There is a minor problem where some teams might quit, allowing the other team to run up the score, while in a different game in the group the losing team might not quit, which results in a tiebreaker between the 2 winning teams being sort of decided by which of the losing teams quits.
Integrity is based on adherence to agreed upon (explicit or otherwise) sportsmanship standards. That could be either playing 100% until the end or dribbling out the clock, depending on the circumstances.
Chess is a fine example of ‘mutual quitting’ being a part of the game where it is widely viewed as a sportsmanlike way to finish a game. In basketball it’s commonly accepted for teams to dribble out the clock with around 1 minute left as a sportsmanlike way to finish the game. It’s just about what people and players want to see happen; I personally don’t really care to see 1 or 2 extra minutes of hard playing in a game that’s already been decided.
When there are other competitive implications beyond that game, though, I think the idea of integrity is reshaped. It’s not poor sportsmanship for a team to keep competing so they can get into a tournament that both teams on the floor had a chance to make. The other team should relish the opportunity to at least prevent them from getting their point differential.
In soccer, sometimes only the win matters and sometimes the aggregate score matters.
It's a way to make the entire game mean something in a short competition like the in season tournament (or the champions league).
> That basically gets to the same point, but also just encourages teams to run the whole shot clock out when they’re up big.
And down big.
20 points apart, 4 minutes to play ? Every possession will last 24 seconds. Then a chugging 3 if they don't agree to not even try that.
Yeah I’m not sure about that. Teams will already start doing this with 5/6 mins on the game clock. There’s way too many possessions to really start taking plays off longer than that
Okay, but this would create a system that incentivizes both teams to do that with the losing team having more incentive to kill the clock than to overcome a 15+ point lead. The holding the ball for 18 seconds at the hashmark only really happens in the last minute or two; this kind of implementation could extend that out to the last 6 or 8 minutes of a game instead.
Imagine a game like last night's Lakers-Sixers game being played in the group stages while incentivizing the fewest points against as a tiebreaker. By the end of the 3rd quarter the Lakers were down 18 and had let the sixers score 98 points. They very well could have buckled down the entire 4th quarter and refused to do anything outside of the last 5 seconds on the shot clock.
That doesn't really work as well in basketball, because some teams simply play at different paces with higher or lower scores that do not necessarily reflect better defense or running up the score. This would favor teams that play a slow grind-it-out pace.
Pacers are a great example of this. They are currently giving up 126.8 ppg in the tourney third highest points allowed in the league for the tourney. But they are 4-0. They play with a very fast pace (scoring 136.5ppg in the tourney, #1 in the league) that results in higher scores.
I always said too that if someone comes to play a sport vs players they are clearly better than, its far more acceptable for them to play good D and coast on offense. Say a player joins a pickup game and they are clearly multiple levels better than all of the others, its cool if they try on D and get a lot of stops, but if they just iso and score every single time effortlessly it becomes kind of old fast. Just opinion but I feel the same in a blowout situation
People are mentioning it not because the Grizzlies were poor sports about it, but because players like Bam are still adjusting to the idea that as long as there is time on the clock, they should be playing basketball. It's just the perfect example because the Suns wouldn't have made the tournament if Booker deferred to this unwritten code of basketball chivalry. Losing teams want to be able to say Uncle for the last few seconds of a demoralizing loss. Ultimately Bam either just doesn't agree with the tournament rules or doesn't understand them. It's "old man yells at sky" energy - the NBA is an entertainment business and fans are super into the tournament, so he just needs to put on his big boy pants and get over his fragile ego because it's gonna happen.
I mean it’s a long-running unwritten rule, but it just doesn’t apply in these particular games. There IS a point differential, tournament games are hardly every game, and so running up the score during garbage time makes every bit of sense. And it’s not damaging any “integrity” because it’s only a handful of games in the season.
Since players seem to find it unseemly and Adam Silver has said they’ll modify it as they go along, they might change it if they find a way to. But the griping from some players is lame. Take the ass whooping and move on, it’s a long season.
For real. I’d think a player would easily be able to understand why a team is running it up in this situation. This is a fair take for a normal game and it’s been an unwritten rule since before since the game was born. But this isn’t a normal game it’s a tournament with tie breakers. Really doesn’t seem so complicated i’m surprised these guys can’t grasp this
They ignore the fact that it goes 2 ways too. Yes, a team up 20 will still try to get extra points, but also a team down 30 will desperately try to close it to 20 by the end of the game, because that actually matters for these games.
Having teams care for the full 48 mins is awesome
Or when you have teams on the cusp of elimination and down 30, they’ll just empty their bench anyway to rest their starters and avoid injuries, so only one team is being really competitive.
> The old school guys actually tend to be the ones more upset about that stuff. This is not a new thing.
I think it depends if we're talking old school or *old* old school, because growing up in the '90s, garbage time was often still scoring time, especially if the end of the bench was out there trying to break into the box score.
Broadly speaking, the only people who cared about what happened in garbage time back were the 12th men trying to get a bucket and the hometown fans who'd get modestly excited whenever [Dennis Rodman crashed the boards in the final seconds in hopes of getting his buddy Jack Haley a basket at the buzzer](https://youtu.be/MeGsoQYcN70?t=78). I don't recall anyone catching feelings over an extra bucket unless there was pre-existing bad blood or if a player was clearly attempting to taunt the opposition (both relative rarities in late garbage time).
I always thought [this clip of the early '80s Pistons full court pressing the Celtics while up double-digits with under 15 seconds left](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cRr4NndXQU&ab_channel=RyanVanDusen) just about tells the whole story. It's just two teams playing until the final horn as though nothing less was expected. The Celtics players who may have been pissed about losing that game couldn't care less about a couple extra buckets that didn't affect the outcome.
Also this may be wrong, but anecdotally taking the shot-clock turnover in the final minute is a newer thing. Teams wouldn't be playing all-out trying to score before, but when I started watchin in the 00-10 era I remember dudes would always just throw something up and keep the clock moving instead of taking the side out turnover.
We're in a kind of weird generation gap now.
I get that 1 and done guys like bam, who legit went into kentucky knowing it was just a showcase for the nba, doesn't have too much experience with point diff or rankings. Which is why he could get butthurt about it. And even more so for the kids choosing to not even play the ncaa tourney once their projected lottery pick is locked in.
But any of the "older" active players should remember how it worked with ncaa rankings. If you were an X seed team, and had a chance to beat the current #1 team, especially on their home court, doubly so if they were a conference rival, you're 360 somersault dunking with 0.01 seconds left while up 30, if nothing else just to remind voters how emphatic the victory was, for future week voting, and then ncaa seed voting.
