Liberty Ballers: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
Around SBN: SB Nation interviews Jerome Bettis

My final offseason thoughts: Sixers, Lebron & the NBA!


Now that the 2010 Big Free Agents have all been signed, here are my thoughts of what happened and why I believe the system is needs to be fixed:

The NBA was hurt by the Lebron circus that took place the last few weeks, that ended with him on national TV stating he is leaving his hometown team for greener pasters in Miami. First let me state that Lebron James hasn't ever won a Title in this league. This whole presentation was to make himself bigger than the entire league that employs him. Never have we seen such a unprofessional, arrogant move take place in sports, period! Does Lebron James understand the ramificiations of what took place? He has become the most hated sports figure overnight. Does he realize that fans in Ohio and even in Akron will not kiss his feet anylonger? Does he realize that great players meet challenges, not run away from them? Does he realize that Miami isn't his town and Wade is the player who brought home a titile for them? By not even giving his former team, which happens to be his home state, any notification where he was playing next year, just shows what is wrong with sports today.Lebron has been treated like a god, all around him since he played in high school. Never subject to any critism and accountable for his own actions. From not shaking hands after losing two seasons ago, from quitting this year in the playoffs, face the facts you aren't as good as you're people say you are. Mark my words, in 2-3 seasons he will pull the same stuff with his new team, when Wade gets all the credit! Last note about Free Agency, who made Chris Bosh into the next Karl Malone? When I here people state he is a top three big man in this league, I laugh!

The NBA system is just like our present day economy: not a even playing field, with a system in place, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorier. How do you allow such things to take place? Hinrik for a conditional 2nd round pick? You ask me this is a pure salary dump! Former players give sweetheart deals to their former teams-Lakers & Celtics. You going to tell me that trading the Gasol brothers was a fair deal, especially for a GM looking to retire? The other deal where Minnesota took a bag of balls for Kevin Garnett? Please! Do not tell me that the lottery has not been fixed in year's past as well. Ewing to the Knicks, Lebron to the Cavs? Maybe the ref who went to jail was speaking the truth when he stated to prolong plaffoff series.

How can you allow teams to use loopholes in your system to your advantage? Sign and trades that never bring even compensation back. Luxury Tax, big market teams have the revenue to handle additional costs, where other markets would need to make serious concessions to do so. When you sign a free agent, why no mandatory compensation? Why do you have to eat an entire contract, cap wise if the player doesn't work out? Why can't you have another team pick up a portion of the salary via trade? Why do you impose a maxium player salary, when every marginal player seeks that deal. Yes, some blame needs to go on the owners, but why have such a thing in place? Why have Bird rules in place, when teams use it for players outside of their current team?

The NBA System is absolutely broken. It needs to be fixed and fixed right away. Look at the NFL as a model, they have small market teams that contend every year. When you hamstring teams with many restrictions and fail to allow an even playing field, you have 4-5 teams who can realistically contend for a title. Baseball gets away with it, so I guess it is fine for the league to do the same.

I am just a very frustrated NBA Fan, voicing my opinions and how I believe the system in place is very flawed. Is it due to the Sixers making bad business decisions and being hamstrung in free agency, yes to a certain degree, but not for the rest of the teams. The NY Knicks in essence didn't try to put a good team together for two seasons, so they could find a easy way out and land other team's best players. Now that plan has failed and failed miserablly. Thus, when you fail to compete, why are you not just forfeiting your games, oh that thing about selling tickets, where you pay for a seat with a team hoping to lose and not compete.

Enough about the system, here are my final thoughts regarding the Sixers moving forward:

-Way too early to be concerned about Evan Turner. He is a player who hates losing and will do the necessary work to get better and prove he can play against the big dogs.

-The Sixers are headed into a tough offseason after this year. Many rookie contracts expire and they need to be very careful who they extend for the future.

-The team has too many young players and need some veterans to teach them how to be winners in this league. A veteran, experience Coach is a good start, but find some veteran players to mentor these young talents.

-The entire culture needs to be changed, losing and not playing hard is not accepted. Any player who doesn't give full effort belongs on the bench or off the team. No player is bigger than the team. Everyone needs to be accountable on and off the court.

-No more building through the draft, the trade market should be used to incorporate veterans who fit Doug Collins system. You cannot have three or four players who haven't developed seeking big long-term contracts, that make building a team impossible if they do not work out.

