ESPN announcers say fans' perceptions of bias are typical

 http://www.sports.com/
If you’re a fan of the Miami Heat or Dallas Mavericks and start believing over the next two weeks that ABC’s broadcast crew of Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson is rooting against your team, you’re probably not alone.

You’re also wrong, according to the announcers, who say they hear complaints about their alleged favoritism all the time.


Breen and Jackson were responding to questions from an Oklahoma City reporter, who implied Thunder fans believed the broadcast team was pulling for the Mavs during the Western Conference finals.
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“There's no way in the world that we have anything against the Oklahoma City Thunder,” Jackson said.

“... Our job is to speak the facts. The facts are that a couple of games in the series there were breakdowns, and they didn't play as well as they could have played. They had a couple of games won, and they did not win them. But they had a great season, and they should be extremely proud.”

Breen added, “I think overall broadcasts are more critical in the playoffs in terms of what a team is doing and what a certain player is doing. And I think that's why sometimes the fans might be a little sensitive, because also their emotions are running high.”
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Jackson and Breen both said a perception of bias is very common among fans.

“Almost every series. It's amazing,” Breen said. “We'll go into the NBA Finals and just say, for example, last year, we'll go into Boston and the Celtic fans will say, ‘Boy, it's clear you guys are rooting for the Lakers,' and then the series will shift to L.A., and the Laker fans will say, ‘Boy, it's obvious you guys are rooting for the Celtics.' That's just part of the job, and I've talked to announcers who do the World Series or a Super Bowl, and they get a lot of the same stuff.”

“I think that happens not just every series but every game,” Jackson added.

Threat of NBA lockout puts damper on Thunder offseason

Kevin Durant sat in Thunder headquarters Thursday, about 14 hours after the end of his season, and declared that it would be OK with him if we started next season right now.

“I know it sounds crazy,” Durant said, “but I’m ready to get back to work already for next year.”
Where do we all sign up?
The Thunder’s wondrous ride to the Western Conference Finals ended with a double thud. Defeat at the hands of the Mavericks, followed by fear of the unknown.
After the Miami-Dallas Finals and the June 23 draft, no one knows when NBA basketball will return. Labor negotiations appear to be going nowhere fast, a July 1 lockout is virtually assured and the chances of an on-time start to next season seem slim.
“Seems like a deadline is what makes people negotiate,” Nick Collison said.
He’s right, of course. The NFL is Exhibit A. Rather than sit down and talk it out, football’s players and owners would rather lawyer up and dance in the courts. Would rather call each other names in the media, where we are glad to report whatever they say.
Will we have pro football come September? Will we have pro basketball come November? There is no reason for optimism.
What a drag on Thunder momentum. The city and the state has gone crazy over the Durantulas. The still-ridiculously-young Thunder might be the West favorite next season. And yet NBA arenas, most notably ours, could be dark for who knows how long, even after hoops season has arrived.
Bad for business and bad for basketball. Just when you teach Oklahomans they can’t live without the NBA, you offer them a chance to do exactly that.
The last NBA work stoppage came in 1998-99, when play resumed in February, tipping off a 50-game season for each team. Anyone interested in waiting until February to see Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka play again?
“Hopefully we’ll have a season at the regular time,” Durant said. “Kind of tough to figure out. I just don’t know. It’s up in the air. But I have confidence we can get something going.”
More youthful exuberance from the Thunder. Never seems to run out, whether the Boomers are off on a fast break or talking collective bargaining.
“It’s tough going into an offseason not knowing,” said Thabo Sefolosha. “At the same time, I’m pretty optimistic we’ll figure it out. Hopefully won’t be locked out too long.”
Frankly, some places could use a regular-season reprieve. A shortened season would be perfect for the Lakers and Spurs and Celtics, older teams that seemed haggard by the playoffs. In basketball-destitute cities like Detroit and Minneapolis, a lockout might go unnoticed.
But in Miami, Year 2 of LeBron? In Dallas, coming off, at worst, its second West title ever? In Orlando, for what could be Dwight Howard’s final year in the kingdom? In Chicago, where homegrown Derrick Rose holds court? In Memphis, where after 10 years in town the Grizzlies have been discovered?
In Oklahoma City, where watching the Thunder 99 nights a year quickly became standard operating procedure?
Say it ain’t so. A season we wish could start early appears to be dead set on starting late, if at all.

Couch Slouch: Everything you need to know about the NBA Finals

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/
so, will Pat Riley regain his rank as smartest hair-and-tan in sports? Or will Mark Cuban — a.k.a. “When I Die, I Want To Come Back As Me,” a.k.a. Smarmy Is As Smarmy Does, a.k.a. Greed Is Good — finally get the crowning achievement of his post-pubescent life?