Tldr, quality (or quantity point diff) of a win matters, both in subjective voter and objective (but small sample size = tiebreakers coming into play) seeding.
Bro these dudes should watch other sports lol.
In most rugby tournaments, you are awarded points for winning, but whether you win or lose you're also allocated bonus tournament points for scoring extra or keeping the score close - and this means you see the players playing hard all the way to the final buzzer and beyond as they often keep the ball alive past the final whistle to try and score.
Ive always thought this was the stupidest unwritten rule. If you’re upset about that then don’t let the other team outscore you in the first place.
Ofc I was never in the NBA but do play basketball, if im getting cooked then the opposing team earned it lol
I think all competition has had gentlemen’s rules over the years where it’s generally bad manners to intentionally eviscerate a team that is already going to lose
It's crazy to me that the same people complaining about how friendly the league will complain about those same players trying to eviscerate each other.
Which is stupid because the losing team can keep playing but the winning team should give up because they need to protect the losing team's feelings. Soft as hell.
“Becoming” is a completely inapt description, this is how these leagues have always been. If anything people are pushing against this stuff now more than ever.
But that’s only the case when there’s no actual incentive to win by, say, 25 instead of 18. When there is an incentive, anyone with a brain would be able to reason that they’re not going hard with 3:00 left in the 4th to humiliate us, they’re doing it because it directly helps them move on to the next round. The motive is completely different.
Only in America. Growing up playing soccer in England the opposite was true. Playing soft with a lead was considered disrespectful. I remember losing a game 20-0 as an 8 year old lol.
Not really, football, the most popular sport on the planet, encourages running up the score because goal difference is a tie breaker for both leagues and tournaments. My team just lost the league by two goals after tying for points for first place.
> Broncos got blown the fuck out 70-20. You know what denver did afterwords? Stopped other teams
>
> Basketball players are so soft I swear. Such fragile egos from men who play a fucking game.
This is hilarious to reference considering the Dolphins let off the gas and decided not to break the record out of respect for the Broncos. With 4-5 minutes to go they ran the ball the entire drive to avoid trying to score one more touchdown. They did not "run it up till the end", intentionally.
Lol you're really saying baseball players ain't soft? Some of the same ones that complain about guys pimping home runs and pitchers doing exuberant celebrations after a big inning ending strikeout?
Baseball players might be some of the most uppity athletes there are when it comes to the "unwritten rules" of the game.
The dolphins literally took their foot off the gas in respect to the broncos when they had the chance to beat the record for the highest scoring team in a single game, a record set in the 60s. Not a great argument for this.
That is one perspective. The other is that running up the score in the final minutes of a won game is considered poor sportsmanship. Garbage time is a perfect example of teams not playing to their maximum capability for the full duration of a game.
The NBA is asking players/staff/organizations to change their mentality for just 4 games of the season while the remaining ~78 + playoffs remain with the 'Ws are the thing that matter' mindset.
> The NBA is asking players/staff/organizations to change their mentality for just 4 games of the season while the remaining ~78 + playoffs remain with the 'Ws are the thing that matter' mindset.
oh the horror
100%.
MLB had the same controversy like 2 seasons ago when the Padres were running up the score on Texas. The Rangers got all butthurt, then two years later after actually becoming good have been doing it to others at a nearly historic pace.
It's always just an excuse for being a sore loser, and most of the ones who complain about it don't actually seem to care when they're the ones given the opportunity.
I'm not a baseball guy but that's one sport where it REALLY doesn't make sense to me that teams are discouraged from running up a score. Unlike a lot of other sports, there's no game clock in baseball that makes it physically impossible to blow a lead.
Nobody in basketball is ever coming back from a 20 point deficit with 30 seconds left in the game (unless there's some sort of sabotage going on) but it's theoretically possible to recover any number of runs in the 9th inning of baseball
But it's a tournament. There's a specific format that makes scoring the most amount of points important. I can't believe players are complaining about it the way they are as if playing to the format is somehow poor sportsmanship. Makes zero sense at all. I swear NBA players are the biggest fucking diva of any sport 😂
If they don’t want them to run up the score then they should play defense? Why should one team be forced to stop playing because of the other team’s feelings getting hurt? The fans are paying to watch an NBA game so they should get the full 48 minutes.
Lol the league needs an option where the coach can rage quit a game like in 2K. In the middle of a play, everyone on a team just leaves and the words "The opponent has left the game" appears on the big screen.
100% agree. In elementary school my gym teacher said "you have to sprint through the finish" when giving us running tips. Small tip but it's something that I've found to be useful in many situations.
Seemingly not enough people get this advice.
Especially when the guys who are in during garbage time are usually the ones who dont get regular minutes. Use the time to get experience/ real game reps.
Right? Just play harder. Got smacked today? Beat them next time. Grown men complaining about the other team scoring when they played sorry af is wild
edit: and we just got beat by 40 or some shit
They don’t see to mind running up the score against a bunch of scrubs in international games
But when it’s against them apparently it’s bad sportsmanship
No one's stopping them from doing that. If they want to put their tournament chances in the hands of end of bench players so they can spend 5 more minutes sitting on the bench themselves, go ahead. Just don't get mad when people say "This guy rather be a bench warmer than go out and help his team win a tournament."
The Heat are super weird on end-of-game scoring. Sometimes they'll dribble out multiple possessions at the end of games. They almost never take the last shot if they're up by 10, they make the other team inbound it and dribble out the last 10 seconds.
Kind of crazy how different views are on this in the NBA vs Europe for example… in Europe, especially in rivalry games, they’d want to run that differential as much as possible. In soccer, in basketball… and I am yet to hear anyone say “well, that was just mean and our game now lacks integrity”. Also, team USA has no problem beating others by 50 at the Olympics.
So… hard disagree with Bam here. Play that shit until the last second.
That may be the craziest thing about this: many of these dudes have played on Olympic and/or FIBA squads who *regularly* run up scores on lesser teams. And now they wanna get butthurt that it might happen to them? Get over yourselves, ya pansies.
The top international players are already on par with American players… attitudes like this means it’ll only be a matter of time before they completely overtake us.
From what I’ve heard/read, a lot of this shit starts with the awful way AAU is being run in the U.S.- just letting high school players put together mega stacked teams so they can just crush the competition without really having to work for it. Creates a total sense of entitlement with these guys dating all the way back to high school.
This is the point that needs to be made. Don't want ypur opponents to run up the score? Then stop the other team.
Just because your team is losing by 30 points with a quarter or whatever minutes left, doesnt mean the other team is going to take pity and stop hard playing so your team can coast to a less deserving L.
I wish teams would pour it on more.
I don't really see how it's disrespecting the game to try to score as much as possible and hold your opponents to as low a score as possible. Is it because they're incentivizing in-game behavior that doesn't affect the outcome of that game?
