Screw player collusion

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Originally Posted by 2Cleva

[B]Duncan was closer to his prime then (and they still didn't come btw). But a few years ago, Duncan still had some ball left in him.

Now? He's playing out the string. It happens to almost everyone but Duncan is now a shadow of himself. No shame in that.

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Yeah, that's the point I was making...
Certainly the level of player co-operation that has resulted in Miami is unprecedented. The closest example I can think of, off the top of my head, is Payton and Malone to LAL, but those guys were ring chasing at the end of their careers (not in their prime); it was still considered a bitch move by everyone who wasn't a Faker fan.

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Originally Posted by 2Cleva

Duncan was closer to his prime then (and they still didn't come btw). But a few years ago, Duncan still had some ball left in him.

Now? He's playing out the string. It happens to almost everyone but Duncan is now a shadow of himself. No shame in that.

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"A shadow" is a bit hyperbolic. He's in decline, no doubt, but he put up perfectly good stats with perfectly good efficiency last season.

If Tim is a shadow of his former self then he must of been the GOAT tbh, because he averaged 19/10 on .500% shooting along with 2 blocks and 3 assists a game in the playoffs.

I am really glad that they went there though for two reasons.
A. They didn't win
B. There was a lot of talk about Malone coming here if he didn't go there - FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF THAT!

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Originally Posted by pad300

Yeah, that's the point I was making...
Certainly the level of player co-operation that has resulted in Miami is unprecedented. The closest example I can think of, off the top of my head, is Payton and Malone to LAL, but those guys were ring chasing at the end of their careers (not in their prime); it was still considered a bitch move by everyone who wasn't a Faker fan.

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malone and payton were coattailing to a good team though, at budget prices. this heat thing doesnt bother me that much, because miami has sucked pretty bad the past couple years. its not like lebron and bosh are going to a sure thing. and though they've now got a core and some nice pieces, they still have most of their cap tied up in that big 3. i dont know, I'm not happy about it, but I wouldnt call it a bitch move. it could very well blow up in their faces.

muser - I don't troll.

pad - Funny thing is that if SA hadn't beat LA the year before, then Malone and GP would have went to the Spurs. They didn't want to appear to be gravy training, even though they were.

admiral - pretty good numbers, no doubt. But not the impact of previous years. Not a knock - he's still better than most in the NBA. But when superstars fall down to mortal realm, what is great for most is subpar for them. Different level of player, different standards.

Drachen - agreed.

diego - it's only a bitch move for LeBron. Supposedly the best player in the game, you don't jump on no one else's cart - you make your own and get others to follow you. Eternal black mark on LeBron's career.

Does that include Brent Barry's "Get me out of here" statement?

I don't like it either, but there is nothing that can be done about it. Teams are doing exactly what they are supposed to do: gather the best collection of players possible. The Spurs were one of the first teams in the current era to don the three superstar philosophy with Tim, Tony, and Manu. If anything, other teams just followed suit, because suddenly two stars (MJ/Pippen, Tim/David, Shaq/Kobe) wasn't enough to compete anymore.

The league itself needs to be smaller, with a considerably shorter schedule (60 games), which would cause a large diffusion of healthier talent.

I shall use 7777 to say good luck to the Spurs this season; we're gonna need it.

Good bye.

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Originally Posted by triggeredexcellence

As a spur fan, I'm sick to my stomach at how the league has transformed in just a short period, beginning with the player collusion that occurred in Boston a couple of years back/Gasol trade to Los Angeles for a pack of glazed donuts.


Now this has occurred during the offseason culminating in a gathering of two of the worlds best players on the same team (Miami).


Next year, we might see this again with Melo, TP, and any other player that is hungry to win.



This totally goes against the Spurs philosophy for the past decade. To those who disagree with me, you will point out to the fact that we added Duncan when we already had Robinson. Let me point out that we did this through the draft, and we did it not by bribing, or by asking, we earned that last pick because of how bad the team was that year.

