I tend to believe they would have ended the thing after an hour or two if there was no hope in sight. This is not to say they will come out of it with an agreement. But the quiet quiet hush hush of it tells me one or both sides have conceded some things they were not willing to before.
I was thinking that before, but there were earlier reports that there was little accomplished during that whole time.
I wouldn't trust any report from any "source" right now. The owners and player reps were told to not say a word to anyone about last nights meeting by the mediator.
KBergCBS Ken Berger No indication of progress yet. But continue to hear from sources that some owners prefer to miss season rather than accept bad deal.
Those reports are difficult to read into, for if they HAD made big progress, they wouldnt wont people on the outside to know right away given the fragile nature of an agreement in progress, but not wholly agreed upon yet. And of course, if they havent made any significant progress, they are also going to say this.
Yeah the problem is somebody has to look like they have the upper hand in this ordeal... Neither side seems to wanna be labeled the title of "loser" in these negotiations ... Deal is probably pretty much done... Just the lil minor aspects probably is holdin it back
Thats not good... When businessmen say they'd rather lose a ****load of money than the alternative, its definitely dont look good at all!!!
KBergCBS Ken Berger Players' offer of 53 pct. is fair. But one source points out that $200M/yr aggregate giveback doesn't change things for struggling teams.
For what its worth, here are my thoughts / refutations about some stuff going on: 1: Meeting Length: Ok, 16 hours is a huge meeting, no doubt about it. A few things are worth stating though; First, you have to remember this meeting has a Federal Moderator. He had to be caught up on the current affair of the prior meetings. Yes he met with both sides prior to last night, but this was the first time they were all in the same room at the same time. I have read - and this makes perfect sense - that a lot of time spent in that meeting was making sure negotiations went on WITHOUT emotion (unlike all these other emotionally charged meetings strictly between the NBA and NBPA). Taking emotion out of the scenario will create a new level playing field for future negotiations to take place on. 2: Follow up Meeting Scheduled today: This is a better sign that the meeting went better than expected yesterday. They wouldn't schedule a follow up if there wasn't anything to follow up on. Read into this as - there is at least common ground on some things. 3. Stern Rescheduled the Planning Committee meeting to continue negotiations today ( http://basketball.realgm.com/wireta...mittee_Meeting_To_Continue_Talks_With_Players ): I would say this is good news also. This would have been the meeting used to cancel more games, and further diminish the season. This was a pre-scheduled meeting, and they saw a reason to reschedule it because *hopefully* what they feel that what they met about yesterday will impact the agenda for that meeting. 4. "Sources say little was accomplished after 16 hour meeting". Remember when Amare left the meeting last Monday saying sides are very close and a deal is about to be completed? What we have learned regarding these meetings is that "Sources" will not be accurate until an official word is granted by the meetings moderator or official. Which leads me to - 5. Gag Order: I would say good news both because both sides followed this order by the moderator (aside from some unidentified "source"). This shows they are willing to play the game in a closed room, and have not yet resorted back to playing the media wars game we played last week. All in all, I think this is going well. I'm looking forward to what happens tonight, and am optimistic about some positive results.
IraHeatBeat Ira Winderman Can't help but think that this is all a we-tried charade by NBA, before getting back to squeezing, then eventually crushing union.
Could be. But the NBA must have that intent well cloaked from the Union leaders at the meeting for they wouldnt stick around if that were apparent.
In Manila signing an endorsement contract and earning his keep :grin: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...south-pacific/2011/10/18/gIQAc0Q1uL_blog.html
If anyone is counting, they've been meeting for basically 22 hours now. 16 yesterday and are on their 6th hour today.
Via Adrian Wojnarowski's Twitter: Source involved in labor talks to Y! on today's meeting: "No real progress. A lot of jostling, a lot of back and forth...But no progress." Awesome
Face it folks, the deal won't close today or anytime soon. Owners want to assert themselves and draw blood from the players.
I don't understand this suggestion. What are you tired of the long meeting? Has this meeting gone on too long? Is this taking a toll on your mind? Why? You have no significant impact on the result of these meetings. I would prefer that these hours are well-spent and a season opener is scheduled sooner than not at all. The NBA will lose a lot of fans if all of the guys in that room had your mentality.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tRDaN_xT-SQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