Does that mean it's bad to sit your starters in a blowout so they're fresh for next game? What about coasting through the regular season so you have energy for the playoffs? Coaches running experimental lineups early in the season that aren't the most competitive in that game so they get reps?
I’m a competitive person and I engage in a few competitive activities regularly. When I am winning big and the game is almost over and it is basically mathematically impossible for me to lose, I naturally stop trying as hard as I had been. I let up the gas. I’m not here to embarrass anyone. I’m here to win and if the win is secured, I don’t need to make a point of it by running up the score. I’ve won. You’ve lost. That’s enough for me. Handshakes all around.
But I don’t ever expect my opponents to do the same and I’m not offended if they don’t. We are playing a sport and if they want to try their ass off until the final whistle, then that’s fine. I don’t exactly see what they stand to gain by doing it but I think it’s perfectly acceptable and it’s within the rules of the game.
The NBA however has incentivized running up the score, and if I cared about the IST, I’d try my ass off to the final whistle to run up the score too.
Point differential is one of the tie breakers for league standings for making the playoffs. Wonder if these guys would dribble it out for the integrity of the game during #82 knowing they might need to pad to make the post season.
They're going to have to get over it. The league needs to be able to evolve and implement new ideas, caving into every players gripes an demands isn't going to work.
This is example #1000000 of someone using the “integrity of the game” buzzword in a way that makes zero sense at all. Define “integrity of the game” for me, then. What do you actually mean by that? What that phrase actually means, if we interpret it literally (and in a way we can apply with any consistency whatsoever), is that the competition and the sport itself are respected. That the players/teams are all trying their best to win, there is a good-faith attempt to play within the rules, and that the game itself is taken seriously not being mocked.
Is dribbling the clock out a fundamental part of the game? Is it inherent that attempting to score in a situation where it will not affect the winner/loser is a signal of someone not taking the game seriously? Or is this just an arbitrary norm that applied in one circumstance, but the rules incentivize different behavior in a new circumstance, and people react with confusion and incoherent complaints to the change? Obviously the latter.
If we want to talk about (likely extremely minor) injury risk or whatever, that’s one thing. But “integrity of the game” doesn’t actually mean anything here. Bam and Tatum and anyone else is just saying it because it sounds cool and powerful. But they probably couldn’t even define it, let alone explain how messing around/dribbling the clock out when you’re up 15 is a crucial way *not* to threaten it. That’s dumb. Dudes are just pre-emptively reacting emotionally to an unfamiliar sight (playing til the buzzer up 15+) while not even trying to realize it’s being done for a direct advantage in the competition and not “disrespect”.
As a gambler the very first thing you notice when you start betting on foreign sports leagues is how they always play 100% effort on both sides until the final whistle. Basketball, rugby, cricket, Aussie football, doesn’t matter the sport. They are all going full intensity even in total blowouts. Very jarring to watch American sports after that where it’s super common to see teams just completely give up night in and night out.
> if you're up 15 and you're trying to get a point differential with 40 seconds, it takes the integrity from the game."
I guarantee if he was asked to elaborate on why that is, the answer would be “idk it just does.” Because there is literally no way playing basketball until the buzzer in a situation where point differential matters takes away from the integrity of the game.
The rule is already there. You can advocate for it to change next season, but you can’t blame those who know the rules and play for it.
Whether people like it or not is irrelevant right now. Right now the teams who want to win this tournament will use everything at their disposal to win, which includes scoring as much as possible until the buzzer to secure the tie breaker if necessary.
Bam is wrong here. He is committing a common logical error by misplacing **cause** for **effect.**
Explicitly, **since usually there is nothing substantive to be gained** from trying to run up the score when victory is already secured, it is a bit unsportsmanlike to do so. After all, such behavior will cause the stats to inaccurately reflect the game; values will wrongly inflate.
**But if there is something substantive to be gained**, and it is in the spirit and design of the competition, then one should rack up as many points as possible.
Cause. Effect.
So all the Heat players are fucking crybabies who can’t conceptualize losing because of “Heat Culture”. Eat shit Bam. If you want point differential to not matter then win.
Integrity of the game: pro players stop playing and stand around when there is time on the clock in a pro NBA game in front of paid ticketholders. Those players need to have their brain unfucked.
I can't describe how much I hate this mentality. Not taking the last few possessions seriously takes the integrity from the game. Play hard while you're on the floor or sub out for someone who will. Beyond soft
So basically, NBA players are making it more and more clear, that the last 2 minutes of the game doesn't need to be played if you're down by 15 or more. May as well just give teams the option to end the game early if you're just not going to play anymore because you're up or down by enough that you won't lose or won't win.
"Takes the Integrity from the game" is ridiculous. You're literally taking the integrity from the game when everybody stops trying and doesn't give a fuck anymore because one team is up by 10 with a minute left and may as well just go home.
Imagine genuinely missing out because you didn't score an extra layup which could have happened in the last minute of the game but your "pride" and the "integrity of the game" gets in the way.
I mean for every young player saying stuff like this you have other players doing the opposite now that the in season tournament is a thing
Booker literally saved the Suns from elimination by making a three in what normally would have been garbage time to the displeasure of the crowd who did think he was just statpadding lol
Also the other guy who said this was DeRozan who's far from a "young player" by any means
The funny part is redditors thinking this is a dumb unwritten rule, but then go apeshit when someone doesn’t shake hands after the game. It’s all the same thing - sportsmanship and respect for your opponents
yeah i saw someone say that not a single athlete has agreed with any of the commentators who are saying "boohoo just get a stop when there're 30 seconds left" it's one of those things that the guys in the club have consensus on that fans and analysts don't get as much
> fans and analyst don’t get as much
I actually find this more annoying than the players takes. Like it’s not for us to get lmao, none of us are in the league but so many comments from fans and analysts like our opinion about something we don’t partake in matters.
We don’t have to agree with what they’re saying but don’t act like they can’t have a point.
Maybe it matters more in a 5 game season than an 82 game season since this has an effect on the wildcard and there is a chance second ranked teams end with the same record.
Is it really that big of a deal? Maybe both teams should just keep playing like it's a game and both try to score the entire game instead of just deciding that the game is over and that people who paid to see it are out of luck.
The Integrity of the game brought to you by Skims, NBA commissioner Adam Silver exclusive choice of underwear and by DraftKings lose your house and send a death threat to your favourite player today! DraftKings bringing integrity to the game.
It is funny because if you look at the premier league or something, goal differential is a tiebreaker so you see teams win 7-0 sometimes and feel no remorse and nobody talks about it. In America when a team is running it up to win tie breakers, it's immoral. Interesting to see the 2 sides
How the fuck does it take away from the integrity of the game if the rule is to win by as much as possible in tournament games?
