NBA Basketball 2007-08: The Thread

[Hewson]

I was at the Celtics/Bulls game last night.

The Bulls play uninspired basketball. Yawn.

What are your impressions of the Celtics after seeing them in person?

 

[Got Philk?]

They do, Phil. The whole 4th quarter, the only guy who I saw wanting to win that game was Nocioni. The sum of their parts is disappointing; they should be better than this. Rajon Rondo carved them up.

My tears are not b/c you are mean, but because you are correct.

It's sad because Nocioni is our best player, and he is the one that comes up in all the trade talks...

 

[No spoken words]

What are your impressions of the Celtics after seeing them in person?

Well, I don't think that I saw them on a typical night. Rondo had a hot hand, and Garnett barely asserted himself on offense. Still, they looked pretty good. I think KG was in Deng's head or face all night, and so Deng had a bad shooting night. They forced Gordon into some bad shots as well, and as usual, Ben just kept on shooting regardless. Allen looked a step slower than I recall, but his jump shots are still one of the prettier things in the NBA. I think he hit 4 Threes on the night. Pierce's shot would not go down, but he passed the ball well and had some boards tool. KG had a quiet 16/9 night, but with 7 blocks. Big Baby threw his body around a lot and pulled down a lot of boards in a short period of time, and Posey played ok off the bench as well...

That's a long winded way of saying that I was not blown away, but, was slightly impressed. We were talking before the game, and we were most interested in seeing Rondo, because we feel that if the Celts want to get by the Pistons, Rondo is going to have to step his game up. If he plays like he did last night, well, not a lot more you can ask for.

 

[CTU2fan]

What is the deal with the Bulls fans booing Posey? Did he get into anything with them when he was with Miami? They booed whenever he touched the ball.

Oh and I had one of those "remember him?" moments last night. As in, "Hey there's Joe Smith, remember him?"

 

[No spoken words]

Didn't Posey, when with the Heat, clock Hinrich in the playoffs? Something like that.....they did boo him a lot, we noticed that too.

 

[Hewson]

Well, I don't think that I saw them on a typical night. Rondo had a hot hand, and Garnett barely asserted himself on offense. Still, they looked pretty good. I think KG was in Deng's head or face all night, and so Deng had a bad shooting night. They forced Gordon into some bad shots as well, and as usual, Ben just kept on shooting regardless. Allen looked a step slower than I recall, but his jump shots are still one of the prettier things in the NBA. I think he hit 4 Threes on the night. Pierce's shot would not go down, but he passed the ball well and had some boards tool. KG had a quiet 16/9 night, but with 7 blocks. Big Baby threw his body around a lot and pulled down a lot of boards in a short period of time, and Posey played ok off the bench as well...

That's a long winded way of saying that I was not blown away, but, was slightly impressed. We were talking before the game, and we were most interested in seeing Rondo, because we feel that if the Celts want to get by the Pistons, Rondo is going to have to step his game up. If he plays like he did last night, well, not a lot more you can ask for.

You touched on what to me has been most impressive about the Celts to date, their defense. They are doing a remarkable defensive job, so on nights when the offense doesn't click they still have a legit shot to win, and when the offense clicks, they blow people out.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Despite back-to-back losses against the woeful Sixers, New York Knicks head coach Isiah Thomas was reportedly told by owner James Dolan that his job is not in jeopardy.

Madison Square Garden has been at or near full capacity for every of the 2007-2008 season.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

as for the celtics... here are the two issues (and only two issues) i have with them.

#1, despite the fact that their bench has been playing better than expected, come playoff time they don't really have any other scorers besides the above average sized three, so if one (or more) of those guys gets injured, they're in deep shit.

#2, paul pierce could very well shoot them out of a playoff series.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Salary of Knicks Players on the Roster = $85,560,686
Salary of non roster players that still count against the cap = $16,400,000 (Steve Francis)
Total = $101,960,686

NBA Salary Cap = $55,630,000
Estimated Luxary Tax Threshold = $63,000,000
Estimated Knicks Luxary Tax Payment (dollar for dollar after treshold) = $38,960,686

Total Cost of 2007-2008 Knicks = $140,921,372
Cost Per Active Roster Spot (12) = $11,743,447.67

Cost per Active Roster Spot, San Antonio Spurs = $5,289,080
Cost per Active Roster Spot, Boston Red Sox = $5,721,048.56
Cost per Active Roster Spot, New York Yankees = $7,585,561.80
Cost per Active Roster Spot, New England Patriots = $1,700,000

Moeny Still being paid to former Knick coaches = $30,000,000

 

[Hewson]

^ Being Isiah Thomas and still having a job, priceless.

 

[Got Philk?]

Excellent Commercial! You should send it to Mastercard immediately!