The Heat-Mavericks NBA Finals are here. We are also here to tell you about them:
The games are on ABC, in the capable hands of Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. A generation ago, Dick Enberg, Billy Packer and Al McGuire set the standard for a three-man basketball booth. As much as I miss McGuire — an American original — this grouping is superior. Breen is a solid play-by-play voice, with a playful sensibility. Jackson and Van Gundy each would be good alone, and each makes the other better. I never invite anyone into my home to watch games with me — my sultry wife Toni, in fact, usually leaves to seek safe harbor elsewhere — but any of these gents is welcome anytime.

I should take a moment out here to give a nod to TNT’s Marv Albert. I love Mike Breen, but it seems like a crime against basketball nature that Albert doesn’t call the NBA Finals. Albert, who will turn 70 in June, still delivers as smart and measured a call of any basketball broadcaster ever. Unlike some of his younger, juiced-up peers such as serial screamers Gus Johnson and Kevin Harlan, Albert understands precisely when to raise the level of his voice.

Either the Heat’s LeBron James, in his eighth NBA season, or the Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki, in his 13th NBA season, will win his first title. Talk about a couple of losers, huh? And this Nowitzki fellow played pro ball in Germany with DJK Wurzburg for four years before coming to America and didn’t win any titles there, either. What good is a 7-footer who shots 50 percent from the field, 40 percent on threes and 90 percent from the line if he can’t bring home the bratwurst?
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Actually, Dirk Nowitzki probably has been underappreciated by nincompoops like Couch Slouch. How do you overlook and underrate a former league MVP and 10-time all-star? Simple — you live on Stupid Street, my home since 1984. In these playoffs, Nowitzki has been spectacular and sublime.

Who is J.J. Barea and who let him onto the court? The Mavericks’ backup point guard is listed at 6 feet tall. Please. I ran into him a couple of weeks ago at the Santa Monica Pier amusement park, and he wasn’t even tall enough to ride the Frog Hopper. Then again, I saw him run a pick-and-roll at the video arcade to perfection. He’s a dribbling whirling dervish.

If the Heat wins, will it finally shut up the LeBron haters? No. You can never shut up The Haters in Sports Nation. Of late, hating is the engine that drives our culture. People wake up, look around and think, “Who am I gonna hate on today?” Sports radio and the Internet were invented for hating. Heck, if microwave ovens had a setting for “hating,” they’d sell twice as many.

Well, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Three-on-five cannot win a championship. Yes, the Heat have the Three Tenors – LeBron, Dwyane Wade and the other guy. And who else? And who else? Go ahead, I challenge you to name, say, three other Heat players. (To be honest, some of you don’t even know who “the other guy” is.) The other Heat players don’t even have their names stitched to the back of their uniforms; rather, it just says, “HEAT TEMP.”
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Some of you may recall that I have loudly said LeBron’s Heat would not win an NBA title. The key to effective prognostication, I’ve always believed, is to repeat your errant predictions early and often. Before the NBA season began, I stated the Heat would not win the championship, and I reiterated this same notion as the NBA playoffs began. It appears I might end up being incorrect, which raises the question — how many times can I be wrong in a single lifetime?

In for a dime, in for a dollar: I guess I’ve got to take the Mavericks in seven games. Of course, I could be mistaken.

Brown's path to Lakers' job started in Mesa

http://www.jjbsports.com/
As the recently cast caretaker of the NBA's wackiest soap opera, Mike Brown already is at the mercy of vigorous scrutiny.

League watchdogs are wondering if the new coach of the Los Angeles Lakers has the chops to thrive in this combustible environment. Specifically, they're wondering if he can muster the psychological muscle of Phil Jackson, whose matchup Zen steered the franchise to five championships in 10 years.

But the minefield tucked inside the job description includes Brown's ability to share the same page with twilight-encroaching superstar Kobe Bryant, a player whose ego can push lesser personalities into the margins.

Observers also are wondering if Brown can cajole a collection of disparate egos into embracing the five-players-on-a-string defensive concept that seems to be working so well around the NBA. And is he qualified to rehabilitate the confidence seemingly lost by Pau Gasol in the 2011 playoffs?

Will he preside over an offensive scheme that fits the skills of certain Lakers with the efficiency and attendant mysticism of the triangle? Does he want or need a real point guard and, if so, will the Lakers get him one? Is he capable of formulating a killer three-man rotation co-starring his celebrated post players?