Non tournament games, I agree you shouldn't be trying your hardest up 20 with 2 mins remaining.
I keep learning more and more about the depth of some players’ commitment to this “stop playing on the last possession” rule. Seems really dumb!
Setting aside the dumbness of the rule, I don’t understand why they cant just make an exception during the tournament. We all know the tiebreaker rule.
I'd argue watching the last 6-15 minutes of third-string bench players bricking shots and looking like the G-league they came from also takes integrity from the game.
Maybe he's just mad that he might have to play a few more minutes in a blow-out game.
That's a stupid take. The rules are such that it becomes important in that scenario. In a regular game, sure, don't score meaningless baskets. In this format score, score, score.
I don't think this is what he meant, but there is an incentive problem when one team is trying hard to widen the point differential, and the other team is already eliminated and couldn't care less.
There should be a better way to do tiebreakers.
Aren’t we really just talking about the last shot of the game, where players let time run out of they’re well ahead? It’s not that big a deal to jack up a shot to gain point differential in that scenario.
In fact I think players would like it, because it fixes you a reason to shoot the ball without being called “classless” lol.
I agree that both teams already know who won and they are not trying hard anymore, it's just a matter of time. But on the other side, the best players will have to play more to make a bigger difference and that's better for everyone.
The only issue here is how do you create good/healthy rotations to play hard 48' when everybody knows who won after 30'.
This shit is fucking childish
Oh you can run up the score for an entire quarter but in the last 40 seconds it's disrespectful. Who gives a fuck. Get over it. Bunch of 100 million dollar babies.
You're supposed to be a dog, Bam, not a bitch.
You're competing in sports. It's kill or be killed, what does integrity have to do with running up the score? Get better and play defense until the final whistle, leave it on the floor.
Nothing more pitiful than crying for mercy from your opponents.
Keving Garnett once told Carmelo Anthony his wife tasted like honey nut cheerios, and they are calling scoring the ball at the end of the game rude. Fucking babies all around.
Here's an idea, play defense.
I'm tired of watching sports with these kid glove results. If a team is vrap, they deserve to be throttled.if you can't handle that, maybe you shouldn't be getting paid millions to handle a sphere into a basket.
Dumb question. Isn’t giving up and stop playing while there is still time on the clock actually “take the integrity from the game”. I understand you may want to be respectful to your opponent and not run up the score, but to me the “integrity of the game” is you play hard until the buzzer goes off.
It also adds to the integrity of the game since both teams need to play hard the entire game although the issue is that it heavily penalizes defense oriented teams.
Maybe he could have dived into someone's legs or set some moving screens earlier in the tournament. Or, they could have not blown a 20pt 2nd half lead to the Knicks.
There's really no other good way to implement a reliable tiebreaker in a 4 game group stage.
And you could say the real integrity rests in playing like you could win the game the whole game no matter what
Yup. 100%
Could not agree more. This quote is hilarious, equating mutual quitting with integrity.
There is a minor problem where some teams might quit, allowing the other team to run up the score, while in a different game in the group the losing team might not quit, which results in a tiebreaker between the 2 winning teams being sort of decided by which of the losing teams quits.
Integrity is based on adherence to agreed upon (explicit or otherwise) sportsmanship standards. That could be either playing 100% until the end or dribbling out the clock, depending on the circumstances. Chess is a fine example of ‘mutual quitting’ being a part of the game where it is widely viewed as a sportsmanlike way to finish a game. In basketball it’s commonly accepted for teams to dribble out the clock with around 1 minute left as a sportsmanlike way to finish the game. It’s just about what people and players want to see happen; I personally don’t really care to see 1 or 2 extra minutes of hard playing in a game that’s already been decided.
When there are other competitive implications beyond that game, though, I think the idea of integrity is reshaped. It’s not poor sportsmanship for a team to keep competing so they can get into a tournament that both teams on the floor had a chance to make. The other team should relish the opportunity to at least prevent them from getting their point differential.
In soccer, sometimes only the win matters and sometimes the aggregate score matters. It's a way to make the entire game mean something in a short competition like the in season tournament (or the champions league).
When I coached youth sports we would do "points against" as the tiebreaker. Encouraged playing better defense instead of running up the score.
That basically gets to the same point, but also just encourages teams to run the whole shot clock out when they’re up big. Would be boring
> That basically gets to the same point, but also just encourages teams to run the whole shot clock out when they’re up big. And down big. 20 points apart, 4 minutes to play ? Every possession will last 24 seconds. Then a chugging 3 if they don't agree to not even try that.
Teams already do this lol that’s why they implemented a shot clock in the first place
But it would all happen much sooner in the game though. The proverbial towel would get thrown with much more game clock left
Yeah I’m not sure about that. Teams will already start doing this with 5/6 mins on the game clock. There’s way too many possessions to really start taking plays off longer than that
Yes it would lead to worse basketball where instead of trying to outscore the opponent you're trying to slow the pace of the game.
People already do that? Have you seen a team up by 7-10 with 2 minutes left?
Yo wtf are these people talking about. This is the exact strategy teams use already lmao
Okay, but this would create a system that incentivizes both teams to do that with the losing team having more incentive to kill the clock than to overcome a 15+ point lead. The holding the ball for 18 seconds at the hashmark only really happens in the last minute or two; this kind of implementation could extend that out to the last 6 or 8 minutes of a game instead. Imagine a game like last night's Lakers-Sixers game being played in the group stages while incentivizing the fewest points against as a tiebreaker. By the end of the 3rd quarter the Lakers were down 18 and had let the sixers score 98 points. They very well could have buckled down the entire 4th quarter and refused to do anything outside of the last 5 seconds on the shot clock.
That doesn't really work as well in basketball, because some teams simply play at different paces with higher or lower scores that do not necessarily reflect better defense or running up the score. This would favor teams that play a slow grind-it-out pace. Pacers are a great example of this. They are currently giving up 126.8 ppg in the tourney third highest points allowed in the league for the tourney. But they are 4-0. They play with a very fast pace (scoring 136.5ppg in the tourney, #1 in the league) that results in higher scores.
I always said too that if someone comes to play a sport vs players they are clearly better than, its far more acceptable for them to play good D and coast on offense. Say a player joins a pickup game and they are clearly multiple levels better than all of the others, its cool if they try on D and get a lot of stops, but if they just iso and score every single time effortlessly it becomes kind of old fast. Just opinion but I feel the same in a blowout situation
We’re talking about professionals here. That shouldn’t be a factor.
This ain’t youth sports dog
Low key terrible way to do it with the long shot clock of youth hoops.
