perspectiove whilst racking up the league's best record to date - shows the NY media bias when the Knicks (and to a lesser degree Brooklyn) are doing well.

The more I think about the Nets, the more I think they could be a serious playoff threat. They are BIG with Lopez and Humphries and if Lopez plays like he did the night I saw him they'll cause a much smaller Miami trouble in slower playoff basketball (yes, I know Miami have whipped them twice this year but it's not "playoff basketball"). He owned the post and has to be seen in the flesh to see how big he is - his arms are freakily long. He's put on some muscle too. Williams on his day is very, very good and Joe Johnson can light it up at times. The real gem for me is Gerard Wallace. He does it at both ends of the court and is hugely under-apreciated. The guy was a coaches selection All Star a few years ago when he was with the Bobcats on merit. I don't think his game has gone backwards since then. I still reckon they're not deep enough, but they will cause some teams some serious problems. They're not hugely attractive to watch, but they are good. A Nets-Knicks Playoff series would be pretty cool!

buyer95

ButtersSuki wrote: »

No question, at the moment the Top 4 teams seem to be the Heat, the Spurs, Thunder and the Grizzlies (in that order). Next up I'd put the Kincks and Nets. After that....meh. The Lakers can't be judged until Nash suits up but I do think they're going to trade Gasol before the All Star break - possibly for Josh Smith, which given his athleticism would be interesting. But I don't see them as serious contenders this year now. Too much to fix in too tough a Conference. Hurts me to say it as a Celtics fan but can't see them getting beyond Round 1 of the Playoffs if they even make the Playoffs this year. Losing Jesus Shuttlesworth seems to have had a psychological impact on the team too.

The West overall looks much tougher than the East so you could have whoever emerges from the West severely beaten up by the time they get through to the Finals, while I think the Heat will have a relative smooth passage. What's a little surprising for me is how little attention the Heat are getting this year from a media perspectiove whilst racking up the league's best record to date - shows the NY media bias when the Knicks (and to a lesser degree Brooklyn) are doing well.

The more I think about the Nets, the more I think they could be a serious playoff threat. They are BIG with Lopez and Humphries and if Lopez plays like he did the night I saw him they'll cause a much smaller Miami trouble in slower playoff basketball (yes, I know Miami have whipped them twice this year but it's not "playoff basketball"). He owned the post and has to be seen in the flesh to see how big he is - his arms are freakily long. He's put on some muscle too. Williams on his day is very, very good and Joe Johnson can light it up at times. The real gem for me is Gerard Wallace. He does it at both ends of the court and is hugely under-apreciated. The guy was a coaches selection All Star a few years ago when he was with the Bobcats on merit. I don't think his game has gone backwards since then. I still reckon they're not deep enough, but they will cause some teams some serious problems. They're not hugely attractive to watch, but they are good. A Nets-Knicks Playoff series would be pretty cool!

Apart from losing a lot of his best attribute, his athleticism! , He can no longer be able to rely on simply out running, jumping, diving or hustling his opponents... That isn't to say he isn't an effective player, but he is not the same player as then. This is shown in his stats, he is shooting 41%.

ButtersSuki

buyer95 wrote: »

Apart from losing a lot of his best attribute, his athleticism! , He can no longer be able to rely on simply out running, jumping, diving or hustling his opponents... That isn't to say he isn't an effective player, but he is not the same player as then. This is shown in his stats, he is shooting 41%.

Hmmm......how can I explain this? Wallace is one of those players whose value to a team is worth much more than his actual numbers, and he's a guy most players in the league hate playing against. Biggest difference this year is his minutes are down (almost 5-6 per game from last year) and he's further down the rotation in terms of shooting than on previous teams so that's bound to affect his pts total and efficiency. Put it this way, he may not be a superstar, but he's a guy most teams in the league would love to have on their team - surely you won't disagree on that?:)

And apologies for calling him Gerard in my original post! I do/did know it was Gerald....not sure why I typed that! Need to get some sleep!

buyer95

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Hmmm......how can I explain this? Wallace is one of those players whose value to a team is worth much more than his actual numbers, and he's a guy most players in the league hate playing against. Biggest difference this year is his minutes are down (almost 5-6 per game from last year) and he's further down the rotation in terms of shooting than on previous teams so that's bound to affect his pts total and efficiency. Put it this way, he may not be a superstar, but he's a guy most teams in the league would love to have on their team - surely you won't disagree on that?:)

And apologies for calling him Gerard in my original post! I do/did know it was Gerald....not sure why I typed that! Need to get some sleep!

I agree he is a player any team would gladly have, due to his tenacious d alone!

GoldFour4

Wizards Heat only a 4 point game with 3 mins left for anyone on league pass

Nuri Sahin

That was was brilliant viewing.

Wow, likewise with OKC - Nets and Lakers - Rockets games!

steve_r

Didn't see the heat game - u/s Miller played point guard in the second half?

stuchyg

first live games of season on ESPN this week. Thusday sees Knicks v Heat ( cant wait, Melo v Bron) and Friday night has Lakers v OKC. Enjoy

ButtersSuki

stuchyg wrote: »

first live games of season on ESPN this week. Thusday sees Knicks v Heat ( cant wait, Melo v Bron) and Friday night has Lakers v OKC. Enjoy

Really? Not showing on my listings - either on ESPN or ESPN America? Is there another?

lertsnim

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Really?

Really.

http://espnmediazone3.com/wpmu/uk/?p=2291

GoldFour4

stuchyg wrote: »

first live games of season on ESPN this week. Thusday sees Knicks v Heat ( cant wait, Melo v Bron) and Friday night has Lakers v OKC. Enjoy

Fantastic news not having to have the laptop out on christmas day

Nuri Sahin

To say I'm delighted with this news is an understatement

Nuri Sahin

Big time finish from the Knicks (buzzer beater shot from JR Smith) to edge the Bobcats there.

ButtersSuki

lertsnim wrote: »

Really.

http://espnmediazone3.com/wpmu/uk/?p=2291

Great! Now all I need is UPC to change the EPG so I can record and watch next day as I can't stay up that late on a school night.