millbank Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 NBA Lottery The Toronto Raptors earned their first No. 1 draft pick in franchise history by winning the 2006 NBA draft lottery Tuesday. The Raptors entered the lottery with an 8.8 per cent chance to get the number-one pick. The Chicago Bulls will select second, followed by the Charlotte Bobcats.
Acantha Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 Yeah, but if Buffalo had a team in the playoffs, we would be seeing basketball fans (and experts) a plenty.
ExiledInIllinois Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 Yeah, but if Buffalo had a team in the playoffs, we would be seeing basketball fans (and experts) a plenty. 696927[/snapback] Not me... I guess it goes back to Stern and the NBA stiffing the Braves! I just keep up with who is winning and that is it.
Mark VI Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 NBA = Nothing But Apathy Playoff games in WNY pull a rating of 1. A cooking infomercial on an opposite station receives better ratings.
CajunBillsBacker Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 The Bulls made off like bandits with the trade with NY. I hope they get Thomas.
stuckincincy Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 Not me... I guess it goes back to Stern and the NBA stiffing the Braves! 696928[/snapback] Ah...yes. Bob Lanier went to the Pistons instead of one of the expansion teams. IIRC, the Braves picked Snyder's friend's kid - Tom McMillan of MD. What a dud. Portland picked Geoff Petrie, and I think Cleveland picked Austin Carr.
bartshan-83 Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 It's so strange how people who claim to have no interest in the NBA just can't resist the urge to reply to every NBA thread with a cute comment. As for the draft, good for the Raptors. They could rebuild very quickly. Unfortunately this draft isn't worth a damn.
smokinandjokin Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 The Bulls made off like bandits with the trade with NY. I hope they get Thomas. 696955[/snapback] That trade was hilarious. The Bulls get rid of an unhappy and unproductive Eddy Curry, still make the playoffs, and get the Knicks' #2 overall pick. Isaiah Thomas is one of the worst executives in all of sports or business. How he still has a job is beyond me. He hasn't done anything right in about seven years. Drafting Carter and McGrady when he was Toronto's GM were probably his last good decisions.
X. Benedict Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 NBA = Nothing But Apathy Playoff games in WNY pull a rating of 1. A cooking infomercial on an opposite station receives better ratings. 696930[/snapback] I prefer Time Life's Back to the Seventies infomercial. Followed by the Magic Bullet NBA is a distant third.
Beerball Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 Isaiah Thomas is one of the worst executives in all of sports or business. How he still has a job is beyond me. 696999[/snapback] Two reasons, he has a pretty smile and the knicks owner is an a$$ of the highest magnitude.
bartshan-83 Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 Isaiah Thomas is one of the worst executives in all of sports or business. How he still has a job is beyond me. He hasn't done anything right in about seven years. Drafting Carter and McGrady when he was Toronto's GM were probably his last good decisions. 696999[/snapback] Agree 100%. I would go as far as to say that he is an equally horrid coach. He coaches/manages like he played...a lot of arrogance. Unfortunately, his brain can't compensate in the business side of the game like his body did in the physical part.
smokinandjokin Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 Agree 100%. I would go as far as to say that he is an equally horrid coach. He coaches/manages like he played...a lot of arrogance. Unfortunately, his brain can't compensate in the business side of the game like his body did in the physical part. 697005[/snapback] Horrible coach. In 2000-01, Thomas led the Pacers (fresh off a 56-26 record and an appearance in the NBA Finals under Larry Bird) to a 41-41 record. He followed that up with a 42-40 record in 2001-02, and 48-34 in 2002-03. His replacement, Rick Carlisle, led the team to a 61-21 record the very next season. That's a 15-game swing when he arrived and a 13-game swing when he left. Don't forget, he ran the CBA into the ground. The league went bankrupt and folded under his watch. Couple all of that with the horrendous decisions he's made as Knicks GM, plus one sexual harassment claim from a former Knicks staffer, and it's amazing they pay this guy. The funniest part is, he continues to make trades that are worse than the one before. It's become comical.
