Buck Harvey: Last days of rest for Manu

[polandprzem]

Who is this Manu and who is he playing for?

[Dex]

HERES MY SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM :

i say if you play for your national team and you get hurt you dont get payed that year or time your out from the NBA. depending on the severity of the injury is how long you go without pay. now if the injury is done after well you deal with it regularly. people from other countries can have all the pride they want which i think is great but they cannot go out there and play like they dont have an employer thats just the way it is like it or not when you have a job you have certain responsibilities that doesnt exclude the nba period. so this will put the decesion on them and will also allow the player to show that much more pride in their country (if thats what it is) or do they really do it because theyre afraid of losing fans??? my suggestion and rule will bring truth and consequence as well as showing you love your country that much more. manu is not excluded if he gets injured and is useless for the spurs they need to have consequences its just not fair. if his national team gets him they need to pay for his living as well

The problem isn't isolated to the money that is being paid to the player. In fact, players must have the proper insurance to be allowed to play in summer events and international games, otherwise the team can deny it. So I'd imagine that accounts for most of the fiscal liabilities.

The problem is that if you have a main guy like a Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol, or even third wheel like Lebron James go down with an injury, how do you replace that production? Even being compensated for the player's salary, that player is still filling up cap space and a roster spot. Furthermore, there are only so many players available on a dwindling free market, and they are surely not going to fill the shoes of a star player.

The Spurs themselves were under this gun when Manu Ginobili went down to an ankle injury in 2008 in Beijing which hampered him throughout the entire subsequent season and cost him an entire playoff series. It took him until halfway through this past season to regain form, and what sort of compensation did the Spurs receive?

So then, the only logical reasoning becomes allowing the team to waive a player's contract if they get injured due to international play, but that would open up all sorts of gray areas in an otherwise minutely structured salary agreement, and is most likely prohibited by the CBA.

[ElNono]

It's all lies!!!!!111 VSpan much superior player than Manu with no rest!!!!1111

[Solid D]

Actually, the blame goes to Boris Stankovic, who is now the Secretary Emeritus. for FIBA. He was the one who started working with David Stern in setting up pre-season games between NBA teams and Europe. It was his proposition that started the vote to allow NBA Players in International compe ion. That vote was passed on April 7th, 1989.

Unless you are trying to make a different point, the Olympic Games are "International compe ion" and the 1986 IOC vote (Olympics with FIBA rules) came prior to 1989. I'm not trying to glorify a man with some questionable moments in his career, but Samaranch was greatly responsible for commercializing the Olympics and creating a television money bonanza. He brought in companies for sponsorships and he spear-headed the changes to the Olympic Charter removing the distinction between “amateur” and “professional” athletes. That paved the way for the participation of NBA and NHL players, among others.

That doesn't take away from Stankovic's influencing international players to play in the NBA and his leadership in FIBA and later with the IOC (after the 1986 vote).

[LongtimeSpursFan]

HERES MY SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM :

i say if you play for your national team and you get hurt you dont get payed that year or time your out from the NBA. depending on the severity of the injury is how long you go without pay. now if the injury is done after well you deal with it regularly. people from other countries can have all the pride they want which i think is great but they cannot go out there and play like they dont have an employer thats just the way it is like it or not when you have a job you have certain responsibilities that doesnt exclude the nba period. so this will put the decesion on them and will also allow the player to show that much more pride in their country (if thats what it is) or do they really do it because theyre afraid of losing fans??? my suggestion and rule will bring truth and consequence as well as showing you love your country that much more. manu is not excluded if he gets injured and is useless for the spurs they need to have consequences its just not fair. if his national team gets him they need to pay for his living as well

This may or may not be an excellent post but with proper punctuation it is so difficult to read. So I just skipped over it.

[Man In Black]

Unless you are trying to make a different point, the Olympic Games are "International compe ion" and the 1986 IOC vote (Olympics with FIBA rules) came prior to 1989. I'm not trying to glorify a man with some questionable moments in his career, but Samaranch was greatly responsible for commercializing the Olympics and creating a television money bonanza. He brought in companies for sponsorships and he spear-headed the changes to the Olympic Charter removing the distinction between “amateur” and “professional” athletes. That paved the way for the participation of NBA and NHL players, among others.

That doesn't take away from Stankovic's influencing international players to play in the NBA and his leadership in FIBA and later with the IOC (after the 1986 vote).

I'm just talking about the push for NBA players to be allowed to play in IOC compe ion. The other countries were always using their professionals. Hockey more so, than Basketball.

