The 2014-2015 NBA Season Thread. Lock It Up Please: The Golden State Warriors Are The Champions

[jjs07]

“Some people are so poor, all they have is their money.”

Love this.

 

[antidope]

I'm 1/2 way through and this is a GREAT read....

1st hand account of dealing w/ Donald Sterling as told by Blake Griffin

The Boss

Donald Sterling had me by the hand. You know that thing elderly women do where they grab the top of your hand with just their fingers and lead you around? That’s what he was doing. We were in Malibu for his annual White Party, and it was the first time I was meeting him since the Clippers had drafted me in the spring of 2009. He led me through the house to the balcony overlooking his tennis court. The whole party was set up out there. White tents. White umbrellas. White cloth. I showed up in all white. Everyone showed up in all white. Then there was Donald, standing on the balcony overlooking it all, wearing all black. “Isn’t this just fabulous?” he said.

I was hoping to escape down the stairs, find one of my teammates and blend in with the rest of the crowd. I tried to pull my hand away. Nope. Things were about to get weirder. Two blonde models showed up on either side of me. They had clearly been hired for the event. I knew this because they were wearing size XXXX-L Clippers T-shirts tied at the stomach. I looked at Sterling. He had a big dumb grin on his face. I looked at one of the girls, as if to say, “Uhhh, you don’t have to do this.” She looked back: “Uhhh, yes I do.”

So I walked down the stairs with the two girls arm-in-arm, hoping that was the end of it. That was not the end of it. At the bottom of the stairs, Donald grabbed my hand again. I tried to do the old shake-and-release move. No dice. He kept holding on. “Blake, isn’t this fabulous? I need to introduce you to everyone.”

Donald Sterling literally introduced me to everyone. Here’s how he did it, every single time, to every single group of people, while holding on to my hand:

“Everyone, have you met our newest star? This is Blake! He was the number one pick in the entire NBA draft. Number one! Blake, where are you from?”

Then I’d say I was from Oklahoma.

“Oklahoma! And tell these people what you think about LA.”

Then I’d say it was pretty cool.

“And what about the women in LA, Blake?”

It was the same conversation with every group of people. When he would start having a one-on-one conversation with someone, I’d try to slip away, and he’d reach back and paw my hand without even breaking eye contact with the person. Whenever he didn’t have anything left to say, he just turned around and walked us over to the next group.

“… Have you met our newest star?”

It went on like this forever. At one point, a guy who had clearly been to a bunch of these parties turned to me and said, “Just keep smiling, man. It’ll all be over soon.”

Rest of Article in Link

Is there some sort of app that can like send a reminder to my phone to read things. I dont have the time to read this now but I do wanna read it and I dont want to forget.

 

[pdino]

In the west it has gone down to the wire for most years. Last year Phoenix was ONE game back from the playoffs. GSW, Dallas, Memphis one game from each other. Houston, Portland tied. Last year Portland came out like gangbusters, then finished slow, 23-18.

MJ on less games: 

 "...but as an owner who played the game, I loved playing, If I wasn't playing 82 games, I still would've been playing somewhere else because that's the love for the game I had. As a player, I never thought 82 games was an issue. But if that's what they want to do, we as owners and players can evaluate it and talk about it. But we'd make less money as partners. Are they ready to give up money to play fewer games? That's the question, because you can't make the same amount of money playing fewer games.''

Tell the players 65 games, and they love it, but that's ~20% of the season and most people do not want a 20% paycut (could be even more significant).

 

[vincecarterwut]

I love the NBA... but it's a long season.. and then half the league makes the playoffs.

Logically if you have that many games, you don't need half the league making the playoffs when the best teams usually separate themselves. So shorten the season a bit like PMatic said, 70 games is reasonable. You're still getting your NBATV/TNT/ESPN/ABC games in primetime, youre still getting a ton of basketball every night. It's also not about "Those poor millionaires playing on back to backs", I don't particularly care about that other than not wanting to see guys take off games for rest. I'm sure they still will, but it should reduce it a bit.

It's about it being a ton of basketball... and by the end of the season, I'm just waiting for the playoffs.

