Nitro

If you started Korver last season in the ECF Wade would have went ape-shit and every game after the 1st would have been a blowout. CJ Watson is a FA, right? If so, backup PG will be an important position to fill. Watson was solid, and terrific defensively at points last season. They have an extremely strong PF/C rotation, despite Boozer's suckage. So yeah, if Watson is gone, that's the only other glaring hole.

My point is both sides are equally important. That last sentence of why the ABA folded is another huge reason owners are so important. Bottom line is no basketball league will ever bring in the kind of audience or revenue the NBA does. Partially because of organization, partially because of funds, partially because of tradition (a HUGE advantage the league has over a newly created league), etc... The owners give these players the platform to maximize their talents and profitability. The owners definitely deserve more than 43% of the BRI. Just because the players earned 57% of the BRI from the last CBA DOES NOT mean they deserve a similar cut this CBA, because ideally the new CBA is supposed to be made for the betterment of the entire league, owners and players included. Players receiving 57% is neither fair 'nor sensible. The owners are at fault for this lockout, but there are flaws in the system that benefit the players that don't benefit the league, and aid the league losing money. If the NBA wants to be more profitable and attain greater parity, the players are the ones who will suffer, especially since the owners have greater leverage in negotiations.

Now that the BRI issue seems settled, I think the rest of the obstacles won't take long enough to wipe away the X-Mas games. Honestly, I've thought for a long time that maybe lowering the cap a bit and raising the luxory tax immensely would settle the issue of competitive balance. I feel teams should be able to spend over the cap, but they should have to pay a ridiculous amount to compensate. Maybe adding a ceiling, like $80M, would make things a bit more balanced also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDd1gvQ_wgo Very nice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMlkYNUpJvY Heard this on the radio, liking it. Kinda weird to hear Rick Ross spitting over a Just Blaze track, though. I've always associated Just Blaze with strictly NY rappers (of the Jay/Fab/Cam variety).

Once again, I agree that the owners are at fault for their teams' respective financial struggles. However, with 22 teams losing money which can be linked to some basic problems in the league's system, the players are still the ones that will ultimately have to deal with the majority of the consequences. The players are only part of the product. The arenas, cheerleaders. merchandising, marketing and a huge amount of other things are generated by the owners. They give the proper platform for the players to perform and rake in the money. If players could have anywhere near the success the NBA has by creating their own league, you can bet your ass they would while taking in all that money the owners currently profit from. Thing is, they can't. The owners deserve more than 43% of the BRI. The NFL is vastly more popular than the NBA, has a lower average salary, and a much harder cap system, and the players currently take in less than 50% of the football related income (the exact number is 48% I believe).

The same morons who are overpaying for mediocre players and giving the Gilbert Arenas and Kenyon Martin's of the league max deals. And just because 22 teams are losing money doesn't make it impossible for those 22 teams to turn a profit, especially under a new CBA. Because the owners are writing out the paychecks and they own and run the franchises in the league. Once the new CBA is implented, the players will have the right to play oversees in a different league. However, if they want to remain in the NBA, they have to deal with the CBA. And as I said before, the NBA is a business, and even if the owners are responsible for this mess, the deal that's made should be in the best interest of the league's financial success. NBA players have the highest average salary of any major sports league, despite it being less popular than the NFL, and probably still trailing the MLB. They also have a massive advantage in the BRI, even though the owners are the ones investing in new arenas, marketing the teams and individual players, and ultimately giving these players the platform they need to bring in the audience. If 22 teams are non-profitbale, a new system needs to be developed to change things around. Same goes for the players, and that's how it should be. This is a business, and each side should be greedy and low-balling the other side at the beginning to effectively negotiate a lucrative deal.

You are right...it is the owners' fault. However, with 22 teams losing money, there needs to be changes to the system, if for nothing else than to completely prevent the owners from destroying themselves. Above all else the NBA is a business. Currently, the average NBA player has the highest salary in pro sports, and on top of that they've had a ridiculous advantage in the BRI. I said it the other day, but with owners finally budging on the hard cap and offering a true 50/50 split, it'll end up being a huge mistake for the players to have rejected that so quickly. After about 20 games are lost, the players will start to lose more money than if they accepted a lesser deal.

