No kidding, the penalty is a lifetime ban from the NBA, so no matter how often it is done, it's a wonder that anyone ever mentions it.
ESPN blurb shows the real situation
- Thread starter swisshh
- Start date
No kidding, the penalty is a lifetime ban from the NBA, so no matter how often it is done, it's a wonder that anyone ever mentions it.
I suspect there will be some kind of follow-up comment made at some point. There is some wiggle room left, so hopefully Gomes won't pay the price for a couple of poorly chosen words...
Bottom line, however, is I hope Stern and co. take a long look at the whole lottery situation. If this year's circus doesn't prove how far off track it's gotten, nothing will.
Bottom line, however, is I hope Stern and co. take a long look at the whole lottery situation. If this year's circus doesn't prove how far off track it's gotten, nothing will.
There was some follow-up; the next game they played was against Orlando, Gomes played, and it was much closer than expected. When it looked, in the 4th quarter, as if Boston might wose, the rookie Leon Powe was substituted for Gomes for the remainder of the game, and Boston pulled out a 2-point lin at the last second.
Gomes then commented that he had been benched because of the danger of winning.
But after that game, there was no hope of catching up with Memphis, so Gomes played 42 minutes in their next game, a close woss over Miami.
I don't think there's any danger of Gomes being banned, but if I were Doc Rivers I'd be nervous if told that I had a phone call from Stern.
Bingo.
About the GM thing, I agree with Mr. Slim Citrus. Most GMs are, I think, modest intellects. Now, GP is one of the stark exceptions to that. He's Princeton educated, has an extended/successful track record, and was way ahead of the power curve on overseas talent (along with Donnie Nelson). If the NBA was run like the EPL, Petrie would be Arsene Wenger, which would make us all very, very happy.
But the NBA really needs to move towards a better business model. They either need to adopt the hard cap/contract structure of the NFL, or the club system seen in overseas soccer/basketball. Talent acquisition, as currently constructed, is flat out abysmal.
Vlade4GM
All-Star
club system?
Yeah, their youth teams. Much more incentive to scout and develop talent if that kid will either play for your first team some day, or be sold for considerable profit to another professional club.
RKid
Bench
God bless Foootball, (I mean the one wher you kick the ball with your foot.)
Greatest sport in the world.
Looks like Portland finally learned their lesson. They might be pretty good in a couple seasons. Maybe even next season.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
I think it all has to do with guts, not intelligence. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out this team needed to take a quick nose dive, but it does take guts to do it. There would NUMEROUS people complaining that the Kings' management was much too quick to pull the trigger on trading people like Bibby, Miller, and Peja. You have to have the guts to against the crowd to implement this strategy. So far I haven't seen it.
Stroms
Prospect
Assuming you could actually trade Miller. I think the issue with some people (not necessarily Kingster), is that they don't realize the complexities of making a trade work. People are quick to say trade Thomas, Artest, etc., but the reality of actually finding a suitor to take a player for even something as little as cap room is near to impossible with some of the players/contracts that the Kings have.
This is just getting silly, IMHO. While a lot of us might have preferred to do things differently, this posturing and "it takes guts" stuff is incredibly naive IMHO. We don't know everything that has gone on; we certainly don't know what trades might have been in the works but never completed, primarily because Petrie doesn't leak things to the media or conduct his business in the news.
NO owner or manager should run their team based on what the fans think. "Having the guts to (go) against the crowd" is a comment that really has no meaning. The owners are doing what they feel is best for their business. Fans are part of the business, not part of the ownership.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
Without going back and looking at statistics, it seems like Miller's production has steadily declined. And we know that his salary has steadily increased. So, by delaying the decision on trading Miller, his value has dwindled. Two years ago it probably would have been relatively easy to trade him, last year, a little less (at least before the trade deadline; remember those 1-3 rebound playoff games?), this year even less. Now I will be the first one to tell you that in hindsight it is so very easy to see it clearly, whereas two years ago it was not as clear. But look, I remember calling Grant on the radio two years ago, being very skeptical of the core of Peja, Miller and Bibby. And if I was skeptical, I know there must have been others - I'm not that special.
As far as Artest, he's similar to Miller in that his value has steadily declined, but it is because of his character. Again, it really didn't take a rocket scientist to see it. There were people on this board that wanted him traded before the trade deadline. But again, it takes courage to trade a guy *before* he does something wrong (again) and *while* he is very popular with many fans. Petrie is a smart guy, no doubt. What we really don't know is whether he wanted to implode this team much earlier or whether he was kept from doing so by the Maloofs. So many mysteries. Now, the team has disintegrated enough so that many, maybe most fans, are probably more receptive to a blow-it-up rebuild. So, I figure we have a fighting chance to see Petrie do just that because it is politically more acceptable.
