There you have it. This is exactly why the league can't do anything about it. A team can just play one player for one minute and say he's not feeling well and take him out. Only gamblers would be upset by this and who cares about them.
I think all they do is play the games without any practice or training then you are wrong. Also the amount of distance an average player runs in one basketball game is at an all-time high. More fastbreaks and three-pointers being taken means more possessions and much more running. More running equals more tired legs and more soreness. This can lead to more injuries if you are not careful and don't take the necessary precautions. Rockets fans should understand this more than anyone. Yao Ming could still be playing until today had he rested more but instead he played in the Olympics and year around. Tracy McGrady always had the ball in his hands, and maybe he could've avoided some injuries if he took some games off when he was tired. You never know
Wanna address the DNP/DND...here is my solution without contracting games: 1. All players in the NBA who do NOT play because of an injury(real/ or perceived) must be mandated to be on a IR for a minimum of 5 games. All rules are suspended at the start of the playoffs. 2. Players should only be allowed to accrue their max salary if they play/dress all 82 games. If they fail to be on the court in the case of a suspension, fine, injury etc...they should lose 15% of their game check per game upto 5 games...if on the IR, they recoup any losses after those 5 games. Players who are suspended/fined for more than 5 games will begin to lose 50% of game checks. 3. All rules are suspended for the playoffs, since basically players wanna play in the playoffs. If you need to contract games...70 games total. eliminate back to backs games, make the league into 2 conferences...All Western conference teams play each other 3 times in a season(14x3=42 games). Interconference games...teams will continue to play each other twice in the regular season(14x2=28 games). Eliminate divisions...and rank all the top 8 teams in each conference.
Im not interested in excuses. Its bad enough LeBron stacks teams with marquee players. But to rest all three of your star players against an opposing conference team in which the loss has no bearing is getting ridiculous. If you need to rest a player, cut his time on the floor. If the pace is too fast, alter your game. LeBron and Cleveland are not champions. They are a bunch of soft p*****s who play the system.
the Cavs lost by 30 points when they sat LeBron, Love, and Irving. They just threw that game and had no intention to compete. They should give the fans refund. It wasn't a real game.
Well there's the argument there's no bearing to that game because Cavs are so far ahead of other teams. If I were the Cavs team I'd be saying well maybe if the other East teams come close then there'd be a reason for the Cavs to try not to lose. You don't see Spurs or GSW pulling all their stars from the lineup because competition for seeds in West is fierce. This not playing thing is pretty dumb, what if Lue puts in their best line up and then takes them out after 1 quarter? Does that mean fans got their money's worth because they got to see Lebron Love and Irving for 12 mins? Where do you draw the line between guys playing enough to justify fans buying tickets?
Do you realize that the Cavs are leading the second team 2 games, while GSW are leading by 2.5 games? Do you realize that the Spurs are leading the 3rd team by 5 games too? Of the three teams, the Cavs have the biggest reason to not throw a game. Nobody says there is an easy solution. That doesn't mean it's okay. Annihilating ISIS is not easy. That doesn't mean what they are doing is fine. (Before you chide me on comparing resting NBA players to ISIS, this is called using extreme example to show a logical flaw.)
You start forcing players to play, they'll make up injuries. I don't see this as a problem, it's simply strategy. Could Adam Silver also have forced the 76ers to make competitive roster moves?
Couldn't agree more. Its one thing to debate whether the league should allow some of the gross player pulling we have seen, but it another matter entirely when it comes to the fans. As a fan, i would be livid to go to a Rockets game and Harden, Anderson and (pick somebody) didnt play. I dont like the restaurant analogies. A better one might be to imagine going to Led Zeppelin concert in the 70's and Page and Plant were replaced by session musicians.
if players are having to be "forced" to play they're in the wrong business. I don't know any true competitor playing at any organized level whether it's grade school all the way to pro level that doesn't want to be out on the floor.
These are more excuses. Golden State, San Antonio and even the distant third Houston could end up in the finals. The Cavs have a walk in the park in the east.
The NBA season is long! So it's understandable that players get tired. I feel like there should be a reimbursement if a teams best player isn't playing due to rest along with some league penalty. I understand that they would need to rest. But it would be nice to have the issue some what In check.
I dont Know about you but it sure would've been nice to have yao Ming all of these years. I recall a period when Jeff Van Gundy would play his stars so many minutes in very very tight rotations in a game where the rest would not call any files for the big fella. But back then if you were paid the max, you were the team so if you rested everyone thought your team had no chance which was not the case and should not have been the case.
I do not think you should be punished for doing such a great job in the regular season that you can rest your players for the playoffs to be healthy and fresh.
If you can call the players pansies because they didn't play to make you happy, then I, in-turn, am calling you a pansy for whining. Screw entertainment, I want to win... and if resting players is a strategy that helps me do that, you better believe I'm going to do it. If anything it proves that SA, GS and the Land are more dedicated to winning the ship than appeasing people. On the flip-side, if a star player is healthy and wants to play, a coach shouldn't be allowed to make him sit. Ryan Anderson, however, should be forced to play a game the day before every game.
In 2012 the NBA fined Pop $250,000 for resting players. In 2013 they backed off because Pop doesn't give a damn about what the NBA thinks of his strategies lol. Edit: The San Antonio Spurs were fined, not Pop. But that's the same thing, right?
