2011-12 NBA Season

[loogodude90]

As per usual, ESPN and SportsCenter are ruining any hype about Jeremy Lin by completely overhyping the guy. Dear ESPN...I don't need to know what Jeremy Lin is saying right this second, followed by a 4 minute Jeremy Lin highlight compilation, followed by more Jeremy Lin press conference quotes, followed by "Coming up after the break...Jeremy Lin!!" I get it already. He's good.

In case you haven't noticed, there isn't much else to report this time of year. It's too long after the Superbowl to talk NFL, and it's too early to talk baseball. It's not March Madness time, either. Which leaves them the option of either overreporting NBA, or overreporting NHL. Personally, I'm happy they are overreporting NBA.

[CS85]

I'm hoping that this is a good indicator that the NBA will resume shortened seasons. I feel like it's helped the league.

[Funky Bunky]

As per usual, ESPN and SportsCenter are ruining any hype about Jeremy Lin by completely overhyping the guy. Dear ESPN...I don't need to know what Jeremy Lin is saying right this second, followed by a 4 minute Jeremy Lin highlight compilation, followed by more Jeremy Lin press conference quotes, followed by "Coming up after the break...Jeremy Lin!!" I get it already. He's good.

In case you haven't noticed, there isn't much else to report this time of year. It's too long after the Superbowl to talk NFL, and it's too early to talk baseball. It's not March Madness time, either. Which leaves them the option of either overreporting NBA, or overreporting NHL. Personally, I'm happy they are overreporting NBA.

Or, y'know, maybe instead of overreporting the NBA, they can actually give an equal split of NBA and NHL coverage? Since, y'know, the NHL still exists!

[CS85]

As per usual, ESPN and SportsCenter are ruining any hype about Jeremy Lin by completely overhyping the guy. Dear ESPN...I don't need to know what Jeremy Lin is saying right this second, followed by a 4 minute Jeremy Lin highlight compilation, followed by more Jeremy Lin press conference quotes, followed by "Coming up after the break...Jeremy Lin!!" I get it already. He's good.

In case you haven't noticed, there isn't much else to report this time of year. It's too long after the Superbowl to talk NFL, and it's too early to talk baseball. It's not March Madness time, either. Which leaves them the option of either overreporting NBA, or overreporting NHL. Personally, I'm happy they are overreporting NBA.

Or, y'know, maybe instead of overreporting the NBA, they can actually give an equal split of NBA and NHL coverage? Since, y'know, the NHL still exists!

ESPN's definition of "hockey:"

- 3 minutes of airtime a week where Barry Melrose gets to comprehensively summarize the entire league in less than 15 words, while various highlights play under his rant, finalized with a slow pan out on Melrose's mullet/beard.

[WSU151]

As per usual, ESPN and SportsCenter are ruining any hype about Jeremy Lin by completely overhyping the guy. Dear ESPN...I don't need to know what Jeremy Lin is saying right this second, followed by a 4 minute Jeremy Lin highlight compilation, followed by more Jeremy Lin press conference quotes, followed by "Coming up after the break...Jeremy Lin!!" I get it already. He's good.

In case you haven't noticed, there isn't much else to report this time of year. It's too long

after the Superbowl to talk NFL, and it's too early to talk baseball. It's not March Madness time, either. Which leaves them the option of either overreporting NBA, or overreporting NHL. Personally, I'm happy they are overreporting NBA.

In case you haven't noticed, there are other NBA games going on other than the Knicks. If they want to overreport the NBA, fine. Do it evenly. Don't just focus on the flash in the pan because it's New York. Overreporting the NBA and overreporting Jeremy Lin are two different things.

And oh yeah, cover the NHL. Last night's SportsCenter didn't show any hockey highlights except for Top Ten Plays.

[Lights Out]

Or, y'know, maybe instead of overreporting the NBA, they can actually give an equal split of NBA and NHL coverage? Since, y'know, the NHL still exists!

Maybe the NHL shouldn't have signed such a crap TV deal and handcuffed themselves to horrible hockey markets... then maybe the average American sports fan would be interested in hockey. If you're looking for someone to blame for the lack of NHL coverage, look no further than Gary Bettman.

I mean, David Stern is far from perfect, but he at least knows how to promote his product.

[loogodude90]

Or, y'know, maybe instead of overreporting the NBA, they can actually give an equal split of NBA and NHL coverage? Since, y'know, the NHL still exists!

Maybe the NHL shouldn't have signed such a crap TV deal and handcuffed themselves to horrible hockey markets... then maybe the average American sports fan would be interested in hockey. If you're looking for someone to blame for the lack of NHL coverage, look no further than Gary Bettman.

I mean, David Stern is far from perfect, but he at least knows how to promote his product.

Yeah, plus the NHL now has that stupid NBC Sports Network that no one watches to give their attention to. ESPN reports on the NBA more because it is more popular, and it's the league they carry. They'd have to be kind of dumb to give equal amounts of attention to the NBA and NHL... which they are not.

[ninersdd]

Were the Hawks aware there was a game going on tonight?

[TFoA]

Were the Hawks aware there was a game going on tonight?