Did LeBron James really coach the Cleveland Cavaliers late in games?

Will Brown inspire sufficient respect from Jack Nicholson?

Do the Lakers have the right man for the job?

"How am I supposed to know that," Tom Bennett said when hit with that last question, "without really knowing their program?"

OK, fair point. While sitting next to Gilbert High School boys varsity coach Jay Caserio last season, Bennett probably didn't spend much time analyzing the inner workings of the Lakers, so when one of his former players and good friends is called to duty in Tinseltown, the Valley coaching legend is taking the pragmatic approach to assessing Brown's future in L.A.

"I know him well," Bennett, who finished with a record of 711-269 in 33 years coaching community college and high school basketball, said of Brown. "He's a class person, a very good person. That's my knowledge of Mike Brown."

And Mike Brown's knowledge of basketball -- with much of it credited to NBA coaching mentors such as Gregg Popovich, Hank Egan and Rick Carlisle -- includes a great deal of what he learned playing for Bennett at Mesa Community College.

"He was a good player, not a great player," Bennett said of Brown. "But he was a great leader. He had a high-level work ethic and leadership. His involvement with others around him was significant. And he was a strong defender."
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Right, the commitment to defense we've seen in Brown's NBA work began long before any enrollment in the San Antonio Spurs' way. Anyone familiar with Bennett's teams at MCC or Gilbert High (the Tigers won the Arizona big-school state championship in 2003) have seen similar dedication to stingy team defense, patient offense and overall hard work from Brown's teams.

In five years coaching James and his supporting cast with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Brown posted a record of 272-138 along with one NBA Finals run and two trips to the Eastern Conference finals.

"The thought processes, the attention to detail, the work ethic ... that's what sets him apart from a lot of people," Bennett said of Brown, who played guard for his T-Birds from 1988-90.

Brown went from MCC to the University of San Diego, where he played two seasons for Coach Hank Egan. Shortly after finishing at USD, Brown was employed by the Denver Nuggets as a scout and video coordinator. In 2000, Popovich hired him as an assistant coach in San Antonio, where the Spurs brought home the O'Brien trophy in 2003. Carlisle wooed him to Indiana the following season, and Brown helped steer the Pacers into the 2004 Eastern Conference finals. He was hired as head coach by the Cavaliers in 2005.

Brown's coaching-ladder climb is considerably different from the career arc of Bennett, who churned out players, future coaches and victories from the same part of the Phoenix metropolitan area.
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After the '89-'90 MCC squad finished 32-3, Bennett was named National Junior College Athletic Association Coach of the Year. That team secured one of Bennett's five Region I and nine Arizona Community College Athletic Conference titles.

Bennett, whose skill as a player at Southport High and Wabash College led to induction into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, won 20 or more games 15 times at MCC. His son, Randy, is the highly respected head coach of the St. Mary's College Gaels.

So although his coaching influences are considerable, Brown was exposed to winning and its important variables at an important stage of development.

"At that point, I don't know if he was focused on being a coach," said Bennett, who has spent a couple of post-retirement seasons assisting the Gilbert High program. "I knew that whatever he chose to do, he'd probably be a success in, because he is a hard worker."

Some of Bennett's former assistant coaches have said that their mentor and Brown still talk basketball, but Bennett downplays any current influence he might have on the Lakers' new sideline boss.

"I just know Mike's tremendous," Bennett said. "An outstanding coach and a tremendous person."

NBA Players File A Claim Against Owners: What Does This Mean?

