NBA Playoffs 2012 Running thread

Mark2010 · Jun 7, 2012

Will James get 50 or more tonight?

Mark2010 · Jun 7, 2012

JC said:

Mark2010 said:

JRoyal said:

JC said:

JRoyal said:

Deskhack said:

The thought of Clay Bennett's slimy hands caressing the Larry O'Brien Trophy...There might be riots in Seattle.
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Yeah, the dozens of fans who put pressure on the city/state to do what it needed to to keep the team will be up in arms. They had their chance to keep it and did too little too late. I'm sure there will be stories about bitter Seattle fans next week, but the guy more to blame than anyone, including Bennett, is Howard Schultz.
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If you put this on the Seattle fans you don't have a clue what you are talking about.
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I put it on Howard Schultz and the government there, not Seattle fans (mostly; see below). Yes, Bennett bought the team and wanted to move it to Oklahoma. Yes, other owners wanted to skip through the process more than he did. But the OKC ownership group didn't ask for anything just about any other non-local owner wouldn't have at the time. The government leaders there wouldn't give them what the Mariners and Seahawks had already received, just like they wouldn't do for Schultz.

And I can't believe that Schultz, a man who made millions building an empire from the ground up, was naive enough to think there wasn't a strong likelihood the team would move. He had been through the negotiations himself and new an arena wasn't going to get built. He knew OKC wanted a team bad. He knew what was going to happen. He could've sold to a local ownership group or he could've tried to push things through himself. He didn't. He sold to a group from Oklahoma, which had shown it could support a team and was looking for one.

If Clay Bennett hadn't been the one to buy the team and move it, someone from Kansas City would have. Schultz was ready to cut bait at the first big offer he got. The fault here lies a lot more on the heads of the government in Washington, state and local, and Howard Schultz. I feel bad for the fans there, but at least some of the anger toward Bennett (who admittedly handled things poorly) should be aimed a lot closer to home.

My comment about the fans was that despite wanting a team, they were never able to rally enough support to force the legislature or local governments to make a move. If those guys in office had received enough calls and emails, they would have done something. But the rallies didn't draw enough to make them feel it was necessary, and they didn't do enough to make people think, "Hell, I'm going to write Rep. Doesn't-Care-About-The-Sonics and make sure we get to keep our team." This was something that should've happened before Schultz had a chance to sell the team, when the other teams in Seattle were getting new digs in the Sonics were getting left out. Instead, the fan base -- except for the diehards -- sat on their hands while the team collapsed and then made a lot of noise at the end.

I feel sorry for them for losing their team, but like I said, by the time they got organized it was too little, too late. If a local group had seen that kind of support before Bennett bought the team, they might have thrown their money in to keep it in Seattle. But it wasn't there until the situation was already too dire, and even then it wasn't enough to force action.
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Great post!!

Seattle had every chance to step up and do what it took to keep a team and didn't. Bennett is an ass, but if he didn't move them, someone else would have.
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So wrong, it is not even worth explaining to you.
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Alright, dipshit, what's your theory?

Big Circus · Jun 7, 2012

Rondo is playing well. Bass is decent. LeBron is transcendent. No one else has been worth a shit. LeBron wins.

JC · Jun 7, 2012

If Lebron had played anything like Wade has he'd be getting killed.

amraeder · Jun 7, 2012

93Devil said:

James played like the best player in the league in the first half. If he can play half as well in the second half, they move onto Miami.
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Was pretty darn good in the third. He could probably sit the rest of this one and Miami would still win.

Mark2010 · Jun 7, 2012

Big Circus said:

Rondo is playing well. Bass is decent. LeBron is transcendent. No one else has been worth a shit. LeBron wins.
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Damn. This is like Michael Jordan at his best.

amraeder · Jun 7, 2012

Up 23, how long do you keep James out there?

JC · Jun 7, 2012

amraeder said:

Up 23, how long do you keep James out there?
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Now. If not, no reason for Boston not to take a hard foul on him.

cjericho · Jun 7, 2012

Yes these are the greatest fans. It sounded like church or a library from midway through the 2nd quarter on, but now they're chanting in the final minute. So they love their team and they're the greatest fans.

Stoney · Jun 7, 2012

Well that's not how that was supposed to go at all. Basketball christmas is cancelled.

Mark2010 · Jun 7, 2012

Eh, Stern and the ABC TV people would probably rather see Miami in the Finals anyway.

JC · Jun 7, 2012

So does James get credit for winning a big game? Or because it wasn't a buzzer beater is he still questioned whether he can play big in the big games?

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