OT: Probably No NBA Season
Players reject the owner's latest proposal and will seek to decertify and file an anti-trust lawsuit. Regardless of if the players win or lose the suit, the 2011-12 looks extremely likely to go the route of the 1994 World Series or the 2004-05 NHL season.
As a Bulls fan, I'm bummed, because I love watching Derrick Rose play and the team is a contender.
Pistons fans, general sports people, will you guys miss the NBA this year?
Who's to blame for the situation: the owners or the players?
November 14th, 2011 at 3:04 PM ^
I won't miss seeing the Pistons lose a ton of games, but I was looking forward to seeing how good Brandon Knight is, and the further development of the young players.
November 14th, 2011 at 3:05 PM ^
November 14th, 2011 at 3:10 PM ^
owners voluntarily went into the luxury tax time and time again to hand out awful contracts. who's fault is that?
November 14th, 2011 at 3:37 PM ^
November 14th, 2011 at 4:20 PM ^
Nobody's - its a consequence of competition. When you have teams like the Lakers, Celtics and Heat that can afford to do so and still be profitable, if you want to compete, you have to do the same thing
Thats why the owners are trying to fix these problems, but the players (prodded by their agents) are having none of it
Nobody is blameless here but the fact is that something has to be fixed, and the agents and players arent allowing it to happen in any way
November 14th, 2011 at 3:14 PM ^
The NBA blows. Certain "star" players play by different rules than everyone else. And it's been that way for years. Used to be you couldn't look at Michael Jordan with a mean expression on your face lest he bitch and moan and get every call. Never mind he was prison-raping his man on the other end.
My personal definition of the acronym NBA is "Not Basketball Anymore." I mean, can we please keep the steps after picking up the dribble under 3? How about that "iso" play where one guy dribbles and the other 4 watch? What say someone other than a guard actually shoot free throws better than 60%? Sure the NBA is loaded with guys who have incredible athleticism, it's just too bad they can't shoot, pass or handle.
November 14th, 2011 at 4:07 PM ^
I assume you don't watch a lot of NBA because your opinion on how the league plays is flat out incorrect.
November 14th, 2011 at 7:03 PM ^
I don't understand the people who pretend to understand basketball and say that the quality of play is lower in the NBA than in college.
November 14th, 2011 at 5:00 PM ^
Free throw percentages:
NBA: ~75% every year (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/sports/basketball/04freethrow.html?pagewanted=all)
NCAA: ~69% every year
Offensive sets:
Isolation plays don't account for anywhere near the majority of offensive possessions. MySynergySports reports that the median NBA offense gets about 12% of its scoring attempts from isos. (http://hoopspeak.com/2011/02/iso-a-no-no-for-boston/)
Athleticism aside, the median NBA player is far more skilled than the median college player. Shooting is better, defense is better, coaching is more nuanced. I'll enjoy watching more college hoops this year, but I'm definitely bummed that my favorite league will not be in session.
November 14th, 2011 at 3:14 PM ^
i'm just bummed because morris could be playing for us right now.
November 14th, 2011 at 3:29 PM ^
the exact same thing. I know hindsight and all, but with as low as he was taken compared to expectations and no season bet he would rather be here playing.
November 14th, 2011 at 3:21 PM ^
I don't really care for NBA basketball, especially with the Piston's downturn. However, I feel really bad for the non-millionaires affected by this, such as those who work for the Palace. Only so many concerts can keep people working for so long...
November 14th, 2011 at 3:23 PM ^
Good. Both sides needed to feel the pain, and hopefully this loss will force them to seriously reevaluate their positions and how the NBA needs to function to be successful. Players need to realize the owners cannot operate at near-losses most of the time, while the owners need to be more judicious with the contracts they hand out.
November 14th, 2011 at 3:24 PM ^
While I don't regularly watch the NBA i do like to have it around. If i'm really bored during a random night there always seems to be a game on that I can watch.
November 14th, 2011 at 3:27 PM ^
does that mean there wont be another 2013 NBA LIVE xbox game made? Anyways you better lock your house doors and windows cuz the thugs are jobless and they will be shooting up the block.
November 14th, 2011 at 3:53 PM ^
Wow I seriously hope that was sarcasm
November 14th, 2011 at 3:56 PM ^
Steve Nash and Kevin Durant are probably scoping out your place right now.
Idiot.
November 14th, 2011 at 4:26 PM ^
http://www.amazon.com/Out-Bounds-Inside-Culture-Violence/dp/0060726024
"Out of Bounds shows that an alarming four out of every ten NBA players have a police record involving a serious crime."