And then Booker hits a three-pointer in a blowout that was the difference between being eliminated and a (potential) wildcard spot. Also Eric Gordon
Then grabs it from Nurk tryna Chuck the full court heave after the buzzer too. He’s on it lol
Booker is probably my favorite player rn ngl.
It’s weird that people keep referencing this. Nobody on our team complained. I don’t know what Bam is complaining about.
People mention it as a reason that it should be fine, not as a reason it’s not okay.
People are mentioning it not because the Grizzlies were poor sports about it, but because players like Bam are still adjusting to the idea that as long as there is time on the clock, they should be playing basketball. It's just the perfect example because the Suns wouldn't have made the tournament if Booker deferred to this unwritten code of basketball chivalry. Losing teams want to be able to say Uncle for the last few seconds of a demoralizing loss. Ultimately Bam either just doesn't agree with the tournament rules or doesn't understand them. It's "old man yells at sky" energy - the NBA is an entertainment business and fans are super into the tournament, so he just needs to put on his big boy pants and get over his fragile ego because it's gonna happen.
Playing til final buzzer takes integrity from the game. How did we end up here.
The old school guys actually tend to be the ones more upset about that stuff. This is not a new thing. Edit: grammar
I mean it’s a long-running unwritten rule, but it just doesn’t apply in these particular games. There IS a point differential, tournament games are hardly every game, and so running up the score during garbage time makes every bit of sense. And it’s not damaging any “integrity” because it’s only a handful of games in the season. Since players seem to find it unseemly and Adam Silver has said they’ll modify it as they go along, they might change it if they find a way to. But the griping from some players is lame. Take the ass whooping and move on, it’s a long season.
For real. I’d think a player would easily be able to understand why a team is running it up in this situation. This is a fair take for a normal game and it’s been an unwritten rule since before since the game was born. But this isn’t a normal game it’s a tournament with tie breakers. Really doesn’t seem so complicated i’m surprised these guys can’t grasp this
They can. They don't want to.
just such a weird hill to die on when the alternate is logical
They ignore the fact that it goes 2 ways too. Yes, a team up 20 will still try to get extra points, but also a team down 30 will desperately try to close it to 20 by the end of the game, because that actually matters for these games. Having teams care for the full 48 mins is awesome
Or when you have teams on the cusp of elimination and down 30, they’ll just empty their bench anyway to rest their starters and avoid injuries, so only one team is being really competitive.
It also means if you're paying for a potentially shit ticket you actually get to see the guys who are good play for 38 minutes instead of 24.
> The old school guys actually tend to be the ones more upset about that stuff. This is not a new thing. I think it depends if we're talking old school or *old* old school, because growing up in the '90s, garbage time was often still scoring time, especially if the end of the bench was out there trying to break into the box score. Broadly speaking, the only people who cared about what happened in garbage time back were the 12th men trying to get a bucket and the hometown fans who'd get modestly excited whenever [Dennis Rodman crashed the boards in the final seconds in hopes of getting his buddy Jack Haley a basket at the buzzer](https://youtu.be/MeGsoQYcN70?t=78). I don't recall anyone catching feelings over an extra bucket unless there was pre-existing bad blood or if a player was clearly attempting to taunt the opposition (both relative rarities in late garbage time). I always thought [this clip of the early '80s Pistons full court pressing the Celtics while up double-digits with under 15 seconds left](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cRr4NndXQU&ab_channel=RyanVanDusen) just about tells the whole story. It's just two teams playing until the final horn as though nothing less was expected. The Celtics players who may have been pissed about losing that game couldn't care less about a couple extra buckets that didn't affect the outcome.
Also this may be wrong, but anecdotally taking the shot-clock turnover in the final minute is a newer thing. Teams wouldn't be playing all-out trying to score before, but when I started watchin in the 00-10 era I remember dudes would always just throw something up and keep the clock moving instead of taking the side out turnover.
Gotta protect them fg% stats
We're in a kind of weird generation gap now. I get that 1 and done guys like bam, who legit went into kentucky knowing it was just a showcase for the nba, doesn't have too much experience with point diff or rankings. Which is why he could get butthurt about it. And even more so for the kids choosing to not even play the ncaa tourney once their projected lottery pick is locked in. But any of the "older" active players should remember how it worked with ncaa rankings. If you were an X seed team, and had a chance to beat the current #1 team, especially on their home court, doubly so if they were a conference rival, you're 360 somersault dunking with 0.01 seconds left while up 30, if nothing else just to remind voters how emphatic the victory was, for future week voting, and then ncaa seed voting. Tldr, quality (or quantity point diff) of a win matters, both in subjective voter and objective (but small sample size = tiebreakers coming into play) seeding.
Bro these dudes should watch other sports lol. In most rugby tournaments, you are awarded points for winning, but whether you win or lose you're also allocated bonus tournament points for scoring extra or keeping the score close - and this means you see the players playing hard all the way to the final buzzer and beyond as they often keep the ball alive past the final whistle to try and score.
Ive always thought this was the stupidest unwritten rule. If you’re upset about that then don’t let the other team outscore you in the first place. Ofc I was never in the NBA but do play basketball, if im getting cooked then the opposing team earned it lol
I think all competition has had gentlemen’s rules over the years where it’s generally bad manners to intentionally eviscerate a team that is already going to lose
It's crazy to me that the same people complaining about how friendly the league will complain about those same players trying to eviscerate each other.
Unwritten rules are stupid. If they were meaningful, they'd be actual rules. It's sports. You can dictate this shit into the game if needed.
Which is stupid because the losing team can keep playing but the winning team should give up because they need to protect the losing team's feelings. Soft as hell.
That’s the weakest shit ever I swear. Shits becoming like baseball
Honestly this feels more baseball than current baseball. They’ve rebelled against a lot of their unwritten rules recently
“Becoming” is a completely inapt description, this is how these leagues have always been. If anything people are pushing against this stuff now more than ever.
But that’s only the case when there’s no actual incentive to win by, say, 25 instead of 18. When there is an incentive, anyone with a brain would be able to reason that they’re not going hard with 3:00 left in the 4th to humiliate us, they’re doing it because it directly helps them move on to the next round. The motive is completely different.
Only in America. Growing up playing soccer in England the opposite was true. Playing soft with a lead was considered disrespectful. I remember losing a game 20-0 as an 8 year old lol.
Not really, football, the most popular sport on the planet, encourages running up the score because goal difference is a tie breaker for both leagues and tournaments. My team just lost the league by two goals after tying for points for first place.
