[Tegra_Devil]

http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=354073

VANCOUVER -- Canucks Sports and Entertainment chairman Francesco Aquilini is looking to bring the NBA back to Vancouver, according to a report in The Globe and Mail.

Citing anonymous sources, the Globe says Aquilini, whose family owns the NHL's Canucks but was never involved with basketball's Vancouver Grizzlies, is inspecting the New Orleans Hornets.

The Hornets are being sold by the NBA and could be relocated in the next few years.

During an interview this week, commissioner David Stern said Vancouver is one of several markets interested in a relocated NBA franchise, and went out of his way to praise the strong business performance of the Canucks.

"We've had visits from, believe it or not, Vancouver, where the Canucks are absolutely doing a spectacular job," Stern told ESPN.

Aquilini did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

The NBA's Grizzlies left Vancouver for Memphis in 2001 after just six seasons, a brief existence that Stern has called his largest regret in 27 years as commissioner.


.......obviously they wouldnt be known as the grizzlies if they are looking to purchase the hornets......

[jtanner_]

Saw this on a bunch of my buddies' news feeds and statuses, would be pretty sick to have a Vancouver team back in the NBA

[icemiko]

Another article on it, http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/184759--nba-could-come-back-to-vancouver

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - It has been 10 years since the "fur flew" in Vancouver with the Grizzlies. But, word is the NBA could return to town.

Are we are ready to bring professional basketball back to Rogers Arena? There was never a real lack of basketball fans in the Lower Mainland, but News1130 is finding some who say it would still be tough to support an NBA team here.

Hannes tells us he'd love to see professional basketball return. "But simply having fans in a city isn't good enough to keep a team afloat."

"I lived in Edmonton for 11 years and if you take a small market NHL team as a comparison, the Oilers probably have one of the strongest fan bases in the NHL," he adds. "But they struggled to stay afloat there."

Hockey has been successful in Vancouver, but Hannes points to the disparity in finances between the NHL and NBA. "Salaries in the NBA are reaching [at least] $100 million! I don't think [an NBA team] would stay afloat here. I don't think there's enough capital in it. I don't think there's enough merchandising in it."

There are reports the Aquilini family -- which owns the Canucks -- is interested in buying the New Orleans Hornets and bringing the team to Rogers Arena.

Why didn't the Grizzlies work?

Critics blame the Grizzlies' original General Manager for the team's disastrous showing.

News1130 Sports' Rick Dhaliwal says Stu Jackson made some bad draft choices. "Mike Bibby was one, [Steve] Francis was another one. He told them before the draft, "I'm not coming to Vancouver, don't pick me" and they still picked him."

"Big Country, he just did not pan out after they gave him $64 million. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, to his credit, signed the long-term deal," he adds. "But at the end of the day, one guy wasn't going to turn this organization around."

He says Jackson's biggest mistake was his decision not to draft Steve Nash.

[FerrariEnzo]

hope they dont fuck up and get someone like Bryant "Big Country" Reeves for their first choice!

[ajax]

Please don't hire retards for management this time.
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[punkwax]

It would be cool to see an NBA team make it in Vancouver with owners who actually want to keep the team here.

I'm not much of a basketball fan, can't watch it on TV, but watching the athleticism live is impressive.

[Hondaracer]

If they do come all it's going to be is a another profitable Vancouver franchise giving money to revenue sharing have-not teams in the NBA once the new CBA forces a hard cap on the league

Personally I'm against it because another team in Canada will be just like the raptors, some kid from the hood in Chicago won't want to deal with border issues, ignorant morons look at Vancouver and say "lol Canada? No thanks" and until a decent reputation and respectable team is put together, this Vancouver team will have to overpay FA's to get them to come here because why would some southern born and bred player want to come here for another 500k when he could play in Memphis and be closer to
Home, etc etc

Stay away NBA!
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[will068]

Another article on it, http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/184759--nba-could-come-back-to-vancouver

Poorly written article.

Fact: As much of a shitty GM Stu was, he did try to draft Nash with a secondary pick. We tried to trade up with a second 1st round pick back it was not high enough to get him. Lieutenant Hindsight says we should have drafted him, but no way he was that good to be 3rd pick overall at that time. Even the following year, the 4th pick (used to get Antonio Daniels) was the asking price of Phoenix for giving up Nash. Again, it would have been a questionable move at that time to deal the 4th pick overall alone for Nash. Phoenix knew how much he was worth to the Vancouver market and commanded a lot of premium for him. If I were Stu, I would have asked for a backup big-man along with Nash for the 4th pick (hot rod williams comes to mind) at that time. I wonder why Stu did not entertain that. Oh never mind, he was a shitty GM.

[Ch28]

hope they dont fuck up and get someone like Bryant "Big Country" Reeves for their first choice!

Reeves over Finley
Abdur Rahim over Allen, Kobe, Nash
Daniels over McGrady
Bibby over Carter, Nowitzki, Pierce <-- our best pick actually
Francis over Artest, Hamilton, Davis
Swift over Crawford, Turkoglu

[pure.life]

That arrogant SOB Francis put a dagger into our franchise. I still remember his protruding lower lips and a face like his dog died on the day of his draft. DUDE, U JUST GOT DRAFTED! At least fake a smile.

Nonetheless, I would welcome the Grizzlies back. But again most of these NBA players have attitude problems and its funny how many of these players attended college but still think we live in igloos

[will068]

If they do come all it's going to be is a another profitable Vancouver franchise giving money to revenue sharing have-not teams in the NBA once the new CBA forces a hard cap on the league

Personally I'm against it because another team in Canada will be just like the raptors, some kid from the hood in Chicago won't want to deal with border issues, ignorant morons look at Vancouver and say "lol Canada? No thanks" and until a decent reputation and respectable team is put together, this Vancouver team will have to overpay FA's to get them to come here because why would some southern born and bred player want to come here for another 500k when he could play in Memphis and be closer to
Home, etc etc

Stay away NBA!
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Reminds me of Stromile Swift when he moved to Memphis along with the team. During a meet n greet at a school, the rims on his yukon got jacked. He was complaining how ghetto Memphis was and that he missed Vancouver and all its amenities.

Since the NBA is more global now, it would be great to grab 1 or 2 players from Europe and China if there was a team here.

[Selanne_200]

I think they will have an easier time in terms of signing players and staying afloat this time around tho. I think we're forgettin that our dollar was really weak at the time as well so you really were paying 1.5 times what the signing amount was. And given the strong economy we have going right now, there should be a fair amount of corporate support especially for those companies that don't want to sponsor an enormous amount for the canucks given their popularity.
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[bloodmack]

If they do come all it's going to be is a another profitable Vancouver franchise giving money to revenue sharing have-not teams in the NBA once the new CBA forces a hard cap on the league

Personally I'm against it because another team in Canada will be just like the raptors, some kid from the hood in Chicago won't want to deal with border issues, ignorant morons look at Vancouver and say "lol Canada? No thanks" and until a decent reputation and respectable team is put together, this Vancouver team will have to overpay FA's to get them to come here because why would some southern born and bred player want to come here for another 500k when he could play in Memphis and be closer to
Home, etc etc

Stay away NBA!
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If the NBA came back here it would be great, games are cheap and fun to watch. I don't understand why you think there would be border issues for players from the NBA, they get on a plane and fly across. Not all Americans are "ignorant morons" and you prove your own ignorance by saying that.

I still have a grizzlies paw glove from back in the day :P

[RacingMetro92]

I wouldn't actually mind a return of an NBA franchise here. The only reason Vancouver didn't do so well was the lack of talent we had, which led to declining attendance because of constantly poor performance.

I saw an Abdur Rahim Grizzlies jersey @ the Jersey City near my mall, I was really close to buying it because Dipt sells them for ridiculous prices IIRC. Hard to find them nowadays. (I love the fitted hats though.)

