spurs

[weston555]

Maybe it wasn't the right call weston. That is a game that they clearly could have won. He has rested people in the past but never this early in a season and it still makes ZERO sense to me. Pop is a great coach but even they make mistakes at times and i'm glad they got banged with a 250K fine!

If i spent a couple hundred on tickets to see one game this year in Miami and that happened, I would have been pissed too. Integrity of the game imo WAS LOST OR FORGOTTEN LAST NIGHT. These guys are certainly paid well enough to suck it up and go play a few minutes i think.

Again, I see where Pop is coming from with this call..but that is beside the real point here. The point is that Poppovich made a decision he thought would serve his team well, period. FORCING a coach to make decisions is beyond wrong.. just to get some more money (bc we all know Stern, the league, and players are hurting oh so bad for money) is flat out wrong.

[weston555]

Plus, You know the league and tv is pumping up the nationally televised game. Why not sit them the night before in a half empty arena in washington in a game they probably still win without them and isn't on national tv? Makes no sense.

Because Poppovich thought it'd be better to sit his players during the Miami game. Believe me, he didn't do it to hurt anyone's feelings or get David Stern all worked up...he did it to help him and his team do what they are supposed to do in the long run.

[wayne1218]

he didn't do it to hurt anyone's feelings or get David Stern all worked up...

I'm not so sure about that. I've heard many today say that is the exact reason why he chose last night. We will never know the real truth. My point is, even as a coach, you have to care about the league you represent, just like your team.

[savage1]

All I know is that the last I heard, buying a ticket to a sporting event allows the bearer to see the game between the two teams stated on the ticket and doesn't put conditions on it such as who will play, who won't play and what the coach should do to make the fans happy if they are playing an away game.
Also the last I heard the job of the coach is to coach in such a way so as to try to win as many games as possible so as to please the fans of HIS team and not the other team.
Imo thi incident was all about a nationally televised game and the tv revenues which accompany it.
While that is important for sure, it is no way should compromise how a coach coaches or who he rests or in this case sends home to rest.
A good coach sees any game as one game only and within the more important context of the entire season irrespective of who the team is playing and aside from tv revenue implications.
This game was poorly scheduled(4 games in 5 nights fo SA where as the Heat hadn't played since Saturday and were in wait).
Perhaps this should serve as a lesson to the league to plan things a bit better next time so that a coach won't feel the need to do with Popavich did.
If the Miami fans had anything to complain about, it was that their team was unable to beat the depleted Spurs until the last minute of the game-how come-is this supposed to be a night off for all of these prima donnas because SA didn't have its full complement of players? One would have expected a rout and yet it was a very competitive game which is what tv anyways wanted in the first place.

[weston555]

On top of it all, there isn't a rule that justifies this ridiculous fine. Even more, the Spurs have done this plenty of times...but now it is a "disservice" to the fans since they played the Heat. Would love to see the new rule they come up with for this. Where do you draw the line??? Can't sit starters that play against teams the commissioner deems as a great team? Can only sit starters on the 70th game or later? Must play starters for 20 minutes or more in games the league has tagged as fan-friendly matchups? The slope is very slippery on this one...also curious to see what Pop does to poke fun at David Stern's dumb ass for doing this.

[wayne1218]

David stern is a dumb ass..i cant believe he actually wants to interfere with coaching decisions just so he can "please" his fans......he has mastered the art of chasing money and forgetting what competition is all about.

I have to be honest too Weston. I think it's about damn time somebody cared about the fuckin fans. I'm sick of our asses taking a backseat to everybody in sports. Without the fans, there is no league. The NHL might find that out soon!

[wayne1218]

All I know is that the last I heard, buying a ticket to a sporting event allows the bearer to see the game between the two teams stated on the ticket and doesn't put conditions on it such as who will play,

And what do they promote leading all the way up to that game. Duncan and Parker right?

If you pay to go see a movie with Clooney or Pitt in it and you get there and it is a movie with a bunch of unknown actors, you wouldn't be happy, you would be pissed and i don't blame anyone who was pissed last night.

[wayne1218]

They're tired? Give me a fuckin break. Who the hell isn't tired from work every damn day and most of us do it for 8+ hours a day, 5 days in a row. Sorry, but i have no sympathy for this or these guys. Not when you could have played a whopping 15 minutes and sat on your ass after that.

[weston555]

I'm not so sure about that. I've heard many today say that is the exact reason why he chose last night. We will never know the real truth. My point is, even as a coach, you have to care about the league you represent, just like your team.

Of course people are going to speculate. And he has no obligation to the league..he can do as he pleases as long as it is within the confines of the game. He doesn't have to like Stern or even respect the NBA. He wants to earn a paycheck, win, and be one of the best coaches to coach the game. If he doesn't want to kiss Stern's ass, so be it. He did nothing to make the NBA look bad anyway.

[savage1]

That plays right into what I am saying-it is all about money and making decisions to please the networks-I don't buy into that-it is a coaches job to do whatever it takes to win.
I don't know if a movie analogy is appropiate here because movies and actors aren't generally scratched, and if a theater for some reason didn't have the movie available that night, you would simply would until they did.
A sporting event is somewhat different with a different motivation for attending and also subject to the decisions of the coaches/managers on both sides based on their feelings as to what is best to do in order for their team to win as many games as possible.
There is no clear cut right and wrong answer to what happened yesterday-it simply depends on one's own criterion and point of view.

[wayne1218]

No shit it's about the money savage. Everything in the world is about the money. The Spurs will collect their money but the fans who paid an arm and a leg for tickets and the sponsors who paid an arm and a leg to be a part of it were all screwed. Of course it's about money.

[savage1]

They're tired? Give me a fuckin break. Who the hell isn't tired from work every damn day and most of us do it for 8+ hours a day, 5 days in a row. Sorry, but i have no sympathy for this or these guys. Not when you could have played a whopping 15 minutes and sat on your ass after that.

It is not for you or anyone else to dictate what any coach should do-as a coach he is supposed to do what he feels is in the best interest of his team.
Sure it might have looked better if they didn't fly home, but even if they did not, he had every right as a coach to simply sit them in street clothes for that game.

[weston555]

They're tired? Give me a fuckin break. Who the hell isn't tired from work every damn day and most of us do it for 8+ hours a day, 5 days in a row. Sorry, but i have no sympathy for this or these guys. Not when you could have played a whopping 15 minutes and sat on your ass after that.

I don't have sympathy for them either and I wasn't saying anything along those lines. All I was saying was that if they do rest one game rather than playing in that game, that IS an advantage for the NEXT game, wouldn't you say??? Also, if he thought that Duncan and Parker playing would be a better decision, he would have had them play. As I said, his decision could be debated...David Stern's decision is a different story

[wayne1218]

It is not for you or anyone else to dictate what any coach should do-as a coach he is supposed to do what he feels is in the best interest of his team.
Sure it might have looked better if they didn't fly home, but even if they did not, he had every right as a coach to simply sit them in street clothes for that game.

That's fine, and Stern has every right to slap a qtr million fine on their ass for doing it too then if we are gonna go that route.

[savage1]

ps Again there was no rule in place and last season the Spurs did essentially the same thing with no repercussions or penalties.
That is quite important here in my overall take.