You cannot at all justify fining a coaching strategy outside of a coach specifically encouraging dangerous and/or dirty/illegal on court tactics (i.e. cheap shots, etc.). But you cannot fine coaching strategies.
It's completely ridiculous. What's next: fining a coach for encouraging his players to play good defense because fans pay to see scoring?
Stern is looking at the big picture that nobody else is looking at. What happens when 32 coaches decide to routinely sit their best players because Pop is some sort of genius? How many millions upon millions of dollars do they stand to lose? Then the owners complain they're losing money. Then the players strike. Then we all complain about how greedy they are. A season gets cancelled. You can't have coaches getting into a tanking war. What happens when TNT has 6 games in a row where the best players haven't played? I don't think it would ever be like baseball where you only see the best guy every fifth game, but players and coaches could start doing the Brett Farve thing where they show up when they feel like it.
It's work. Show up for work. Do your job. You don't have to play the whole game by any means, but being a healthy scratch? I mean geeze. They advertise these guys as the best athletes in the world but ancient Tim Duncan can't play cause he needs an afternoon nap?
There aren't even close to 15 teams that have good enough players/teams to even try this! Spurs are one of the few teams who can rest anyone and still play good basketball! If Mia sat out just LeBroid they would struggle.
Let's say that all 32 teams did try it, SO WHAT, no one even really cares about most of the teams anyway... what's wrong with resting good players EVERY NOW AND THEN, y'all act like he does this every game!
Oh wow, the Bobcats, Wizards, Raptors, Suns, etc., for a game here and there, sit out their 3 top players... yep, their records and play is going to suffer LOL.
We are talking about a game here and there people, calm down.
I agree with you in theory, but it's easy for fans to talk about money losing propositions when it's not our money. If this became common place on the one hand it might not be a big deal. On the other hand 10 grand here. 10 grand there. People don't calm down about shrinking revenue. Sports are already competing with the whole mancave thing and internet and slow economy. They want to make even more money, not less. It's easy for us to be ok with it because it isn't happening to us. I'm trying to imagine what would happen if Doc tried this. I mean we get on him for not playing centers. I'm trying to imagine what would happen if he just conceded a game to Miami by not even playing guys. No Rondo. No KG. No Pierce. I wonder how that would go over
The great majority of people go to games to see their teams... yes, good players help bring more people to the games but as evidence by all the terrible teams in the NBA people are going to come to the games no matter what. Sure, some fans come to see the best players but if it was all about the stars then most of the teams in the NBA wouldn't have teams b/c no one would come, because the teams outside of a few teams have a whole team of "scrubs"!
Let's look at Mia, even when they formed the little 3 their fans weren't coming to the games, heck, they had to put white covers on the seats to make it less noticeable, they were practically begging the fans to come to the game. Those fans didn't care about that little 3, they just cared if the team was winning (no matter who was out there)! The fans that were in the stands were the same fans who were there when the team was winning like the Bobcats!
So, that wasn't Doc who rested our best players against Mia last season on tv (wasn't it on like TNT or something)? He was going to sit them regardless of who the cheat played! No, Doc wouldn't do that
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Obviously the Spurs owners don't feel like they are losing money or else they would stop Pop. I think their fans and organization, realize what works for them... like I said before, not all teams would do this b/c, well, their teams stink WITH stars!
This isn't the first time Pop has done this, they still have many fans, great team, and they are still put on nat. TV.
Pop didn't concede that game to Mia, they almost won it. You say that as if Duncan and nem, played they were guaranteed a victory. Pop is the greatest coach in the game, because he plays the scrubs to get them ready if the stars do go down! Doc plays our stars (as old as they are) until they drop, no matter what unless it's RIGHT before the playoffs, instead of doing like POP with his old players, rest them throughout the season. He doesn't play them til they drop... he has more trust in all his players. Doc trusts PP, KG, RR... even if they are hobbled they are going to play if they can go out there (Ray last season playing a bajillion mins per game, even when other players were playing as well or better than Ray was on two bad wheels)!
I almost forgot to add... I am currently crying about the money these poor billionaires are going to lose. Can we give them a moment of silence...