James, Wade, Chalmers out... AGAIN

[CelticConcourse]

This is terrible! Another national television game... another benching of the stars! We could've seen number 1 vs. number 2 face off... Knicks are on an 8-game win streak... Chalmers-Felton had a war of words yesterday....

This is absolutely terrible. I hate Spoelstra, even if it's for the bettering of the team. You can't just sit out two big, national TV games! And the NBA obviously won't fine them. 

[CelticSooner]

I have no qualms about resting players late in the season. I didn't like what Pop did early in the season however.

[CelticConcourse]

I have no qualms about resting players late in the season. I didn't like what Pop did early in the season however.

But two nationally televised games, with ~10 games to go? This kind of sucks...

[FreeGreen]

Why does doing it at the end of the season vs. the beginning of the season matter?

The games count the same.

They don't have home court locked up.

The rationale at the time was that the fans were cheated out of full value of their tickets.  Well, aren't the Knick's fans being cheated out of the same thing?  Ditto for the folks watching on TV.

Why shouldn't they face the same discipline as the Spurs?

Personally -- I think coaches should be allowed to do whatever they want in regards to resting players. 

However, if the league is going to start stepping in and be heavy handed about it they should at least be consistent.

[Moranis]

Why does doing it at the end of the season vs. the beginning of the season matter?

The games count the same.

They don't have home court locked up.

The rationale at the time was that the fans were cheated out of full value of their tickets.  Well, aren't the Knick's fans being cheated out of the same thing?  Ditto for the folks watching on TV.

Why shouldn't they face the same discipline as the Spurs?

Personally -- I think coaches should be allowed to do whatever they want in regards to resting players. 

However, if the league is going to start stepping in and be heavy handed about it they should at least be consistent.

actually they do have home court locked up and this is a home game which a lot different than a road game.

[j804]

LeBron and Wade getting rested up for the playoffs = ughhhh

[dark_lord]

who cares?!  if they want to rest their guys for playoffs, so be it. 

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

This is terrible! Another national television game... another benching of the stars! We could've seen number 1 vs. number 2 face off... Knicks are on an 8-game win streak... Chalmers-Felton had a war of words yesterday....

This is absolutely terrible. I hate Spoelstra, even if it's for the bettering of the team. You can't just sit out two big, national TV games! And the NBA obviously won't fine them. 

All I can say is the Heat better be getting fined, just like Stern fined the Spurs for sitting Parker, Duncan, and Ginobili against the Heat.

[CelticConcourse]

who cares?!  if they want to rest their guys for playoffs, so be it.

If the Spurs want to rest their players on a fourth game in five nights, so be it.

Problem is, one of them gets a $500k fine and the other gets SQUAT. I don't mind them sitting, but if they don't get a fine, it's just not fair. You can't just fine the Spurs $500k and do nothing when the Heat do it. Four games in five nights is tough too, and Duncan/Parker are old. LeBron? Wade? CHALMERS? Stupid is my only word.

[Lightskinsmurf]

Nothing wrong with this at all.

[jambr380]

I basically think coaches should be able to do what they want as long as it's okay with the players - Doc was talking about how he likes to give guys a night off and if they are older, it makes all the sense in the world.

The problem is the lack of consistency. The Spurs never should have been fined such a hefty amount for resting their older players on the 4th game in five nights. It seems as though Spoelstra is almost trying to avoid such a fine by 'proving' that his players really are hurt by resting them two games in a row.

[Fafnir]

C's rested their players after they clinched HCA throughout the playoffs in 07-08, nothing wrong with the Heat doing the same. (though they've just clinched the eastern conference but really same idea)

[CelticConcourse]

Well, in the case that this is okay, there's a lack of consistency because then the Spurs didn't deserve a fine.

-Duncan, Parker, Ginobili are way older than LeBron, Wade, Chalmers
-Chalmers isn't even a star
-Spurs did it once, Heat do it twice
-All three games are on national television
-Spurs-Heat and Heat-Spurs was the same matchup, even!
-Heat are at end of season, Spurs were on fourth game in five nights, as well as sixth game in a row on the road

You can't fine one, but not the other. That's just not fair... if you don't want to fine this, repay the Spurs their $500,000USD.

500,000 dollars is a lot, and this is just not fair.

[Quetzalcoatl]

As much as I would love to see Wade and James playing hard on injuries right before the playoffs, I have a hard time manufacturing any outrage over this.  They're all real injuries and are all consistently listed on the injury report.  Try to imagine the Celtics doing exactly what the Heat are doing now - would you be starting topics saying you want KG to be going hard on a bum ankle?  I'm guessing not

[JoT]

I basically think coaches should be able to do what they want as long as it's okay with the players - Doc was talking about how he likes to give guys a night off and if they are older, it makes all the sense in the world.

The problem is the lack of consistency. The Spurs never should have been fined such a hefty amount for resting their older players on the 4th game in five nights. It seems as thought Spoelstra is almost trying to avoid such a fine by 'proving' that his players really are hurt by resting them two games in a row.

This is basically what I was about to state.
I don't have anything against Spoelstra for sitting his players just like I had no issues with Pop doing it.
My  problem is the lack of consistency with the front office.