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dougp said:
Popovich sends Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Green back to San Antonio for the game against the Heat tonight. Stern comes out and states that the Spurs will face substantial sanctions. I'm not quite sure how he can do that, but this game is a great one.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8692304/san-antonio-spurs-sit-4-top-5-scorers-vs-miami-heat
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Personally, I love it. If Pop thinks his guys should rest rather than play this game (the 4th in 5 nights!) then that's his decision. Stern is a tool as usual.
 
jman19 said:
Personally, I love it. If Pop thinks his guys should rest rather than play this game (the 4th in 5 nights!) then that's his decision. Stern is a tool as usual.
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That's what pretty much everyone is saying. I hope the Spurs pull this off and put egg on Stern's face.
 
What a shame the spurs loss tonight. They had heat by their balls and gave up 9 straight points to end the game. Fail!
 
Baked said:
What a shame the spurs loss tonight. They had heat by their balls and gave up 9 straight points to end the game. Fail!
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Neal tried too hard, and there were some good no-calls at the end. Most teams wouldn't have been in the game the way the Spurs were, but they should have won.
 
I heard a very interesting stat on the radio today. Last year the Spurs had a lengthy road trip and rested players (Duncan and Parker, along with Splitter and Ginobili on IR) against the Blazers; they got blown out by 40 points. Stern didn't say a thing about that game, no fines were even discussed. Now it's suddenly a huge issue that Popovich is resting guys in a game they almost managed to win anyway? What a fucking joke. David Stern should be embarrassed by the idiocy of that decision.
 
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Atomic Playboy said:
I heard a very interesting stat on the radio today. Last year the Spurs had a lengthy road trip and rested 4 of their starters/rotation guys against the Blazers; they got blown out by 40 points. Stern didn't say a thing about that game, no fines were even discussed. Now it's suddenly a huge issue that Popovich is resting guys in a game they almost managed to win anyway? What a fucking joke. David Stern should be embarrassed by the idiocy of that decision.
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I hope most people find this article interesting, especially in the scope of Stern and his tenure as commish.

David Stern stumbles again in his failed culture war against the Spurs

It's a freaking joke, regardless. The league has no grounds to tell a coach how to coach their team. So, where are the penalties last year for the Warriors since they tanked to protect their pick from their trade, or what about the Heat for resting their players at the end of the season?

Here's the rule that was supposedly broke:

David Stern: "The result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this case. The Spurs decided to make four of their top players unavailable for an early-season game that was the team's only regular-season visit to Miami. The team also did this without informing the Heat, the media, or the league office in a timely way. Under these circumstances, I have concluded that the Spurs did a disservice to the league and our fans."

So now, apparently, teams are required to let the other team know their strategy. Good job Stern! Can't wait until you retire. Maybe you'll put yourself out of your misery before then.
 
dougp said:
It's a freaking joke, regardless. The league has no grounds to tell a coach how to coach their team. So, where are the penalties last year for the Warriors since they tanked to protect their pick from their trade, or what about the Heat for resting their players at the end of the season?
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I'm no fan of Stern, but the Warriors situation is different. I don't like tanking for picks, or the idea that failure is rewarded. The Warriors, as do many teams, decided to get season ending surgeries out of the way before the season ended.

That strongly differs from sitting the starting lineup on a random day. You want teams to put in the best effort in each and every game, and not just throw a game. There are considerations of short term versus long term goals, like the Warriors had. But the Spurs situation can hardly be argued as achieving long term goals, not at this point of the season and under 30 guys being sat.
 
HendrixFan said:
I'm no fan of Stern, but the Warriors situation is different. I don't like tanking for picks, or the idea that failure is rewarded. The Warriors, as do many teams, decided to get season ending surgeries out of the way before the season ended.

That strongly differs from sitting the starting lineup on a random day. You want teams to put in the best effort in each and every game, and not just throw a game. There are considerations of short term versus long term goals, like the Warriors had. But the Spurs situation can hardly be argued as achieving long term goals, not at this point of the season and under 30 guys being sat.
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You want to give your team the best opportunity to win a championship, not a single game in November. There have been all sorts of studies done, and every single one of them has conclusively found that the single biggest risk factor for athletic injury is insufficient rest. The Spurs core lineup is made up of old players; Duncan is 36, Ginobili is 35, Parker is 30... these aren't 21-year-olds who can bang every night with no ill effects. If you play Duncan and he ends up getting a season-ending injury, are the Spurs really in a better position to win a championship? Of course not. So there's really no reason to risk your star players' health when playing 5 games in 7 nights, 4 of them on the road (which is a fucking stupid schedule, by the way). Here, let's take this old-ass team and give them two back-to-backs with a single day of rest between them that requires traveling between Canada, Washington DC and Florida.... The game represents 1.2% of the Spurs season (not including playoffs); it's probably not going to sway their odds of making the postseason.

Stern's position on this is 100% indefensible. He has not enforced this rule for any team in the last 20 years, and all of a sudden he drops the hammer to the tune of a $250,000 fine. Where's the logic in that?

And, lest we forget, this Spurs team that obviously was trying to throw the game by not playing their star players somehow managed to lead the game with mere minutes left. It took a clutch three by Ray Allen (who is known for that sort of thing) for Miami to win. So let's not lie to each other and say that the Spurs threw the game. They were competitive throughout. If they had won, would Stern still be fining them?
 
