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Welcome back, GSH
Well written post and I agree with each and every point.
I haven't posted here in a long time, because I quit watching the NBA. Not because the Spurs lost - they got beaten by a better team. It started when the Heat got bailed out against the Pacers, by some unforgivable calls. (Which allowed them to stay alive until Bosh got back.) Then I realized that I hate the fact that there are two different seasons in the NBA, with two different sets of rules. And the whole lockout, with the millionaires fighting the billionaires just left a bad taste in my mouth. I quit watching major league baseball years ago, and never looked back. And I'm starting to think that pro basketball has gone the same way for me. I'm not sure I'll ever start watching it again.
BUT... I saw the story about Stern fining the Spurs a quarter of a million dollars for resting some of his players. And I looked up some of the articles where commentators were seriously talking about "the integrity of the game", and similarly stupid . If I wasn't already sick of the whole thing, this incident might have been enough to put me over the edge anyway. These are experienced commentators who have been around the league for years, acting like this is some immoral act that is only performed by Gregg Popovich. (Just like they did when he employed the Hack-A-Shaq.) I can't decide if they are trying to suck up to Stern, or if they are really that stupid and forgetful. So here is a little something that I think should have been in every single one of their stories about the incident. I sent a copy to a couple of them, to see if they have balls enough to do something with it.
The Story That SHOULD Have Been Written:
The last two games of the 2011-2012 season, the Heat sat LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. The Heat lost to Boston 78-66, and then lost to Washington 104-70. Did the fans get their money's worth those nights? Are there any bigger stars in the game than LeBron James? Don't you think a lot of fans bought tickets early to see him play? Why was the league not outraged about those games? Why didn't all the commentators carry on about "the integrity of the game"? Why are the commentators still talking about the fact that Pop has "pulled this before", but not mentioning that Spoelstra and many other coaches have done so as well? Is it more acceptable when it's LeBron being rested? Or when Spoelstra sees the need to rest his 3 best players? Or is it simply more acceptable to deprive the fans at the end of a season?
Any commentator worth his salt should be able to read between the lines. Pop was giving the finger to Stern, for the horrible schedule the Spurs had in November. He sat Danny Green just to make sure that Stern didn't miss the message. But apparently a lot of the commentators did miss it. Stern doesn't like to be shown up - we all know that. Stern wasn't sending a message about resting players, or depriving some kid of an autograph. He was putting Pop in his place for ing about the schedule publicly. Normally Stern would have waited until after the game to make a statement. And, when the Spurs subs put on such an incredible show, he would have just smiled his cheshire cat grin and said, "Next question". But not when his own ego is involved.
Bottom line - Stern knows better than just about anyone that the Spurs have that grueling Rodeo Road Trip every season. And with that automatically on the schedule, there is no reason why they should be assigned a second month of road misery. They could have found a way to spread the misery around a little better than that. And that is the message Pop was sending to the NBA's Napoleon. If he had just rested Tim and Manu, he would have gotten by with it. And maybe even if he rested Tony along with them, because Tony is young but has a lot of miles on him. But Pop, being Pop, had to throw Danny Green in there, just to make sure that Stern heard the whole " you". There is no question about Green getting up in years, or having chronic knee problems. Pop sent him home along with them just to make sure that everyone understood the gesture for what it was. But, based on the stories bring written about it, it was apparently still too subtle.
People said that Joey Crawford ejected Tim from a game for laughing, but that's stupid. He ejected Tim for showing him up. And that's exactly the reason Stern just fined the team $250K.
Welcome back, GSH
Well written post and I agree with each and every point.
Indeed! Well said.People said that Joey Crawford ejected Tim from a game for laughing, but that's stupid. He ejected Tim for showing him up. And that's exactly the reason Stern just fined the team $250K.
The thread starter summed up the deal pretty well. Don't ever show up David Stern, a petty, vindictive little man obsessed by money and TV ratings.
I'm sure the Spurs will also get the "OKC game 6 treatment" in the playoffs this year since it will be the last playoffs with Stern as Dictator/Commissioner.
Bingo. What people have missed (both Spurs supporters and detrators) is that Pop wasn't just "resting" his players. He does that all the time without incident.
Pop was sending Stern a message and laughing as he hit send.
Sitting out the 25 year-old Danny Green -- that couldn't be missed. And it wasn't intended to be missed.
And then sending them all back to SA (as opposed to street clothes on the bench), that was no accident.
Pop could have sat them on the bench without any consequences. But he wanted to stick his finger in Stern's eye and he sure did. Stern is still seething as he looks in the mirror.
And Pop is laughing in delight as he plays dumb.
Pop as the Magnificent Bas of the NBA?
Even Phil Jackson didn't antagonize Stern this openly.
I think there was another angle involved here... Pop included Green with the big 3 to boost up his confidence and make him feel like he is an important member of the team (which he indeed is). The spurs were basically 1confident Danny Green away from busting OKC's chops last summer (along with about 25 bogus horse calls, but I digress) .
True... and the Thunder were one confident James Harden away from winning it all.
danny green could be tired also even if he is 25
with no SF on the roster he was a starter and bench player
SG with the starters and SF with the bench
he played a lot of minutes out of position and its usually his job to guard the best offensive player on the other side also
Good post.
Too bad you quit the NBA. You were one of the better posters around last season.
I will miss these times with Pop on the bench and Timmay as a leader ...
Great post... I agree with you 100%
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