I've been alive for Olympics since before the 1968 Olympics, Watched my 1st in Sapporo, Japan and learned to love it more so when it was in Montreal for 1976. Commercialization was huge even back then. I remember my McDonald's Card that said if the US won a Long Jump, I'd get a Big Mac.
The push started before Juan but his efforts are duly noted for smooth paving.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

Unlike most NBA fans I like it when NBA players participate in important FIBA events. Yes, injuries are a worry, but players get injured all the time, they could get injured practicing. Tiredness is an understandable concern, however, I have no sympathy for the NBA teams in this regard because of the ridiculous 82-game regular season, back-to-backs and stuff like that. Meaningless from a basketball point of view, money generating though.

7-10 intense games during the summer can make a lot of good for all players, much more than 7-10 early december NBA games anyway. Durant, for example, will return a better player and a better leader because of his participation in the World Cup, so will Scola, so will others. Just like winning the olympic gold has undoubtedly helped Manu grow as a player and in reflection helped the Spurs as well.

[kaji157]

HERES MY SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM :

i say if you play for your national team and you get hurt you dont get payed that year or time your out from the NBA. depending on the severity of the injury is how long you go without pay. now if the injury is done after well you deal with it regularly. people from other countries can have all the pride they want which i think is great but they cannot go out there and play like they dont have an employer thats just the way it is like it or not when you have a job you have certain responsibilities that doesnt exclude the nba period. so this will put the decesion on them and will also allow the player to show that much more pride in their country (if thats what it is) or do they really do it because theyre afraid of losing fans??? my suggestion and rule will bring truth and consequence as well as showing you love your country that much more. manu is not excluded if he gets injured and is useless for the spurs they need to have consequences its just not fair. if his national team gets him they need to pay for his living as well

The problem with that is that you should do it both ways. And a player could choose not to play in their NBA team if he thinks he is at an injury risk (see manu in 08 playoffs. so that he can prevent an injury (Manu 08 Olympics) and then he may have started the season with us, broke down in the NBA and we would be crying the same.
Best situation possible is a signing with a lot of bonuses the way it´s startiong to pan out in soccer.
You get a salary, which 60% is guaranteed, 30% depends on games played. 10% on personal performance, and increases in case of great team performance.
That way players and owners would be aware and protected in each scenario.
You play a lot and win and you get more than expected.
You dont then it´s the contrary.

[Brazil]

These rules should be for every NBA player and their NT. The reason there seems to be a double standard is because the "foreign" players seem to have suffered more injuries. There are a lot more of the foreign players playing for their NT's that play in the NBA as well.

The thing is almost 100% of int players in the NBA are selected for their respective NT. For the american players the reservoir is much bigger, USA can send team D and be compe ive in FIBA compe ion.

[smeagol]

Dudes, get over it. You want internationasl players on the roster, don't complain about them defending their national colors. Otherwise, draft Americans and get it over the crying.

[Mel_13]

Unlike most NBA fans I like it when NBA players participate in important FIBA events. Yes, injuries are a worry, but players get injured all the time, they could get injured practicing. Tiredness is an understandable concern, however, I have no sympathy for the NBA teams in this regard because of the ridiculous 82-game regular season, back-to-backs and stuff like that. Meaningless from a basketball point of view, money generating though.

7-10 intense games during the summer can make a lot of good for all players, much more than 7-10 early december NBA games anyway. Durant, for example, will return a better player and a better leader because of his participation in the World Cup, so will Scola, so will others. Just like winning the olympic gold has undoubtedly helped Manu grow as a player and in reflection helped the Spurs as well.

Careful. Such well-reasoned posts will be reported to the moderators of this forum.

[temujin]

There is no question that FIBA basketball helps US players.
First, they face zones. Serious zones. Zones are the ultimate team defense and you need a team offense to attack them. No circus stuff.
Historically, US teams have had hard times against well organized zones, including at the 08 Olympics. Players like Paul or James were atrocious against zones. They had not the foggiest idea what to do
This time, K organized the offense quite well, and it helped that he had a great PG in Billups and a fantastic shooter in Durant.

Secondly, they get confronted to some real crowds (expecially if you play in the balkans). People get involved, don't arrive late at the game, don't get up to get a beer, don't come back early in the 3rd, don't leave if the team is down by 15 with 5' to go. A game is a war, as it should be, actually. I love a couple of reactions by Durant after two 3s in the second half, and how he looked at the fans.

Third, the player learns to respect opponents made EXCLUSIVELY of non US players. That's different from facing an NBA team in which there will always be a bunch of kids like him. They need to respect players from countries as tiny as one the US states (ex Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Greece), who can still kick your ass, if you are arrogant.