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Atomic Playboy said:
I heard a very interesting stat on the radio today. Last year the Spurs had a lengthy road trip and rested players (Duncan and Parker, along with Splitter and Ginobili on IR) against the Blazers; they got blown out by 40 points. Stern didn't say a thing about that game, no fines were even discussed. Now it's suddenly a huge issue that Popovich is resting guys in a game they almost managed to win anyway? What a fucking joke. David Stern should be embarrassed by the idiocy of that decision.
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They were playing the Heat, world champions, and who they only play once a year. Not defending Stern, but that's probably the reason.
 
AznAnarchy99 said:
They were playing the Heat, world champions, and who they only play once a year. Not defending Stern, but that's probably the reason.
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It's 1 game. They have 81 others. Is Stern instituting a policy that teams must bring their best players to nationally televised games? That's not fair for teams that are playing their 4th road game in 5 nights. Should the Spurs have rested their starters on some other games so they would be fresh for Miami? That's not fair to fans in other arenas. Maybe if Stern wants teams to play every player every night, he should shrink the season from 82 games and completely remove "back-to-backs" from the schedule. Then teams couldn't bitch about rest, now could they? But we can't drop from 82 games... the revenue lost would be much worse to the league than the occasional injured star player.

Stern is a hypocrite of the highest caliber. It's a shame, because he really has done some amazing things with the league.
 
The spurs should threaten to sue and get this ridiculous fine thrown out in mediation.

Stern only did this because it was the Heat and it was on television.
 
Atomic Playboy said:
Stern's position on this is 100% indefensible. He has not enforced this rule for any team in the last 20 years, and all of a sudden he drops the hammer to the tune of a $250,000 fine. Where's the logic in that?
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http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...jopAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xIQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1299,4182897

Resting Duncan and/or Ginobili is defensible. Parker and Green, not so much. I have read that minutes logged on a nightly basis are more important for player fatigue and health than an individual night off.

I would like to see more of this kind of action by the NBA honestly, especially in regards to tanking late in the season. Rest before playoffs would not be included, especially as seedings start to settle in.
 
HendrixFan said:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...jopAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xIQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1299,4182897

Resting Duncan and/or Ginobili is defensible. Parker and Green, not so much. I have read that minutes logged on a nightly basis are more important for player fatigue and health than an individual night off.

I would like to see more of this kind of action by the NBA honestly, especially in regards to tanking late in the season. Rest before playoffs would not be included, especially as seedings start to settle in.
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Then it should be allowed when bullshit like the scheduling the Spurs received happens. Pop is paid to coach, not the NBA. They overextended their power - nothing was against the CBA, and this fine will not stick if the Spurs fight it.
 
dougp said:
Then it should be allowed when bullshit like the scheduling the Spurs received happens. Pop is paid to coach, not the NBA. They overextended their power - nothing was against the CBA, and this fine will not stick if the Spurs fight it.
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I do wish that teams didn't have 4 games in 5 nights. It hurts the quality of play tremendously. More often than not you can predict wins and losses based on how many back to backs and/or road games a team has. A hot 9-1 streak is usually delivered during a stretch of home games or games spaced out well, with a few scrub teams along the way. A rough 5-5 stretch has many back to backs, and big road games against top teams that are more rested.

82 games is too long as well, 65 seems about right. Contract some teams, get those rosters more stocked and play less games. The league would benefit as each matchup would be more entertaining as talent wouldn't be spread as thin.

But that goes beyond the whole point. There is a difference between resting old guys, and thumbing your nose at the process. Pop and the Spurs did the latter and it was clear. Green is 25 yrs old and Parker is a young 30 (no history of injury problems). The league is dealing with integrity issues because of Donehey (sp?) and because of the Hornets ownership mess (self inflicted).
 
HendrixFan said:
I do wish that teams didn't have 4 games in 5 nights. It hurts the quality of play tremendously. More often than not you can predict wins and losses based on how many back to backs and/or road games a team has. A hot 9-1 streak is usually delivered during a stretch of home games or games spaced out well, with a few scrub teams along the way. A rough 5-5 stretch has many back to backs, and big road games against top teams that are more rested.

82 games is too long as well, 65 seems about right. Contract some teams, get those rosters more stocked and play less games. The league would benefit as each matchup would be more entertaining as talent wouldn't be spread as thin.

But that goes beyond the whole point. There is a difference between resting old guys, and thumbing your nose at the process. Pop and the Spurs did the latter and it was clear. Green is 25 yrs old and Parker is a young 30 (no history of injury problems). The league is dealing with integrity issues because of Donehey (sp?) and because of the Hornets ownership mess (self inflicted).
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Parker has been in the league for 12 seasons, and as for why Green was out, who knows. Was this a big "fuck you" to Stern? Probably. But there is absolutely NO basis for this fine. It does not violate any rules, period. The league is dealing with a lot of issues that stem from Stern, and this is a prime example. Read the Woj article and you'll realize what he's about.
 
dougp said:
Parker has been in the league for 12 seasons, and as for why Green was out, who knows. Was this a big "fuck you" to Stern? Probably. But there is absolutely NO basis for this fine. It does not violate any rules, period. The league is dealing with a lot of issues that stem from Stern, and this is a prime example. Read the Woj article and you'll realize what he's about.
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Coach Pop and the Spurs are not bigger than the game. What's next Lebron James taking games midseason so he'll be fresh for the playoffs?

Btw do not bring up the mavericks. Very sore subject.
 
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