AleksandarN
Starter
The Mavs stunk until '98-'99, when they acquired Nash and Nowitzki and started rebuilding. Then Cuban bought them and started throwing huge piles of money their way. They continued the rebuild with major trades right up to 2005. So they don't need to rebuild -- yet. It's coming, but right now they're at their peak. Of course, if Nowitzki falls down with a permanently damaging injury in the playoffs, an emphatic decline could start this week.
Ours shouldn't have started quite as early as it did, but we had worse luck than the Mavs, and our owners show no willingness to stay in the luxury tax zone.
Last edited:
Vlade4GM
All-Star
You always say "we don't know what goes on" but you always play towards the assumption that something did go on. Wouldn't it be just as true to assume that nothing went on or the FO was being too conservative?
No, because we all know that GP went ofter a couple free agents last year that signed with different teams. We also know that Bibby and Artest were on the chopping block this year. They are still here.
It's not always easy to put a signing/trade together. Lots of smoke but often very few flames. Nature of the business, but no action doesn't mean there was a lack of effort in the attempt....
We also know VF has friends in high places with the team. She hears things....in a good way, that is.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
I agree we don't know what has gone on, as in KNOW. All we can go on are the dots, and then connecting them. Your argument seems to be, we can't KNOW, so why speculate? My answer is, we may not KNOW, but we have enough dots to offer a reasonable opinion, knowing that there are many dots that we aren't privy to. After all, isn't that what this board is about - connecting the dots?
As for the owners, there are going to be some that are willing to take the upfront hit and get it over with. Others, like the Maloofs, may hope that they can stave off the inevitable. Both options are costly. But I think the former takes more guts because (1) the owners are dealing with reality, not fantasy, and (2) because many fans will perceive the action of the owners causing the downhill slide, when in fact they would be just increasing the rate of the inevitable downhill slide. In the Maloofs' case, the owners are just kind of there, watching the slow implosion. They can always say, just like Petrie has implied over the last couple of years: Well, we tried to rebuild without going down the tubes, but it just didn't happen. We tried to maintain that playoff streak, but it just didn't happen. We did our best. (Hidden message: you can't say that we caused the slide; we've done everything in our power to hold up that mountain). That's the gutless part of it. It's CYA. Instead of being upfront, with guts, telling the fans why they needed to blow this team up, that otherwise they would just be delaying the inevitable pain and that we could look forward to a winner sooner, rather than later, they watched it slowly go down, down, down...
Whatever, dude.
I am very happy the Maloofs are the owners of the Kings. They may not be perfect and they may make mistakes, but bottom line is they want a team that wins. Yes, they tried to rebuild a team on the fly that would still be competitive and it's pretty clear now that didn't work out. If it had, we'd be cheering them instead of castigating them.
They made some mistakes. I think they're trying to correct them and I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen.
If you want to think they're gutless, go ahead. I just think it's pretty childish to make those kinds of comments. We'll apparently just have to agree to disagree...
I am very happy the Maloofs are the owners of the Kings. They may not be perfect and they may make mistakes, but bottom line is they want a team that wins. Yes, they tried to rebuild a team on the fly that would still be competitive and it's pretty clear now that didn't work out. If it had, we'd be cheering them instead of castigating them.
They made some mistakes. I think they're trying to correct them and I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen.
If you want to think they're gutless, go ahead. I just think it's pretty childish to make those kinds of comments. We'll apparently just have to agree to disagree...
Vlade4GM
All-Star
No, because we all know that GP went ofter a couple free agents last year that signed with different teams. We also know that Bibby and Artest were on the chopping block this year. They are still here.
It's not always easy to put a signing/trade together. Lots of smoke but often very few flames. Nature of the business, but no action doesn't mean there was a lack of effort in the attempt....
We also know VF has friends in high places with the team. She hears things....in a good way, that is.
I said that OR too conservative meaning that they tried but didn't try hard enough or asked for too much in return. Of course they do "something", but "trying" can definitely mean a lot of things and the extent of the attempt is unknown. Every team "tries", the "trying" excuse can only last so long. A front office that continually says "we tried but nothing came about" is just BS'ing you. Sometimes when something needs to get done, you just get it done regardless if it's the perfect circumstance because timing is a factor too.
I don't know if anyone here knows who Bill Stoneman is, but he's the GM of the Angels. He's as conservative as a GM gets, he's always asking for too much in return for players, so do you know what happens? He never pulls off big deals. Always small ones. If you get the "we tried" excuse too often it's really about the lack of guts it takes to take a risk and actually get something done.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
Good point. I was thinking the same thing.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
Maybe I'm not dealing in assumptions.
Sorry, but that comment, is silly, whether it's followed by a smiley face or not.
Okay...
Okay, I put up with the baseball stuff in the General forum but this is ridiculous. I have now moved the baseball stuff from this thread into the General Forum... I didn't quite know what to title it but I think those who want to find it should be able to.
Last edited:
Hater...Okay, I put up with the baseball stuff in the General forum but this is ridiculous. I have now moved the baseball stuff from this thread into the General Forum... I didn't quite know what to title it but I think those who want to find it should be able to.