[will068]

Reeves over Finley
Abdur Rahim over Allen, Kobe, Nash
Daniels over McGrady
Bibby over Carter, Nowitzki, Pierce <-- our best pick actually
Francis over Artest, Hamilton, Davis
Swift over Crawford, Turkoglu

- It was impossible to see Finley to be this good.
- Abdur Rahim was a good pick. I would have picked Ray Allen though. Steve Nash was not worth the 3rd overall pick at that time, it was impossible to conceive he would be that good. Kobe, well that was a big risk.
- Bibby pick was dumb, Paul Pierce stated he wanted to play for the Grizzlies.
- Daniels over McGrady - yeah, it was a weak draft, I would have risked picking a high school kid as well.
- Francis and Swift - weak drafts as well, perhaps trading down would have been the best options

[tiger_handheld]

I hope we get a good GM and headcoach for our next nba team.

does anyone know of another city where 2 pro teams were successful? by success i dont mean revenue generation/profitability -- i mean Stanley cups and championships ..

[murd0c]

I have said it before and I will say it again

FUCK YOU STU JACKSON
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[will068]

I hope we get a good GM and headcoach for our next nba team.

does anyone know of another city where 2 pro teams were successful? by success i dont mean revenue generation/profitability -- i mean Stanley cups and championships ..

Boston

Superbowl Champions, NBA Champions, Word Series Champions in a short period of time.

[Tegra_Devil]

I hope we get a good GM and headcoach for our next nba team.

does anyone know of another city where 2 pro teams were successful? by success i dont mean revenue generation/profitability -- i mean Stanley cups and championships ..


chicago.....

blackhawks, bulls, bears, and cubs(long championship drought, but popular team)

[Gumby]

does anyone know of another city where 2 pro teams were successful? by success i dont mean revenue generation/profitability -- i mean Stanley cups and championships ..
Pittsburgh Penguins: Stanley Cup in 2007-08 and 2008-09
Pittsburgh Steelers: Superbowl in 2005 and 2008

[SpuGen]

I have said it before and I will say it again

FUCK YOU STU JACKSON
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http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/2752606122_738756a29a.jpg
IT'S NOT MY FAULT

I remember when they were giving away free Grizzlies tickets in elementary school.
Sister gave them to me for free after she got them from her teacher. lol.

[Jermyzy]

I can only hope they bring a franchise back to Vancouver...after Grizzlies left, I went to Seattle for a couple games/year...now I have to go to Portland to watch a game!

[Tegra_Devil]

at least we would get some cheap entertainment, until vancouver got really good in the nba, then the prices would rise for games

[adambomb]

This city cannot financially support an NBA basketball team. :Petting :twirleye:

As cool as it would be, the bottom line is ticket sales. Considering how much we pay in taxes here and how expensive goods and services are. How much do you think your average ticket will have to cost to sustain the NBA salaries, all associated staff with the team and to ensure a profit in Aquilini's pockets? Chris Paul makes about 16 million a season. How much do we pay the Sedin's or Luongo? Less than 10 million a season I think.

I have to ask those who actually support an NBA team in Vancouver. How much are you willing to pay for a ticket and what is your limit? Limit being how much before you say fuck it and watch the game on the couch at home.
$50/seat, $80, $100? and of course, you'll want to go with a friend. So everything is x2. Unless you're this guy ---> :alone:

Let's not forget, season ticket holders are what keeps teams in towns. The majority of Canucks season ticket holders are corporate/business with no plans of letting those tickets go. Is it possible to get those companies to purchase both NHL and NBA season tickets? If not, do you think the average Vancouver citizen will be able to add NBA season tickets to their expenses?

Going to a game or two a season is not enough to support an NBA franchise.

[411ken]

I wonder how long "next few years" really is.... 2? 3? 4? lol.. hope we do get one soon though!!!! Go Lakers!! :)

[will068]

This city cannot financially support an NBA basketball team. :Petting :twirleye:

As cool as it would be, the bottom line is ticket sales. Considering how much we pay in taxes here and how expensive goods and services are. How much do you think you're average ticket will have to cost to sustain the NBA salaries, all associated staff with the team and to ensure a profit in Aquilini's pockets? Chris Paul makes about 16 million a season. How much do we pay the Sedin's or Luongo? Less than 10 million a season I think.

I have to ask those who actually support an NBA team in Vancouver. How much are you willing to pay for a ticket and what is your limit? Limit being how much before you say fuck it and watch the game on the couch at home.
$50/seat, $80, $100? and of course, you'll want to go with a friend. So everything is x2. Unless you're this guy ---> :alone:

Let's not forget, season ticket holders are what keeps teams in towns. The majority of Canucks season ticket holders are corporate/business with no plans of letting those tickets go. Is it possible to get those companies to purchase both NHL and NBA season tickets? If not, do you think the average Vancouver citizen will be able to add NBA season tickets to their expenses?

Going to a game or two a season is not enough to support an NBA franchise.


If we consistently did it back then with a losing team, a richer Vancouver now can certainly afford to sustain one. Plus, the fan base is bigger. The kids who grew up watching the grizz ( our generation ) are now adults that can afford to go to the games.

[Jermyzy]

If it wasn't for my crappy work schedule (shift work) I would totally buy season tickets for NBA

[dbaz]

salaries are to high in the nba for a team to be immediately successful here and besides that what would they name the team?

[Tim Budong]

Aside from shitty management the biggest thing that hurt the Grizz was the dollar. The dollar now is much stronger so it could work.

The thing that I believe is that the NBA and the new franchise needs to regain the trust of the city, and if they want it to work long term, then its gotta start within the community. Fund organize leagues, support the youth to play basketball. Then tahts where you create the future customers. The Dallas Stars in the NHL has done this and the registered kids in the area has surged drastically. It will help the game of Basketball in Canada and definitely sell the product

and yea, hire smart management, because the grizz were fucking terrible. Brian Winters? give me a break

[AzNightmare]

not a NBA fan... but sure, why not?

[RiceIntegraRS]

If a nba team does come to vancouver i hope it drives the prices of canuck tickets down.
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[the_rickster]

the aquilini's want a franchise so they can occupy rogers arena an extra 41 times per year.

[RRxtar]

I wonder how much the Sonics being gone will help a Vancouver team? Much larger catchment area

[Tapioca]

There was a pretty decent article in the National Post the other day about how superstars in the league are running the NBA these days. There are 4 or 5 cities that star players will be naturally attracted to: LA, New York, Miami, Chicago, and perhaps Boston. Vancouver is not Memphis or New Orleans, but it's not even Toronto in terms of what's deemed as attractive for the typical NBA player. The city has changed in ten years - there's more money (or at least the appearance of it), there's more to do (clubs and restaurants) and the women are better looking now than they once were. But, if the Aquilinis are successful in getting a team relocated here, they would have a lot of work to do on getting marquee players to come here.

Vancouver has the most fairweather fans per capita in North America. If the team can perform, the fan support and corporate dollars will follow.

[Boostslut]

How about we get a championship hockey team, before we have another professional sports team in Vancouver.

[Manic!]

salaries are to high in the nba for a team to be immediately successful here and besides that what would they name the team?

Vancouver Rain Makers
We make it rain

The problem is for the first few years there going to loose a lot of games and who want's to pay to see a losing team.

[drunkrussian]

"the grizzles" eh?

if they make the same draft pick decisions as before im out. im moving. on the other hand a lotta the best players dont wanna come play in vancouver cause its rainy and in canada. we're fucked?
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[rsx604]

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[rsx604]

Don't get your hopes up too high. Stern's quotes are from his interview with Bill Simmons on espn. He did mention vancouver but keeping the team in NO, moving it to Kentucky, or contraction sound like more likely scenarios.
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[pure.life]

yellow express

[Tim Budong]

TSN put up a great picture
the face of the franchise!

http://images.tsn.ca/images/stories/20090721/reeves_53242.jpg

[willystyle]

Moving the team to a place like Kentucky makes no sense, both economically and fanbase wise.