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

December 10, 2007 -- Malik Rose has asked Isiah Thomas to keep him on the inactive list while requesting the club look to deal him if playing him is not in its plans.

Thomas is using the Knicks' open active roster spot to showcase rookie Wilson Chandler, who played the fourth quarter Saturday. Chandler's contract is eligible to be traded on Dec. 15 - the date the contracts of all first-round picks and free-agent signees can be moved.

Rose was inactive for the first time Saturday, with Chandler dressing and playing just over two minutes in the 105-77 loss to the Sixers. Rose said Thomas thought it was a good idea that he sit because he'd like to have Chandler active as well.

Rose believes he can better stay in shape by being inactive rather than sitting on the bench, waiting to get a call if there's foul trouble. If Rose knows he's inactive, he can do his full complement of weightlifting and workouts as he tries to stay in shape in case he is traded or there's an injury.

“It's hard on game days to work out," Rose said. “I told (Thomas) if he's not going to play me, put me on the injured list and I could get more work done on game day. I just want to play. Be it here or anywhere."

Rose would not specifically say if he demanded a trade, but he's been visibly emotional after losses.

The Post's Peter Vecsey reported Rose was offered to the Cavaliers in a sign-and-trade proposal for recently-signed Anderson Varejao.

i like malik rose

 

[tpsreports2424]

What is the deal with the Bulls fans booing Posey? Did he get into anything with them when he was with Miami? They booed whenever he touched the ball.

Oh and I had one of those "remember him?" moments last night. As in, "Hey there's Joe Smith, remember him?"

I was at that game wondering the exact same thing, but also I remember last year during the regular season when the bulls were beating Miami and like 45 seconds left Posey went on the line and everyone kept on screaming posey sucks...

 

[tpsreports2424]

Didn't Posey, when with the Heat, clock Hinrich in the playoffs? Something like that.....they did boo him a lot, we noticed that too.

Like I said in the last post, they screamed posey sucks and crap like that when he got the ball before playoffs happend..

and to add I dont think anyone would boo at a player who clocked hinrich..

 

[Got Philk?]

But...it was indeed Posey body checking Heinrich that caused all the boo's.

He has also been in two other controversial plays against the Bulls that have pissed we Bulls fans off. The first was Heinrich getting shoulder checked on a break.

The next was Tyrus Thomas getting elbowed in the nose, actually breaking it.

And then there was the hard foul Posey did on Deng mid air that caused him to land on his wrist...the same wrist he had surgery on the year before.

He has a history vs the Bulls.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

he shoulda elbowed paxson while he was on the way to the podium to draft tyrus thomas... am i right??

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

from today's New York Times
Thomas apparently had heard enough. Late in the game, he could be seen debating some fans sitting near the court. One of those fans, Mara Altschuler, was so enraged by the discussion that she sought out reporters after the final buzzer.

"He said it's the fans' fault because they don't have a good sixth man," said Altschuler, who has season tickets near midcourt. Her family has had the seats for more than 40 years, since the old Garden, she said.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

The Knicks weren’t the only New York athletes booed. John Maine and Oliver Perez, starting pitchers on the Mets team that blew a huge September lead and missed the playoffs, were booed when shown on the overhead scoreboard in the third quarter.

 

[Got Philk?]

I want to be a part of it...New York New York

 

[phanan]

 

[CTU2fan]

Wow, I can think of about 15 more boo-worthy Mets than Maine & Perez.

So, $11MM for Anucha...Isiah, pretty please, call me a bitch.

 

[U2@NYC]

The Most Valuable NBA Teams

By Kurt Badenhausen, Michael K. Ozanian and Christina Settimi, Forbes.com
December 10, 2007

You could not blame basketball fans for thinking the National Basketball Association is in big trouble. Just look at the news that has dominated the headlines the past several months. Ratings for the NBA Finals between San Antonio and Cleveland hit an all-time low. One of the league’s biggest stars, Kobe Bryant, went public with demands to be traded from the Los Angeles Lakers. A betting scandal involving a referee has scarred the league’s image. Seattle filed a lawsuit against the SuperSonics to prevent the team from leaving town. The scandalous New York Knicks, a vital market for the NBA, have proven to be completely inept both in a court of law and on the court.

But numbers compiled by Forbes tell quite a different story. The value of the typical NBA franchise rose six percent this year, to $372 million as the Knicks became the first basketball team to worth $600 million. NBA teams posted an average profit (in the sense of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $9.8 million, on revenues of $119 million. This is the highest income since Forbes began tracking basketball team finances 10 years ago.

The NBA's financial success is a result of three components: a steady increase in gate receipts; bigger TV deals, despite sagging ratings; and a collective bargaining agreement that tightly controls spending on players.