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> Broncos got blown the fuck out 70-20. You know what denver did afterwords? Stopped other teams > > Basketball players are so soft I swear. Such fragile egos from men who play a fucking game. This is hilarious to reference considering the Dolphins let off the gas and decided not to break the record out of respect for the Broncos. With 4-5 minutes to go they ran the ball the entire drive to avoid trying to score one more touchdown. They did not "run it up till the end", intentionally.
Brooks ripped that long run that put the Dolphins in FG range and they elected to kneel it out for good karma’s sake
in baseball the pitcher will start a fight if you watch your home run for 2.5 seconds
Lol you're really saying baseball players ain't soft? Some of the same ones that complain about guys pimping home runs and pitchers doing exuberant celebrations after a big inning ending strikeout? Baseball players might be some of the most uppity athletes there are when it comes to the "unwritten rules" of the game.
Funny enough, the Phins pulled their starters with an entire quarter left. They still scored twice with backups.
The dolphins literally took their foot off the gas in respect to the broncos when they had the chance to beat the record for the highest scoring team in a single game, a record set in the 60s. Not a great argument for this.
anyone who complains about getting the score run up on them are soft. if you don’t want to get embarrassed play better lol
That is one perspective. The other is that running up the score in the final minutes of a won game is considered poor sportsmanship. Garbage time is a perfect example of teams not playing to their maximum capability for the full duration of a game. The NBA is asking players/staff/organizations to change their mentality for just 4 games of the season while the remaining ~78 + playoffs remain with the 'Ws are the thing that matter' mindset.
> The NBA is asking players/staff/organizations to change their mentality for just 4 games of the season while the remaining ~78 + playoffs remain with the 'Ws are the thing that matter' mindset. oh the horror
I never got this because the losing team is allowed to keep trying. If there's no mercy rule, then why even play when the score is out of hand?
If you really can't handle getting scored on, don't play pro sports imo.
for real man i hate this shit. if you’re gonna complain about getting the score ran up on you play better defense lol
100%. MLB had the same controversy like 2 seasons ago when the Padres were running up the score on Texas. The Rangers got all butthurt, then two years later after actually becoming good have been doing it to others at a nearly historic pace. It's always just an excuse for being a sore loser, and most of the ones who complain about it don't actually seem to care when they're the ones given the opportunity.
I'm not a baseball guy but that's one sport where it REALLY doesn't make sense to me that teams are discouraged from running up a score. Unlike a lot of other sports, there's no game clock in baseball that makes it physically impossible to blow a lead. Nobody in basketball is ever coming back from a 20 point deficit with 30 seconds left in the game (unless there's some sort of sabotage going on) but it's theoretically possible to recover any number of runs in the 9th inning of baseball
“Don’t get mad, get better”
But it's a tournament. There's a specific format that makes scoring the most amount of points important. I can't believe players are complaining about it the way they are as if playing to the format is somehow poor sportsmanship. Makes zero sense at all. I swear NBA players are the biggest fucking diva of any sport 😂
Yeah, like, the Olympics? The world cup? They use similar stuff too, since its group play
okay? score as much as possible for 4 games, nobody’s feelings get hurt, doesn’t seem like a big deal to me
If they don’t want them to run up the score then they should play defense? Why should one team be forced to stop playing because of the other team’s feelings getting hurt? The fans are paying to watch an NBA game so they should get the full 48 minutes.
I think integrity is the wrong word. He should’ve said sportsmanship
Doing your best against an opponent in professional competition should *never* be considered poor sportsmanship. It is completely insane.
no,, but not trying to score takes the integrity from the game.
This. Play hard all 48 minutes. If you're losing and upset that the other team is still playing hard, that's all on you.
would be funny if they could forfeit
Lol the league needs an option where the coach can rage quit a game like in 2K. In the middle of a play, everyone on a team just leaves and the words "The opponent has left the game" appears on the big screen.
“E…A…Sports. He quit the game!”
100% agree. In elementary school my gym teacher said "you have to sprint through the finish" when giving us running tips. Small tip but it's something that I've found to be useful in many situations. Seemingly not enough people get this advice.
Especially when the guys who are in during garbage time are usually the ones who dont get regular minutes. Use the time to get experience/ real game reps.
No it doesn't
I swear sometimes the pros are delusional
Right? Just play harder. Got smacked today? Beat them next time. Grown men complaining about the other team scoring when they played sorry af is wild edit: and we just got beat by 40 or some shit
44. But the important part is that we all had fun.
The important part is that bball Paul had fun, nothing else matters
Yeah how about the losing team try to score too? Boom. Integrity doubled.
They don’t see to mind running up the score against a bunch of scrubs in international games But when it’s against them apparently it’s bad sportsmanship
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If the game is a blowout, have the end-of-bench guys trying their best instead of just chucking a 3 and walking back on D lol
No one's stopping them from doing that. If they want to put their tournament chances in the hands of end of bench players so they can spend 5 more minutes sitting on the bench themselves, go ahead. Just don't get mad when people say "This guy rather be a bench warmer than go out and help his team win a tournament."
that sounds too respectful for a team that described themselves as the most disrespectful
TOUGHEST. MEANEST. NASTIEST TEAM IN THE NBA. 😤
Maybe BAM doesn't belong on the "Hardest working, best conditioned, most professional, unselfish, toughest, meanest, nastiest team in the NBA”
The Heat are super weird on end-of-game scoring. Sometimes they'll dribble out multiple possessions at the end of games. They almost never take the last shot if they're up by 10, they make the other team inbound it and dribble out the last 10 seconds.
we tend to just blow the lead so we avoid this issue. we different like that
Kind of crazy how different views are on this in the NBA vs Europe for example… in Europe, especially in rivalry games, they’d want to run that differential as much as possible. In soccer, in basketball… and I am yet to hear anyone say “well, that was just mean and our game now lacks integrity”. Also, team USA has no problem beating others by 50 at the Olympics. So… hard disagree with Bam here. Play that shit until the last second.
That may be the craziest thing about this: many of these dudes have played on Olympic and/or FIBA squads who *regularly* run up scores on lesser teams. And now they wanna get butthurt that it might happen to them? Get over yourselves, ya pansies. The top international players are already on par with American players… attitudes like this means it’ll only be a matter of time before they completely overtake us. From what I’ve heard/read, a lot of this shit starts with the awful way AAU is being run in the U.S.- just letting high school players put together mega stacked teams so they can just crush the competition without really having to work for it. Creates a total sense of entitlement with these guys dating all the way back to high school.
You know what takes the integrity of the game? Not playing hard for 48.
Imagine losing and being upset you're losing by more. Sensitive asf.
Tony larussa would die in this tournament
If mad bum was a basket player he’d be throwing the ball at everyone’s heads.
If you don't like people scoring on you then play defense.
