NBA 2011-12 Season Thread

[Kasper Cole]

Oh its not just you, its been brought up a couple times in the last few pages, and all year in other forums by bitter Lakers fans. Pretty much every time Gasol's effectiveness gets brought up.

Yeah, because it's not like the team suffered from David Stern's bullshit decision. It was a move that not only prevented the Lakers from getting another franchise player but damaged the existing teams chemistry and tainted other potential trades. Even Bill "I Hate the Lakers" Simmons slammed David Stern for how he screwed over the Lakers, Rockets, and Hornets.

[Hiromi]

Yeah, because it's not like the team suffered from David Stern's bullshit decision. It was a move that not only prevented the Lakers from getting another franchise player but damaged the existing teams chemistry and tainted other potential trades. Even Bill "I Hate the Lakers" Simmons slammed David Stern for how he screwed over the Lakers, Rockets, and Hornets.

And the Hornets ended up getting a better deal out of it, which from a owner's perspective made it the right call, and like I said its not like Stern made the Call on his own just to spite the Lakers, it was response from the majority of owners, who as I understand it collectively owned the team.

edit: Some quick google fu shows that's exactly how it worked out, the Hornets were collectively owned by the 29 owners, who a majority of wanted to block the trade. If anything it looks to have been backlash over some remaining lockout negotiation hostility. Stern's been shit on all year over it when he was essentially just the messenger.

[Kasper Cole]

It Was based off salary break the lakers would get

There were multiple reasons given as to why Stern vetoed the trade.

And the Hornets ended up getting a better deal out of it, which from a owner's perspective made it the right call, and like I said its not like Stern made the Call on his own just to spite the Lakers, it was response from the majority of owners, who as I understand it collectively owned the team.

No they didn't. They got a good deal but it certainly wasn't a better one. Eric Gordon's health is questionable AND he wants out of N.O....The Hornets made it clear they didn't want anything to do with Kaman, the other guy is just a scrub. The draft picks might not be as high as they were expecting.

The Lakers tweaked the deal multiple times to take on more salary and send out younger players and draft picks but the league turned it back every time til the Lakers just gave up.

edit: Some quick google fu shows that's exactly how it worked out, the Hornets were collectively owned by the 29 owners, who a majority of wanted to block the trade. If anything it looks to have been backlash over some remaining lockout negotiation hostility. Stern's been shit on all year over it when he was essentially just the messenger.

Except that there was never a any sort of vote about what happened. I do feel that SOME owners pressured the league but I don't think it was a majority of them (especially seeing as how other GM's refused to do business with the team after the trade to the Clippers).

regardless of why it happened David Stern did precisely what he said he would never do, which was make a decision for that team as an owner.

Lakers fans wouldn't even be THAT mad about it if not for the trade being announced as a done deal only to be shut down afterwards. The Rockets GM said the veto set their team back at least 5 years and the Lakers couldn't keep a key contributor to the team and it also soured the potential Dwight Howard deal.

[Kasper Cole]

The salary was the main reason I recall Dan Gilbert crying foul on salary dump and getting a star

Yeah, that's what Dan Gilbert was complaining about...If it was JUST about that though then the restructured deals (where the Lakers would take on more salary and sent out draft picks) would have been accepted.


Also The Hornets GM and David Stern all gave different reasons as to why the initial trade was blocked.

[kalorama]

No they didn't. They got a good deal but it certainly wasn't a better one. Eric Gordon's health is questionable AND he wants out of N.O....The Hornets made it clear they didn't want anything to do with Kaman, the other guy is just a scrub. The draft picks might not be as high as they were expecting.

