n_huffhines
What's it gonna cost?
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2009
- Messages
- 84,550
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I think he makes a great point but it's stupid for him to point the finger because it seems like all teams, players, and owners really care about are 'ships, too.
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I like the point that if championships are all that matter then load management is the obvious conclusion. You (the rhetorical you) can't be a ring-counter and then dock guys for saving themselves for the playoffs.
It's not just playoff contenders doing load management, is it? Plus the fans and media should be entirely to blame - c'mon man. SAS started this from a competitive advantage standpoint, and others just replicated. Ring counting didn't start this - guys trying to win and extend careers out to maximize earnings started it.
Dumb take.
I kinda feel bad for D'Angelo Russell but I kinda don't
Yeah, load mgmt isn't just about winning now. It's about protecting guys for the long term. Resting Embiid in 2017 wasn't about 2017, it was about their future as eventual contenders. It's all about that ring. They tanked for like 5 years trying to get a ring later, that's how important the almighty ring is, and resting has been part of that long term strategy.
Ok, the fans and media didn't make that call. It's disingenuous for a former player to let current players managing their load (lulz) off the hook on this. Both organizations and players saw the Spurs win and "old" Duncan, Manu, and TP extend their careers beyond the norm with minutes management.
So, Jalen's strategy is to tell the customer - sorry you don't like the product now but it is your fault so deal. Smart business.
From the start, I said it was stupid to put all the blame on fans and media. Do you disagree that fans and media put a lot of pressure on teams/players to win titles? Just because teams saw the Spurs succeed with this strategy doesn't mean fan/media pressure isn't a motivator for adopting load mgmt.
Duh?
The desire for fans to want to win championships is not a new phenomenon. It's always been there. I would say the "pressure" to win is code for increased expectation in light of increasing salaries and budgets and ticket prices (where the income of most of Z's Americans are stagnant).
It's not like teams and players just recently decided that winning championships is important because the fans and media are suddenly talking about it.
Why does the timeline matter? He's saying they are the motivator. He's not saying fans/media decided when load mgmt became a thing. The fact that this wasn't a thing until the Spurs came up with this innovation has nothing to do with his point. The fans/media (and players/teams IMO) are the driving force.