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How you blame players for the Lakers and Boston additions is beyond me unless of course you mean former players, Ainge, McHale and behind the scenes West then I understand fully. Other than that there is no relation to the Miami James, Wade and Bosh situation.

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Originally Posted by z0sa

The league itself needs to be smaller, with a considerably shorter schedule (60 games), which would cause a large diffusion of healthier talent.

I shall use 7777 to say good luck to the Spurs this season; we're gonna need it.

Good bye.

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ummm....NO. Just because your stars are old doesn't mean the league should cater to your needs. If the season was 60 games then kevin willis, patrick ewing, d-rob, and a host of other old codgers would play years beyond what they should (and those aforementioned players already did that anyways). If the season is too tiring or too hard on your body, then maybe it's time to contemplate retirement.

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Originally Posted by Harry Callahan

21 D-Bags at it again. You are either an incompetent troll or a complete moron (the latter is probably accurate).

It is not front office savvy when you trade garbage/washed up players for quality players or #1 picks. The Lakers for forty freakin years have acquired players like Chamberlain, Jabbar, Magic, Worthy, Scott, Shaq, Kobe, Gasol. In each and every case the Lakers traded washed up players, bad players, low 1st round picks, or just bought the player like O'Neal. 21 D-bags might be smart enough to look those trades up.

Your whining about the Spurs rings hollow really, 21 D-bags. The Spurs have had four or five top ten draft picks during their entire NBA history, and yet they put out a really good product. The two teams that resulted in #1 lottery picks in no way shape or form guaranteed to get the top pick. The 86-87 team was horrible and the 96-97 lost their top two or three players for 1/2 to 3/4 of the season. Playing David Robinson for 15 games at the end of a lost season would have been STUPID - your beloved Lakers would have done the same thing in the same situation. The Lakers didn't have to worry about a bad record in 1996-97 because they just bought O'Neal (for no compensation) and acquired Bryant for a guy with one year left on his contract that they neither wanted nor needed (Divac).

The Lakers never had to go to the bottom of the league because they always had a weak sister team they could rip off. The Spurs recent success is a whole lot more legitimate that the Lakers. That is a fact.

The funny thing is if the Lakers fall back in the next few years, if Bryant breakes down or a major injury hits the Lakers, 90% of these Laker posters will disappear, just like from 2004-2007.

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This is why the lakers front office > the spurs front office

The Lakers can retool their team and stay a contender because they can acquire great players outside of the draft. The spurs only get their top players through their draft picks.
Much harder to stay on top that way. The window closes on the spurs as Duncan declines and it will take another franchise player to turn the spurs into a contender again.

The bigger colliusion is that no team complains even when rules are broken. This includes the Spurs. Also, Laker fans who talks yak, also is most likely to have Hulk Hogan posters on his wall.

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Originally Posted by dbestpro

The bigger colliusion is that no team complains even when rules are broken. This includes the Spurs. Also, Laker fans who talks yak, also is most likely to have Hulk Hogan posters on his wall.

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Pop said as much as he could about the Gasol trade. The League has proven it doesn't invite criticism, and that sort of artificially uncritical climate ultimately dilutes the NBA brand and product.

A wimp with a fist full of $50's and viagra can get a beautiful hooker. That don't make him a stud.

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Originally Posted by lotr1trekkie

A wimp with a fist full of $50's and viagra can get a beautiful hooker. That don't make him a stud.

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Leave Marc Cuban out of this.

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Originally Posted by admiralsnackbar

Pop said as much as he could about the Gasol trade. The League has proven it doesn't invite criticism, and that sort of artificially uncritical climate ultimately dilutes the NBA brand and product.

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The Lakers just have a superior front office than the Spurs. Don't hate.

Instead of being a whiny sore-losing-baby how about you don't give away Scola. And try to trade for players that can actually help you dethrone the Lakers instead of signing proven rapists like Neal.

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Originally Posted by 21_Blessings

The Lakers just have a superior front office than the Spurs. Don't hate.