If Seattle is down to build a new arena, I see them going to Seattle before Vancouver.

[iwantaskyline]

This city cannot financially support an NBA basketball team. :Petting :twirleye:

As cool as it would be, the bottom line is ticket sales. Considering how much we pay in taxes here and how expensive goods and services are. How much do you think you're average ticket will have to cost to sustain the NBA salaries, all associated staff with the team and to ensure a profit in Aquilini's pockets? Chris Paul makes about 16 million a season. How much do we pay the Sedin's or Luongo? Less than 10 million a season I think.

I have to ask those who actually support an NBA team in Vancouver. How much are you willing to pay for a ticket and what is your limit? Limit being how much before you say fuck it and watch the game on the couch at home.
$50/seat, $80, $100? and of course, you'll want to go with a friend. So everything is x2. Unless you're this guy ---> :alone:

Let's not forget, season ticket holders are what keeps teams in towns. The majority of Canucks season ticket holders are corporate/business with no plans of letting those tickets go. Is it possible to get those companies to purchase both NHL and NBA season tickets? If not, do you think the average Vancouver citizen will be able to add NBA season tickets to their expenses?

Going to a game or two a season is not enough to support an NBA franchise.

We can afford Chris Paul. The roster size of an NBA team is only 12 players. Thats roughly half of an NHL roster. Plus with a new CBA we can expect a salary cap. For example a team like Miami, has a salary of 65 million this year. Thats with the big 3.

Back when the Grizzlies were still in town the CAD $ was really low compared to nowadays as well.

*fun fact* Stromile Swift now plays in China. Thats how bad our management was.

[TRDood]

The problem is to relocate players in this city where the black population is nearly zero. Why would players want to live in an asian infested city? Or partially move their family/assets here?

However, a team in Vancouver means sold out stadiums every game. Filling up seats may be one of NBA's priorities. Take a look at a shitty team like TO vs. Cleveland. A lot of the seats are empty down there.

From a business perspective, Vancouver is profitable due to high demand. To attract a crew to play here... that's the challenge.


Whoever said Canucks tickets are too expensive... They are not. At least for this season where they are the top of NHL. Check out LA Lakers prices. That's expensive. It's just that Canadians get dinged by 999x different taxes and fees.
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[JD¹³]

I was interviewed by someone at the recent exhibition game about my thoughts on bringing the NBA back to Vancouver. I summed it up pretty much the same as adambomb. Completely unfeasible and unaffordable. I'm a pretty big hockey fan and I can maybe afford to go to one Canucks game a year (which is total bullshit IMO). The NBA following in Vancouver isn't there to replicate the ticket sales like they see with the Canucks and casual attendees that go simply for something to do won't float the team for even a season once the novelty wears off.

The NBA won't be back, and if it does it will fail again.

[Porschedog]

At least Reeves tried to carry the grizzlies before he became fat

[GrapeDrink]

This city cannot financially support an NBA basketball team. :Petting :twirleye:

As cool as it would be, the bottom line is ticket sales. Considering how much we pay in taxes here and how expensive goods and services are. How much do you think you're average ticket will have to cost to sustain the NBA salaries, all associated staff with the team and to ensure a profit in Aquilini's pockets? Chris Paul makes about 16 million a season. How much do we pay the Sedin's or Luongo? Less than 10 million a season I think.

I have to ask those who actually support an NBA team in Vancouver. How much are you willing to pay for a ticket and what is your limit? Limit being how much before you say fuck it and watch the game on the couch at home.
$50/seat, $80, $100? and of course, you'll want to go with a friend. So everything is x2. Unless you're this guy ---> :alone:

Let's not forget, season ticket holders are what keeps teams in towns. The majority of Canucks season ticket holders are corporate/business with no plans of letting those tickets go. Is it possible to get those companies to purchase both NHL and NBA season tickets? If not, do you think the average Vancouver citizen will be able to add NBA season tickets to their expenses?

Going to a game or two a season is not enough to support an NBA franchise.

now excuse me if I got this all wrong but I think your comparison of star salaries doesn't really mean anything. An average NBA team rosters are much smaller than NHL rosters so having the nba stars earn more than the nhl stars doesn't really mean we can't support a basketball team. In fact roughly about half the NBA has a team payroll smaller than the Vancouver Canucks this season. While I do understand hockey is the more predominate sport in Vancouver I think as long as the team doesn't blow as hard as the old grizzlies I think they will get a solid enough fan base to keep in business but of course that is just I think.

[Hondaracer]

If the NBA came back here it would be great, games are cheap and fun to watch. I don't understand why you think there would be border issues for players from the NBA, they get on a plane and fly across. Not all Americans are "ignorant morons" and you prove your own ignorance by saying that.

I still have a grizzlies paw glove from back in the day :P

ok let me rephrase that, "ignorant american basketball players"

Pratt and Taylor just went on a big rant about how in it's current state the NBA would not work in Vancouver because like i said, there's no hard cap

Taylor also went in depth as to the exact same reasons i laid out in my original post about not being able to attract free agents for a multitude of reasons, taxes, ignorance, border, etc.

and crossing the border is not just as easy as "hopping on a plane" when you go from Canada to USA, if you were a player on an NBA team would you prefer to go through customs 40+ games a season, or MAYBE 10 games?

Basketball imo is a class-less sport, no matter how good a team here will be they will always play second fiddle to the Canucks, and imo having a basketball tenant in Rogers Arena almost feels like it would cheapen the feel of the Nucks.

[Hondaracer]

now excuse me if I got this all wrong but I think your comparison of star salaries doesn't really mean anything. An average NBA team rosters are much smaller than NHL rosters so having the nba stars earn more than the nhl stars doesn't really mean we can't support a basketball team. In fact roughly about half the NBA has a team payroll smaller than the Vancouver Canucks this season. While I do understand hockey is the more predominate sport in Vancouver I think as long as the team doesn't blow as hard as the old grizzlies I think they will get a solid enough fan base to keep in business but of course that is just I think.

The fans of every single one of those teams with a payroll smaller than the Canucks begin their season KNOWING their team has -zero- chance in winning a championship.

[GrapeDrink]

The fans of every single one of those teams with a payroll smaller than the Canucks begin their season KNOWING their team has -zero- chance in winning a championship.

lol not really, the Miami heat? the Bulls? thunder? and there are plenty of solid teams(suns, hornets, knicks) in that group and yes a lot of junk teams too, so your saying unless we can afford a 91 million dollar Lakers franchise we shouldn't have a team ?

[Hondaracer]

lol not really, the Miami heat? the Bulls? thunder? and there are plenty of solid teams(suns, hornets, knicks) in that group and yes a lot of junk teams too, so your saying unless we can afford a 91 million dollar Lakers franchise we shouldn't have a team ?

2009 salaries for each team:

http://content.usatoday.com/sportsdata/basketball/nba/salaries/team

this year the Heat's salaries are just under 70 million

if you are not in the 65+ million dollar cap, your not winning a championship, it's as simple as that, in the last 30 years, only 9 different teams have won the championship

of those 30 years, Lakers have won 11 titles

the bottom teams in terms of cap DO NOT compete. and even the teams you mentioned may "compete" but competing =/ winning

[pure.life]

If there is a cap in NBA, Vancouver is a very valid location!

Packers are competitive because of the cap in NFL

[JD¹³]

Packers are competitive because of the cap in NFL
Packers are a staple of the NFL and have been for decades. That is a football town through and through. Pretty dumb comparison to the NBA in Vancouver :failed:

[GrapeDrink]

2009 salaries for each team:

http://content.usatoday.com/sportsdata/basketball/nba/salaries/team

this year the Heat's salaries are just under 70 million

if you are not in the 65+ million dollar cap, your not winning a championship, it's as simple as that, in the last 30 years, only 9 different teams have won the championship

of those 30 years, Lakers have won 11 titles

the bottom teams in terms of cap DO NOT compete. and even the teams you mentioned may "compete" but competing =/ winning

you realize there is only 1 winner every year right ? so simply based on the fact that we are more than likely not going to win the whole thing we shouldn't have a team ? when was the last time the Canucks won the cup? yet they have the support of a lot of fans. The knicks in the early 2000's had a payroll of well over 100million but they blew balls lol and the pistons were one of the better teams of the last decade without blowing up their salary cap. So in the end all I'm trying to say is they could still be profitable ( of course we won't know how the management really will work out) just because you don't win a championship doesn't mean you can't make a profit.

