we actually have to be good to get our "fix" of the championship. It's not like they can just take the Grizzlies, tell the refs to fix their games and then next year they can win the title.
if you're talking hypotheticals and conspiracies your assumptions are wrong so your argument is off. 1) stern doesn't need the rockets to advance in the playoffs in order to market the NBA in china. he needs the rockets to MAKE the playoffs and be competitive every year. yao's 1st round matchups have all been long exciting, heartbreaking 7 game series (save that dream LA matchup that one year). psychologists recognize that rather than consistent success or consistent failure, what's most emotionally addicting is a unpredictable randomness in outcomes. basically if he can get yao fans each year to be "this could be our year" that's what's going to keep them coming back for more 2) the size of the TV market is LARGELY IRRELEVANT. because the NBA playoffs are not a local event, not a national event, but a multinational event. in short it's not like just people in the boston area are watching the celtics. what's important is not the size of the market but the DRAW of a team outside its own market. IF you're talking conspiracies, having a small market team like the Cavs with Lebron, or the Spurs with Tim Duncan who uphold a certain image Stern promotes is more profitable than having a larger market team like Houston which has a very small footprint outside of Houston. In fact promoting and having a small market team in the mix year after year is essential to the league. If it was a large market team winning the chip year after year and small markets were deemed uncompetitive the owners of those teams would demand wholesale changes and probably kick stern out. IF there is a conspiracy I laugh my ass off at ppl who point to the Spurs as counterpoint. Stern needs there to be a San Antonio Spurs in the league if there wasn't he'd... ahem... create one 3) conspiracies by nature are just as much about red herrings as about fixes. half of it is throwing in **** that give credible pause to ppl who might see through things... that's why the NBA is expert on the makeup calls and covering their asses. if there truly was a conspiracy for each "fix" stern would be smart enough to throw a small wrench in there that doesn't affect his overall plans for the league but does run counter to conspiracy. eg: guy 1: wow the refs are raping Yao with these calls guy 2: then why has he NOT FOULED OUT of these games guy 1: uhm... cuz he's playing 10 fewer minutes a game and isn't out there when the other team is making its runs? guy 2: no way man... I can buy the concept of a multinational billion dollar corporate entity issuing directives to target a particular player in violation of the integrity of its own product but the concept of also being told to keep him in the game if possible to not piss people off is JUST TOO COMPLICATED TO FATHOM. ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SAID MULTINATIONAL HAS A RECORD OF RESERVING THAT LAST FOUL FOR KEY PLAYERS. THE HUMAN MIND CANNOT CONCEIVE OF A PLAN SO DIABOLICAL AS TO HAVE 2 LAYERS AND NOT BE IMMEDIATELY APPARENT guy 1: okay.... LMAO. is there a CONSPIRACY? IMO not in the way people think... as in the Da Vinci Code or Zionist Conspiracy or New World Order or Who Took the Cocoa in my Cocoa Puffs??? but what's going on is not human error lmao. there clearly have been series that Stern has had his boys officiate with an intent of bias in favor of one team or player. the largest issue is the culture of corruption that is tied directly to Stern and his cronies... the idea that it's BETTER for the league if one team instead of another advances and that TV revenues and the health of the league is inexorably tied to individual personalities rather than the quality of the basketball. IF you can live with that then go on thinking there's nothing wrong. Talking to dudes this past week or so you realize that there is a segment of the market that doesn't really care if the games are fixed or if certain teams and players get breaks. They dont care about the inconsistency or the quality of the basketball as long as they can turn on ESPN and get hyped about the matchups and not have to hear about or think about how the league may be corrupt they're fine just going along
Look, as far as Houston goes, and the Chinese market.... ....As much as Yao might help spread the popularity of the NBA----nice guy, nice image, white people don't mind watching him (there, I said it; how many people have I heard say they don't watch the NBA because of the race thing?), I'll make it simple: If the refs actually called Yao fairly, let alone with any favoritism like they do other stars, he would lead the league in scoring. EASY. Anyone can pile on when I write this, but I just don't see the NBA wanting to promote a foreign-born player as its Shining Light. MAYBE if Nowitzki outscored the rest the NBA would look the other way. But Dirk's the blond Jesus anyway. Look how many people wanted Yao to fail from the get-go. You have a few voices out there in TV-land during the games that mention the "officials don't know how to call Yao". Oh, but I think they do.
actually, if the NBA was rigged why the team in the #1 market hasn't reached the Finals in ~36+ years, much winning the ring ? if it is rigged, why the team from little San Antonio has been the most dominating team in the last decade ?