I see your point, but I cringe everytime I see something changing the uniformity of the game compared to previous decades. Like the discussion of changing the size of the court, to me it was something that was always the same, and should remain so. What bothers me about changing the schedule would be its impact on records and statistics. You won't have players of this and future eras being able to put together season stat totals that can rival and be compared to previous greats because of the amount of games they play. As a fan, I love that I can go back and look at who has the highest season totals in points, steals, assists and compare greats from different eras. Now is it bad to let tradition govern the way we do things? maybe. I'm sure it there was lots of noise when the league was thinking about introducing the 3 point line too. It might be time to change things, but it'll be difficult when this is the way things have been done for almost 50 years.

 

[jjs07]

I'm 1/2 way through and this is a GREAT read....


1st hand account of dealing w/ Donald Sterling as told by Blake Griffin

The Boss


Donald Sterling had me by the hand. You know that thing elderly women do where they grab the top of your hand with just their fingers and lead you around? That’s what he was doing. We were in Malibu for his annual White Party, and it was the first time I was meeting him since the Clippers had drafted me in the spring of 2009. He led me through the house to the balcony overlooking his tennis court. The whole party was set up out there. White tents. White umbrellas. White cloth. I showed up in all white. Everyone showed up in all white. Then there was Donald, standing on the balcony overlooking it all, wearing all black. “Isn’t this just fabulous?” he said.


I was hoping to escape down the stairs, find one of my teammates and blend in with the rest of the crowd. I tried to pull my hand away. Nope. Things were about to get weirder. Two blonde models showed up on either side of me. They had clearly been hired for the event. I knew this because they were wearing size XXXX-L Clippers T-shirts tied at the stomach. I looked at Sterling. He had a big dumb grin on his face. I looked at one of the girls, as if to say, “Uhhh, you don’t have to do this.” She looked back: “Uhhh, yes I do.”


So I walked down the stairs with the two girls arm-in-arm, hoping that was the end of it. That was not the end of it. At the bottom of the stairs, Donald grabbed my hand again. I tried to do the old shake-and-release move. No dice. He kept holding on. “Blake, isn’t this fabulous? I need to introduce you to everyone.”


Donald Sterling literally introduced me to everyone. Here’s how he did it, every single time, to every single group of people, while holding on to my hand:


“Everyone, have you met our newest star? This is Blake! He was the number one pick in the entire NBA draft. Number one! Blake, where are you from?”


Then I’d say I was from Oklahoma.


“Oklahoma! And tell these people what you think about LA.”


Then I’d say it was pretty cool.


“And what about the women in LA, Blake?”


It was the same conversation with every group of people. When he would start having a one-on-one conversation with someone, I’d try to slip away, and he’d reach back and paw my hand without even breaking eye contact with the person. Whenever he didn’t have anything left to say, he just turned around and walked us over to the next group.


“… Have you met our newest star?”


It went on like this forever. At one point, a guy who had clearly been to a bunch of these parties turned to me and said, “Just keep smiling, man. It’ll all be over soon.”

Rest of Article in Link

Is there some sort of app that can like send a reminder to my phone to read things. I dont have the time to read this now but I do wanna read it and I dont want to forget.

I'll send you a PM as a reminder

 

[Coupé It]

17 weeks
16 games
1 buy week
Knockout round playoff basketball

The end.

LeBron and Dirk would agree.

 

[Animal Thug]

I would agree to a Bye week if the 82 games remains.

A bye week would be ideal right after the all-star break.

 

[do work son]

70 game season.
No more back-to-backs.
Start the season the last week of October to second week of April.
Increase divisional games.
Reduce the first round to best of five.

The end.

No more back-to-backs means no more four games in five nights too.

We're never shortening the league. Too much money lost for owners, and players won't then take less money for less games. 82 games is fine. The playoff series length is fine. Maybe lengthen the season, to reduce back to backs and 4 games 5 nights.

Unpopular opinion, I'd like to get rid of eastern abd western conferences. Change the schedule to reflect it too. Take away divisions. Everyone plays everyone twice, and more if you're "rivals". Top ___ teams make the playoffs straight seeding.