[NinjaAceYork]

you realize there is only 1 winner every year right ? so simply based on the fact that we are more than likely not going to win the whole thing we shouldn't have a team ? when was the last time the Canucks won the cup? yet they have the support of a lot of fans. The knicks in the early 2000's had a payroll of well over 100million but they blew balls lol and the pistons were one of the better teams of the last decade without blowing up their salary cap. So in the end all I'm trying to say is they could still be profitable ( of course we won't know how the management really will work out) just because you don't win a championship doesn't mean you can't make a profit.

^ what he said..

[dachinesedude]

Hornets may be coming, but Chris Paul will definitely not come, i can't picture him playing with a Canadian team, i just can't

[the_rickster]

Aside from shitty management the biggest thing that hurt the Grizz was the dollar. The dollar now is much stronger so it could work.

excellent point.
not too long ago, the only teams doing well financially in canada were the leafs and the canadiens.... the rest were receiving government subsidy by way of lottery revenue. so you're being paid in canadian dollars, and writing cheques in american dollars. the grizzlies were owned by an american with no interest in keeping the team in vancouver. local ownership is key. do i want a basketball team in vancouver? no. it fucks up the ice (mixed use facilities are notorious for bad ice). do i think it has a better chance of success? yes. not only do the aquilini's have a track record of success, they have the support of the community and the benefit of the 2nd chance.

[hirevtuner]

i remember way back the grizzlie's record was like 2-19 when we had Mike Bibby and big country hahah it's pretty fail tema back then

[the_rickster]

you realize there is only 1 winner every year right ? so simply based on the fact that we are more than likely not going to win the whole thing we shouldn't have a team ? when was the last time the Canucks won the cup? yet they have the support of a lot of fans. The knicks in the early 2000's had a payroll of well over 100million but they blew balls lol and the pistons were one of the better teams of the last decade without blowing up their salary cap. So in the end all I'm trying to say is they could still be profitable ( of course we won't know how the management really will work out) just because you don't win a championship doesn't mean you can't make a profit.

i think the point is that if you are not competing, it is difficult to attract fans. vancouver isnt a hockey town, they are a canucks town... a canucks game is the place to be because of our rockstar players and our winning seasons (like LA lakers). if it was a hockey town, giants games would be sold out every night. they werent even sold out for the memorial cup. anomalies like toronto (hockey), dallas (football), new york, etc can have losing season after losing season because of the heritage associated with their sport and the generations of fans... hockey doesnt work in phoenix because they are sub-par AND there's no heritage there. basketball didnt work in vancouver for the same reason. pro sports teams play to get into the playoffs, where the actual profit can be had. big names get asses in seats, but when the playoffs start ticket prices go up and salaries drop off. it is very difficult for a team to earn a profit unless they make it into the playoffs... which is why they invest so heavily into their rosters.

[clowe]

I think this is the last year on Yao Ming's contract, he could be a marketable commodity here if he's still able to play :fullofwin:

[g604]

It will work and the first thing I would do is trade Cp3 for Jermey Lin, Stephan Curry and David lee. But in order for the NBA to work here a hard cap needs to be in place to keep the league competitive.

[GrapeDrink]

i think the point is that if you are not competing, it is difficult to attract fans. vancouver isnt a hockey town, they are a canucks town... a canucks game is the place to be because of our rockstar players and our winning seasons (like LA lakers). if it was a hockey town, giants games would be sold out every night. they werent even sold out for the memorial cup. anomalies like toronto (hockey), dallas (football), new york, etc can have losing season after losing season because of the heritage associated with their sport and the generations of fans... hockey doesnt work in phoenix because they are sub-par AND there's no heritage there. basketball didnt work in vancouver for the same reason. pro sports teams play to get into the playoffs, where the actual profit can be had. big names get asses in seats, but when the playoffs start ticket prices go up and salaries drop off. it is very difficult for a team to earn a profit unless they make it into the playoffs... which is why they invest so heavily into their rosters.

I don't disagree, I actually said that earlier too that they need to be competitive to have a fan base but what I was disagreeing with is the fact that we need to win a championship, like you said the Canucks are our thing here but when was the last time they won the cup or went deep into the playoffs? but yet they are selling out because they are exciting and competitive right ? which is what I was trying to say with the basketball team in order to be profitable.

[g604]

dont hate having 1 sports team in Vancouver just doesn't do this city justice.

[Mike Oxbig]

if u want to lure nba superstars to vancouver, the marijuana law needs to be adjusted :troll:

[highfive]

Keep in mind that the Canucks have a large chunk of corporate sponsors too. Back in the day, corporate support wasn't as much as today. I guess we'll wait till the Whitecaps and MLS starts here and we can tell if Vancity is good for alternative sports teams.

[invader]

Im stoked for getting an NBA franchise back in our city.

[shawn79]

i think the point is that if you are not competing, it is difficult to attract fans. vancouver isnt a hockey town, they are a canucks town... a canucks game is the place to be because of our rockstar players and our winning seasons (like LA lakers). if it was a hockey town, giants games would be sold out every night. they werent even sold out for the memorial cup. anomalies like toronto (hockey), dallas (football), new york, etc can have losing season after losing season because of the heritage associated with their sport and the generations of fans... hockey doesnt work in phoenix because they are sub-par AND there's no heritage there. basketball didnt work in vancouver for the same reason. pro sports teams play to get into the playoffs, where the actual profit can be had. big names get asses in seats, but when the playoffs start ticket prices go up and salaries drop off. it is very difficult for a team to earn a profit unless they make it into the playoffs... which is why they invest so heavily into their rosters.

Miami has lebron, wade and bosh, yet the arena doesnt fill up

[drunkrussian]

shareef earned 72/5 yrs with us and he was nba top 15 lol...
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

[g604]

Miami has lebron, wade and bosh, yet the arena doesnt fill up

thats miami that your talking about they do this for all sports worse band wagoners ever.

the thing about miami is that there is no middle class either you'r rich or poor and alot of those fans arrive late

[IMASA]

I'd welcome a team, but I agree an NBA franchise would fail in Vancouver. Still, the old Grizzlies of Bibby, Dickerson, Reef, Country could smoke the current Cavs.

[Tim Budong]

Fact is this. Canucks sports and entertainment has local support. If infact it comes back, it doesn't matter what the first two years will be like, give it a few seasons and the end result will start to show whether pro basketball will work. You can almost garauntee that corporate support will show the first few years in town due to the relationships a lot of the businesses have with Canucks sports and entertainment. It's when the product fails and starts to suck that will show whether the move was right or wrong.

Keep in mind, that this is a good chance to extend the invitation to Seattle to come back up for the NBA, which means that's another source of income where the money could come in outside of the city.

Basketball can work in the pacific northwest. Especially since our dollar Is strong, and many things have changed in the past 10 years.

I for one stand strongly for the support of organized sport for young kids. Not only is it healthy, it allows franchises to build for the future. Especially if the new team is here to stay, then the kids playing will have become future buyers into the product.

But with that said, the NBA needs to figure out their labor disputes before any of this can go forward. A salary cap allows competition and as someone mentioned above, it is why the NFL can have small markets like. Green bay come up big.

[g604]

can somebody tell me why an NBA franchise will fail in Vancouver?