At the time it was pretty widely believed to be a better deal for the Hornets, based largely on the fact that they were getting the TWolves unprotected #1 pick, which most thought would end up being top 5. (No one quite anticipated the Rubio effect being so dramatic and immediate.) The original deal would have resulted in the Hornets getting more immediate return in talent, but they would have gotten less cap flexibility and no real future building blocks (either young players with good deals or high picks). They also would have gotten Lamar Odom, whose pouting presence was so toxic that it was too much for a veteran-laded Dallas locker room with championship tested players and a veteran coach. I can only imagine how badly he would have poisoned a Hornets team with a bunch of young players and a young coach still at the beginning of his learning curve. So while the deal the Hornets ended up with wasn't as good as it first looked, it's still better than the one Stern vetoed. Had that trade gone through, the Hornets still would have likely missed the playoffs and been saddled with a bunch of overvalued contracts attached to veteran players, none of whom was a franchise changer..

[Ottmeister X]

I'm a Nuggets fan but also a Duke fan. Although Blake played briefly for the Nuggets, to see him hit three-pointers like that is nauseating. He was never a clutch shooter like that for the Terrapins. The tempo was in the favor of the Lakers and they may have still won without Blake's contribution, but he was that X factor last night that the Nuggets did not need.

Doesn't help that Gallinari was non-existent, regardless of what Artest did. If you want to be a big star in the NBA, you have to find a way to score.

[Hiromi]

This game showed exactly how big a deal the Laker's perimeter shooting was for their game plan, as soon as they started dropping 3s, it opened their Big men up down low.

[Huthaifa]

Yeah, that's what Dan Gilbert was complaining about...If it was JUST about that though then the restructured deals (where the Lakers would take on more salary and sent out draft picks) would have been accepted.


Also The Hornets GM and David Stern all gave different reasons as to why the initial trade was blocked.

Ironic that Gilbert signed off on a trade that made the Lakers younger and gave them cap relief. Sorry, that whole Paul trade came down to some of the owners not wanting the Lakers to pick up another super star period.

[Deathstroke]

It sure was nice to see the Celtics come back in the 4th quarter last night and win.

[Huthaifa]

It sure was nice to see the Celtics come back in the 4th quarter last night and win.

The Celtics are my last hope of keeping the Prince out of the finals. So we can blow up this walking disgrace called the Heat.:)

[Kasper Cole]

I'm a Nuggets fan but also a Duke fan. Although Blake played briefly for the Nuggets, to see him hit three-pointers like that is nauseating. He was never a clutch shooter like that for the Terrapins. The tempo was in the favor of the Lakers and they may have still won without Blake's contribution, but he was that X factor last night that the Nuggets did not need.

Doesn't help that Gallinari was non-existent, regardless of what Artest did. If you want to be a big star in the NBA, you have to find a way to score.

That's not being fair to Gallinari and not giving enough credit to Ron Artest...Ron has contained or shut down some of the best offensive players in the league.

This game showed exactly how big a deal the Laker's perimeter shooting was for their game plan, as soon as they started dropping 3s, it opened their Big men up down low.

Pretty much. As I said before some constantly harp about feeding the bigs, but that simply doesn't work if the perimeter players can't and at times are too afraid to take shots. Even if they're not hitting most of their shots they have to at least take them to keep the defense honest. With Kobe, Bynum, and Pau on the court Blake, Barnes, Sessions, and Ron will be wide open very often.

If Bynum in motivated and has good position he HAS to be doubled and the fact that he's a good free throw shooter makes him even more dangerous.

[Libaax]

Man yet another thriller game in Clippers vs Memphis series. This series has not been good for my heart, it is grind,so good defense,offense and everything i want from even playoff series.

I just hope Clippers win because Paul is playing is so tough, carrying Clippers when Blake is struggling. I want to see him rewarded.

[kalorama]

Tough loss for the Grizz at home. They may need to look at trading Rudy Gay. There are times when it really looks like he's a square peg in a round hole on this team, even when he puts up nice numbers. It's not quite as bad as Stoudemire/Anthony in NY, but he and Randolph don't seem to fit well together.

[Kasper Cole]

And to think, the Clippers won in SPITE of Chris Paul not knowing what "Team" means.....

[Vibranium]

if I was Pat Riley and the Heat ownership, I would be f'ng embarrassed as hell right now