lol.

No, I don't believe the league is actually planning anything like that.

Victor is saying the league would obv rather rig it against the Cavs so Bron goes to NY.

I'm saying even if that were the case, the league obv wants a Kobe/Lebron finals badly.

This true Vic? You think they want Lebron to NOT win it? So he goes to NY?

partially.

it behooves the league if bron is in nyc.

and if celts make the finals it is better for the league than cavs as well. that is mitigated by the cavs likely being a better laker matchup than magic.

sigh

I thought recent ratings said otherwise? Maybe it's just local ratings I'm thinking of. I know the Cavs had the 2nd highest local ratings of any team of the 4 major sports this year, behind the Red Sox.

o hi pot

cavs had a very high percentage of cleveland households watching the games. i think highest in the league.

but i think lakers still beat them in total viewership despite ranking like 20th in percentage.

and you can expect that to diverge more in favor of laker viewership in the playoffs.

i will try and look up the windy article, tho i posted it in tz when he wrote it.

[/B] i dont know obv, but i would think that a labron and shack team would attract more people to watch the finals than a bunch of old celtics.

so yeah they are trying to protect their "billions of dollars"

well, you are wrong. and lol at ppl caring about shaq anymore.

casual fans dont give a *** about lebron. kobe is still better and more marketable. cavs finals is gonna gain very few casual fans.

celtic finals will gain a decent amount of local market. cavs already have a huge percentage of their metro area following the team. there are little casual local fans to pick up, bc they already watch the cavs. whereas, the celts have a larger market, and tons of transiet fans spread across the country.

there is a windhorst article detailing the cavs metro percentages in comparison to the rest of the league etc. the last few sentences are my own interpretation.

there were just a bunch of lol calls in the 4th quarter imo. the perkins foul under the basket followed by the no call when he was on offense trying to get a put back, followed by kevin garnett getting called for some push on varejao on a loose ball play was pretty funny.

now not all of them were bad. when perk was fighting on the loose ball on the offensive end and them letting that slide was fine, but the perk call under the rim when he was on defense was ridiculous as well as the garnett foul.

i must have missed the kg hit on shack.

i dont really think they are rigging the games. i just think that the officials have been really bad in the playoffs and instead of the nba evaluating it, they just fine players and coaches that lash out.

really ******ed imo

perk fould on lebron? when he moved lebrons 250lb frame a couple feet on impact? ya that was such an obv fould. sorry but lebron wasnt even payin attention to dive there and he just moved an appreciable amount. i think we can deduce perk put a decent amount of force into him to move him there.

the kg on av foul was weird. i thought it was a foul in real time. the replay was only one angle and it was inconclusive. given kgs rep, well, you know where im going.

im not really making a stance on either side about who would make more money in the playoffs(big market team with little star power or small market team with star power). from pure speculation i would think that it would be close because casual fans root for the big name players.

The first round series were alright, despite what Howard thought. Obviously, there isn't going to be a perfect night for officials, and we don't expect that, but there has to be more consistency.

They have to be more consistent with guys going up and getting hit on the body but not on the arm/hand. When guys man up on each other and start using their hands, that has to be called better, I see way too many touch fouls.

Also, the 3 second violation on offense/defense is a joke. Traveling an carrying hardly get called enough. Watching FFD post up and start backing guys down while getting his hand under the ball, and that not being called is just horrific. Guys stepping over the line when inbounding after a scored basket, should be called too, if it's a rule it should be upheld.

on the perk foul, it was for an offensive rebound not the shot iirc. on the replay i really didnt see him pushing anyone out of the way. the foul perk had on lebron was a foul(where he didnt clear the restricted area and bodied him?)

don't know why you guys still argue with Vic...

Pretty much every thing you wrote in your last 20 posts ITT is ridiculous, but this takes the cake.

i do agree vic that lebron prob gets less called when he is on offense from just about any player in the nba but that is kind of from his style.

he's not a lighter player like kobe and wade. a lot of the time when he is driving and he gets hacked im shocked he doesnt get the call. however there are other times when he just drops his head and bowls into them and he doesnt get called for that either.

i think refs are just more willing to allow contact with him because of the style he plays, kind of like shaq was in his prime.

ya i am talkin about the oreb where perk contacted lebron and lebron instantly lost balance and fell like 3 ft forward and missed the rbound.

eh i guess. i shoulda just said casual fans dont care about nba.

There's enough interest for the league to care.

is dwight howard a star? then howcome he gets **** calls?

From ESPN - Rondo breathing rarefied air:

Rondo became the third player in playoff history to have at least 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Oscar Robertson had 32 points, 19 rebounds and 13 assists in 1963, and Wilt Chamberlain had 29 points, 36 rebounds and 13 assists in 1967.


Aside on Tommy Heinsohn: During Rondo's rookie season, while Boston was positioning for Oden/Durant, Heinsohn was touting Rondo's upside. During Rondo's sophomore season, while Boston was driving to banner 17, Heinsohn stated, multiple times, that Rondo was a hall of fame type talent. I'm giving Heinsohn a Tommy Point.

celtics do not get all the calls normally and that game was def pro cavs reffed, if u want a team that gets more calls than they should look no further than the lakers

Rondo is good but this is homer-licious.

i've been a pretty big rondo hater but it's clear hes taken his game to a much higher level these past 2 years (and especially this year)

i don't think it's a stretch at all to say he has hof type talent, hes also only 23