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adexkola

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It is clever and he did this last year too. To be honest I think only reason people care is because it was against Giannis. Doesn't help EPSN missed out on that match up and made a talking point all day. I get why to some it does make him look a little bad as he picked this one to not play and not Portland.
It kind of fecks with the NBA's revenue model. Which is why David Stern went apeshit when Pop rested Duncan, Parker and Man Utd for the duration of a Christmas day game against LeBron's Heat team.

Will the players accept a cut in salaries in exchange for the ability to load manage through high marquee games? That's the bottom line ultimately. Even if the messenger (ESPN) isn't the most impartial.
 

SportingCP96

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Don't see any really outstanding players in college basketball so far. Cole Anthony is the only one who seemed to ball out but I could be wrong as I did not catch all the games. Tomorrow I will be able to watch more so should be fun.

Also Knicks:lol:

As for Kawhi if he is physically fit which he presumably is then it makes no sense to "load manage" only 2 weeks into the season. If we were in March maybe halfway and ya miss a game or 2 sure I guess but 8 games in?

Will watch the Heat game tonight as they have looked really fun and the Suns have been a surprise team.

EDIT: Just saw James Wiseman had an excellent debut and was the consensus #1 recruit so will be keeping an eye on him.
 
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RooneyLegend

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Resting players against potential title contenders is nothing short of stupid. Especially in a league where there is so much trash.
 

kouroux

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It kind of fecks with the NBA's revenue model. Which is why David Stern went apeshit when Pop rested Duncan, Parker and Man Utd for the duration of a Christmas day game against LeBron's Heat team.

Will the players accept a cut in salaries in exchange for the ability to load manage through high marquee games? That's the bottom line ultimately. Even if the messenger (ESPN) isn't the most impartial.
The question is what can the NBA do about it ? Teams have their own doctors and players "know" their bodies.
 

Sarni

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Don't see any really outstanding players in college basketball so far. Cole Anthony is the only one who seemed to ball out but I could be wrong as I did not catch all the games. Tomorrow I will be able to watch more so should be fun.

Also Knicks:lol:

As for Kawhi if he is physically fit which he presumably is then it makes no sense to "load manage" only 2 weeks into the season. If we were in March maybe halfway and ya miss a game or 2 sure I guess but 8 games in?

Will watch the Heat game tonight as they have looked really fun and the Suns have been a surprise team.

EDIT: Just saw James Wiseman had an excellent debut and was the consensus #1 recruit so will be keeping an eye on him.
Well he isn't. He's not played in back to backs for a very long time and had serious issues with injuries back in San Antonio. He's their most important player and it would be silly to risk him not being 100% for the postseason because you play him too much in regular season.

He should be playing in 60-65 games and then be fire in the playoffs, which is what will happen this season. I'm pretty sure Toronto wouldn't have won the title if they hand't managed his playing time last season.
 

Sarni

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Resting players against potential title contenders is nothing short of stupid. Especially in a league where there is so much trash.
Why? Their team isn't at 100% and they are still getting used to each other. Chances are you would still lose that game even with Kawhi, and they had to rest him in one of the back to backs. Choosing Milwaukee game was 100% correct.

If anything it's better to rest them against good teams and throw the game away. It doesn't really matter for postseason.
 

RooneyLegend

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Why? Their team isn't at 100% and they are still getting used to each other. Chances are you would still lose that game even with Kawhi, and they had to rest him in one of the back to backs. Choosing Milwaukee game was 100% correct.

If anything it's better to rest them against good teams and throw the game away. It doesn't really matter for postseason.
It's not because the regular season is a great place to test out match ups and the likes. Not sure they would have lost had he played cause as we've seen he can slow the freak down.

Why? rest him against the poor teams and still win the games. He'll get his rest and potential home court won't be affected.
 

Sarni

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It's not because the regular season is a great place to test out match ups and the likes. Not sure they would have lost had he played cause as we've seen he can slow the freak down.

Why? rest him against the poor teams and still win the games. He'll get his rest and potential home court won't be affected.
Not this early, the teams that Clippers and Bucks have at this point are different to what they will go into the playoffs with anyway. They will both make trades, and they will both get significant players from the buyout market. Plus Clippers did not have Paul George who will be huge for them when he returns.