A little out of date but not much has changed
November 14th, 2011 at 4:35 PM ^
If that quote is what passes for statistics these days, the NBA is the least of our worries:
"The Bryant, Williams and Patterson cases are just a few of dozens of criminal cases involving current or former NBA players, according to Benedict. Of the 417 American-born players in the 2002 NBA register, he managed to obtain information on 177. He found that 71 of them — or 40 percent — had been investigated, arrested or convicted of a serious crime. "
Are you kidding me?
An arrest without a convinction constitutes "a police record involving serious crime"? The author couldn't locate criminal records on 58% of NBA players, but for those he could find records on, 40% had at one point been arrested or convicted or INVESTIGATED?
And from this he says "40% of NBA players have a record involving serious crime"?
I can't tell if I'm more disgusted that this got on the front cover of a book jacket or that you believed this stat unquestioningly.
November 14th, 2011 at 4:38 PM ^
Wow you are putting WAY too much thought into a losing argument. It was the first thing i found with a cursory search but if you dont realize that NBA players commit serious crimes at a rate well above the general public, let alone the general public in their tax bracket, you are just delusional
lol, disgusted. have fun with that
November 14th, 2011 at 4:44 PM ^
I am not familiar with any evidence that NBA players commit serious crimes at a rate well above the general public, though I do believe that such conduct is covered much more extensively. I'm not delusional, I just withhold judgment on something I have no evidence on.
If you believe that NBA players are disproportionately likely to be criminals with no research on the matter, I consider that kind of thinking bigotry.
Even if you are by chance correct, the fact that you don't question statistics like the one you provided as "evidence" indicates that our opinion is one borne of personal prejudice, not examination or fact.
November 14th, 2011 at 5:05 PM ^
Youre right, i'm bigoted toward NBA players. Makes perfect sense
I didnt have to do any research TODAY because this stuff is all common knowledge and Ive read it all before. I simply took a minute to find the easiest available example. Heres another:
"As director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at University of Central Florida, he's been crunching numbers regarding professional and college players since the mid-1990s.....But Lapchick is confident the ratio of 3-to-1, based largely on the number of athletes arrested on domestic violence and drug charges versus those in the general population, is a reliable rule of thumb."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-02-28-3093390542_x.htm
Again, irrespective of YOUR not being aware of it, this stuff is common knowledge. If you want to educate yourself, I encourage you to do so, but I dont need to, I already know the truth. I apologize for not bookmarking these things at the time I read them so i could prove that to you.
November 14th, 2011 at 5:37 PM ^
In this other fairly vague newspaper quote, Lapchick is attributed with the assetion that "men in general commit violent acts against women at the same rate as athletes, calling it an epidemic that encompasses all class distinctions." http://articles.latimes.com/2003/jul/19/sports/sp-crime19 As for the rate of drug convictions, I for one would be shocked to hear that 20-30 year-old-men with enormous amounts of disposable cash would use marijuana at a higher rate than the general population.
All of the above is moot, though, because we all already know that NBA players are violent thugs. Notwithstanding the embarrisingly stupid application of statistics.
November 14th, 2011 at 3:30 PM ^
don't give two shits about the NBA
November 14th, 2011 at 3:43 PM ^
What happens to player contracts if the players decertify and the season is done? Does that take another year off Hamilton's contract? Does it bring us one year closer to some of the dead weight being off the Pistons' roster?
If so, I don't mind losing a year.
But I have a feeling the season will be salvaged.
November 14th, 2011 at 3:43 PM ^
If they could just do away with baseball next and have football, hockey, and college basketball year round I would be a happy man. Throw out the boring and hard to watch sports and promote the interesting ones.
November 14th, 2011 at 3:54 PM ^
And not a single fuck was given today
November 14th, 2011 at 4:07 PM ^
is the reason the NBA suffers. Both ownership and players are at fault here. I understand players have to try and get what they can get, but when owners refuse to pay ridiculous salaries, players cry collusion. The NBA needs to drop about eight to 10 teams and consolidate spread the talent around to make more teams competitive. The NBA screwed up when they let Lebron and co walk away from their od teams to all join together in Miami.
Based on the responses here, I'd say the NBA may be the least popular league around. I don't know if the Pistons' struggles cause that or not, but David Stearn is smoking crack if he really thinks the majority of people care about the NBA until the playoffs. And even then, it's pretty suspect.
November 14th, 2011 at 4:14 PM ^
"Based on the responses here, I'd say the NBA may be the least popular league around. " In Michigan? Yes. Around the rest of the US? No.