 http://www.jjbsports.com/
The NBA Players Union has filed a claim against the NBA Owners that they are unfairly bargaining at the mediation process. They filed their claim to the National Labor Relations Board who deals with these claims.
The NBA Owners have given a proposal to the Players Union as recently as a month ago. In it there was a hard cap (estimated around 45 million), reduced salaries, among other things. The Union swiftly rejected that policy hoping to get back to mediation and knuckle this thing out.
However, According to ESPN’s Chris Sheriden, the players claim is that:
“the NBA is engaging in “classic ‘take it or leave it’ and surface bargaining” with the intent of running out the clock on the CBA, “until the NBA locks out the represented employees in order to coerce them into accepting the NBA’s harsh and regressive demands.”
The NBA responded with:
“There is no merit to the charge filed today by the Players Association with the National Labor Relations Board, as we have complied — and will continue to comply — with all of our obligations under the federal labor laws. It will not distract us from our efforts to negotiate in good faith a new collective bargaining agreement with the Players Association,”
Ugh…it begins…
This reminds me a lot of the current Labor dispute. Not so much of it’s context, but the dynamics of the “he said, she said” game. David Stern has stuck his feet in the ground, unwilling to give up his views of what a new CBA should look like. The union on the other hand is fighting hard for the current CBA in place (which has guaranteed contracts, a big deal to them).
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It’s likely that David Stern (or one of his representatives) insulted, to some degree, the Players Union with their offer. Derek Fisher recently stated that, ”Unfortunately, the proposal is very similar to the proposal the league submitted over a year ago,” … “This last proposal doesn’t look close to what we were expecting.”
It’s really frustrating for fans because now it seems almost inevitable that there will be a lockout. The Players have chosen to play hard ball, a tactic that won’t go down well with David Stern. It’s no secret the NBA is losing money, this isn’t like the NFL. The Owners have provided the sufficient information necessary for the players to look over.
Yet the Players are crying foul over this negotiating tactic of, “we have the leverage because we can lock you out.” The mediation is supposed to be fair and constructive. Unless the Owners have blatantly come out and said something along the lines of, ‘Well we will just wait until we can lock you out, then you’ll start to like our proposal.’
Playing hard-ball does not work. We’ve seen what has happened to the NFL. While fans still clamour to the belief that a deal will get done before training camp, it seems more likely than ever that no games will be played.
For the Hornets and the rest of the NBA teams, this means a number of things.
First, there will likely be no free-agency period until the lockout is lifted (if one is put in place, which as explained before seems likely with such tough-nosed tactics from both sides). General Managers like Dell Demps will be unable to do anything, unable to make trades, talk with players not even plan for the immediate future.
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It’s why Chris Paul is going to relax this offseason and just see how things go. Rather than getting caught up in all of the banter and hysteria most players will likely sit back and relax.
Guys like David West and Carl Landry won’t. Because their contracts are at an end (West has an option), they can’t sign on with New Orleans or anyone else for that matter. What this means is that we won’t have any roster moves for a long, long time.
It’s really sad that this is the way it’s going to play out. The P.R. battle has started with the NBA pointing the finger at the Players, and the Players pointing the finger at the NBA. Sometimes I just wish people would grow up.

NBA Analysis: Jerry West is changing the culture warriors

http://aol.sportingnews.com/

1. The club reached the NBA Playoffs 2012th

2. The club has a player participating on Wed 2012 NBA All-Star in Orlando.

3. The club is 25 or more home games at Oracle Arena to win.

4. CLUB honor renewal without risk, with a range of security equal to 5% for the 2011-12 season in the NBA.

More importantly, the Warriors said they will do if all the elements are not met. If they do not make the playoffs, the team tends season ticket prices for 2012-13 increased. If you do not get a player in the All-Stars will give the team title of an article autographed All-Star names and they all put in a drawing for a trip to the ASG. If this is not a club win 25 games at home, subscribers can an autograph session for two hours to participate with all appliances. And lose the last element of aid to protect cardholder money if the games are lost due to suspension.

The contract comes just days after Jerry West was able to set a franchise consulting, and in the low season in the first group of new owners who bought the team last fall, Chris Cohan. Cohan team owner since 1995 and was one of the worst owners in the NBA in many fronts, including the account of the relationship of the fans. The agreement promises a lot of things that the fans are not used, it's a phenomenal piece exploited the goodwill of newcomers in height from a base of fans who ignored and felt for some time. I welcome your efforts in the rejuvenation of the population, to keep them in business.

Fans, of course, to win this contract and feel appreciated. The Warriors won for the same size. For starters, they will come in 2011-12 with the support of the fans over during a year in different Cohan 2007-08, which came in the wake of the nuts who believe that 8-on-a Dallas first loss round in April before. With this contract, the fans are much more willing to manage their subscriptions, the money can be renewed for the team.
Surprisingly, the Warriors 10th present home in the league in last season average 18 692 people, directly behind the Lakers (18 995) and Magic (18 972) and just ahead of the Celtics (18 624) and Spurs (18.314) fell.
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Therefore, knowing the acquisition of Golden State clean taste and the health system team the fans season tickets this summer and get in some parts of the league presence, literally millions of dollars more, allows examination of the four promises from the perspective of what the team has to win or to lose.

