Comments on: Knicks Morning News (2023.04.08)

By: Z--man

Z--man — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 11:51:28 +0000

Cuban’s actions essentially warned everyone in the organization “Lose this game or else….”

Jason Kidd pretty much said as much even prior to the game.

Blatantly throwing a “must win” game, essentially to win a bet (isn’t pick protection sort of a bet between two teams?) seems punishable to me.

By: darules

darules — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 08:10:48 +0000

Yeah, taking away their ping pong balls, and sending their 2nd rounder to the Knicks seems like a reasonable punishment. Serious enough to discourage teams from acting like this in the future, while not overboard.

By: iserp

iserp — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 07:31:37 +0000

The NBA is investigating Dallas not so much about tanking as a strategy, but about having a noncompetitive game. That hurts the product.

So having 4 players not play is ok, although having 2 of them because of “rest” less so. The real problem is having Luka play one quarter and then pulling him, then pulling the nominal starters for the bench because they are winning, then pulling the bench for the complete scrubs because they are still winning, and then not seriously trying to tie the game at the end of regulation.

That was a farce that everyone could see, and that is not good for the league. My guess is that the leagues takes a 2nd rounder from them (although the idea of the Mavs losing their ping-pong balls to advance in the lottery is also good one, and I could see it in addition to the 2nd rounder)

By: darules

darules — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 06:32:36 +0000

RJ is embarrassing to watch sometimes. The way he gets blocked, and his awkward looking shot from 3 (even when they go in) and his out of place star mentality. But his skill at creating his own shot at the rim is important in the league, so I don’t see him as a bust, and I think his -3.5 bpm is misleading.

The skill I’d have him develop is reading the situation faster when he gets to the free throw line and having the ability to decide at that point if he goes to the rim, or finds space for a quality midrange shot.

Then he needs to start giving a damn on defense. That’s his make or break skill for me. He cannot be a below average defender in this league and justify his contract.

By: Donnie Walsh

Donnie Walsh — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 01:34:19 +0000

No offense to strat et al, but hearing that gamblers are grousing about things being unfair to them makes me kind of glad the Mavs threw it. Imagine all the regular fans that gamblers have screwed out of wins over the years. It’s nice to see them on the receiving end for a change.

Besides, they made the bet, they knew what they were getting into. I say, let ’em crash!

By: Early Bird Writes

Early Bird Writes — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 01:26:14 +0000

The only fair punishment is giving the Mavs 2 additional wins, forcing them into the play-in

By: ess-dog

ess-dog — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 01:21:14 +0000

Knox with an efficient 30 and 11 today!

By: Owen

Owen — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 01:10:43 +0000

Still love NBA Twitter

https://twitter.com/sethpartnow/status/1644862281824743426?s=46&t=0wqff4cNt-sCGcDs-uMExw

By: Wayloncash

Wayloncash — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 01:02:31 +0000

Strat, I don’t disagree with any of that. All fair points. The league should be concerned.

By: Knick fan not in NJ

Knick fan not in NJ — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 00:59:20 +0000

“The league will probably fine Cuban 500k and he’ll take the money out of the petty cash.”

You could be right, but I hope they don’t do that. The Knicks’ tampering penalty was a second round pick which is certainly worth more than $500,000. I would say this is just as bad and probably worse. And the penalty should have at least some teeth. What is more, in this case the tanking was very public and is bad publicity for the league. That usually makes punishments more severe than private infractions.