What kind of sport suspends it's best players during the playoffs?
This is really getting out of hand.
[Edited 5/7/09 9:41am]

David "Spin Doctor" Stern has been killing the NBA for years(making the game soft, taking a majority of playoff games off network TV, too much expansion, etc.)

But there has to be SOME semblence of order. You can't have 7-foot, grown-ass men elbowing people in the dome and shit with no equal repercussion .

MuthaFunka said:

But suspending TOP players at Money time? (Playoffs)
No other sports does this dumb shit and they don't have these problems.

Today's NBA is soft compared to back in the day. When cats like Wes Unseld, Dave Cowens, Paul Silas and Maurice Lucas fouled your ass, THAT was a foul! Drive the lane on them, and you wound up with a footprint on your chest.

uPtoWnNY said:

lol.....those were they days. detriot used 2 beat Mj into a coma.

Graycap23 said:

Hell yeah...you don't let a muthaphucka drive the lane without paying the price. He'll think twice about driving again. I hate how the league has become so pussified.

uPtoWnNY said:

It's starting 2 turn me off.

Can ya'll imagine Artest chasing after Laimbeer or Mahorn for throwing an elbow at his throat?

Graycap23 said:

That's because basketball is "considered" a non-contact sport, so when players DO tangle, it's usually no protection between them and the risk of injury is a lot higher than, say, football.

Abdul said:

As crazy as Artest is? Yep!

MuthaFunka said:

I tell you what, he wouldn't chase after Wes Unseld.

MuthaFunka said:

There has 2 be a better way. 20 games in the follwing season....or something. This has gotten out of hand. It is changing the outcome of who win the title.

uPtoWnNY said:

Dude, Artest is CRAZY. So, YES - he would!

Speaking of Artest, he's part of the reason this stuff is happening.

Stupid rules like the players have to wear suits (do they still do this?) are just an attempt to help b-ball's image. It's not really about protecting the players IMO. It's about money. Not that it's necessarily helping.

Abdul said:

Laimbeer was nothing compared to Jeff Ruland. Ruland and Mahorn were known as "The Beef Brothers" when they played for the Bullets. You talk about physical!

NDRU said:

Yeah, the whole dress code is bullshit. Tellin' grown ass men how to dress. It's that fear of the Black man again.

MuthaFunka said:

I call it the A.I. rule.....and I like it.

They're athletes, I think a pair of sweats should be okay.

Graycap23 said:

Yes only no-name players should ever be suspended in any sport.

kpowers said:

lol.....no one should be suspended in the playoffs.

I think the NBA product is better than its been in a long time. The days of offenses consisting solely of isolation plays are thankfully over.

We've got some real players, too. For a long time, the disparity between the Euros and the Americans with respect to real basketball skills was glaring. They could pass, shoot, dribble and move without the ball. We could dunk.

But there's a new breed of American basketball player - one that knows how to play the game. It might not be as fundamentally good as it was 30 years ago, but it's surely better than it was 7 - 10 years ago.

As far as the dress code, I saw an article last year where most players that criticized it now think it is a good idea. In fact, they dig the competition of trying to out-dress each other.

I've got to have Ron Artest's back. This guy has turned his life around, but most don't understand that. I cringed when we signed him, but he is one of the best Rockets we've ever had - on and off the court.

Here's an example of the kind of stuff you guys don't hear about: Artest donated more than $35,000 to help develop an HIV testing clinic in Kenya. Then he paid for a life-saving surgical procedure for a 7-year-old whose family couldn't afford it. The procedure was successful.

Watch this:

http://www.myfoxhouston.c...elps_child

uPtoWnNY said:

Oh man! One time, the Celtics were playing the Rockets in Houston. This was about 1976 or so.

The refs called a foul on Rockets' center Kevin Kunnert, who was going at it pretty good with Cowens.

A drunk fan rushed the court and screamed, "THIS is a foul!" and jumped on Cowens' back.

Cowens flipped the guy off him and onto the floor, whereupon Charlie Scott hit him more times in five seconds than I thought was humanly possible.

I've been to probably 500 Rockets games in my life, and the was the first and last guy I ever saw rush the court!

uPtoWnNY said:

Bill LAMEbeer was, is and always will be a puss.

He sued USA Basketball because they didn't pick him for the Olympics!

RodeoSchro said:

The vision of this is killing me.

Graycap23 said:

The dude was lying on the floor, on his back, and Scott was down on one knee, pummeling him. I had never seen two fists pump so fast!

The drunk did get to his feet after they pulled Scott off him. I think he was too drunk to know he'd just been beat to a pulp.

Graycap23 said:

It's a bullshit rule.

MuthaFunka said:

Great rule. Sponsers were starting 2 get real funny about not getting their monies worth on the advertising side of the house. That A.I., thug, braid b.s. was wearing real thin on Madison Avenue. I'm glad they cleaned it up. If u are a professional, at least dress like one.

Graycap23 said:

Yet they BLAST hip hop throughout the arena EVERY GAME. Bullshit rule.

MuthaFunka said:

Let's agree 2 disagree. .....great rule.
Bow down.
[Edited 5/7/09 14:10pm]