[Obsideon]

I'm all for this! I would be so excited if the NBA came back to Vancouver!
I'm an avid basketball fan! Lovin' the Clips right now, Blakezilla is a beast and lazy bum B-Diddy is still one of my faves!
So sad I didn't even get a chance to watch the Grizz before they moved away! :( I would go to as many games as my work schedule permits if the NBA came back! I watched the Raptors vs Phoenix pre-season game at Roger's Arena this year and it was tons of fun!

Vancouver is a boring city so we have the Canucks to keep us entertained, I wonder if we have 2 professional (competitive) teams in town then they might even lower the Canucks prices too since the demand won't be as high!
Canucks tickets are so ridiculously expensive I can only afford to go to a couple games a year... :cry:

The logic of NBA players making more salary doesn't affect how profitable the team could be.
NBA teams have a maximum roster limit of 12 players.
NHL teams ice 12 forwards, 6 defensemen and 2 goalies every game, that's 20 players with the league minimum salary of $500,000. That's an extra $4 million right there not to mention possible players that are healthy scratches taking up another half million in the press box.
Another factor is that in the NBA there are the superstars (as mentioned earlier) such as CP3 (Chris Paul) making $16m and then there are a bunch of scrubs on the team making peanuts whereas in the NHL there are a bunch of "middle ground" players such as Keith Ballard (Canucks 5th string D-man) making 4.2m. Luongo is slated to make $10m this year too.
I strongly agree that the NBA needs the new CBA agreement to implement the hard cap so the rest of the league can become more competitive. Teams like the Lakers dumping their infinite source of income into their roster (and charging insane ticket prices upwards of thousands of dollars in the process) to win 5 championships in 10 years is really annoying. It doesn't take a genius to throw money around.

[g604]

more teams = good for restaurants and bars downtown vancouver

[411ken]

If the Aquilini's are up for it... I'll be up for it and support it when I can... I think back at times when Jordan was still playing and I couldn't watch him live as I was still young or a broke ass and couldn't afford tix lol.. I want to be able to catch Kobe (I only saw him live once) or any other stars... I don't want to go to Portland just to catch the game..

I'd be down to Seattle or Vancouver!!

[Obsideon]

1. Cleveland Cavaliers - 26 Losses
Season: 2010–11 Record: 09–46

2. Cleveland Cavaliers - 24 Losses
Season: 1981–1982 Record: 15–67

3. Vancouver Grizzlies - 23 Losses
Season: 1995-96 Record: 23–59

At least we're not 2nd place anymore! :rofl:

The NBA as a whole has got much more mainstream as well. Average attendance in even the smallest markets have continually gone up in increments at least 40% in the last 10 years and I'll bet that Vancouver won't be the worst market in the NBA for sure!

[Wongtouski]

Fact is this. Canucks sports and entertainment has local support. If infact it comes back, it doesn't matter what the first two years will be like, give it a few seasons and the end result will start to show whether pro basketball will work. You can almost garauntee that corporate support will show the first few years in town due to the relationships a lot of the businesses have with Canucks sports and entertainment. It's when the product fails and starts to suck that will show whether the move was right or wrong.

Keep in mind, that this is a good chance to extend the invitation to Seattle to come back up for the NBA, which means that's another source of income where the money could come in outside of the city.

Basketball can work in the pacific northwest. Especially since our dollar Is strong, and many things have changed in the past 10 years.

I for one stand strongly for the support of organized sport for young kids. Not only is it healthy, it allows franchises to build for the future. Especially if the new team is here to stay, then the kids playing will have become future buyers into the product.

But with that said, the NBA needs to figure out their labor disputes before any of this can go forward. A salary cap allows competition and as someone mentioned above, it is why the NFL can have small markets like. Green bay come up big.

I'll just add a few more points to your already well written comments.

1) Vancouver, for all its foibles, is still 100x better than New Orleans and are in a much much better financial state. Watch a Hornets game now, you see more empty seats than People

2) Should we get this team, this team will already have credible talent up and down the roster (not GREAT but credible), and you have one of the rarest commodities in the NBA - A superstar. Everyone wants one, no one can ever get one.

3) Seattle/Vancouver/Portland - that was probably too many teams in one area. With 2? You're splitting the Fans at least in Washington

4) As we've seen with the Canucks since they took over, Aquilini has shown that they are competent and know how to run a sports team properly. Since they're local you know they won't be looking to move the team at the first stroke of failure, which would give fans confidence and will have their continued support despite initial setbacks

5) I don't think Vancouver would face the same logistical problems as Toronto. Vancouver has a much milder climate, I honestly think the cold is a legitimate deterrent for a Black guy (or anyone) that’s lived in warm weather all his life, Vancouver is much more concentrated than Toronto, and as Rodman put it on the Apprentice “I love the strip clubs in Vancouver”.

6) Most important point, the financial model will be different. NBA has come out many times to say that they are losing boat loads of money ($300 mil US last year). The owners want a collection of things that will lower the overall costs for the league. These things include: Lower salaries, short term guaranteed contracts, possibly a Franchise tag like the NFL on their players, and a hard cap like the NHL. All these things prevent teams from spending out of control and/or signing guys to horrible contracts (i.e. Rashard Lewis).

But you know what, I think Stern is just blowing smoke up our asses to make us feel better. I don’t seriously think he’ll let us have a team again when places like Las Vegas are in talks again.

[woob]

Rogers Arena also probably has some of the best facilities of any arena in the NBA thanks to the major reno recently. Big selling point.

[g604]

Vancouver is mutlicultral good way to getting the sport advertised to the rest of the world

[Wongtouski]

Vancouver is mutlicultral good way to getting the sport advertised to the rest of the world

I honestly don't think the NBA is too aware, or cares even about the rest of the world as much as they claim to.

Example: you know how the NHL playoffs are played every other day, regardless of which day it lands on? Well the NBA always stretches a series to get 2 to 3 Sunday games in. Harmless right? Except that all of Asia is working on a Monday morning and won't be able to watch any games on the weekend (and Europe is asleep in the wee hours of Monday morning). This angers me to no end because I now work in Asia, and when that one game lands on Saturday in the playoffs, it almost always gets taken away. So I really don't think they care TOO much.

[PiuYi]

alot of you here speak like Canucks have always been tops in the league and tops in attendance/popularity, well it hasn't.

please remember it wasn't too long ago that the Canucks sucked monkey balls and could hardly draw in a crowd

i dont kno where i'm going with this, but alot of you make the Canucks sound like they're the model franchise of the world which is totally untrue

[g604]

I honestly don't think the NBA is too aware, or cares even about the rest of the world as much as they claim to.

Example: you know how the NHL playoffs are played every other day, regardless of which day it lands on? Well the NBA always stretches a series to get 2 to 3 Sunday games in. Harmless right? Except that all of Asia is working on a Monday morning and won't be able to watch any games on the weekend (and Europe is asleep in the wee hours of Monday morning). This angers me to no end because I now work in Asia, and when that one game lands on Saturday in the playoffs, it almost always gets taken away. So I really don't think they care TOO much.

thats how it is sunday is TV time in America but by brining the NBA to Vancouver brings a slight chance of increasing the game popularity overseas.

[Wongtouski]

thats how it is sunday is TV time in America but by brining the NBA to Vancouver brings a slight chance of increasing the game popularity overseas.

I know Sunday is a TV day, but there is no tradition in the US to tailgate, have a giant bbq, get together to watch an NBA game like the NFL. NBA games don't get very high ratings anyways. So what I am arguing is, if you a game (more often) in a internationally neutral time, more people would get access to it, therefore you get more Ad revenue/exposure.

And you need to explain how a team in Vancouver can general popularity overseas. I don't completely follow what you're saying.