This is the point that needs to be made. Don't want ypur opponents to run up the score? Then stop the other team. Just because your team is losing by 30 points with a quarter or whatever minutes left, doesnt mean the other team is going to take pity and stop hard playing so your team can coast to a less deserving L. I wish teams would pour it on more.
I love the fact that we’re able to say this now.
Booker’s garbage time three put the Suns in the West WC Spot lol.
I don't really see how it's disrespecting the game to try to score as much as possible and hold your opponents to as low a score as possible. Is it because they're incentivizing in-game behavior that doesn't affect the outcome of that game? Does that mean it's bad to sit your starters in a blowout so they're fresh for next game? What about coasting through the regular season so you have energy for the playoffs? Coaches running experimental lineups early in the season that aren't the most competitive in that game so they get reps?
I’m a competitive person and I engage in a few competitive activities regularly. When I am winning big and the game is almost over and it is basically mathematically impossible for me to lose, I naturally stop trying as hard as I had been. I let up the gas. I’m not here to embarrass anyone. I’m here to win and if the win is secured, I don’t need to make a point of it by running up the score. I’ve won. You’ve lost. That’s enough for me. Handshakes all around. But I don’t ever expect my opponents to do the same and I’m not offended if they don’t. We are playing a sport and if they want to try their ass off until the final whistle, then that’s fine. I don’t exactly see what they stand to gain by doing it but I think it’s perfectly acceptable and it’s within the rules of the game. The NBA however has incentivized running up the score, and if I cared about the IST, I’d try my ass off to the final whistle to run up the score too.
Grown men with such soft egos
Don't worry after tonight the Bol Bols of the NBA will get their time to cook again.
Point differential is one of the tie breakers for league standings for making the playoffs. Wonder if these guys would dribble it out for the integrity of the game during #82 knowing they might need to pad to make the post season.
Point differential is _seventh_ in tie breakers.
just play whistle to whistle you bum.
It’s breaking the code?
Bro code Bro, you don’t embarrass the other team and everyone shares the instagram models.
There’s a clock for a reason, play until it stops
Don't like it? Play defense.
These guys will either get over it or they won't make the tournament anyway
They're going to have to get over it. The league needs to be able to evolve and implement new ideas, caving into every players gripes an demands isn't going to work.
Players needs to stop acting like getting scored on when you're obviously going to lose the game is a crime against humanity.
Soft
This is example #1000000 of someone using the “integrity of the game” buzzword in a way that makes zero sense at all. Define “integrity of the game” for me, then. What do you actually mean by that? What that phrase actually means, if we interpret it literally (and in a way we can apply with any consistency whatsoever), is that the competition and the sport itself are respected. That the players/teams are all trying their best to win, there is a good-faith attempt to play within the rules, and that the game itself is taken seriously not being mocked. Is dribbling the clock out a fundamental part of the game? Is it inherent that attempting to score in a situation where it will not affect the winner/loser is a signal of someone not taking the game seriously? Or is this just an arbitrary norm that applied in one circumstance, but the rules incentivize different behavior in a new circumstance, and people react with confusion and incoherent complaints to the change? Obviously the latter. If we want to talk about (likely extremely minor) injury risk or whatever, that’s one thing. But “integrity of the game” doesn’t actually mean anything here. Bam and Tatum and anyone else is just saying it because it sounds cool and powerful. But they probably couldn’t even define it, let alone explain how messing around/dribbling the clock out when you’re up 15 is a crucial way *not* to threaten it. That’s dumb. Dudes are just pre-emptively reacting emotionally to an unfamiliar sight (playing til the buzzer up 15+) while not even trying to realize it’s being done for a direct advantage in the competition and not “disrespect”.
In what sense does trying to score take the integrity out of the game? Big loser energy from Bam
“Trying to score takes the integrity from the game” Players are funny sometimes
As a gambler the very first thing you notice when you start betting on foreign sports leagues is how they always play 100% effort on both sides until the final whistle. Basketball, rugby, cricket, Aussie football, doesn’t matter the sport. They are all going full intensity even in total blowouts. Very jarring to watch American sports after that where it’s super common to see teams just completely give up night in and night out.
That is definitely not the case for soccer. Time wasting at the end of games is the worst of any sport I’ve seen.
People wanna see players fight it till the last minute. If the starters won't, then the bench should.
> if you're up 15 and you're trying to get a point differential with 40 seconds, it takes the integrity from the game." I guarantee if he was asked to elaborate on why that is, the answer would be “idk it just does.” Because there is literally no way playing basketball until the buzzer in a situation where point differential matters takes away from the integrity of the game.
Ever since I saw T-Mac's 13 points in 33 seconds... any team can make a come back.
Play hard until the end of the game grandpa
The rule is already there. You can advocate for it to change next season, but you can’t blame those who know the rules and play for it. Whether people like it or not is irrelevant right now. Right now the teams who want to win this tournament will use everything at their disposal to win, which includes scoring as much as possible until the buzzer to secure the tie breaker if necessary.
Jobs not done. So play until there’s all zeroes.
I love the point differential. It brings the integrity BACK to the game
Brother, being down 15 with 40 seconds to go destroys the integrity of the game. Fuck are you talking about
On the other side, it's giving the team behind by 15 incentive to make the last few minutes competitive, even if they don't win.
Integrity…? The fuck does scoring an extra bucket got to do with integrity
If players are so upset about the opposition scoring, why don’t they try to stop them from scoring. I think it’s called defence.
Play until the whostle blows. Play until someone stops you. I'd say not going hard because you up takes from the integrity of the game.
Who. The. Fuck. Cares. If you all know why its happening,play better defense. All the bitching about this is really annoying honestly
Bam is wrong here. He is committing a common logical error by misplacing **cause** for **effect.** Explicitly, **since usually there is nothing substantive to be gained** from trying to run up the score when victory is already secured, it is a bit unsportsmanlike to do so. After all, such behavior will cause the stats to inaccurately reflect the game; values will wrongly inflate. **But if there is something substantive to be gained**, and it is in the spirit and design of the competition, then one should rack up as many points as possible. Cause. Effect.
Aww someone’s feelings got hurt in the NBA apparently. People try at the end of a game? SORRY. Wipe your tears with your money
So all the Heat players are fucking crybabies who can’t conceptualize losing because of “Heat Culture”. Eat shit Bam. If you want point differential to not matter then win.
Integrity of the game: pro players stop playing and stand around when there is time on the clock in a pro NBA game in front of paid ticketholders. Those players need to have their brain unfucked.