November 14th, 2011 at 5:11 PM ^
I'm sure if you ask about sentiment towards the NHL in an SEC forum and you will get similarly unprepresentative opinions
Basketball is the second biggest sport internationally, and its potential has shown little sign of abating. The NFL is king, but US football has gained little traction outside of our borders. I think it's fair to say that the NBA was on the rise, and even given the disaster of this labor dispute, will likely continue to grow tremendously in popularity into the future.
November 14th, 2011 at 4:13 PM ^
as the players. Yes, the owners were stupid to offer a 58-42% split. So the owners are trying to get things closer to even. What's wrong with 52-48? The players get huge contracts many guaranteed and they don't have to pay anything back when no one shows up to watch them take the night off like many of them do several times a season.
If the players shouldn't be expected to play hard every night, then shortenthe season to 60 games. Pay the players based on wins, not on individual efforts. If you wnat people to show up and people to pay to watch, then prove you're all about winning. Like any business employees are paid for results.
November 14th, 2011 at 4:18 PM ^
If the Hornets can't keep Chris Paul the NBA is dead to me anyway.
The NBA isn't really in a position of popularity to lose an entire season. They won't fair as bad as the NHL for the '04-'05 season but they'll lose alot of casual fans.
November 14th, 2011 at 5:21 PM ^
If this season gets killed, the Hornets might not even exist at the end.
November 14th, 2011 at 5:12 PM ^
I lost my passion for the NBA when the Pistons traded Chauncey and proceeded to stink it up . It's just not the same without the Palace screaming and yelling and DEEEEETROIT BASKETBALL. Also, they messed around with the NBA defensive rules. Back in the day you could have the Bad Boys mess people up. I love the old NBA, but I'm not a fan of the new NBA.
November 14th, 2011 at 5:24 PM ^
That would suck because I do enjoy the game, but if TNT would be so kind as to fill the space with episodes of "The Closer", for I am a season behind, that would suffice.
November 14th, 2011 at 5:53 PM ^
LSA200, I kept seeing "My Little Pony" crop up seemingly everywhere, and often in strange contexts (see: MGoBlog board) and finally got around to watching a bit of it.
Not bad!
Thanks for the subliminal recommendation.
November 14th, 2011 at 7:25 PM ^
You can see now why I chose Rainbow Dash as an avatar for a Michigan athletics site, eh?
My wife and I sat down with the kids one Saturday early this year and watched it with them and we actually found it.....funny and culturally not tone deaf (it makes references to Benny Hill, X-Men, 2001: A SPace Odyssey, and many other shows and films).
November 14th, 2011 at 10:41 PM ^
but now whenever I see Rainbow Dash I wonder why his coiffe isn't maize and blue
November 14th, 2011 at 6:53 PM ^
Wow, didn't realize the feelings on the NBA ranged from "die-hard defender" to "pure hatred".
I grew up in Chicago during the 90s which meant I spent my formative years believing Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were cooler than Batman & Robin (I quickly learned Batman is cooler than any real or fictional person) and it cultivated a lifelong interest in the NBA.
The league suffered a serious decline when Jordan retired and there was a lack of interesting stars to take his place (the Kobe vs Shaq Lakers winning 3 in a row and then self-destructing was the league's biggest storyline from 2000-2004 plus the shady officiating) and then seemingly rebounded over the past 3-4 years with 2 Lakers vs Celtics Finals (the Michigan-Ohio of the NBA), renewed interest from casual fans in rooting against LeBron James and the likes of Derrick Rose, Durant, Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, and other young stars performing in the playoffs.
Now, it seems as Stern said in his presser today, the "nuclear winter" option has been realized which as the Commissioner of the NBA is like John F. Kennedy saying the same damn thing in the 1960s. It foretells a long, arduous process that could see the players form their own league or pro basketball being played only in Europe for a couple of years or really, anything.
The owners say they couldn't continue under the current system. The players didn't buy it. Despite being an interested observer, I have to concur that the NBA believes it is more important to the casual populace than it really is. Ask the NHL how that turns out.
November 14th, 2011 at 6:54 PM ^
I mean the Pistons wern't going to be competitive anyway.
November 14th, 2011 at 7:05 PM ^
Good, now maybe people will finally adopt hockey. Wati....no, probably not.
November 14th, 2011 at 7:07 PM ^
I don't really care all that much, but it sucks for the people who actually are really into the NBA. I know how it felt during the NHL lockout. It fucking sucked.
Yes - This post is completely out of character for me.
November 14th, 2011 at 8:18 PM ^
This thread kicks me while I'm down.
November 14th, 2011 at 8:32 PM ^
The answer: Who cares. Haven't missed it yet, won't miss it next year at this time.
November 16th, 2011 at 1:03 AM ^
I could care less....even as a Pistons fan this is what they deserve