[Hondaracer]

alot of you here speak like Canucks have always been tops in the league and tops in attendance/popularity, well it hasn't.

please remember it wasn't too long ago that the Canucks sucked monkey balls and could hardly draw in a crowd

i dont kno where i'm going with this, but alot of you make the Canucks sound like they're the model franchise of the world which is totally untrue

those points reinforce how much harder it would be to establish a NBA franchise here

Blake price basically went on a 10 minute rant just now puting exclamation points on all the points i've already brought up regarding FA's and how no one will want to come play here

it's one thing to think of rainbows and ponies and it would be all great having another NBA franchise here, it's another to form yet a 2nd losing NBA franchise and look like a continual joke on the north american sports landscape outside of the NHL

as for my point regarding ignorant american players and their desire to not play in Canada, 3/4 of the raptors are non-north american.

[g604]

vancouver is very multicultural compared to cities like Kanas City, Kentucky, Pittsburg and if the NBA does good over here would make visitors from the middle east, asia, europe be more interested in the sport and might develop a connection to it. Its a good way to introduce and market the sport to foreign viewers.

For example I know a couple of people that come from the UK, Phillipines etc that don't know shit about Hockey but once they come here and watch the Canucks they slowly get hooked.

Do you kinda get what I am saying I suck at writing :P

[Hondaracer]

There's millions of European immigrants who couldn't care less about MLS.

[g604]

There's millions of European immigrants who couldn't care less about MLS.

Because its a water downed league from what they have in Europe. IMO MLS shouldn't implement FIFA rules

[Lomac]

You guys are talking about Vancouver like it's the only major city to have a basketball team and a multi-cultured audience pool to draw from...

[PiuYi]

Basketball imo is a class-less sport, no matter how good a team here will be they will always play second fiddle to the Canucks, and imo having a basketball tenant in Rogers Arena almost feels like it would cheapen the feel of the Nucks.

that's more personal opinion than anything really, i know alot of people who r crazy about basketball and dont kno the difference btwn offside and icing and dont give a damn either

i think having a NBA team would actually upgrade the profile of Rogers Arena and Vancouver as NBA teams are normally more expensive to maintain and valuable (according to forbes)

yes, Canucks will always have longer history and have a special place in Vancouverites hearts but a NBA team wouldn't take anything away from Canucks, but would be more a second source of entertainment

whether its viable................... thats up for debate..........

[carisear]

I have said it before and I will say it again

FUCK YOU STU JACKSON
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

http://www.revscene.net/forums/nba-exhibition-game-t620168.html?p=7035131&highlight=FUCK+YOU+STU+JACKSON


http://www.revscene.net/forums/nba-exhibition-game-t620168.html?p=7035721&highlight=FUCK+YOU+STU+JACKSON

http://www.revscene.net/forums/aquilini-group-interested-t575660.html?p=6422290&highlight=FUCK+YOU+STU+JACKSON


a few of us have said it beforeand will say it again too :)

ps, FUCK YOU STU JACKSON.

[g604]

You guys are talking about Vancouver like it's the only major city to have a basketball team and a multi-cultured audience pool to draw from...

of course not but i am comparing it to the other cities such as Kentucky, Kansas City etc

[Wongtouski]

of course not but i am comparing it to the other cities such as Kentucky, Kansas City etc

Kansas has The Jayhawks and Kentucky has the Wildcats.

[TOS'd]

I remember when a family friend's car got broken into and nothing was stolen, but on the dash sat 4 tickets to a grizzles game.

[G-spec]

we should get our name back too, i find it stupid for teams that move to another city and keep the name with them even though they have no relevance to the current city whatsoever.
there is no grizzly bears in memphis.

just one example would be the utah jazz, mormon state with a name like the jazz and their logo is some mountains, makes no sense right, because the team hailed from new orleans, new orleans a town known for it's jazz culture


i know obviously there a whole bunch of trademark and other issues involved, i dont care though, lol i want our name back if this happens

[TRDood]

1. Cleveland Cavaliers - 26 Losses
Season: 2010–11 Record: 09–46

2. Cleveland Cavaliers - 24 Losses
Season: 1981–1982 Record: 15–67

3. Vancouver Grizzlies - 23 Losses
Season: 1995-96 Record: 23–59

At least we're not 2nd place anymore! :rofl:

The NBA as a whole has got much more mainstream as well. Average attendance in even the smallest markets have continually gone up in increments at least 40% in the last 10 years and I'll bet that Vancouver won't be the worst market in the NBA for sure!

And Cavs beat the Lakers tonight :failed::failed::failed::failed::failed::failed::f ailed:

[El Bastardo]

Why in the fuck would they move an NBA team out of New Orleans (again)? That city is ravenous for sports and they love the Hornets. I'm honestly surprised they'd bring up low attendance.

Are the Hornets just a cursed franchise?

[goo3]

*fun fact* Stromile Swift now plays in China. Thats how bad our management was.

Meanwhile, Steve Francis got cut by his Chinese team.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Steve-Francis-has-been-cut-from-his-Chinese-team?urn=nba-300842

[Harvey Specter]

So many NBA teams are struggling to fill seats, Pacers been one of them who were rumored to be moving to Vancouver. And as far as been financially successful...the Raptors don't sell out games but I would assume corporate support is keeping them a float. Vancouver gets enough corporate support and the team can survive long term. I guess it's the same for any professional sports team nowadays.

[g604]

So many NBA teams are struggling to fill seats, Pacers been one of them who were rumored to be moving to Vancouver. And as far as been financially successful...the Raptors don't sell out games but I would assume corporate support is keeping them a float. Vancouver gets enough corporate support and the team can survive long term. I guess it's the same for any professional sports team nowadays.

with all their shitty years raptors are still top 10 in attendance.

[danned]

yes, we need it back

[hotjoint]

bring back basketball!

[TouringTeg]

I hope it will be under a different name. We need to distance ourselves from how horrible the Grizzlies and Big Country Reeves were.

[G-spec]

i want our name back, though it wont happen.... i assume the new name would be something local, maybe the vancouver orcas ?

back in the day the dollar difference played a MAJOR role in the downfall and decision to move the team, now that the dollar is on par there is potential there, i mean there's a good reason these multi billion dollar corporations are trying to get it done, it's making financial sense and thats all they care about....

and all we care about is another team here so lets keep hoping, and those guys running the Canucks properly i have no doubt they could do the same for another professional team

[Tegra_Devil]

the Vancouver Rain :troll:

[G-spec]

haha, could work, or the Reign, sounds a bit cooler but could still be the inside joke only we get

long as it's not the salmon or some whack shit.... damn we gettin ahead of ourselves way too much we want this team here so bad, haha

[shawn79]

the Vancouver Rain :troll:

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSBFK1J5SJhy9-rh1S8CsWkT6EnOHDKyA3z11P3gZBgYqPxa3Er-g&t=1
or
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3Wu40ZR4zH0/SK-SZErHGtI/AAAAAAAAA8w/X9TmTNP3sVw/s320/Rain.jpg

:troll:

[Obsideon]

I just hope they don't name the team after something nature'ish as that seems to be the theme going on in Vancouver.

Vancouver Trees!
Vancouver Water!
Vancouver Mountains!
Vancouver Rockies! (actually this one is decent lol)
Vancouver Beavers
Vancouver Clean-Air!
Vancouver Salmon

[Tegra_Devil]

well as long as they dont curse themselves with Vancouver CanadaLine

[wasabisashimi]

Vancouver sockeye salmons?

[pure.life]

Vancouver Turbo :fullofwin:

[Obsideon]

Vancouver Revsceners :woot2:

[dbaz]

super sonics or whalers :troll:

[Wongtouski]

Vancouver Annoying Cyclers.

[FeistyBearH22a]

Its all speculation at this point. The NBA is probably headed for a lockout next season. They need to get that in order before any of this can happen.

I heard that marketing wise. The Vancouver Dragons makes sense. I think it sounds silly though.

[will068]

Its all speculation at this point. The NBA is probably headed for a lockout next season. They need to get that in order before any of this can happen.

I heard that marketing wise. The Vancouver Dragons makes sense. I think it sounds silly though.

Regardless what it the name is, I hope they make the logo/colour theme/ and jersey look nice.

