I used to think
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Later
green machine
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Nah, being wrong isn't worthy of banning.
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Let Chris do his job.
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devilalum
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You might want to rethink giving up on that.
BC867
Long time Phoenician!
Isn't that best-team-and-refs-combination-platter?
I don't think Stern is going to influence favoring the Spurs this time around.
Celts and Lakers, maybe. But not the Spurs.
mojorizen7
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IMO Stern will distance himself as far from this series as possible.
jbeecham
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Stern hasn't been to a Suns game in Phx since the suspensions. My guess is if he is at any of the games at all then it'll only be when it's in SA.
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I still haven't seen anyone give a plausible reason why Stern would be favoring the Spurs when they're ratings killers who seemingly turn viewers away in droves during the playoffs. I mean as far as conspiracy theories go, Celts and Lakers makes sense (if you believe in that stuff) but SA... a small market who plays an absolute astoundingly boring brand of basketball? That just doesn't hold water to me.
green machine
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Agreed. I never thought Stern wanted the Spurs to win, I just think he made a really bad decision.
devilalum
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I hear you but the guy does love Duncan. Four years of college, squeaky clean....
jbeecham
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Maybe it's just his personal preference (he's a fan). Do you really think Stern cares about what's best for the league? If he did then maybe he'd address officiating problems instead of enforcing dress codes or looking to expand to Europe.
cobbler
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Exactly! Why wouldn't he want the up tempo exciting suns in the finals over the dull fundemental spurs? Makes no sense. But then again, most conspiricy theories don't.
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the guy cares about making the NBA as profitable as humanly possible and you know why I believe this? Because he addresses the dress code. Because he's focussed on expansion. BOTH of those points of focus are about making as much money as possible by a) not losing you're biggest consumer (white America with the dress code because they don't ID with the "thug life") and b) creating an even bigger market who will pay for NBA products/services.
Because he wants to create a new basketball that people will have to buy.
So if anything, you'd think he want the Spurs done as fast as humanly possible, not string them along to destroy their ratings and then get a TV deal that pales in comparison to MLB and the NFL.
Again, if this were the Lakers or even the Knicks, I could understand how some people could see a conspiracy in all of this, but again, a small market the destroys ratings? I just don't see it. And if he does favor teams (everyone says Stern's the biggest Knick fan alive and helped them get Ewing right?), then tell me why he did the same exact thing to them back in 1997 when PJ Brown instigated that brawl which severely hampered the Knicks in the rest of that series, suspending almost their entire team?
Sorry, Stern thinks about one thing and one thing only when it comes to the league - how can I generate more money. The Spurs aren't part of ANY equation that does that.
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and he can't sell him to save his life.
cobbler
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I don't see how anyhone could say he doesnt care what's best for the league. The NBA has grown leaps and bounds under his tenure. Sure he has made some bad decisions, who hasn't in their job? Officiating is a problem in all sports....none more than bball. Not just at the NBA level either. It's a tough game to call. I happen to think the hands offf and ridiculous flagrant calls of today have taken a lot of the policing of the game away from the players and placed it in the refs hands. Never a good thing!
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agreed. personally, I think Stern could have done more and stuck to his word about punishing everyone by the letter of the law, but he saw what kind of stain it was having on the league and then once people starting talking about KG to the C's, Kobe wanting out, etc. etc., the last thing he wanted was to bring that subject up again.
jbeecham
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Stern has promoted individuals over teams. He instilled star treatment with his comments about how people pay to see Michael Jordan play......not Jordan's backup. The league & it's officiating has been downhill ever since.
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Stern promotes what sells. Jordan sold like none other. The Spurs don't. Why would he actively influence the sport to see that continue?
cobbler
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No doubt about the promoting of individuals but that is also a product of nike and espn. Look at LeBron. A superstar and media darling before he even played one game. He goes to Athens and has many of the USA players and staff wondering if there is a policy where they could send him home because of his demanding and arrogant behaviour. You never hear those stories or they are in small print burried on last page. It's all hype.
But that's what sells tix, jerseys, shoes etc.
I think 4 simple changes could make a big difference in nba officiating.
1. Recend the hand check rule.
2. Call the "obvious" flops. Maybe even give a T for it.
3. Modify the flagrant foul rules. If a guy goes to the basket OUT OF CONTROL and gets a normal foul. Hard or not. He should not get a flagrant because the guy was out of control and fell awkwardly.
4. Do away with the rookie/softmore/non star "you have to earn calls" break in. A foul is a foul regqardless of the players stature or skill level.
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you think he doesn't love Nash the same if not more? 4 years of college, squeaky clean, WHITE and his team plays a style of basketball that people actually want to watch.
Stern implicitly favors the Spurs by sticking to his policy of calling fewer fouls in the playoffs in order to keep the stars on the floor. It's the same with all dirty -- pardon me, "physical" -- teams. The problem is that the team has to have the right "reputation" or else it's too blatant, which is why the Suns get away with far less.
It isn't the Spurs specifically that are promoted by the league, but their style. Stern knows that Nash can get beat up on every play and still grit his way through it, which is why he can't ever get a call in the playoffs. You think his attempts to play with a broken nose weren't good television?
It isn't the Spurs specifically that are promoted by the league, but their style. Stern knows that Nash can get beat up on every play and still grit his way through it, which is why he can't ever get a call in the playoffs. You think his attempts to play with a broken nose weren't good television?
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but you think Spurs-Cavs was?
i don't buy the above. You know who's regularly favored? Teams that regularly win titles and here's a shocker, it's like that in ALL sports. That reputation isn't about "physical" play, it's about being champions and there's just an inherent thing it seems in sports across the board to favor the champ until someone literally is so good that they can overcome everything... then they get the benefit of the calls... or opposing fans think they do.
cobbler
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I completely agree.... It's like boxing. You can go toe to toe with the champ for 15 rounds....and if its anywhere close....the champ gets the nod. The challenger has to win decsively.