It's an ESPN-or-TNT game. The Hawks almost never show up for these games, yet they wonder why everybody has no faith in them.

[Drama]

Really didn't expect the Hawks to get beat that bad.

[pmoehrin]

Really didn't expect the Hawks to get beat that bad.

Yeah Miami definitely put the beat down on them.

Maybe the most surprising stat of the game though was that Miami only made three more field goals then Atlanta did. They just got to the line 31 times while Atlanta only made 7 trips.

[RedSox44]

nvm

[HedleyLamarr]

Were the Hawks aware there was a game going on tonight?

It's an ESPN-or-TNT game. The Hawks almost never show up for these games, yet they wonder why everybody has no faith in them.

It was a win for me, though.

I got to meet Heather Cox before the game! Made my evening....

[Funky Bunky]

Or, y'know, maybe instead of overreporting the NBA, they can actually give an equal split of NBA and NHL coverage? Since, y'know, the NHL still exists!

Maybe the NHL shouldn't have signed such a crap TV deal and handcuffed themselves to horrible hockey markets... then maybe the average American sports fan would be interested in hockey. If you're looking for someone to blame for the lack of NHL coverage, look no further than Gary Bettman.

I mean, David Stern is far from perfect, but he at least knows how to promote his product.

Yeah, plus the NHL now has that stupid NBC Sports Network that no one watches to give their attention to. ESPN reports on the NBA more because it is more popular, and it's the league they carry. They'd have to be kind of dumb to give equal amounts of attention to the NBA and NHL... which they are not.

But to be the "world wide leader", you must report on all sports, not just the ones you carry.

I'm not going to say anymore, because this has been conversed many times already.

[Funky Bunky]

Or, y'know, maybe instead of overreporting the NBA, they can actually give an equal split of NBA and NHL coverage? Since, y'know, the NHL still exists!

Maybe the NHL shouldn't have signed such a crap TV deal and handcuffed themselves to horrible hockey markets... then maybe the average American sports fan would be interested in hockey. If you're looking for someone to blame for the lack of NHL coverage, look no further than Gary Bettman.

I mean, David Stern is far from perfect, but he at least knows how to promote his product.

Actually, the NHL is a lot better off with NBC. Before , they used to get partial coverage on ESPN2, now they get to be the top dog on NBC. Gary Bettman's done a pretty good job, the game's never been better financially, even with the Phoenix problems, etc.

... And the NBA has just as many poor markets.

[CS85]

Not sure if this was brought up or not, but -

what the hell is going on with Carlos Boozer's spray-on hair?

[Jigga]

Or, y'know, maybe instead of overreporting the NBA, they can actually give an equal split of NBA and NHL coverage? Since, y'know, the NHL still exists!

Maybe the NHL shouldn't have signed such a crap TV deal and handcuffed themselves to horrible hockey markets... then maybe the average American sports fan would be interested in hockey. If you're looking for someone to blame for the lack of NHL coverage, look no further than Gary Bettman.

I mean, David Stern is far from perfect, but he at least knows how to promote his product.

Actually, the NHL is a lot better off with NBC. Before , they used to get partial coverage on ESPN2, now they get to be the top dog on NBC. Gary Bettman's done a pretty good job, the game's never been better financially, even with the Phoenix problems, etc.

... And the NBA has just as many poor markets.

Can you go complain about the lack of NHL coverage in the NHL thread? Some of us actually dig the NBA and would like to discuss it. No need to hockeyjack every damn thread.

[Lights Out]

Plus, for all the handwringing about bad NBA markets, the chronically-irrelevant Bobcats, who are trotting out what might be the worst team in NBA history this year, still draw only slightly less people to their home games on average than the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins... and their arena's capacity is about the same as TD Garden's.

The simple fact is, there is a far bigger market in the USA for basketball than there is for hockey. I doubt the NHL can make up the support deficit anytime soon, but Bettman's mismanagement certainly isn't helping.

[HedleyLamarr]

Plus, for all the handwringing about bad NBA markets, the chronically-irrelevant Bobcats, who are trotting out what might be the worst team in NBA history this year, still draw only slightly less people to their home games on average than the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins... and their arena's capacity is about the same as TD Garden's.

Tonight's Bobcats game supposedly had 13,700 in attendance.

Looking at the pictures of the game and the swaths of empty seats, I'm gonna go out on a branch and say that the Bobcats are inflating numbers a bit.

[loogodude90]

Plus, for all the handwringing about bad NBA markets, the chronically-irrelevant Bobcats, who are trotting out what might be the worst team in NBA history this year, still draw only slightly less people to their home games on average than the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins... and their arena's capacity is about the same as TD Garden's.

Tonight's Bobcats game supposedly had 13,700 in attendance.

Looking at the pictures of the game and the swaths of empty seats, I'm gonna go out on a branch and say that the Bobcats are inflating numbers a bit.

That's probably just how many tickets they actually sold - which is what really matters, anyway. And it was a Monday night.

And regardless, if you are even stooping to the level of splitting hairs on how high the Bobcats' (the NBA's WORST team) attendance was in comparison to the NHL champions, you've sort of already lost this argument.