The Goat Pen

The problem I have with saying any percentage split is fair is that the players don't have any downside. Why would less than 50% not be fair when the owner's have to absorb 100% of the losses if the players fail to deliver?

Revenue is not a fair indicator of what is truly a fair deal in professional sports. The problem is that a franchise value isn't determined until it actually sells and annual losses could be offset by that growth so it's impossible to determine how much an owner is really "losing".

I personally think the owner's would be better off giving them the 57% and fighting for the franchise tags/non guaranteed contracts the NFL has. I have never understood why someone should be guaranteed a salary for 7 years if they fail to deliver. They should at least have some flexibility to get out of bad contracts.

HA if you think the players will give up that little gem.

I hope they lose the entire season. The NBA can burn for what it has become the past 10+years. It is not real basketball. It is glorified 1 vs 1 with 4 other guys on the court.

BURN IT TO THE GROUND!!!

Heard a guy on sports talk opine that the NBA lockout will make college basketball mega important this year. I hope so. That means even more people will witness The Year of the Grant.

Anthony better get 'Bama into the dance this upcoming season or else it will be just another case of all smoke but no fire. And I like Anthony Grant, but after seeing VCU under Shaka...

I'm pretty sure that's racist, hizzy.


1. Bama was 17-15 his first year and 25-12 last year.

2. VCU made that run with Grant's players.

3. They will be in the NCAA this year and should have been last year.

The NBA can burn for what it has become the past 10+years. It is not real basketball. It is glorified 1 vs 1 with 4 other guys on the court.

Heh. Have you watched games from the 80s? Very little defense. Games in the 90s? Lots of grabbing and body blocking and Jordan getting every call that was on the margins and scores in the upper 80s/low 90s. I must say, basketball over the last 5 or 6 years have been some of the highest quality on both sides of the ball I've seen.

You may hate the Lakers being there almost every year, but you can blame Phil Jackson for that. Other than that, the East served up a new contender every couple of years. Also, last year was the best season of bball I've ever experienced. There were so many good games and compelling stories. Even Minnesota had a good story with Love's streak.

It's revisionist history to say that bball was appreciably better at any time before 2000.

I dont think on the court game play is the problem for the fans, and I do believe there are different sets of fans out there

smaller market fans & fans of teams that are not located in "destination" cities (see Toronto) are for the most part pro-owners

it's the same shyt year after year, the only way to lure free agents is to overpay... next up is the draft, if you're lucky you draft a franchise talent and hope that you put somemagical run togehter in the short window you have before that kid bounces to greener pastures, or maybe you just treadmill for a while

surprisingly enough, I had more fun watching the league before the NBA came to Toronto. I could enjoy the game for what it was without any true vested interest in who won or loss. As a Raptor fan my NBA experience has been quite dismal. Damon Stoudemire, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady & now Chris Bosh all got the f**k outta dodge and it's already become a wash, rinse, repeat cycle

Watch Demar Derozan blow up the spot next year then bounce

if a better system is not put in place then I'd rather not bother with the NBA at all... to the point that I'm cool with the owners who'd rather lose a season than take a raw deal

Well, that's a bit of a copout (just a bit). Durant and those kids love OKC. If they can love it there, players can love Toronto. I think it's oversimplifying to just throw small market teams all together. Players enjoyed Indiana for a while when Reggie was balling and Basketball Jesus was patroling the sidelines. San Antonio is nowhere near large market and I don't care what anyone says, Boston is a wack collection of hamlets and a very small, homogenous "metropolis." All the while, Atlanta can't field a (consistently) decent team and EVERY ballplayer loves it there. Players want to play for an organization that they feel can win. It's why Chris stayed in Sacramento after pouting for weeks.

If you have even the perception of being a poorly run or cheap organization, then you won't get love from the players. That's why the Lakers could leave LA and the Clippers would still suck ass.

on a different note

Seems Beanhead took my advice on the "Bingo Long" project to keep the cash flow going and keep it on the owners' minds that the real reason the league exists is because of the players...

The Rangers nominated Dirk Nowitzki to throw out a first pitch before one of their World Series games, but the recommendation has been vetoed by the MLB.

Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21 ... z1bICk2Ky1

wanna know why Nowitzki aint throwin a first pitch? Becuz owners have power.

