Stern vs Popovich. Who ya got?

**3TrueFans** · 11-30-2012, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by Mr Janny

horsecrap. As a paying fan, am I entitled to my favorite player hitting a home run as well? Am I entitled to Tim Tebow being the starting quarterback?

There's a reason that when you buy your ticket it says San Antonio Spurs vs. The Miami Heat and not The San Antonio Tim Duncans vs. The Miami Dwayne Wades.

A coach is judged primarily by his team's wins and losses, and if Pop feels like it will benefit his team down the road to rest his players against the Heat, that is completely within his rights.

Who wins, The San Antonio Tim Duncans vs. Ditka.

**Clark** · 11-30-2012, 08:21 AM

Originally Posted by cycloneworld

Don't forget he vetoed the Chris Paul trade last year as well.

In his defense, as owner of that team he had all rights to veto that horrible trade. Now whether the NBA should be owning a team or not is a different issue.

**3TrueFans** · 11-30-2012, 08:21 AM

Now whether the NBA should be owning a team or not is a different issue.

No, the answer is no.

**Clark** · 11-30-2012, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by Mr Janny

horsecrap. As a paying fan, am I entitled to my favorite player hitting a home run as well? Am I entitled to Tim Tebow being the starting quarterback?

There's a reason that when you buy your ticket it says San Antonio Spurs vs. The Miami Heat and not The San Antonio Tim Duncans vs. The Miami Dwayne Wades.

A coach is judged primarily by his team's wins and losses, and if Pop feels like it will benefit his team down the road to rest his players against the Heat, that is completely within his rights.

This works in football because fans care more about the name on front of the jersey than on the back. That's not the case in basketball.

I have no problems with the way Pop handled his lineup. However, the league has the right to not show them on national tv anymore because they can't be trusted to play the players that people want to see in a game that many NBA fans were looking forward to.

**jbhtexas** · 11-30-2012, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by 3TrueFans

None of that gives the commissioner any authority in telling coaches how to play or who to play though.

The commissioner's authority is given to him by the league. If the league gives him the authority to punish coaches for manipulating the game-day roster in certain ways, then he can fine away.

Originally Posted by 3TrueFans

Is it any different than if the players were injured? If you buy a ticket to see a specific player there is the possibility that you might be disappointed.

Yes, the case of an injured player who is physically unable to perform not playing in a game is quite different from a game-day administrative decision to keep a healthy player from playing just for the sake of rest. And in some cases, there is at least a little advanced warning that an injured player will not be playing.

Originally Posted by 3TrueFans

It'd be like Pollard sanctioning CPR because he took out senior starter Steele Jantz in favor of redshirt freshman Sam Richardson.

No, it wouldn't be anything like that...

**3TrueFans** · 11-30-2012, 08:28 AM

No, it wouldn't be anything like that...

You're right I suppose, it'd be more like the Big 12 commissioner sanctioning Iowa State for not playing its stars, Pollard is actually linked with the team in some way.

**3TrueFans** · 11-30-2012, 08:28 AM

Yes, the case of an injured player who is physically unable to perform not playing in a game is quite different from a game-day administrative decision to keep a healthy player from playing just for the sake of rest. And in some cases, there is at least a little advanced warning that an injured player will not be playing.

Is it? Does the fan that bought a ticket to see Tim Duncan and only Tim Duncan feel better about not seeing him because he has a bum foot instead of that he's old and tired?

**cyfanatic** · 11-30-2012, 08:31 AM

Two totally different points of view here. Pops as a coach in a competitive sport. Stern as the director of a business. Both are correct from their own point of view. That said...I can't stand Stern!

**longtimeclone** · 11-30-2012, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by jbhtexas

The NBA is an entertainment business. It gets revenue from fans purchasing tickets and merchandise, and from TV networks who pay the NBA to broadcast games...because fans watch the games. The question becomes whether it's good business practice to keep the some of the big name entertainers from performing when the fans expect them to be there.