bartshan-83 Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 Horrible coach. In 2000-01, Thomas led the Pacers (fresh off a 56-26 record and an appearance in the NBA Finals under Larry Bird) to a 41-41 record. He followed that up with a 42-40 record in 2001-02, and 48-34 in 2002-03. His replacement, Rick Carlisle, led the team to a 61-21 record the very next season. That's a 15-game swing when he arrived and a 13-game swing when he left. Don't forget, he ran the CBA into the ground. The league went bankrupt and folded under his watch. Couple all of that with the horrendous decisions he's made as Knicks GM, plus one sexual harassment claim from a former Knicks staffer, and it's amazing they pay this guy. The funniest part is, he continues to make trades that are worse than the one before. It's become comical. 697018[/snapback] He is the Stephan Marbury of the management side. You think he is talented but every team he leaves gets better and every team he joins gets worse. I loved when Bird fired him.
OnTheRocks Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 I loved when Bird fired him. 697020[/snapback] that was one of the greatest moments in NBA history. it was just so beautiful! as for the Raptors, I am still seething over the fact the stupid owner of the Suns just let Bryan Colangelo walk away. Colangelo is a basketball genius.
Dan III Posted May 24, 2006 Posted May 24, 2006 I wish Isiah Thomas would run Al Quaeda 697043[/snapback] I was thinking the pats.. but yours is better.
Kelly the Dog Posted May 25, 2006 Posted May 25, 2006 If Buffalo had an NBA team you guys wouldn't be bashing the NBA at all, unless, of course, we sucked. The playoffs have been outstanding. Yesterday's Mavs/Suns game was awesome. And the ratings for the NBA across the country are going through the roof. The NBA is back. The money committed for national-cable coverage of pro basketball four years ago was staggering -- $2.4 billion by ESPN/ABC and $2.2 billion by TNT -- but the Nielsen ratings of the 2006 NBA postseason so far are making the investment look like a bargain. TNT shot up 23% in households for the second round of the NBA Playoffs compared with the same period in 2005. Average viewership is 3.3 million homes, which helped the cablercabler finish a dominant first among all cable networks for the week ended May 21. And the household ratings of ESPN's second-round coverage were equally robust, climbing by 30% across six cablecasts. Overall, counting 15 cablecasts in the first and second rounds, ESPN was up by 19% from the same number of games in 2005. "We think these playoffs mark a watershed for the NBA," said David Levy, president of Turner Sports. Levy added that sports mavens are going to have to stop crying the blues about how the game fell apart when Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird retired. "There is a new group of stars like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitski and Dwayne Wade that are pulling in the fans," he said. TNT's gains flowed across all the key young demographics, led by a 20% jump among the Madison Ave.-friendly demo of men 18 to 34. ESPN's ABC sibling grew by 15% in households for its coverage of five second-round games, and by 16% for the nine broadcasts during the first and second rounds. It's the new stars, plus the tightness of many of the playoff games -- nine have spilled into overtime and most have remained in doubt until the final minutes -- that have "brought the excitement back to pro basketball big time," said Levy. Levy also gives kudos to NBA commissioner David Stern for negotiating a solid collective-bargaining agreement with the players, which helped to stabilize the league's financial operations, and for cracking down on violations by players of rules against such things as fighting and drug use.
BuffOrange Posted May 25, 2006 Posted May 25, 2006 That trade was hilarious. The Bulls get rid of an unhappy and unproductive Eddy Curry, still make the playoffs, and get the Knicks' #2 overall pick. Isaiah Thomas is one of the worst executives in all of sports or business. How he still has a job is beyond me. He hasn't done anything right in about seven years. Drafting Carter and McGrady when he was Toronto's GM were probably his last good decisions. 696999[/snapback] Doesn't Curry also have a history of heart problems or something? Yeah Isiah is soooo bad it's funny. If they keep him and get rid of Larry Brown that would be awesome. I believe the Bulls get next year's 1st round Knicks pick as well, which should be another top 3 pick.
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