The NBA is Broken. 10 ways to fix it.

September 15, 2007

Yes, David Stern is a genius.  Yes, more people call him a genius than have ever called me a genius (even jokingly).  But I have some ideas for Mr. Stern and the players union.  They can take the already good product, and make it great for everyone.

1.  Increase the integrity.  Test every player for everything.  Do a sample of players, I don’t care, but test for every banned substance in season and off season.  Do the same for referees.  For referees, or players, that bet on NBA games, banish them for life, no exceptions, even if it is not on their team or a game they were playing/officiating in.

2.  Give referees employee reviews.  Maybe they have them, but if so, they need better ones.  Listen to Cuban on this.  Inconsistency in game-calling takes the attention off the game, and only makes people frustrated.  When your team is losing because of bad calls, that is a bad thing for the game.

3.  Less is more.  Cut down the season.  60 games and no more.  Enough has already been said about this by others much smarter than me.  Who cares about the scoring records.  People care about the now.  And if the NBA doesn’t, it will be irrelevant in a very short time.

4.  Expand to the world.  Don’t wait.  Every year that goes by with the USA losing in international competition is another year where the rest of the world says, “Why do we NEED the NBA?”  If you shorten the season, you have time to travel with more days in between games.  Who cares about the arenas not being large enough in Europe.  Small, packed out environments are better anyway.

5.  Create game nights.  Speaking of days in between games.  Set NBA game nights, where there is a certain night of the week where every team plays.  Lets say Tuesday night, or Thursday night.  Just say something.  Also, have one night set aside where no other teams play on that night.  For research on this matter check out Monday Night Football.

6.  Shorten the games.  Why does the NBA feel like it needs to have such long games, to justify the ticket price?  Shorten the games down to 40 minutes, along with reducing the number of games, and you will get more intense games, kind of like the thing everybody loves so much about college basketball.

7.  Increase the age limit.  Do not let players in the league unless they are 21 on draft night.  I know this is something the NBA wants, but because of the union they have not been able to get.  Let Oden and Durant dominate on the college level before they get stuck on a bad team in the NBA with little national coverage for years (unless you’re Lebron of course).

8.  Fire the union.  In order to get all of this done, you’ll have to fire the union.  If the players want to strike, go and sign all of the players from Europe.  They’ve proven to be as talented, and fans love the international players.

9.  Serve the fan who gives nothing.  Many of the biggest NBA fans will never pay for a ticket to go see a game.  They may not have the money.  Why is the NBA marketing department not caring a little more about them?  Why don’t they require teams to have player days at malls, sports bars, and grills.  There would be one player day a year, in which every player on every team would have to spend 3 hours meeting and talking with fans.  Each player would go to a different venue in the area (mall, restaurant, sports bar).  Trust me, the viral marketing you get by serving the fans who don’t go to the games would be worth it.

10.  Hire Big D and Nate Dogg to do a podcast for you.  That would win more fans than all of the above.

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2007-2008 NBA Schedule – Second Glance

August 5, 2007

Here are the rest of the highlighted games to circle on your calendar as you prepare for the 2007-08 NBA Regular Season:
11/6
Denver at New York
Early in the season we have our first opportunity for suspensions. Oh wait; the first opportunity is when Rasheed Wallace walks on to the court on Halloween.
11/9
Dallas at Golden State
At halftime they will bring back Celebrity Boxing with Nellie versus Cuban.
11/24
Miami at Orlando
We get to find out if there were any hard feelings between Stan Van Gundy and Pat Riley.
12/25
Heat at Cavs 2pm ABC
Suns at Lakers 5:15 ABC
Sonics at Blazers 8pm ESPN
The league puts it’s best foot forward with Shaq, D-Wade, LeBron, Durant, Oden, Nash, and Kobe. Good job! I am looking forward to these games more than I am to Santa!
1/4
Heat at Mavs
By this point in the season Dirk will need a Shrink, and so will Nate Dogg.
1/18
Blazers at Miami
Oden versus Shaq on HDTV. Note to self: Buy a Bigger T.V.
2/8
Boston at Minnesota
Boston loses on purpose, but this year to say thanks to Kevin McHale the best GM in sports.
2/22
Boston at Phoenix
NBA Finals Preview (this prediction according to Big D…Nate Dogg is going for the Mavericks in 07-08)
3/9
Spurs at Phoenix
Western Conference Finals preview and I will be courtside to walk 25 feet on to the court so that Amare can stay on the bench and not be suspended by a stupid rule.
4/11
Cavs at Bulls
Joakim Noah, Varejao, and Big Ben Wallace on the floor at the same time. Let’s go crazy with the marketing and hand out free wigs!


