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Mar 13, 06
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NBA may come back to vancouver...
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Mar 14, 06
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yessssssssssssssss
i love basketball!
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Mar 14, 06
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Quote:
 I KID! I KID! Seriously though.... that is not true at all. There were hurdles but lack of fans wasn't one of them. After 5 yrs of losing the Grizzlies were still selling out games! What lost us this team was greedy ownership. They were making money but not as much as they'd be making if they were in an American market. I'm sure one of the biggest reasons that the NBA has lasted in TO is that they have a bigger stadium/population which means more asses in seats which means more revenue for the team. If Vancouver could get a solid backer for a team that was interested in keeping it here I'm sure it would succeed again.
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Mar 14, 06
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Dear NBA
We don't need another shitty NBA team in Vancouver! I think the raptors and the old grizzlies are proof that the owners can't bring in enough cash to build a worthy team here.
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Mar 14, 06
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Poor choices are what made the team stink.... if you look back at some of the players we could have drafted.... scary. Kevin Garnett for example.
What we did was draft useless players and lock them in for ridiculous contracts (ie: Big Country) Stu just didn't do right by the team, plain and simple.
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Mar 14, 06
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It didn't even matter who they drafted, any star player would deny playing here haha like Steve Thomas I think it was
Maybe that was just an isolated case of cockiness but I don't think any star player would wanna play on a bottom feeder team. It would take like 5 years just to create a semi worthwhile team in Van, it'll take too long and the same thing will happen as with Grizzlies. personally it makes me less proud of my city when I have to watch some shyte ass team lose all the time.
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Mar 14, 06
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Oh shit I didnt even read the article haha, they are thinkin Portland Trailblazers? Thatd be pretty cool
but it sounds like a long shot anyway
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Mar 14, 06
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Quote:
shows how much i know/care about basketball
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Mar 14, 06
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I don't think it would work but you never know. Besides disastrous management last time around I heard that a big problem was a lack of corporate donors willing to shell out endorsement money. Beyond that the NBA handcuffed the Grizzlies by disallowing them the 1st (or top 5 for that matter I think it was) overall pick in the draft for the first 4 years of the franchise.
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Mar 14, 06
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^ there's a lot to recommend the nba to vancouver right now, and vice versa.
the grizzlies were doomed almost from the start, but it had nothing to do with Vancouver, the fans or corporate support. it had to do with: 1)The Orlando Magic: When the last set of expansion franchises came in to the league, Orlando was one of them. A couple of years after they came in to the league they won the draft lottery twice in a row, and picked up Shaquille O'neal and Penny Hardaway, and instantly became solid contenders. The next year they went to the finals, losing to Houston in 7. After this the NBA owners decided that they didn't want expansion franchises to be able to become that successful that fast, so they capped the draft and allowed the Griz and Raptors to pick no higher than 6th or 3rd for the first few years, and didn't allow them the full salary cap for the first few years (more on that later). Unfortunately while it did definitely stop them from becoming finals contenders it also stopped them from becoming even close to playoff contenders as well. 2)Management: Just awful. Draft choices were pretty bad, but mismanagement and poor trades killed this team. Instead of using their expansion draft choices and salary cap room to pick up players that they could trade for draft picks and thereby build a young team from the ground up they decided to stick with a bunch of disgruntled veterans who couldn't wait to leave. The idea was that the veterans would win more games than going with a young roster, which would translate in to more fan support but considering the record they got this was doubtful anyways. If they'd developed young players they could have at least got something for them in trade if they did want to leave. And don't even talk to me about Bryant Reeves. 3)The ownership group. Simply didn't have the $$$ behind them to get this done. Don't forget that as well as bringing the Grizzlies to town they also built and paid for the stadium and ran the Canucks, who were bleeding money to the tune of $20 million usd a year. It was Vancouver ownership who begged the league to impose a salary cap restriction on the franchises the first three years, ostensibly to keep the Grizzlies from getting to competitive to fast, but really to keep the franchise more liquid and provide a built in excuse for losing. 4) The Greenback. The biggest problem the Griz had was the exchange rate. when they came in it hovered around $1,45-$1.55 cdn to each USD. since they payed all players in USD and collected gate in CDN this became a huge burden. As well the league put restrictions on the Griz and Raptors share of the lucrative split of the TV contract with NBC and TNT/TSN, cutting them at least partially off from their only revenue source that would have been in USD. ok, so what were the positives? 1)Fan support: consistently in the top 3rd of attendance in the NBA despite a brutal record, Vancouver fans more than did their part. If the team had been even close to a playoff contender it's not inconceivable that they would have sold out every home game all season. Vancouverites have a fair amount of disposable income compared to a lot of other NBA cities, and fan support was never a problem. 2)Corporate support: was very strong the first few years of the Grizzlies existence, but as losing records continued, and managerial mismanagement shone through it tailed off. Not surprising as no one wants to be associated with a losing cause. Still, with the the enthusiastic showing for of support for the olympics it's not inconceivable that the return of the NBA could garner serious (if cautious) corporate support. Finally, What's the difference now? 1) The dollar: The Canadian dollar is trading around 1.14$ to each USD and most people think it'll get stronger in the next few years. The huge disparity in exchange rate that was costing the Griz 5-10 million a year is gone. 2)The NBA: no longer the trillion dollar operation it was back then, the NBA has seen revenues drop significantly over the last few years. there are at least 4 franchises that are struggling mightlity and might be up for sale. If Vancouver were to buy an existing NBA franchise then all of the restrictions they faced as an expansion franchise wouldn't exist. The could also find it a lot easier to attract some veteran management types, something they couldn't do when the earlier franchise restrictions almsot guaranteed losing and career suicide foir any manager or coach who came here. 3)the ownership group: GM place is paid for, the Canucks are making money, and the people who own them have deep pockets. A stable and financially secure ownership group would go a long way towards allowing success. Last edited by automatic; Mar 14, 06 at 07:26 PM.
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