Any conclusions they would get from this game would be insignificant and if you are looking at it from that perspective then you may as well say Clippers have prevented Bucks from knowing how to set up against them too.

He can't play back to backs at this point I think, and Portland game would have been very tricky without him. Also I am not that sure they would find it easy to beat weaker teams without him, especially at this stage of season when nobody is really tanking yet. It will be different story when George returns - they will only need one of them to dispose of 18-20 out of 29 remaining teams most of the time.

It was basically the choice of whether you prefer to have a 20/80 game against Milwaukee and 80/20 against Portland (if you rest Kawhi) or 50/50 against both with Kawhi playing against Milwaukee and resting against Portland.
 

SportingCP96

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Well he isn't. He's not played in back to backs for a very long time and had serious issues with injuries back in San Antonio. He's their most important player and it would be silly to risk him not being 100% for the postseason because you play him too much in regular season.

He should be playing in 60-65 games and then be fire in the playoffs, which is what will happen this season. I'm pretty sure Toronto wouldn't have won the title if they hand't managed his playing time last season.
I agree they would not have won last season if he was not rested but his exact words is that he feels a lot better than at this stage last season. IF he is presumably healthy then I cant understand missing 2 games already and the season just started. IF he is in fact injured then that is a different story obviously.
 

Sarni

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I agree they would not have won last season if he was not rested but his exact words is that he feels a lot better than at this stage last season. IF he is presumably healthy then I cant understand missing 2 games already and the season just started. IF he is in fact injured then that is a different story obviously.
Yeah I think he's either injured or at risk of getting injured. I also think they honestly don't care about regular season, they know they will win 50 games anyway and they are indifferent to seedings.
 

SportingCP96

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Yeah I think he's either injured or at risk of getting injured. I also think they honestly don't care about regular season, they know they will win 50 games anyway and they are indifferent to seedings.
As a side note you really gotta respect Lou Williams mentality because he can easily start for most teams but he is fine with coming off the bench.. Dude is ice cold!
 

Sarni

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As a side note you really gotta respect Lou Williams mentality because he can easily start for most teams but he is fine with coming off the bench.. Dude is ice cold!
Yeah but he’s actually playing 31+ minutes a night. That’s more than a lot of starters in NBA play. His bench status is a bit artificial at this point and so is Harrell’s.
 

SportingCP96

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Yeah but he’s actually playing 31+ minutes a night. That’s more than a lot of starters in NBA play. His bench status is a bit artificial at this point and so is Harrell’s.
Ya especially with Paul George out they have more of a important role in the team not that they didn’t have one already before.
 

Jim Beam

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Some really good games tonight. Will probably go with Bucks - Jazz as I haven't see much of the Bucks this season. Aside from looking like a great matchup.
 

Sarni

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Wiseman has been banned from playing in the NCAA. Wow.
 

edcunited1878

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That's unfortunate...shows how impractical the NCAA is as a tax exempt not for profit organization. This is an organization that has annual revenues exceed $1 Billion USD....
 

SportingCP96

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How about them Knicks though :eek: y’all should be losing this is not part of the master plan!:lol:

Luka is just unreal and he’s ONLY 20....Jesus what a player.
 

SportingCP96

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We are god awful at free throws...
 

Sarni

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Dame with 60 and we still lose to Nets. Pathetic effort from CJ. Guess I need to start looking at lottery prospects.
 

SportingCP96

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Its between him and Cole Anthony at the moment for that #1 pick. He is a special passer similar to Lonzo but a much better scorer than his older brother.
 

Jim Beam

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Aside from the whole team and executives there, don't think it is the brightest idea to take them during a plane flight.
 

freeurmind

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I posted it simply for where Gilbert tells the story about he just took Nick Young's shoes before shootaround of a game, $380 DG shoes without asking and played the whole game with them. Rachel Nichols then asks "What did Nick Young say when he found out?". Richard Jefferson says "Don't shoot me".
 

Revan

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Philly vs Clippers would be interesting. The Clippers have no answer for Embiid. But Kawhi and George can both shut down Simmons.
Simmons is a non threat in playoffs anyway. He gets auto shut downed.