-Next season is all about changing the culture of their losing ways and for player evaluation. Use the season to figure out which players fit the best for the future of the franchise.



0 recs  |  Comment 15 comments  |  Add comment |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Around SB Nation

Daily Links  9/7

Sep 2010 from CelticsBlog - 0 comments

Daily Links  9/6

Sep 2010 from CelticsBlog - 3 comments

Daily Links  9/5

Sep 2010 from CelticsBlog - 0 comments

Comments

Display:

well cowboy, thats because lebron isnt grateful and only thinks of lebron. He’s more worried about his image,etc, that he had to to the heat. We all witnessed a coward.

by mothergoose on Jul 11, 2010 12:37 PM PDT reply actions  

Coward is definitely the wrong word. A coward wouldn’t make a move to risk his reputation like LeBron did.

by yosoysean on Jul 11, 2010 4:43 PM PDT up reply actions  

if all he cared about was his image he wouldn’t have done something that does nothing but hurt his image

"I'm a beast ready to be unleashed." -- Paul George

LibertyBallers : @tsteidel

by Tanner Steidel on Jul 11, 2010 7:14 PM PDT up reply actions  

The entire culture needs to be changed, losing and not playing hard is not accepted.

One horrible season after a couple of playoff seasons is suddenly a losing culture?

No more building through the draft, the trade market should be used to incorporate veterans who fit Doug Collins system

Replace “Doug Collins” with “Larry Brown” and you have one of the big reasons that the Sixers are stuck where they are. It’s a horrible idea. KEEP building through the draft please/

by yosoysean on Jul 11, 2010 4:52 PM PDT reply actions  

Responses to some of my statements

-I saw the team quit last season, where it hasn’t happened in the past. This falls upon leadership, accountabilty and coaching. All three phases weren’t around last year and must be corrected right away.

-When you continue to build through the draft, you end up with many young prospects seeking big, long-term extensions after their rookie deals expire. The problem is, many of these players haven’t fully developed and it is a risk signing to bet on them reaching their potential. Sooner or later, you need to mix veterans with youth to make the team successful.

by cowboyny on Jul 11, 2010 4:59 PM PDT up reply actions  

When you continue to build through the draft, you end up with many young prospects seeking big, long-term extensions after their rookie deals expire.

And you also get players on their rookie contracts, which is very cost effective.

by yosoysean on Jul 11, 2010 7:39 PM PDT up reply actions  

-You saw the team quit because of a head coach not qualified to be a head coach at this level. The same can be said for Maurice Cheeks. Before Collins, the last legitimate NBA head coach was Jim O’Brien in 2004! 2004!

-You also saw that lack of leadership because our so-called veterans aren’t leaders. The only one that comes close is Elton Brand. Should it take a head coach to tell Iguodala he’s not a shooter!?

-The team quit because it realized it was never really that good. We played “defense” and that just got us to a .500 record. They knew they weren’t getting better, it’s about time we realize these guys aren’t going to get better either.

-Thad has shown development. But Iguodala and Speights have shown zip since they’ve been in the league. Iguodala’s jumpshot is as nonexistent as it was in his rookie year. Speights is still a defensive black hole.

-Trade Iguodala, no matter how difficult it may be. Get a young player or two, and let the pain begin. It’ll be justly rewarded with a title contender 2-4 years down the line when the Heat age and the NBA declines.

by LeQuan Glover on Jul 12, 2010 11:46 AM PDT up reply actions  

Speights showed improvements not only on defense but rebounding as well this summer league. Andre has improved every facet of his game save his jump shot which is serviceable. I’m all for trading Andre, and I think there is a market for him. Don’t look forward to it too much though, my gut feeling is that they’ll let him walk when his contract is over ALA Andre Miller.

by prideoux on Jul 12, 2010 1:40 PM PDT up reply actions  

You and I must have been watching a different guy named Speights. I thought his defense was awful. His rebounding was OK, and he does find ways to score.

But he is a better PF than Thad. I really wanted Thad to do well, mostly because he seems like such a nice kid, and he does have some talent, at least at scoring. But he is a player without a position. Another tissuey-soft bench scorer, like Lou and Speights. They have too many bench scorers and not enough well-rounded starting-quality players. Right now, they can’t field an NBA-quality starting five. Maybe a starting three, and that’s making some assumptions about Turner that were not evident from his heinous performance in summer league (which, yeah, I know, it’s summer league).