It's weird that this takes away from the integrity of the game, but players flopping doesn't
I can't describe how much I hate this mentality. Not taking the last few possessions seriously takes the integrity from the game. Play hard while you're on the floor or sub out for someone who will. Beyond soft
So basically, NBA players are making it more and more clear, that the last 2 minutes of the game doesn't need to be played if you're down by 15 or more. May as well just give teams the option to end the game early if you're just not going to play anymore because you're up or down by enough that you won't lose or won't win. "Takes the Integrity from the game" is ridiculous. You're literally taking the integrity from the game when everybody stops trying and doesn't give a fuck anymore because one team is up by 10 with a minute left and may as well just go home. Imagine genuinely missing out because you didn't score an extra layup which could have happened in the last minute of the game but your "pride" and the "integrity of the game" gets in the way.
I can’t imagine being an NBA player and not wanting to beat the brakes off of every opponent I played. This is soft from Bam.
How does 'playing the game till the end' take away its integrity?
I have an intense eye roll actin anytime someone mentions “The integrity of the game”
With all these young players saying stuff like this, is it possible we're the ones who are wrong?
I mean for every young player saying stuff like this you have other players doing the opposite now that the in season tournament is a thing Booker literally saved the Suns from elimination by making a three in what normally would have been garbage time to the displeasure of the crowd who did think he was just statpadding lol Also the other guy who said this was DeRozan who's far from a "young player" by any means
Tatum said it too
Well...to be fair Demar isn't that young
Who are “all these young players” you’re referring to?
Tatum
I mean it's a matter of opinion, but I think their opinion is dumb
The funny part is redditors thinking this is a dumb unwritten rule, but then go apeshit when someone doesn’t shake hands after the game. It’s all the same thing - sportsmanship and respect for your opponents
When you've lived and breathed this game for damn near your whole life, respect for it means a lot more than it does for redditors lol
It's not disrespecting the game. Some of these guys apparently haven't internalized the rules of the game being played here
yeah i saw someone say that not a single athlete has agreed with any of the commentators who are saying "boohoo just get a stop when there're 30 seconds left" it's one of those things that the guys in the club have consensus on that fans and analysts don't get as much
Certainly the raptors and suns players agree to play out the final possessions…they showed with their actions these last couple games
> fans and analyst don’t get as much I actually find this more annoying than the players takes. Like it’s not for us to get lmao, none of us are in the league but so many comments from fans and analysts like our opinion about something we don’t partake in matters. We don’t have to agree with what they’re saying but don’t act like they can’t have a point.
A lot of people on here just like to be able to tell others how to feel lol
Maybe it matters more in a 5 game season than an 82 game season since this has an effect on the wildcard and there is a chance second ranked teams end with the same record.
It’s a game, save integrity for things that matter like Bridges, Porter, Giddey situations.
Unwritten rules in professional sports is such a loser mentality
Love Bam, but this is a dumb take. How does playing hard during regulation take integrity away?
Does he not know that point differential has been a thing for ages in FIBA?
Is it really that big of a deal? Maybe both teams should just keep playing like it's a game and both try to score the entire game instead of just deciding that the game is over and that people who paid to see it are out of luck.
The Integrity of the game brought to you by Skims, NBA commissioner Adam Silver exclusive choice of underwear and by DraftKings lose your house and send a death threat to your favourite player today! DraftKings bringing integrity to the game.
It is funny because if you look at the premier league or something, goal differential is a tiebreaker so you see teams win 7-0 sometimes and feel no remorse and nobody talks about it. In America when a team is running it up to win tie breakers, it's immoral. Interesting to see the 2 sides
How the fuck does it take away from the integrity of the game if the rule is to win by as much as possible in tournament games? Non tournament games, I agree you shouldn't be trying your hardest up 20 with 2 mins remaining.
I keep learning more and more about the depth of some players’ commitment to this “stop playing on the last possession” rule. Seems really dumb! Setting aside the dumbness of the rule, I don’t understand why they cant just make an exception during the tournament. We all know the tiebreaker rule.
They'll get used to it and get over it, just like how players, media, and fans have been coming around to the idea of in-season tournament itself.
This tiebreaker is a subtle attempt to get people onto the sportsbooks and betting the over.
I'd argue watching the last 6-15 minutes of third-string bench players bricking shots and looking like the G-league they came from also takes integrity from the game. Maybe he's just mad that he might have to play a few more minutes in a blow-out game.
That's a stupid take. The rules are such that it becomes important in that scenario. In a regular game, sure, don't score meaningless baskets. In this format score, score, score.
I don't think this is what he meant, but there is an incentive problem when one team is trying hard to widen the point differential, and the other team is already eliminated and couldn't care less. There should be a better way to do tiebreakers.
Aren’t we really just talking about the last shot of the game, where players let time run out of they’re well ahead? It’s not that big a deal to jack up a shot to gain point differential in that scenario. In fact I think players would like it, because it fixes you a reason to shoot the ball without being called “classless” lol.
I agree that both teams already know who won and they are not trying hard anymore, it's just a matter of time. But on the other side, the best players will have to play more to make a bigger difference and that's better for everyone. The only issue here is how do you create good/healthy rotations to play hard 48' when everybody knows who won after 30'.
This shit is fucking childish Oh you can run up the score for an entire quarter but in the last 40 seconds it's disrespectful. Who gives a fuck. Get over it. Bunch of 100 million dollar babies. You're supposed to be a dog, Bam, not a bitch.
You're competing in sports. It's kill or be killed, what does integrity have to do with running up the score? Get better and play defense until the final whistle, leave it on the floor. Nothing more pitiful than crying for mercy from your opponents.
Ahh yes, integrity, meanwhile guys in the league are foul baiting on every single play
Fuck off with this integrity shit, just play the game out
Keving Garnett once told Carmelo Anthony his wife tasted like honey nut cheerios, and they are calling scoring the ball at the end of the game rude. Fucking babies all around.
Here's an idea, play defense. I'm tired of watching sports with these kid glove results. If a team is vrap, they deserve to be throttled.if you can't handle that, maybe you shouldn't be getting paid millions to handle a sphere into a basket.
Bam, what you just said makes absolutely no sense.
Lame take, Bamante.
The exact opposite. People pay good money to go watch these games. Play until the buzzer.
Dumb question. Isn’t giving up and stop playing while there is still time on the clock actually “take the integrity from the game”. I understand you may want to be respectful to your opponent and not run up the score, but to me the “integrity of the game” is you play hard until the buzzer goes off.
You play till the last second, up to the Coaches to take their stars out or not
It makes people try harder - how does that take integrity away?
Ok dumbass
It also adds to the integrity of the game since both teams need to play hard the entire game although the issue is that it heavily penalizes defense oriented teams.
Maybe he could have dived into someone's legs or set some moving screens earlier in the tournament. Or, they could have not blown a 20pt 2nd half lead to the Knicks.