Ticket sales are not sexy – like streaming basketball games on the Internet or opening up offices in China – but they still pay the bills for teams. The NBA remains a gate-driven league. Gate receipts for the league rose 6 percent last season to $1.2 billion. At 33 percent of the league's $3.6 billion in revenue, it represents the NBA's largest revenue stream; national broadcast deals are next up at $1 billion or 28 percent. Last season, the league set an attendance record with 21.8 million fans, filling arenas to 92 percent capacity.

TV execs hoped LeBron James' first trip to the NBA Finals would goose falling ratings. But the 2007 Finals, which featured two small-market teams and a four-game sweep, proved to be a ratings disaster. The record-low rating of just 6.2 percent audience share was 27 percent lower than the previous year's Finals rating.

Yet two weeks after the Finals wrapped, the NBA and ESPN, ABC and TNT announced an eight-year, $7.4 billion extension to the agreement set to expire after the 2007-2008 season. It was a record both in terms of length and dollars for a national NBA TV deal, representing a 21 percent monetary increase over the current contract. The networks justified the increased payout by pointing to the value of the digital rights in the agreement. Networks continue to lust after sports programming because sports remain one of the few Tivo-proof options on television.

The NBA has had a salary cap for more than 20 years. It is a soft cap though, and usually exceeded by teams – only two team payrolls are below the cap this season. Starting with the 2001-2002 season, a new system was put in place as a result of a collective bargaining agreement between owners and players. This system rewarded owners who kept spending on players in check. Last season the Charlotte Bobcats and Utah Jazz both went from showing a loss to posting a profit thanks to a $6.3 million check from the league for keeping player spending under control.

One component of the new system is an escrow tax. The escrow tax is designed so that teams only spend 57 percent of league-wide revenues on player salaries. Last season, players contributed 9 percent, or $177 million, of their $2 billion salary haul to an escrow account. That money is split between owners and players, so total player salaries and benefits are reduced to 57 percent of league-wide revenue. Last season, owners divvied up $155 million of the escrow account, while $22 million went back to the players.

The second component of the system is a luxury tax. The luxury tax threshold is proving to be much more important than the salary cap number, as teams are loathe to pay the tax. Teams must pay one dollar in tax for every dollar they spend on players over a certain threshold – last season, it was $65.4 million. The tax is a double-whammy in that tax-paying teams are ineligible to receive distributions from the tax revenues collected. Five teams paid the tax last year, with the Knicks leading the way with a $45 million tax bill. The other four taxpaying teams chipped in $10 million.

The Knicks, like the New York Yankees in baseball, are its league's most valuable franchise, but still managed to post the biggest operating loss in the NBA last year. The reasons are similar: Both teams spend big money on players and are looking to build asset values of their teams as well as media properties. The Knicks spent $166 million on players last season, including luxury taxes, and lost $42 million – the $18.5 million severance for coach Larry Brown didn't help the bottom line either. In contrast, the Chicago Bulls spent $59 million on players and earned a profit of $59 million.

Several former bottom-feeding teams in the NBA saw big gains in our 2007 valuations. The Cavaliers, who rode on LeBron James' back to the NBA Finals, are now worth $455 million, up 20 percent. The Cavs also gained as a result of a new cable deal with FSN Ohio, worth $25 million a year on average – more than double the old contract. The agreement kicked off last season.

The Toronto Raptors' value jumped 18 percent, thanks to a surging Canadian dollar and better play on the court, where the team's win total went from 27 to 47. The Golden State Warriors value rose 16 percent thanks to improved play, and the value of the Orlando Magic increased 14 percent to $322 now that a new arena for the team has been approved.

The top five:

1. New York Knicks
2. Los Angeles Lakers
3. Chicago Bulls
4. Detroit Pistons
5. Houston Rockets

 

[CTU2fan]

Nice night for Big Baby in his first start. 16 points, 9 boards.

 

[LMP]

Go Magic...

 

[namkcuR]

Apparently Eddy Curry is now on the trading block for the Knicks.

And apparently there are more than a few Knicks outside of Malik Rose that want out.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

one can only hope he gives up all of our 1st round picks for the next 10 years when he traded eddy curry.

 

[Got Philk?]

Curry got blocked by Nocioni twice last game vs. the Bulls.

In fact, the Bulls blocked 15 shots total vs the Knicks.

I just wanted to point that out.

 

[CTU2fan]

And apparently there are more than a few Knicks outside of Malik Rose that want out.

I can't imagine why.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Curry got blocked by Nocioni twice last game vs. the Bulls.

In fact, the Bulls blocked 15 shots total vs the Knicks.

I just wanted to point that out.

that's like bragging after beating hellen keller prep.

 

[Got Philk?]

Is that prep like Preppy...as in what AC Slater used to call Zach Morris on Saved by the Bell? nice...


Hey, do the Knicks still have Randolph Morris?