I was actually considering getting season tickets this year, but I couldn’t do that to my son. It might be considered abuse.

On the other hand, I feel like they should somehow be rewarded for building through the draft rather than trade picks and young players for mediocre veterans who are just good enough to get them to a first-round defeat by someone good. So I will at least buy my son a Jrue shirt :)

by dweebowitz on Jul 13, 2010 6:38 AM PDT up reply actions  

So I will at least buy my son a Jrue shirt

I support this.

Liberty Ballers / Ridiculous Upside / @TAFKAMikeBourn

The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Michael Bourn

by Michael Levin on Jul 13, 2010 7:02 AM PDT up reply actions  

Believe me, I’m not saying Speights is Howard esque or anything, but given his prior lack of commitment to play defense, I think him getting boards and trying is an improvement over not.

by prideoux on Jul 13, 2010 10:09 AM PDT up reply actions  

One horrible season after a couple of playoff seasons is suddenly a losing culture?

Please put those last two playoff seasons in to perspective. We barely scraped into the playoffs and were bounced in the first round both times. 2007/2008 record 40-42 which is still a losing season and 2008/2009 record 41-41. This lead to us adding mid range draft picks, Speights and Jrue.

by briztoon on Jul 13, 2010 11:12 PM PDT up reply actions  

The poor definitely get ‘poorier.’

by guitarmouse35 on Jul 11, 2010 5:35 PM PDT reply actions  

I agree, small market teams never win in the NBA

I mean, could you see an NBA where a team like San Antonio wins multiple titles? It’s completely ludicrous to even imagine! And there’s no way in hell a team like Oklahoma City could be seen by anyone as an up-and-coming team with a possible championship future!

by wildcatlh on Jul 12, 2010 3:54 PM PDT reply actions  

Hooray for sarcasm!! :)

by guitarmouse35 on Jul 12, 2010 5:40 PM PDT up reply actions  


User Tools

Welcome to Liberty Ballers, the SB Nation blog for the Philadelphia 76ers, where you can't handle the Jruth.
Start posting about the 76ers »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

Connect_with_facebook

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recent FanPosts

Small
2010 Rotation: Who should start?
Small
Lou Williams-the story of underappreciation
Small
Off-Topic: Team USA and is Coach K kidding the country?
Small
Basketball theory: The Sixers
Qlpk0etqwelv8artgc7tvqefu_small
Iguodala All-Star? or Turner Rookie of Year?
Small
76ers Place in the Eastern Conference Pt 2
Small
Amar'e in Israel
Small
nba and market
Small
76ers Place in the Eastern Conference Pt. 1
Small
So there's a God after all

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

Straight Cash Homie

Liberty Ballers

SBNation.com Recent Stories

LAS VEGAS - JULY 24:  Chauncey Billups #4 and Jeff Green #12 of the 2010 USA Basketball Men's National Team try to stop Kevin Durant #5 of the 2010 USA Basketball Men's National Team during a USA Basketball showcase at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 24 2010 in Las Vegas Nevada.  (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) +4 updates

FIBA World Championship 2010: Team USA Blows Out Angola, Advances To Quarterfinals

PHOENIX - SEPTEMBER 05:  Sue Bird #10 of the Seattle Storm puts up a shot against the Phoenix Mercury in Game Two of the Western Conference Finals during the 2010 WNBA Playoffs at US Airways Center on September 5 2010 in Phoenix Arizona.  NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that by downloading and or using this photograph User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.  (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) +1 updates

Bird's Game-Winner Sends Seattle Storm Into WNBA Finals

Partizan Belgrade forward Strahinja Milosevic, left, looks to take a shot as Phoenix Suns forward Jared Dudley, right, defends in the third quarter of an NBA exhibition game Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009, in Phoenix. The Suns won 111-80. (AP Photo/Paul Connors) link

Jared Dudley Talks About Expectations For Suns, His Role And Contract (And Bobbleheads)

More from SBNation.com >


Marky Marks

Picture_3_small Jordan Sams

Sharone_wright_sixers_small Michael Levin

The Funky Bunch

Turner3_small Tanner Steidel

Twitter_small Derek Bodner