Odd things you've noticed in the NBA..

[SpaceFlare]

I don't think the problem is really with the trade demands, more on the manner in which players publicly display their frustration with their situation.

Look at Vince Carter, the guy is hated by nearly all, if not all, Canadian basketball fans even though the trade happened years ago. He basically blasted Toronto for not surrounding with a winning team and he went so far as to admit that he never gave it his all when he was with the Raptors. (VC is one of those players that I hate so much.. I'll quit hating when he finally busts his ass and stops settling for those outside jumpers and stops his whining)

I've often come to think that it was customary players who just got traded away from the teams they used to play for but there are some players who have handled being traded well. Kevin Garnett is still loved in Minnesota and his return was celebrated, unlike other players returning to their former cities.

[Andrew]

There were still public trade demands though. Some of the avenues such as blogs on official websites weren't there, but there were still interviews and articles where players made it clear that they wanted out.

[Fcuk Orlando]

On the sideline ADs on most western teams theres always that ambiguous Lumber Liquidators AD

[SpaceFlare]

There were still public trade demands though. Some of the avenues such as blogs on official websites weren't there, but there were still interviews and articles where players made it clear that they wanted out.

I don't think there's a problem with expressing a desire to be traded and displaying that to the media. But that desire shouldn't interfere with how much effort you put into your game as long as you aren't traded. Sure you may want to be traded but you should still show up for games, play hard and do what your team needs you to do and just hope that they grant your request. As long as that team is giving you your paycheck, you should play hard for them, that is what I believe.

[Andrew]

Absolutely, it's unquestionably unprofessional. I'm not saying it's not a problem, just that it's not something that's just started happening in recent years.

[shadowgrin]

I don't think there's a problem with expressing a desire to be traded and displaying that to the media. But that desire shouldn't interfere with how much effort you put into your game as long as you aren't traded. Sure you may want to be traded but you should still show up for games, play hard and do what your team needs you to do and just hope that they grant your request. As long as that team is giving you your paycheck, you should play hard for them, that is what I believe.

Iverson did that but the team benched him instead.
He didn't show up for practice though but that's a usual Iverson habit.

[SpaceFlare]

Well, Iverson has some screwed views on practice (we talkin' bout practice, not a game, not a game... ) but he unquestionably pours his heart out in every game.

I think Philly just benched him because they didn't want him to get hurt. There aren't really a lot of teams who would trade for injured players. And with the way Iverson plays, there is a big possibility he would get hurt.

[shadowgrin]

Philly management said they didn't want Iverson to affect the other players' morale. That injury reason sounds very good though, too bad the management didn't say it as their reason.

[Andrew]

The moment they publically declared they'd trade him, they lost all leverage no matter what reason they gave for benching him while trade options were explored.

[Abctest123]

How Denver scores freaking 168 points. They beat the Seattle Sonics 168-116, won by 52 points. Wow. Is this the most a team has scored without going into overtime?

[Andrew]

Not quite, but they came close. The Celtics scored 173 in a game back in 1959 and the Suns matched that (funnily enough against the Nuggets) in 1990.

[Dan's Brain]

The Celtics scored 173 in a game back in 1959

Is that pre-3 point line and pre-shot clock? If so, that would have been unbelievable.

[Andrew]

It was before the three point line but the shot clock had been adopted by that point.

[Dan's Brain]

Oh.

Well, that would have been a piece of piss then.

[Fitzy]

thats a hell of alot of two pointers

[Andrew]

Probably a lot of free throws as well.

[Drex]

A lot of white guys' D, too.

[Andrew]

I looked up both games on basketballreference.com but unfortunately they don't list boxscores for either of them.

[benji]

What I could find out about the 1959 game:
Celtics took 80 field goal attempts in the second half, Lakers took 73. Celtics took 47 attempts in the fourth quarter, Lakers took 39.
Boston outscored Minneapolis 52-44 in the fourth. (Not a record, Buffalo scored 58 in the fourth in 1972.)
Boston hit 56 free throws to the Lakers 47.

Denver vs. Phoenix game (it was 107-67 at the end of the first half) boxscore: http://www.basketball-reference.com/box ... 00PHO.html
Phoenix had 50 points in the first quarter, a record, with 37 for Denver. They then dropped 57 in the second quarter.

Wilt's 100 point game is the next highest with 169 for the Warriors. They outscored the Knicks 90-79 in the second half. The Knicks outscored Wilt 79-59 in the second half.

[Andrew]

Seems I was looking at the wrong website. basketballreference.com didn't have boxscores for the Suns/Nuggets game, but basketball-reference.com obviously does.

[Mayerhendrix]

The shot clock too frequently starts late. You would think that in a professional league like the NBA they could keep the time correctly.

There does seem to be a lot of malfunctions in what is sure to be pretty expensive equipment. There was an absurd amount of stoppages in the Blazers/Knicks game a week ago due to shot clock problems.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/news/story?id=3243053

Tell that to Tennessee, and Rutgers.

[Andrew]

Certainly human error can be the cause of clock problems the same as a fault with the technology, but I was referring specifically to cases of the equipment malfunctioning rather than clock disputes in general.

[shadowgrin]

What's up with basketball-reference.com and databasebasketball.com (formerly known as basketballreference.com), they seem to have the same format in their sites.

[Andrew]

I guess it's just a popular format for the material.

[shadowgrin]

Rick Kamla being all over any NBA broadcast. The only one I can remember having a similar push is Ahmad Rashad.