NBA tickets aren't cheap. If Heat fans were angered because they shelled out good money and some of the premier players (Duncan, Parker, Ginobili) weren't at the game, the Heat will probably be the ones to suffer because those Heat fans may not buy home game tickets and merchandise in the future. The Spurs don't suffer. So does Miami pay back the Spurs by keeping LeBron, Wade, and Bosh at home the next time the Heat visit San Antonio? If this sort of thing gets out of hand, it will eventually start to hurt the entire league, so I can see why Stern is jumping in.

If the players need periodic mid-season rest breaks, then the NBA should designate "rest weeks" or "rest games", and offer reduced ticket prices for those games. Otherwise, if the fans are paying full price, the premier players, unless they are injured or sick, need to be on the floor.

I like Pop as a coach, but frankly, I think what he did was bush league.

I thought I heard that he planned on doing this back in July after the schedule came out. From the sound of it didn't really matter that they were playing the Heat as it was more to do with playing a bunch of road games in a row and wanting to keep player fresh. This is done in other sports all the time. Baseball does this quite frequently. Football does at the end of the season when teams have qualified for the playoffs. I would compare the season of basketball more to baseball as the seasons are long and one game early in the season may not impact your offseason. I do think it is a little odd to maybe do this at the beginning of the season but I don't get paid to make coaching decisions for the Spurs.

I do see your point and I probably wouldn't have expected this an early season basketball game. I will admit that I might be a little disappointed if I had bought tickets expecting to see the stars of the Spurs, although if this happened in other sports like football or baseball wouldn't you just accept it for what it was? Granted fans in other sports probably know there is a chance this might happen beforehand. Are tickets at the end of the season for football any cheaper when a teams rest players because of the playoffs?

Didn't Stern make the schedule? Maybe he should get some input from coaches about the schedule and incorporate more down time than is currently is on there.

**jbhtexas** · 11-30-2012, 08:38 AM

Originally Posted by Mr Janny

There's a reason that when you buy your ticket it says San Antonio Spurs vs. The Miami Heat and not The San Antonio Tim Duncans vs. The Miami Dwayne Wades.

If you truly believe this, you simply don't understand the NBA business model, and there's really no point to continue discussing this with you.

Next time you are at an NBA game (if you've ever been to one in the first place), observe the fans wearing NBA jerseys, and then check out the back of said jersey to see if it has a name on it.

**MNCYWX** · 11-30-2012, 08:40 AM

Would this still be an issue if the Spurs would have won? Which the almost did short-handed.

Let the coach coach his team. Let the commish, commish things?... stay out of how the Spurs are coached.

**3TrueFans** · 11-30-2012, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by jbhtexas

If you truly believe this, you simply don't understand the NBA business model, and there's really no point to continue discussing this with you.

Next time you are at an NBA game (if you've ever been to one in the first place), observe the fans wearing NBA jerseys, and then check out the back of said jersey to see if it has a name on it.

TIL only NBA fans wear jerseys to games.

**Mr Janny** · 11-30-2012, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by jbhtexas

If you truly believe this, you simply don't understand the NBA business model, and there's really no point to continue discussing this with you.

Next time you are at an NBA game (if you've ever been to one in the first place), observe the fans wearing NBA jerseys, and then check out the back of said jersey to see if it has a name on it.

I realize the NBA is about star power, but as a fan, there is zero guarantee that you will get to see your favorite player on a given night for any number of reasons. That's what I mean by my point about the tickets having the team name on them instead of the player. If my favorite player gets hurt, I can't ask for a refund.

More than anything, the schedule is at fault, here, but again that falls right at Stern's doorstep. The Spurs have an aging team, and they played something like 5 games in 6 nights. How can you blame Pop for wanting to keep his guys fresh? That's just good coaching.

**Clark** · 11-30-2012, 08:50 AM

Originally Posted by Mr Janny

I realize the NBA is about star power, but as a fan, there is zero guarantee that you will get to see your favorite player on a given night for any number of reasons. That's what I mean by my point about the tickets having the team name on them instead of the player. If my favorite player gets hurt, I can't ask for a refund.

More than anything, the schedule is at fault, here, but again that falls right at Stern's doorstep. The Spurs have an aging team, and they played something like 5 games in 6 nights. How can you blame Pop for wanting to keep his guys fresh? That's just good coaching.

Why couldn't Pop rest his guys the game before his nationally televised game against a marquee opponent?