Apparently only Jeremy Evans is taking the edict of Impact Basketball's "some expectation of defense" to heart. Evans had 7 blocks yesterday and went 4-5 from the field (including 3 dunks) in yesterday's action. His 7 blocks were almost more than everyone else (9) combined. Of course you can't see the games unless you're in Vegas because they haven't got the stream working yet. Even then, it doesn't appear that many people are coming to watch so far.
This highlight video isn't going to focus on defense, but you can tell that it's not going to be the focus. That holds true for almost any games like this. The games only have 10-minute quarters and the score at the end of this highlight shows a final of 99-97. From yesterday's action, everyone shot a combined 64% from the field.
If you have some expectation of defense from the Impact League, then you should have some expectation of the lockout coming to a resolution soon based on yesterday's meeting between the owners and the players.
Your breakdown links from yesterday's talks:
Chris Sheridan
That is what always happens when the owners' and players' full bargaining committees get together. It is a total dog-and-pony show, and anyone who expected the sides to emerge today with a sense of optimism was fooling themselves.
This dispute will get settled when there are a lot fewer people in the room. David Stern and Billy Hunter can reach a suitable middle ground by meeting by themselves for a couple hours, which was what happened back in 1999 when that lockout was settled.
Ken Berger
"The owners are not inclined at this stage to move off the position where they've anchored themselves," Hunter said, adding that players remain steadfast against accepting a system that distributes the money to players via a hard cap.
Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver told a diferent story, saying the players signaled their willingness to compromise on dollars only if the owners agreed in advance that the system -- with a soft cap, luxury tax, and various spending exceptions -- would remain largely intact. The owners huddled -- for about three of the 5 1-2 hour, Hunter said -- and emerged to reject the players' request. Neither side actually made a formal proposal Tuesday.Tom Ziller
That was supposed to be the big deal, the hurdle that cost NBA fans a season: the league couldn't make ends meet while handing 57 percent of all revenues to players, while players called bullsh-t on that claim and held the line relatively close on financial concessions they were willing to make. The question we all wondered -- in print, aloud, on our knees before our creator -- was whether they'd find a middle ground both sides could live with. The other stuff -- the cap structure, contract length, the age minimum, PED testing -- was all important, but easily solved. The money battle would have everyone digging trenches, preparing for a long, cold winter.
If enough progress has indeed been made on the revenue split to find a deal point and the lockout continues because neither side will budge on the cap structure, what a stupid situation we have on our hands. Both sides have misconstrued the point of a hard cap, misrepresented what it will actually do for the league. Both sides have twisted this "blood issue" to the point where it more resembles DNA than plasma. I can't emphasize enough how ridiculous it is that the NBA could cancel a season to hold out for a hard cap.
So what's next for Enes Kanter? After a good showing in Eurobasket, he needs to continue to play and develop by playing competitive basketball and not just working out. Another year off from basketball would be detrimental to his development and his contributions to the Jazz.
The big question though is where should be play? He had a falling out with his Turkish team Fenerbache Ulker when they reported to the NCAA that he had received pay and benefits while playing with them. That's what led to him not being eligible to play for Kentucky this past season. His father claimed it was retaliation for not committing to the Turkish team and instead leading him to the States where he could get an education and not just play basketball. Fenerbache disputed that claim, stating that Kanter's father himself negotiated the salary.
In those articles though, we learn that Fenerbache has no intent on charging a transfer fee if Kanter would have gone on to Europe to play. However, they would charge a fee should he play for another Turkish team.
So with no NCAA (obivously), no NBA, and no Turkish teams presumably, that leaves Europe and China. The CBA has stated that they will not let a player out of their contract to return to the NBA. JR Smith just signed with the league yesterday and will not be able to return to the NBA until March when the CBA season is over. It had been rumored that Kanter had a couple of offers from CBA teams. I don't know if he can commit to a full season however.
So that leaves a European club. They've also been hesitant to let players out of their contracts for a return to the NBA. This could be his most likely destination.
AK's second-round highlights courtesy of moni
Wednesday poll...
The title of the Downbeat references this Downbeat in a reverse-jinx attempt