The Warriors do not have the playoffs this year (no way) made, it tends to raise prices for season tickets in 2012. For the fans will be thrilled that the team had a good thing that Bill Simmons muster more than a year (Every team that loses the playoffs can not ticket prices next season proposed.
Miss two rounds right subscribers receive a discount of 5 percent for the next renewal season. Miss three consecutive games, from 10 percent. Miss four in a row, it jumps to 25 percent. Miss five consecutive jumps to 50 percent.) They'll buy more tickets this year. There is more money for the Warriors right now. Then they are not in the playoffs, but fans will love it, what the Warriors will cost more input, then you know what, the fans were leaving in good yields in 2012 did. More viewers in games, most fans pay for parking, food and beer and hot dogs $ 7,000,000, and the purchase of T-shirts.
In addition, the price of a single set of inputs is likely to increase anyway. The relief was just a lot more money with the promise not to raise the prices of season tickets in two years.
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Unfortunately, the Warriors have an All-Star this season. Forward David Lee has no chance in the top five, at his post in the West against Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Durant, Zach Randolph Blake Griffin, Pau Gasol, Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nene, Al Jefferson, David West, Lamar Odom and Luis Scola, especially since 12 of the 13 times exactly the same position as Lee PF. With respect to the guards Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis is not sure he can break the West's five rows back from Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Russell Westbrook, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Jason Kidd, and I Tyreke Evans am . Ellis has a chance if you put another 24 ppg, supports 6 per game this season and improved equipment, but I'm not holding my breath. As provided that the computer be no representative on the GSA list to a shit and buy an article signed by a person traveling to Orlando for a few days added. Which is what the team back? Maybe $ 3,000? Read the millions that make subscription renewals.

In fact, I think Golden State can and must win 25 games at home this season. Do you know why? They won 26 at Oracle Arena last year and they were terrible. Although the Warriors were 36-46 at home 26-15. But they say they do not want this year? Well, then host an autograph session for two hours, it costs nothing and makes the fans love them even more. Win-Win.

The latter protects the fans pay for games that will never happen if the lock Teresa, it is a breeze, and with the appearance of more orders.

But the Warriors imitate something decent that every team should the fans love the team care enough to at least give the impression that they try to improve (he hired Jerry West, one must therefore believe that they really are) and Golden State made millions Tickets renovations, even if they meet any of the promises. I love it!

Ricky Rubio had concerns come to the NBA lockout

 http://www.cbc.ca/sports/
In the past two years, the Minnesota Timberwolves have sometimes claimed that the Spanish prodigy Ricky Rubio (white) on the verge of ditching their home in order had come into the NBA. No matter that the Director General David Kahn of these statements with only circumstantial evidence, or if Rubio is looking forward to playing in Minnesota, had done when he was drafted in 2008.
A few weeks ago, went Kahn and his band of merry men to Barcelona to speak to the custody of a theoretical perspective. If you came a commitment Rubio for the season 2011-12, he was released. Now, said the franchise owner Glen Taylor Rubio serious concerns had come into the NBA with imminent closure. Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press (via PBT):  That is the question,  Wolves owner Glen Taylor said Monday.  You wonder, how can (blocking) influence, if not the game, or play if we do and our answer is.  Do not know the answer to that question. You have to make a decision before that date.  We (the owners of the NBA) in the negotiations with the players at that time. We hope that you play. But I can not guarantee that there is no way, I know.  It would be almost $ 1,000,000 cost to your purchase for Rubio FC Barcelona contract. The NBA rules prohibit a team to spend more than $ 500,000 a termination clause in the contract. Wolves are expected to contribute to the limit. He has to pay or fund or to do what you can do,  Taylor said of the rest of the purchase price.  He gave no indication that he holds dear. But until the character that I am very reluctant to say anything.
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But he met us and was very positive. It asks the right questions.  The problem wolves that show Taylor comments that the answers to the  right questions  to reactions that produce Rubin does not like. It is unnecessary to spend $ 500,000 of his own money in his contract with FC Barcelona, here he can be on the field for part of the season in the NBA.
The impact against the best players on their development, but may not be the case if the season is 50 games or less cut.
It's a risky move for Rubio during his stay in Spain is a safe option. The Spanish Liga ACB is the best second in the world if it's not like I'm playing against a large number of Joseph Schmoe. was young point guard Jonny Flynn (white) is always on the list, Luke Ridnour (white) gets a lot of minutes, not the coach Kurt Rambis time can be much longer, and Kahn: In addition, there are many questions in
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Minnesota now their way in a year or two, too. No player wants to get into a situation where a lot of confusion. The test we asked exactly when the Wolves and the NBA well enough to play for them Rubio. The new agreement is completed? Kahn will remove competition from another site owner? Rambis will go? Kahn will be in a penal colony? These are odd questions to ask when it comes to the draft prospect, but Rubio has detention for the franchise must ask you to play shows. Perhaps there is another solution for Minnesota to trade their rights.