Look at the Memphis Grizzlies jerseys compared to the Vancouver Grizzlies Jerseys. Ours looked like crap.

[iwantaskyline]

There are many reasons why a team can work in Vancouver now.

1. CAD dollar is much higher, very good chance this team can make a profit.

2. With the new CBA ending in the NBA this year, it could mean a new salary cap era in the NBA which means a lot more parity in the league.

3. Vancouver is a well known city now after the Olympics so there is a good chance many American players would not mind playing here. Vancouver got to showcase how beautiful the city is.

4. If we do get a team, and its the New Orlean Hornets we dont have to worry about those first couple dreadful expansion years. We'd be inheriting quite a good team right away.

5. Aquilini will not hire a dumbass like Stu Jackson.

I could go on! Don't get me wrong though, there are still quite a few negatives. Looking at the Toronto Raptors is a huge let down. So many years and no real success. But honestly if you look around the league how many teams really have won it all in the past decade or so? Not many different teams. I'm hoping a new salary cap is going to create a lot more parity.

[truth]

Vancouver Trolls :troll:

[Wongtouski]

I could go on! Don't get me wrong though, there are still quite a few negatives. Looking at the Toronto Raptors is a huge let down. So many years and no real success. But honestly if you look around the league how many teams really have won it all in the past decade or so? Not many different teams. I'm hoping a new salary cap is going to create a lot more parity.

All the things you've mentioned contribute to a successful second run in Vancouver. I wouldn't worry too much about Toronto being a cautionary tale because in reality, teams only win when they have Superstars. Superstars are extremely rare. Toronto never had a true winner in their "superstar(s)", and they're also not as well-managed as people perceive.

Say we get this team within 2 years, we would still have CP3 on the team for one more year at least, we can use him to attract more talent and can legitimately have a true contender straight away.

[will068]

All the things you've mentioned contribute to a successful second run in Vancouver. I wouldn't worry too much about Toronto being a cautionary tale because in reality, teams only win when they have Superstars. Superstars are extremely rare. Toronto never had a true winner in their "superstar(s)", and they're also not as well-managed as people perceive.

Say we get this team within 2 years, we would still have CP3 on the team for one more year at least, we can use him to attract more talent and can legitimately have a true contender straight away.

They did have Isiah Thomas in the first 3 years... :fullofwin::fullofwin::fullofwin::fullofwin:

It really made me wonder how he f'd up in NY. Must from trying to rule the old CBA...

[HonestTea]

Chris Paul will lead us to a championship!

[Wongtouski]

They did have Isiah Thomas in the first 3 years... :fullofwin::fullofwin::fullofwin::fullofwin:

It really made me wonder how he f'd up in NY. Must from trying to rule the old CBA...


Top 10 worst moves by Isiah Thomas

http://www.nysportsdigest.com/2010/11/the-ten-worst-moves-isiah-thomas-ever-made/

LOL.

[liu13]

Vancouver Mutts

seattle deserves a team before vancouver

[StylinRed]

Vancouver Puff-Puff-Pass

kinda makes sense for basketball too :)

[Nightwalker]

Vancouver Vaporizers

[g604]

Downtown Vancouver was pretty ghetto during the 95 - 00 alot has changed.

I recall even NHL players didn't want to play in Vancouver but Aquilini invested alot on facilities etc and I am sure he is going to do the same to the NBA team.

And as of right now the Hornets are in 7th place and look at the team were getting

Chris Paul, Marco Belineili, Trevor Ariza, David West, Emeka Okafur

If Chris Paul doesn't want to play here we should trade him to Goldenstate for Jeremy Lin, Stephan Curry and David Lee + draft pics.

Most likely after the CBA Chris Paul wont be able to leave so even better if they move to Vancouver put a franchise tag so therefore he aint leaving

[Tapioca]

3. Vancouver is a well known city now after the Olympics so there is a good chance many American players would not mind playing here. Vancouver got to showcase how beautiful the city is.


And how many NBA players actually watched the Winter Olympics?

If Toronto can't keep players, then what makes you think that Vancouver can? Vancouver is still seen as a backwater by the ignorant players (which constitutes 90% of the NBA.)

[g604]

K you guys are simply trippin on the Raptors this is their attendance record with a medicore team

2011 - 16,371
2010 - 17,897
2009 - 18,773
2008 - 19,435
2007 - 18,258
2001 - 19,347

2011 they lost Bosh but are still filling in seats. Toronto raptors is a solid franchise. Stern is disappointed about moving the Grizzlies in the first place. TO went through the same struggle and now their Franchise value tripled.

[g604]

And how many NBA players actually watched the Winter Olympics?

If Toronto can't keep players, then what makes you think that Vancouver can? Vancouver is still seen as a backwater by the ignorant players (which constitutes 90% of the NBA.)

What don't you understand about Hard Cap's and franchise tags. Vancouver will NOT get a team if the NBA keeps the soft cap that they have now but with the new CBA agreement the salary caps will be similar to the NHL's with a NFL type of Franchise Tag.

So for example we can put a Franchise tag on Chris Paul and he HAS to play for Vancouver. Plus teams wont be able to super stack their team.

[Hondaracer]

even with a franchise tag and a hard cap, Vancouver will have to overpay to keep/get legitimate franchise players

overpaying for players = unscuccessfull franchise

[RRxtar]

^vancouver in the NBA will be like Edmonton in the NHL. overpaying players that dont want to play there. sure you may get some good players, but the players have to fit a system.

the difference between a shitty team and a good team is a good team signs players that fit a specific spot in the puzzle, a shitty team team signs whatever players they can get, and try to build the puzzle around them

[Tegra_Devil]

^vancouver in the NBA will be like Edmonton in the NHL. overpaying players that dont want to play there. sure you may get some good players, but the players have to fit a system.

the difference between a shitty team and a good team is a good team signs players that fit a specific spot in the puzzle, a shitty team team signs whatever players they can get, and try to build the puzzle around them

a vancouver team has the best luck at getting steve nash..............without a doubt!

[Hondaracer]

^vancouver in the NBA will be like Edmonton in the NHL. overpaying players that dont want to play there. sure you may get some good players, but the players have to fit a system.

the difference between a shitty team and a good team is a good team signs players that fit a specific spot in the puzzle, a shitty team team signs whatever players they can get, and try to build the puzzle around them

/thread

sports are a business first and foremost, people who do not understand the business aspects of professional sports franchises look at a failing franchise that continues to get high first round draft picks as a "team that will be good one day"

the simple matter of the fact is, regardless of how many excellent first round players you get during season after season of horrible performance, if you cannot attract the key players you need to compliment/develop those first rounders you will -never- win, if you need to pay a guy who you think is needed as a role player on your team 1.35 times what a good team would have given him, that extra money on the table just handcuffed a position deeper in the line you will need to be a contender.

Like the Oilers/Raptors, Vancouver could get pick after pick but they will almost certainly toil in mediocrity for many many years upon their comeback, and like the oilers/raptors, will almost never be in contention for a championship.

[adambomb]

And as of right now the Hornets are in 7th place and look at the team were getting

Chris Paul, Marco Belineili, Trevor Ariza, David West, Emeka Okafur

If Chris Paul doesn't want to play here we should trade him to Goldenstate for Jeremy Lin, Stephan Curry and David Lee + draft pics.

Most likely after the CBA Chris Paul wont be able to leave so even better if they move to Vancouver put a franchise tag so therefore he aint leaving :failed:

Why are you talking like Vancouver/Aquilini has already been granted a team? What's this "We" stuff and trade speculation?

We, as in Vancouver, do NOT have an NBA franchise.

[GLOW]

Vancouver is still seen as a backwater by the ignorant players (which constitutes 90% of the NBA.)

http://www.nastyhobbit.org/data/media/4/thats-racist.gif

:fullofwin:

[tiger_handheld]

Rudy Gay! bring him over here. he's tearing it up in memphis!

