NBA 2012: Running thread

[LongTimeListener]

Another thing about the resting them for the playoffs. It's November 30! How in god's name is sitting them one game now going to have anything to do with what the Spurs are like in May?

There is an enormous cumulative effect over the course of the season. That's like saying "It's Week 6! How is limiting Michael Turner's carries now going to help him in January?"

So why doesn't he do this 15-20 times during the year then, which would actually help with that cumulative effect. Or limit their minutes during each game, which would accomplish the same thing (and is what limiting someone's carries would actually accomplish instead of, say, just sitting Michael Turner for no apparent reason).

He does it because he wants to get Stern's goat. That's why I love it.

Regarding why they don't do this 15-20 games a season, I really don't know. I think every team should do this especially with every player over 30. But there is some value to winning the division and getting a top seed. And you wouldn't spread it out because then you're risking losing three or four games instead of just one. In truth this was a game everyone was expecting the Spurs to lose just because sometimes the NBA schedules teams for losses.

People think the idea of 82 games is some sacrosanct number that is the formula required to be playing at maximum efficiency. But it's just marketing. Every team in the league would be better off if they played 60 or 70 games in the same timeframe.

 

[Small Town Guy]

No argument on length of schedule.

I think a huge thing for coaches of aging teams is how they manage minutes (assuming they play...). Mike Brown was terrible at this, D'Antoni is going to push Kobe probably too much too. Phil was great at this, as maddening as it could be having him sit Kobe those 6 minutes at the start of the 2nd and start of the 4th. Popovich is great with it, which is why I don't buy that sending them home is part of a grand plan to save their legs.

Another interesting angle is what it shows about the relationship between Pop and Duncan, which people have always talked about as being unique because, of course, Duncan doesn't ever prove problematic.

Go back to 1996. The Bulls face the Lakers and Magic Johnson -- he's back! - in February of that year. That was the Bulls' 4th game in five nights. The lakers had two nights off before that game.

Imagine MJ, Pippen and Rodman agreeing to meekly sit out.

Or imagine Kobe doing that now, under any coach.

 

[JC]

You are far mor susceptible to injury when your body is tired. It's not just about saving them til May

 

[amraeder]

No argument on length of schedule.

I think a huge thing for coaches of aging teams is how they manage minutes (assuming they play...). Mike Brown was terrible at this, D'Antoni is going to push Kobe probably too much too. Phil was great at this, as maddening as it could be having him sit Kobe those 6 minutes at the start of the 2nd and start of the 4th. Popovich is great with it, which is why I don't buy that sending them home is part of a grand plan to save their legs.

He did the same thing 3 times last year, so it's not exactly a new strategy. He said it was a decision made when he saw the schedule, and based on past history, I don't see any reason to doubt that.

 

[Devin]

I don't understand where all these people are coming from with the opinion that fans in Miami were pissed not to see the Spurs Big 3 when San Antoino is considered by many as a boring team.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Again, why is this so different from baseball?

Inertia? In 10 years, are we going to look back and say, "Well of course NBA teams rest their starters every couple weeks."

 

[Small Town Guy]

In non-Spur news, Rubio's back at practice with Wolves. Hopefully return in week or two.

I'll enjoy watching this more than Luke Ridnour:

 

[Bob Cook]

This is an awesome job of ripping another hole in David Stern's rectum.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--david-stern-stumbles-again-in-his-failed-culture-war-against-the-spurs-194828970.html

 

[Boom_70]

What I find most interesting is that the NBA running thread started in October and Swiss Legalized prostitution thread started yesterday have the same amount of pages.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

This is an awesome job of ripping another hole in David Stern's rectum.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--david-stern-stumbles-again-in-his-failed-culture-war-against-the-spurs-194828970.html

Someone really needs to sit that smug SOB down and remind him that HE did not create what the NBA is now; Larry, Magic and Michael did. It was those guys who got the NBA Finals off of tape delay on CBS, not his forking brilliance.

 

[LongTimeListener]

It has always been common knowledge that the Spurs' greatness did not lead Stern to go giddy over TV ratings, but until Woj's column I had no idea there was so much outright hatred for them coming from the league office. That's really weird, but I guess not all that surprising from a group that would rather run a reality show than an athletic competition.

 

[Bob Cook]

It's been apparent since Day One that Stern had his vision of how the league would go, and it was all based on the jujitsu of putting the best players in the highest-profile markets while at least maintaining a facade that small-market teams could compete. The conspiracy theories of the Bent Envelope in the '84 lottery and the infamous Lakers-Kings Game Six come because they have a basis in fact -- we know who David Stern wants to win. Even the cap, as constructed, serves this purpose because by limiting what a player can make on the court, anyone wanting to maximize their value has to go where they can make the most money off it -- the biggest markets.

The Spurs fork up this model by actually winning, and doing it without drama and flash.

You might ask -- then why did Stern veto that Chris Paul trade to the Lakers, and why doesn't he force Oklahoma City to trade its stars to somewhere more prominent? On the first, that trade forked up the Stern model because it was such a desperate deal, even moreso than the one that sent Pau Gasol there from Memphis. Sentiment was bubbling that the NBA was only going to be about a few superstar teams, and remember, Stern needs fans in other cities to believe they have a shot, even though he really doesn't want them to. It was a nice compromise that at least Paul is in L.A. As for OKC, that was all about making sure cities that didn't want to pony up tax money for an arena knew he would let their teams blow town. And at least Durant and Westbrook have a little flash to them.