NBA 2007-2008 Schedule Opening Week

August 2, 2007

odenThe 2007-08 NBA Schedule has been released and here are some of the opening week highlights:

Tuesday, October 30th
Portland at San Antonio – Timmy welcomes Oden to the league, but Oden is more interested in meeting Eva Longoria during shoot around (TNT).
Houston at LA Lakers – Two of the best off-season point guard upgrades (Steve Francis and Derek Fisher) go head to head. Oh yeah, Kobe might be there, too (TNT).

Wednesday, October 31st
Seattle at Denver – Kevin Durant plays the first of many 10:30 EST “past our bed time” games on ESPN.

Thursday, November 1st
Phoenix at Seattle – Kevin Durant plays the second of many 10:30 EST “past our bed time” games on TNT (this will get old fast).

Friday, November 2nd
Washington at Boston – The other Kevin makes his Celtics debut and scores 101 points because he is so excited to be wearing green (ESPN).

To view the entire schedule click here


Kevin Garnett to be Traded to the Boston Celtics

July 30, 2007

KGLadies and Gentlemen: Kevin Garnett is finally free after 12 long years in Minnesota. Just when it looked like K.G. would remain with the T-Wolves for the rest of his career, a blockbuster trade by Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale will send K.G. to the East for the following: Danny Ainge’s Ferrari, one of Paul Pierce’s headbands, an autographed Larry Bird Celtics Jersey, a Celtics championship trophy, the rights to ESPN’s overhyped Sebastian Telfair series, half of the Celtics coaching staff, and everybody currently on the team not named Ray Allen or Paul Pierce. Actually the last statement is close to reality. Check out the following AP article that lists out the potential package that will make Kevin Garnett a member of the 2007-08 Boston Celtics:

BOSTON (AP) — Kevin Garnett is leaving Minnesota after the Boston Celtics agreed to acquire the All-Star forward in a multiplayer trade with the Timberwolves, a Celtics official told The Associated Press on Monday. Among the players who could be headed to Minnesota are forward Al Jefferson, guard Sebastian Telfair, swingman Gerald Green and center Theo Ratliff.

Read the entire AP article>

If you are not a math major and need help breaking down the trade numbers check out Marc Stein’s article at ESPN.com


What Players are Saying about the NBA Scandal

July 26, 2007

A Top Ten List from Big D to Lighten Things Up a Bit…enjoy!
What NBA Players Might Be Saying about the Referee Scandal:
10. “Does this mean they are going to start calling traveling?”
09. “I bet he is guilty…not that I bet or anything…seriously…”
08. “He hasn’t turned himself in yet? Hey, isn’t Shaq a police officer?”
07. “That’s awful! Trade me…wait…Don’t trade me…um…” (Kobe)
06. “This proves one thing: Mark Cuban is an undercover FBI agent!”
05. “Stephen A. Smith is going to have a field day with this all season.”
04. “Charles Barkley is going to have a field day with this all season.”
03. “That’s it! I’m taking all referees out of my T-Mobile FAV-5 right now!”
02. “Now ‘And-1′ will forever be known as a points-shaving term – ouch.”
01. “Did you hear Danny Ainge is working on a trade to aquire Donaghy?”


David Stern and the Media

July 25, 2007

sternAfter David Stern’s press conference yesterday I have two questions:
(1) How would you feel right now if you were an NBA referee not named Tim Donaghy?
If this is really what commissioner David Stern labeled a “rogue, isolated criminal” yesterday, then the NBA referee fraternity has to be furious. As Stern said in his press conference this has “devastated the league and threatened the credibility of every referee.” Stern said that to his knowledge no other officials or players were involved and that he believes that there will be no others implicated in the betting scandal.
(Read entire AP article)

(2) How will the media handle this as the 07-08 NBA season draws near?
This will put a cloud over the entire pre-season and first two months of the NBA season and then will cool off until the playoffs arrive in late April, then it will be the headline that reaches far beyond the sports world…like it is right now. I do not think that this is the ratings boost that the NBA wanted after ratings tanked in the NBA Finals. This is obviously the worst situation that David Stern has faced in his 23 years as NBA Commish. I just wish ESPN would stop asking the stupid poll question: Which Pro Sports Commissioner would you least like to be? That is like asking a 7 year-old if he would prefer liver, squash, or sardines for dinner! Donaghy…Vick…Bonds… It all stinks!


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