I'm a fan of Marc Stein, but this article is idiotic.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...ge=Odom-090723
A main point of the article is that teams in the West aren't spending because they fear the Lakers are insurmountable, and that all the big spending is happening in the East (see Orlando, Boston, and Cleveland).
Stein says, "The thought of trying to keep up with L.A. is daunting -- even futile -- for much of the rest of the West," and quotes an NBA exec as saying, "The high-profile teams [in the East] are willing to spend. Now tell me which playoff teams are spending money in the West."
Stein says ONLY San Antonio, Dallas and Portland have been willing to spend. Um, only? 3 of the remaining 7 playoff teams? That's the same number he presents in the East (pretty simple math). But wait...
He leaves out Utah, which spent big bucks to go way over the cap to match for Millsap. Houston spent a decent amount of cash on Ariza, Andersen, and the purchase of three 2nd round picks. Denver went over the tax threshold to re-sign Birdman. And New Orleans is already way over the tax line.
Also realize this flaw in the logic of Stein's comparison of West to East spending: he presents the three spending contenders in the East, but in the West only presents those trying to catch the Lakers. That is, he unfairly leaves out LA and their exorbitant >$90 mil payroll (once they retain Odom).
My point is 5 of the 8 Western playoff teams are willing to spend big (LA, Spurs, Portland, Dallas, Utah) and the other three aren't cheap (over the tax line). Considering the economy, I find this incredibly aggressive. The proposition that the Lakers have scared the West into a spending freeze is ludicrous.
I mean, we're talking about the notoriously frugal Spurs, c'mon, what a stupid article...
Totally agree. The West has more teams competing and spending than the East. I think teams like Denver, Portland and even Utah think they could win a championship if their stars aligned. I don't think people watched the playoffs and thought LA looked unbeatable. I think they thought they had a pretty easy path and still are kind of a finesse team.
I think I saw Mr. Stein wearing this shirt.
Marc Stein is the man...Stupid...the homer spurm fans who believe they even have a chance next season!!
I'm afraid the Magic won't do either even though they look much prettier than last season. Carter's arrival gives them another superstar and someone they can rely on when D Howard is off the court, but dude's durability is quite a big question. After all, it's always a stupid decision to break your core after you just had a great trip right in the previous season.
This has been an off-season like no other in franchise history. For the first time in a long time, I'm pumped to see these fresh and not-so-fresh faces wearing silver and black. It's not every day (or season) that our team goes through such a roster shuffle. And yeah... pretty ty article.
P.S. Long live Bonner
Stein sucks and not just because of this article, I dont know why you would be a fan of him. ESPN is all about the Lakers, Cavs (mainly cause of Lebron), Celtics, and other big teams like that. Spurs never get any spotlight. The game commentators are cool but the analysts suck.
TNT is were its at.
I read the article and thought Stein had lost his marbles.
Rogue...he's not a Magic fan..that's SpurmKiller...the old troll with the Tony Parker skunk in his sig...the "Suns" fan.
well utah is trying to dump boozer and not take as much salary back
ESPN pundits are obligated contractually to plump up the Lakers are all costs. I know people whoh work there. This is true.
Every team should just quit and let the celtics and lakers play every year. Would they be happy then. I'm tired of all this crap. People are scared to pick against the Lakers. that. The Spurs are going to win it all and I would bet every dime I had on that if I even had a dime. The Lakers are like that big bully that gets hit in his jaw and goes crying to his mom. They are a big city and thats all they have going for them. If Kobe raped that girl in San Antonio or anywhere else in Texas someone would have hunted his ass down and he would be curled up in a ball for the next 16 years. The money I don't have is on the spurs winning it all this year. The spurs will stay healthy and whip ass. Anyone who believes otherwise can kiss my ass.
Stein says, "The thought of trying to keep up with L.A. is daunting -- even futile -- for much of the rest of the West,"
If it's so futile, we should just cancel the regular season and the Western Conference Playoffs, and have the Celtics/Cavs/Magic have a mini-playoff to determine who will face LA. Why risk injury to all of the players on the 26 other teams in the league?
Idiot.
espn - owned by disney
LA is gonna be beefed up quite a bit regardless
I'm not suprised that's true. Stein is truly delusional if he really thinks that crap he wrote is true.. moron..
Spurs are kicking ass and taking no prisoners this year!
Your take is not unreasonable, although standing pat would not get Orlando a championship IMO. Not sure why you would precede it by a nonsense quote from one of your brethren though.
Exactly. And they're pumping Bryant in our faces 24/7 like he's the next Mickey Mouse.
Orlando Down graded if you ask me...... I think Hedo gave them Matchup problems last year, hedo handled the rock, ran pick and rolls, and made alot of the decisions for that team..... Plus orlando wont beat the cavs with Shaq and Moon there....... and the Celtics went 7 with the magic without garnett and powe, and now the Addition of Sheed....... Cavs vs Celts in the east....... Lakers vs Spurs in the west...... Spurs vs Celtics in the Finals....... Spurs Winning in 7......
I wouldn't listen to anything Marc Stein says. He's an idiot.
I'm a Spurs fan ... but some of you take your homerism beyond belief. Everything Stein says in the article is true. You all gotta stop taking it to the heart so much and realize the Spurs aren't favorites if the Lakers indeed resign Lamar. And yes any team who wants to at least take the Western Conference had to spend spend spend to catch up to the Lakers.
don't know why anyone is riding on Stein, dude is basically a Spurs homer (something you honestly can't find very often in ESPN Land)
well he didn't beat on the spurs and even said they were one of the teams spending bucks, but I gotta agree that this article is a bit of a reach. What doe he consider spending when many of the teams in the west are already over the cap limit and can only add by subtracting in trades.
Stein does seem to favor the Spurs a lot. Direct your hate at other ESPN "experts" like Legler who always pick against the Spurs.
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