Haven't posted in the last couple weeks. Chalk that up to 2 parts school work and 1 part the fact that there is little to write about. The lockout has had its ebbs and flows. We keep getting to deadlines where a deal is supposedly close to being reached and then yielding very little due to the pissing match between owners and players over BRI, owners versus owners over revenue sharing, conniving agents looking to advance their own situation, and a general disregard by both sides towards the third group involved, the fans.
The last four seasons, dating back to the resurgence of the Celtics and Lakers and coupled with the maturation of a new generation of star players, have been some of the best the NBA has ever had. Regardless of whether todays talks end the lockout, I can't imagine this year comparing favorably. With a shortened schedule, the whole season will be compressed. This means more games per week and more back-to-back games. This means we can expect more injuries, reduced playing time for starters, increased playing time for role-players, and generally lower quality basketball. Teams with injury prone stars like the Knicks and Celtics will be playing russian roulette, hoping Amare, KG, and co. can stay healthy. After the dust settles from free agency, expect it to take a while for teams to mesh given a shorter training camp and preseason.
Look, nothing is set in stone and maybe those factors don't contribute to the season as much as I'm afraid they will. No one can say for certain. All I know is that there will be ramifications for how the union and the owners wasted so much time this summer. After initial talks before and immediately after the July 1st lockout, the players and owners didn't meet again until mid August. In contrast, the NFL immediately took action once their CBA ended and were meeting all throughout the winter and spring working towards a deal. This whole facade of really caring about getting a full season are merely a masking agent for owners willing to screw over the players and fans to rewrite the rules and the players taking a stance against a group of men who, regardless of how the lockout ends up, control their destinies. All I can say now is that I want basketball. I'm tired of coverage of all day meetings. I don't care about who wins this power struggle. I don't even care if it's an inferior product to the past few seasons. All I want is to know that every night, balls are headed through hoops.
