NBA Outdoors: Denver Nuggets vs Phoenix Suns Print E-mail
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Written by Ben Weixlmann   
Thursday, 16 October 2008
NBA Outdoors: Denver Nuggets vs Phoenix Suns


There’s a reason we don’t play sports outside in October, even in California.  The Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets exhibition Saturday night was the first outdoor basketball game since 1972.

Apparently though, the hiatus was justified.  Canadian point guard Steve Nash said he was shivering at points on the chilly night, not to mention that several jump shots were forced off-line due to the mild winds. 

Honestly, I think it was a good experiment for the modern NBA under commissioner David Stern. I hold Stern in incredibly high regard for the way he has transformed the league into such a global market, but now that we know this was a poor idea, don’t do it again.

I’m all for playing preseason games overseas, much unlike the regular season game that the NFL plays overseas, but outside? No thanks.

Just check out the box score to see how much these players were affected. Here’s a hint, the final score was 77-72.  The Suns routinely dropped over 100 points last year, as did the Nuggets.  Granted both sides didn’t play their best players for the majority of the game because it was the preseason, but a combined 3-for-27 from three-point land?

I credit Stern for being innovative in always looking for more avenues to grow this sport, but at some point, to use President Harry Truman’s catch phrase, “the buck stops here”.  The one positive I saw from this game was that the stadium was sold-out.  A preseason game is being attended by over 16,000 patrons, now that’s quality sports marketing.

Let’s not kid ourselves, though.  We have grown up watching Shaquille O’Neal sweat profusely after jogging up and down the court, but we’re less familiar with seeing O’Neal’s head steam because it’s too cold.

How about we try to think of some alternatives so this can work though, Commish.  Honestly, I think if this game had been played during the day, the reception would have been much more positive.  After all, from checking the weather, it was around 80 degrees at 2 p.m., which would have been ideal conditions for such a game.

We wouldn’t have had Nash whining about being cold, Nuggets coach George Karl talking about how his players didn’t sweat, and it was played on a Saturday so a 2 p.m. start wouldn’t be a big deal at all.

Maybe it’s just me, but any game that sees neither NBA team shoot over 37 percent from the field, and also sees a team go 18-for-38 from the charity stripe, I don’t want to be there.  The NBA is a league known for its’ world-class entertainment, high-scoring, high-flying athleticism.  It’s safe to say we didn’t see much of that on Saturday.

Props to Stern for testing it out, but please don’t do it again!



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