The San Antonio Spurs chose to rest regulars Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Danny Green in tonight's game at Miami, and Commissioner David Stern has said, "I apologize to all NBA fans. This was an unacceptable decision by the San Antonio Spurs and substantial sanctions will be forthcoming."
I personally feel that Gregg Popovich has the right to play whomever he wants, whenever he wants, and that David Stern can sit on it. An SI.com editorial by Ben Golliver agrees with me, but I'd like to hear the opinions of my fellow W's. What do you think of Popovich's choice, and his reasoning? And do you think the NBA's habit of scheduling brutal 4-out-of-5 night stretches, and long road trips, is getting out of hand?
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." --Stone Cold Steve Austin
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Co-Winner of Time's Person of the Year Award, 2006
And it is shit like this which will keep me away from the NBA until David Stern is gone. How arrogant of that little troll to think that just because he is the commissioner that he can penalize a team for not putting their best 5 out onto the court.
Well shit, if that is the case, then the NFL better penalize in the run up to the playoffs and MLB better not allow managers to limit their pitchers to the number of innings the can throw (see Strasberg, Steven).
I think that Gregg Popovich did the right thing...BTW, who the hell comes up with the schedule now??? I don't remember any time that I saw my Sonics play 4 games in 5 nights. Same with long road trips. Sure, there were 4 game, maybe 5 game stretches but those were pretty rare. I hope that the next commmissioner returns the NBA to some semblance of order.
Chuck Norris drives an ice cream truck covered in human skulls.
I'm on Pop's side as well. If you wanna make sure your marquee teams aren't resting players, don't schedule four games in five nights, and if you're going to do that, make sure that the last game of that stretch isn't the marquee matchup you're hoping to get. Coaches get paid to win, and if he's consistently employed this straegy, there's not much I think Stern can really do about it.
On the plus side, only 15 more months until he walks away for good.
Incidentally, the Heat won the game by the score of 105-100, which is a far more competitive game than I would have given the Spurs' reserves credit for achieving, given that the Heat played with their full team.
It was also the closest game in the Spurs-Heat series for some time; the previous five meetings between them were decided by an average of 24.8 points.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." --Stone Cold Steve Austin
Certified RFMC Member-- Ask To See My Credentials!
Co-Winner of Time's Person of the Year Award, 2006
If Stern's going to sanction San Antonio for this, he'd better be ready to sanction every single team that tanks the end of their season for more ping pong balls or tanks a game for better playoff positioning. The precedent has been sent.
J.A. Adande noted on Twitter that the punishment wasn't so much for Pop resting his guys, but for having the gall to do it for a nationally televised marquee game against Miami. I really don't think that should be relevant, but he may be onto something.
Yeah, I don't think that Stern cares whether the game is close or not. He cares about having the star power to bring people to the game, both in person and on TV.
I'm in agreement with the rest of you. Pop's got to do what's right for the Spurs and their chances of being healthy in the post season, not what will make the TV partners happy.
I didn't know the commish had the power to set line-ups for all the teams. There are going to be alot of sanctions handed out near the end of season when players area always rested.
-- 2006 Time magazine Person of the Year -- -- July 2009 Ordained Reverend --
Originally posted by ekedolphinThe NBA announced that it has fined Gregg Popovich $250K.
No problem. Next time they need rest, dress them, 2 mins into the game, start pulling the starters 1 by 1 in 2 min intervals or so. Cite their playing as "conduct detrimental to the team"
-- 2006 Time magazine Person of the Year -- -- July 2009 Ordained Reverend --
Last year, he did almost the same thing in a meaningless (not on TV) game. And Future Commish Adam Silver said (paraphrasing) "A coach has the right to set his line-up, especially one that has had as much success as Popovich".
The EPL used to fine teams for fielding "undermanned" squads and then finally wised up and changed the rule a few years ago.
I think the league didn't mind guys sitting on a more regular basis last season given the super-compressed schedule. I mean, Pops sat Duncan in one game just with a "DNP: Old" designation so there was definitely not much seriousness going around.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball
Originally posted by ekedolphinThe NBA announced that it has fined Gregg Popovich $250K.
Give me the address to the Spurs, I will give them $1. I think the fans should also do this...what garbage.
What an excellent article BTW! I loved the Spurs at the same time as my Sonics. I was a huge David Robinson fan as a teen and had a Spurs had for years.
(edited by Rush4Life on 30.11.12 2235) Chuck Norris drives an ice cream truck covered in human skulls.
And here's the part where it gets ridiculous: there's a photograph of a costumed Tim Duncan and Tony Parker at a Halloween party pointing fake guns at someone dressed up like NBA referee Joey Crawford.
SI.com posits the question as to whether this will cause further fines against the Spurs by the NBA.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." --Stone Cold Steve Austin
Certified RFMC Member-- Ask To See My Credentials!
Co-Winner of Time's Person of the Year Award, 2006
Originally posted by ekedolphinAnd here's the part where it gets ridiculous: there's a photograph of a costumed Tim Duncan and Tony Parker at a Halloween party pointing fake guns at someone dressed up like NBA referee Joey Crawford.
SI.com posits the question as to whether this will cause further fines against the Spurs by the NBA.
It's a HALLOWEEN PHOTO! Isn't there such a thing as a statute of limitations?
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Pretty damn awesome of him to do this, but I wouldn't go as far as saying anybody SHOULD be giving their money away to anybody. Sure, maybe don't buy $10 mil in chains and watches every year, but I'm not gonna EXPECT anybody to be donating houses either....