Why didnt ESPN, ABC, CBS or FOX get to televise the Drew vs Goodman game?

Were talking about a basketball starved public who is suffering from major pro ball withdrawal, but none of the major networks touch that game? Easy money & easy ratings?

But it winds up on some internet feed where subscribers have to pay $4.99 for choppy, barely watchable video & audio stream?

Because none of the networks want to piss off Stern & the owners.

I think you're slightly exaggerating the player leverage.

I'm not sure if WX was still up when Bill Simmons posted this article, so I cant remember if I posted my thoughts, but I love some of the excerpts, it paints a beautiful picture of the league :

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ortCat=nba

We know this much: It's more challenging than ever for a small-market NBA team to succeed. You can pull it off, but you need to be smart and lucky. Oklahoma City created the best blueprint: Catch a lottery break (Durant), nail a few draft picks (Westbrook and Ibaka), make a smart trade (Perkins), avoid overpaying veterans, hoard your cap space, target character guys and stockpile as many extra picks as you can.

So this is the formula for a small market team to survive? How many teams can simulatneously bank on catching a lottery break? Or shutdown David Robinson for a season & win the Tim Duncan lottery?

It's really difficult to contend unless (A) you strike oil in the lottery, or (B) persuade Chris Wallace or Kevin McHale to trade you his best player.

Problem No. 4: It's really, really difficult to persuade a franchise player, or even a perennial All-Star, to remain in a small market unless you're winning 60-plus games every year. NBA players like sunshine, big cities and tax-free states. If a franchise can't offer one of the three carrots, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy

hmmm, winning 60 plus games a year? That's all Sacramento needed to do to keep Webber & Company along for the ride? Where are the Kings now? It's a formula that can't be sustained.

I write all of the above keeping in mind that Simmons is a Boston sports writer who lives in LA and if you've ever listenned to his podcast you'd know that there's no way in hell he's going back to the northeast, so I loved this juicy nugget he coughs up right after the above quoted comment:

Full disclosure: I don't really care about Problem No. 4. People should live where they want without being judged …

whatever, I wont knock it, but tell that to Cleveland & Toronto fans who could care less if the league loses a season

As far as I'm concerned, the Raptors are like a better version of the Miami Dolphins, we both get to tank a full season in order to land a high draft lottery pick, except Raptor fans dont have to suffer a full season of watching on the field garbage over the course of a season

I'll be happily satisfied with the extra NCAA coverage that will help familiarize me better with the incoming talent

What changes to the CBA will change any of the above facts?

put in a hardcap and remove the mid level exception

allow sign & trades to involve the extra year on the contract but not the higher raises from bird rights

in order for stars to get star money they will have to find teams with the cap room, no more Big 3's or superfriends or dream teams

something like that sounds better to me, it will allow for a more even playing field and shorter contracts will allow teams to get out from under crippling deals much faster

If the players cry about a hardcap, give them their high percentage of the BRI, if the hard cap forces salaries below the indicated percentage then keep cutting the PA cheques for the difference and let them distribute the money how they see fit (I'm assuming that would be an internal PA matter, not an item that is collectively bargained)

by hardcap I mean increasing the penalties for going over the tax threshold, I know a legit hard cap is off the table

I don't know if that'll give you a much better chance at a chip, but maybe. I doubt it.

BURN BABY BURN. David Stern and MJ's cock in his ass can both burn in hell.

Bklyn wrote:I don't know if that'll give you a much better chance at a chip, but maybe. I doubt it.

gives us a better chance of not being perennial bottom dwellers though

fyi, I accidentally hit the "edit" button on your post instead of "quote" the first time I replied, just in case anyone wonders why there may be a recorded edit

re -I dont think on the court game play is the problem for the fans

I agree but for slightly different reasons. Like most professional sports, when you see these guys making a ton of money and losing total perspective on what being a fan was like, it just gets tiresome. I think alot of fans just get turned off by the large majority of idiots that they are. I don't know if the game has necessarily changed much but I don't recall so many players having the same type of off court attitude...... maybe it's just age but I don't remember that many. I just feel my entertainment dollar is best served elsewhere now.... and I use to take in about 12-15 games a year before..... now, maybe one.... MAYBE.

The NBA hasn't been real basketball for many years now. They should start their season after March Madness is over.

The NBA season is just too long

Not for the owners. Just like baseball owners love their season.