Instead of being a whiny sore-losing-baby how about you don't give away Scola. And try to trade for players that can actually help you dethrone the Lakers instead of signing proven rapists like Neal.

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Did you get that Hulk Hogan poster signed?

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Originally Posted by 21_Blessings

The Lakers just have a superior front office than the Spurs. Don't hate.

Instead of being a whiny sore-losing-baby how about you don't give away Scola. And try to trade for players that can actually help you dethrone the Lakers instead of signing proven rapists like Neal.

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I'm not hating, I'm truthing. Your off-topic trolling may confuse the issue, but it only makes your bitch-made insecurity more day-glo. Go back downstairs and play with the rest of the retards and let 2Cleva represent the Lakers.

I'm not even trolling here. Spur fan is just being a complete hypocrite.

You claim collusion which is completely unproven and debunked by multiple facts. Yet ignore that your front office just gave a guy that was never that good to begin with and a terrible fit 40 million for choking like the loser he was in the playoffs.

Collusion lol, right. You guys still tanked for Duncan. At least admit your sins and savor the championships won.

The argument in play is that the PLAYERS colluded to play in MIA. I only brought up Pop because he complained about the Gasol trade inasmuch as he could (in counter to dbestpro who said nobody did anything to criticize suspect trades), and that trade was just arguably collusion.

The Gasol trade STILL arguably merits speculation about collusion --whether you accept it or not -- but it is also STILL not the center of this discussion. Go start another thread about it if it seems important enough to do so.

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Originally Posted by admiralsnackbar

The argument in play is that the PLAYERS colluded to play in MIA. I only brought up Pop because he complained about the Gasol trade inasmuch as he could (in counter to dbestpro who said nobody did anything to criticize suspect trades), and that trade was just arguably collusion.

The Gasol trade STILL arguably merits speculation about collusion --whether you accept it or not -- but it is also STILL not the center of this discussion. Go start another thread about it if it seems important enough to do so.

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The OP flat out said the Gasol trade was collusion and then seriously thought the Spurs earned Duncan when Pop purposely held back D-Rob from returning as quick as he could have. Hypocrisy.

You tanked for Duncan. Won a few titles but couldn't pull out the back to backs because the Lakers front office continually outmaneuvered San Antonio's.

The Spurs are in this position not because of player collusion but because of their front office's underwhelming performance in recent years. Signing your 1st rounder 4 years later isn't something that should be applauded. How does re-upping Jefferson and signing a guy that likes banging chicks when they're black out drunk help you beat the Lakers?

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Originally Posted by 21_Blessings

The OP flat out said the Gasol trade was collusion and then seriously thought the Spurs earned Duncan when Pop purposely held back D-Rob from returning as quick as he could have. Hypocrisy.

You tanked for Duncan. Won a few titles but couldn't pull out the back to backs because the Lakers front office continually outmaneuvered San Antonio's.

The Spurs are in this position not because of player collusion but because of their front office's underwhelming performance in recent years. Signing your 1st rounder 4 years later isn't something that should be applauded. How does re-upping Jefferson and signing a guy that likes banging chicks when they're black out drunk help you beat the Lakers?

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Note to everyone, don't feed this troll.

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Originally Posted by 21_Blessings

At least the Lakers didn't overtly tank like complete bitches. LA builds their championships through front office savvy and not defeatism like the Spurs.

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Saavy front office.... ok then Luke, Jordan, and Brown. Throw in sasha and then send Kobe to talk to Raja Bell who then farted in Kobe's face. Yeah great FO...
Was it kupcake's idea to send ambASSador Kobe to talk to players?

And a question:
Will Artest beat his wife again and fall down the stairs dead drunk on X-mas?

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Originally Posted by 21_Blessings

Collusion lol, right. You guys still tanked for Duncan. At least admit your sins and savor the championships won.

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How the f/k do you tank for a ping pong ball to land your way ya ignorant slut?