 

[RustyShackleford]

70 game season.
No more back-to-backs.
Start the season the last week of October to second week of April.
Increase divisional games.
Reduce the first round to best of five.

The end.

View media item 913278

 

[lawdog1]

I love the NBA... but it's a long season.. and then half the league makes the playoffs.

Logically if you have that many games, you don't need half the league making the playoffs when the best teams usually separate themselves. So shorten the season a bit like PMatic said, 70 games is reasonable. You're still getting your NBATV/TNT/ESPN/ABC games in primetime, youre still getting a ton of basketball every night. It's also not about "Those poor millionaires playing on back to backs", I don't particularly care about that other than not wanting to see guys take off games for rest. I'm sure they still will, but it should reduce it a bit.

It's about it being a ton of basketball... and by the end of the season, I'm just waiting for the playoffs.

But the way things are set up now, especially in the West, games toward the end of the season do end up mattering for playoff seeding. I guess that would be true with a 70 game season too, but my point is that there are still some meaningful games that happen within the final 12 of an 82 game season. Plus, scoring and rebounding titles often get decided, etc.

I could live with 70 games I guess, but keeping at 82 is perfectly fine with me too.

 

[big j 33]

I'm 1/2 way through and this is a GREAT read....


1st hand account of dealing w/ Donald Sterling as told by Blake Griffin

The Boss

Rest of Article in Link

Is there some sort of app that can like send a reminder to my phone to read things. I dont have the time to read this now but I do wanna read it and I dont want to forget.

Pocket is the best.

Saves articles and you can read them online later or via their app. I don't think it has a reminder function, but I use it for all my online reading.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ideashower.readitlater.pro&hl=en

 

[Bert.]

Less Games = Less Money. Dudes are quick to want less games to play until they see the impact on their salaries.

salaries stay the same bruh

you arent calculating games into salary, its about talent and what you bring to a team.

some teams are paying players max salary JUST for 82 games without even sniffing the playoffs... keep that in mind

 

[RustyShackleford]

Less Games = Less Money. Dudes are quick to want less games to play until they see the impact on their salaries.

salaries stay the same bruh

you arent calculating games into salary, its about talent and what you bring to a team.

some teams are paying players max salary JUST for 82 games without even sniffing the playoffs... keep that in mind

It will effect things like TV deals, revenue from ticket sales, concessions sales, merchandise sales within arenas, and advertising money. Everyone takes a hit with less games

And I have no idea what point you're trying to make about the playoffs?

 

[senorroboto2k5]

We're never shortening the league. Too much money lost for owners, and players won't then take less money for less games.

This is hard to argue knowing the owners. But less stressful seasons could also = their star players lasting longer. More playoff appearances, team gear, season tickets, partnerships, overall relevance, etc. over the long haul.

With the way players break down and fade out, it'll probably make a difference.

But with the way the owners are... I doubt they ever really consider it unless shocking injuries hit Lebron, Durant, Harden, and others all at once.

 

[offset pow clow]

We're never shortening the league. Too much money lost for owners, and players won't then take less money for less games. 82 games is fine. The playoff series length is fine. Maybe lengthen the season, to reduce back to backs and 4 games 5 nights.

Unpopular opinion, I'd like to get rid of eastern abd western conferences. Change the schedule to reflect it too. Take away divisions. Everyone plays everyone twice, and more if you're "rivals". Top ___ teams make the playoffs straight seeding.

North/south conference would be better

 

[$tacy]

Cut the crying. It's been this way for how long? A couple guys say it should be shorter and now we are concerned stop it. They are getting compensated very well for those 82 games. We didn't try to "preserve" others careers before so why make new rules for lebron and kd

 

[srvballer]

Less Games = Less Money. Dudes are quick to want less games to play until they see the impact on their salaries.

 

[awwsome]

Only change I am for is making the court bigger.

 

[senorroboto2k5]

Cut the crying. It's been this way for how long? A couple guys say it should be shorter and now we are concerned stop it. They are getting compensated very well for those 82 games. We didn't try to "preserve" others careers before so why make new rules for lebron and kd

I've thought this for a while, not because Lebron said it.