According to 82games.com, Cook played 0 minutes all season at SF.

No way did Turiaf deserve PT over Kwame...Kwame is a stellar defensive player and can rebound. Turiaf provided energy, but that's about it, and often times he is out of control (over 6 fouls per 36min his first 2 seasons). Cook, despite being one-dimensional, was actually the 2nd highest scorer per 36min on the 05-06 Laker squad, and had the highest TS% and 3pt% (by a large margin) on the team. Those Laker squads were pitiful offensively, and he was the 3rd most important player on the team on that side of the ball. So no, I wouldn't have given Turiaf the majority of his minutes, either.

LINK In short, the players need to end ths.

Haha, I'll try and post one tomorrow. I don't have Facebook and I have an old flip phone with no USB so I gotta have her e-mail me one.

Woohoo [expletive]ed my new girlfriend for the first time tonight!!! Glad we've been taking shit slow, it's always better to build a strong foundation before adding the sex thing too early. Love this girl.

^That actually is the official part 2, although it doesn't relate to the first one. I believe it was meant as a hidden track right after Dance with the Devil, so people just started to call it that. Anyway... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbubAJeBbyo

It's not his strength, and he lacks the depth and ability that separate pop stars from classic MC's. Take away the singing, modern production and the fame he receives from the camp he's in, give him a solid snare and not much else, and you'll see what I mean. Famous rappers like Em, Jay, Nas, Wu-Tang, Jadakiss, and even guys like Busta, along with a plethora of dead rappers and underground rappers could still kill it with that similplicity, while Drake needs all the bells and whistles. Bells and whistles give him the fame he has now, and I ain't gonna knock him for that because it's working for him in that regard, but I don't consider him a true MC. He's pop/R&B IMO. Every rapper says money over bitches...he still appeals to and largely speaks to the female crowd, and his sex appeal is a big driving force for his success.

I don't mind that song, and try to keep an open-mind with Drake considering he is not a true MC, but it's hard. His singing is annoying, he's an average (at very best) rapper, and gets loaded from making girls wet, which unfortunately is the standard right now.

Even though Burnett is pitching well, I miss Andy Pettite -_- Random, I know, but it's the truth. Another solid inning. If they can get through 1 more inning unscathed, it should be smooth sailing from there.

From my understanding, that is a description of the "official" offer the owners made, which on the surface is a 50/50 split, but when you consider other things involved it comes out to 53/47 in favor of the owners. What the owners informally offered today was a true 50/50 split, which the players also rejected.

As a Yankee fan, this is [expletive]ing painful. Even if Burnett doesn't give up a run the entire night, having to watch this is torture. Nice play by Granderson, and LMAO at Girardi warming up the bullpen in the first inning with no runs on the board (although I'd probably do the same with Burnett on the mound).

Yeah, apparently the players rejected an informal proposal for a true 50/50 split. I have a feeling that will end up biting them in the ass after a few paychecks are missed.

It's clearly not obvious, though, considering how divided people are on this. I thought his comments were taken wrong until I read 'the enemy' thing, which makes it very hard to decipher exactly what he meant with the comparison.

As I said before, the follow-up where he called Obama and Biden 'the enemy' is what put the nail in the coffin. That's where people will link what he said as a comparison of Obama and Hitler. Whether he meant it that way or not, I don't know for sure, but it caused enough bad publicity that he wasn't worth keeping on ESPN. The first ammendment makes sure he doesn't get locked up for it, but it doesn't protect you from private business (some situations tread in grayish areas, but not this one). This is captialism at its finest, so I don't get the bitching.

I think the follow-up question and his response is what put the nail in the coffin. Because he makes them money. Hank Williams is expendable on ESPN.

The BRI and cap system are intertwined. Basically from what I hear the deal will likely either be 53% of the BRI (to the players) and a hard cap, or a 50/50 splt on the BRI with a soft cap (albeit likely modified from the current system).