I've been lucky enough to have my favorite player (Kobe) not break down for a good 15 years in the league, but that's more the exception. I want the same from my next favorite Laker superstar, whenever that is.

 

[Animal Thug]

Decreasing the games by 10-15 isn't going to prevent injuries from happening. You have players tearing ACL's and breaking bones 20, 25 games into the season.

Seems like to me Lebron is out for himself when he's making statements like "cut the games, shorten the season". You have players like Karl Malone, John Stockton, etc. who've played in 82 games for the majority of their careers, and that didn't affect them in a negatively, health-wise.

The structure of the 82 games, from I believe is based on the amount of times each team plays each other based on their respective conferance. So it would have to be divided equally into the games allocated between two teams. Meaning, if it isn't 82 - it would have to be X amount of games instead of 82...whatever that X amount is, would specific to how many times each team plays each other...so you can't just say '70' would be perfect, unless you'd want to eliminate the fair amount of games each team plays each other.

(Not sure If what I typed made sense, kinda typing on the fly here).

 

[lawdog1]

Following up on the article JJs posted -

Arash Markazi ‏@ArashMarkazi 42m42 minutes ago
Nice @blakegriffin32. "Steve is a good dude. He’s like a cool dad who gives you candy.Donald was like a weird uncle." http://www.theplayerstribune.com/blake-griffin-the-boss/ …

 

[ill steelo]

both are good points 




Stan Van Gundy: Josh Smith Will Shoot LessThrees
http://www.slamonline.com/nba/stan-van-gundy-josh-smith-will-shoot-less-threes/

long time coming 

ah, the importance of coaching being illustrated again

 

[senorroboto2k5]

By shortening the season, they'd probably spread them out more. Like it was said, no more 4 in 5 nights and overall a little less stress on the body.

Big injuries would still happen, even 20-25 games in, but less games and more time in between them could help decrease the chances.

Guys like Kobe, Malone, Stockton, Jordan, and Lebron have made it through multiple 82 game seasons with success, but part of it is luck. They do insane amounts of work to protect themselves from injury, but so do guys that have broken down early. 82 has always seemed a bit on the high side considering what these guys have to do every night.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Decreasing the games by 10-15 isn't going to prevent injuries from happening. You have players tearing ACL's and breaking bones 20, 25 games into the season.

Seems like to me Lebron is out for himself when he's making statements like "cut the games, shorten the season". You have players like Karl Malone, John Stockton, etc. who've played in 82 games for the majority of their careers, and that didn't affect them in a negatively, health-wise.

The structure of the 82 games, from I believe is based on the amount of times each team plays each other based on their respective conferance. So it would have to be divided equally into the games allocated between two teams. Meaning, if it isn't 82 - it would have to be X amount of games instead of 82...whatever that X amount is, would specific to how many times each team plays each other...so you can't just say '70' would be perfect, unless you'd want to eliminate the fair amount of games each team plays each other.

(Not sure If what I typed made sense, kinda typing on the fly here).

I have heard that argument before. And I think you can just rotate over two seasons, or multiple season to make everything equal. So instead of playing a team every team from the opposite conference twice a year, you play some twice others once. Then the following season switch which teams you play once and which ones you play twice.

 

[pmatic]

Decreasing the games by 10-15 isn't going to prevent injuries from happening. You have players tearing ACL's and breaking bones 20, 25 games into the season.

Seems like to me Lebron is out for himself when he's making statements like "cut the games, shorten the season". You have players like Karl Malone, John Stockton, etc. who've played in 82 games for the majority of their careers, and that didn't affect them in a negatively, health-wise.

The structure of the 82 games, from I believe is based on the amount of times each team plays each other based on their respective conferance. So it would have to be divided equally into the games allocated between two teams. Meaning, if it isn't 82 - it would have to be X amount of games instead of 82...whatever that X amount is, would specific to how many times each team plays each other...so you can't just say '70' would be perfect, unless you'd want to eliminate the fair amount of games each team plays each other.

(Not sure If what I typed made sense, kinda typing on the fly here).

5 games x 4 divisional opponents = 20 games
2 games x 10 conference opponents = 20 games
2 games x 15 other conference opponents = 30 games

70 games total.

Boom.