[shawn79]

cant we just wait until the year they have a crosby/lebron #1 pick overall phenom and we purchase the team? :fullofwin:

oh derrick rose... <3

[InvisibleSoul]

Rudy Gay! bring him over here. he's tearing it up in memphis!
And also bring over Kevin Love from the Timberwolves... then we would have the dreaded Gay/Love combination.

[shawn79]

kevin love was drafted by memphis btw

[iPee]

And also bring over Kevin Love from the Timberwolves... then we would have the dreaded Gay/Love combination.

davie st gone wild

[PiuYi]

games might as well be held at celebrities

[goo3]

Like the Oilers/Raptors, Vancouver could get pick after pick but they will almost certainly toil in mediocrity for many many years upon their comeback, and like the oilers/raptors, will almost never be in contention for a championship.

Even with this, I'd still prefer to have a team here. Canucks have been shitty for most of their history . Does that mean it was a mistake bringing them here in 1970? Should we have waited until the last NHL CBA was inked before we thought about expansion? It's called sports, not guaranteed win night.

Who knows what the new NBA CBA will look like? Maybe China will start mass producing basketball players. Or maybe not, whatever. If it works financially, we should bring one here just because it's more fun to see more sports.

I don't like soccer, but I'm not gonna shit on the MLS cuz I know there's ppl who do like it. Good for them.

[Alpine50]

If we become the vancouver hornets are team world be legit
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

[Gumby]

If we become the vancouver hornets are team world be legit
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)
Unlike your spelling...

[Tim Budong]

NBA talk has heated up since the new arena planned in Sacramento are running into problems..

Nothing official on NBA coming to Vancouver: Aquilini (http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Nothing+official+coming+Vancouver+Aquilini/6468890/story.html)

cliff notes

1. The dollar at par, growth of the city and the corporate infrastructure could work
2. The NBA has said that they ADMIRE how well CSE(canucks sports and entertainment) has grown and operate
3. RogersArena is NBA ready. if the NBA were to host a game there tonight, it can be done
4. Competing with the Canucks for the same dollars, does it work

[GLOW]

As long as we don't have stu jackson making decisions :heckno:...
anything has a shot at working

[pastarocket]

NBA talk has heated up since the new arena planned in Sacramento are running into problems..

Nothing official on NBA coming to Vancouver: Aquilini (http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Nothing+official+coming+Vancouver+Aquilini/6468890/story.html)

cliff notes

1. The dollar at par, growth of the city and the corporate infrastructure could work
2. The NBA has said that they ADMIRE how well CSE(canucks sports and entertainment) has grown and operate
3. RogersArena is NBA ready. if the NBA were to host a game there tonight, it can be done
4. Competing with the Canucks for the same dollars, does it work

Grizzlies 2.0? It is possible.

[dachinesedude]

if the Maloof brothers arent selling the team, i dont see them coming here

[GLOW]

then we would have the dreaded Gay/Love combination.

:lawl:

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1azug8v1k1qasthro1_500.jpg

[punkwax]

“I can tell you we don’t have any plans to bring an NBA team to Vancouver.” - Francesco Aquilini

Read more: Nothing official on NBA coming to Vancouver: Aquilini (http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Nothing+official+coming+Vancouver+Aquilini/6468890/story.html#ixzz1sL5rBVYU)

[will068]

As long as we don't have stu jackson making decisions :heckno:...
anything has a shot at working


Good ol' Stu. He was the GM for US Basketball in Athens in the 2004 Olympics. How can you possibly fuck up on that. Even if a lot of the Star Players didn't join, you had AI and TD in their prime. Just add a bunch of semi all-star veterans willing to win the Gold Medal and you're set.

[Tim Budong]

Aquilini has no plans to bring in the NBA, but if another owner decides to, ultimately CSE will be involved.

i believe the NBA sold the hornets for 350mil
thats already worth more than the Canucks franchise as a whole

[Mike Oxbig]

for 350mill i dont want to hornets but wouldnt mind the kings

[will068]

Aquilini has no plans to bring in the NBA, but if another owner decides to, ultimately CSE will be involved.

i believe the NBA sold the hornets for 350mil
thats already worth more than the Canucks franchise as a whole

We're talking about the NBA here. Of course they're worth more. Even the Memphis Grizzlies are now worth $400m.

[surreyjack604]

for 350mill i dont want to hornets but wouldnt mind the kings

Hornets have been sold to the Saints owner and will be staying in NO. If Kings move it'll be to Seattle. Stern has to make up for robbing the Sonics of a team before he retires in a few years. Why would Vancity get a team before Seattle when they have plans to build a new arena anyways.

[willystyle]

Hornets have been sold to the Saints owner and will be staying in NO. If Kings move it'll be to Seattle. Stern has to make up for robbing the Sonics of a team before he retires in a few years. Why would Vancity get a team before Seattle when they have plans to build a new arena anyways.
Article said the new arena in Seattle will not allow a NBA team, unless they get a NHL team as well.

[PiuYi]

hate to be a buzzkill, but realistically, the NBA in vancouver won't happen anytime soon

1) david stern won't come back. he fucked up here and he's not going to embarrass himself by returning
2) CSE has a beautiful balance sheet right now, profiting nicely... why risk that profit by adding a team that could sink your balance sheet?
3) Seattle is next in line to get a team, once they do, the pacific northwest is set

[Gh0stRider]

Vancouver may yet experience re-birth as an NBA city, but despite a recent report stateside that the city is the leading candidate as a potential relocation home for the revenue-challenged Sacramento Kings, there is no formal movement afoot to bring the league back to B.C.

Responding to questions that have arisen following comments Friday on ESPN Seattle radio that Vancouver is the “most viable” destination should the ownership group of the Kings exhaust their attempts to remain in Sacramento following a failed deal to construct a new arena, Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena owner Francesco Aquilini said he is not actively in pursuit of bringing the league back to the city the Grizzlies called home from 1995-96 through 2000-01.

While preferring not to address the Sacramento situation directly, Aquilini told The Province on Monday: “I can tell you we don’t have any plans to bring an NBA team to Vancouver.”

Yet Aquilini was quick to add that an NBA future for Vancouver isn’t far-fetched, as long as key questions regarding the ability of the market to support a franchise could be answered.

“I think if there was enough support, enough of a fan base, definitely the arena is ready to go,” Aquilini said. “There was a basketball team here before, the building is really plug-and-play. We could start tomorrow if we wanted to. But the question is always about market size. That really is the issue. The (Grizzlies) did leave Vancouver for a reason, because there just wasn’t enough market support. If there was, they wouldn’t have left in the first place. We’re continually doing work on that, to assess whether there is enough of a market for an NBA team in Vancouver.”

The Maloof brothers, owners of the Kings, appeared to have reached a non-binding agreement on a new arena deal back in late February which would have kept the team in the California state capital. But after it was voted on and approved by the city in early March, it began to unravel over the issue of pre-development costs.

Although the team is slated to remain in Sacramento next season, it’s anyone’s guess where they could be after that.

On Friday, ESPN senior NBA writer Ric Bucher told a radio audience on ESPN Seattle that he believes Vancouver is now the “most viable” destination should the Kings’ ownership group find itself unable to resolves its arena issues in Sacramento. Seattle, which lost the Sonics to Oklahoma City in 2008, has been considered the front-runner as a possible home for the Kings, especially with a proposal on the table for an arena complex that would be home to both NBA and NHL franchises. However that deal is contingent on having commitments from franchises in both sports to relocate.

“If the Kings leave Sacramento, Vancouver is a very viable spot,” Bucher told The Kevin Calabro Show, “Maybe, quite honestly, the most viable spot right now among the places that gets the next NBA franchise that is on the move.

“They have the corporate infrastructure, they have a building that they can readily move in to,” continued Bucher, referring to Rogers Arena. “Believe me, when I first heard, it was like ‘Really, they’re (thinking of) going back to Vancouver? Didn’t they already try that?’ (But) the feeling was that the franchise was not handled correctly there. They also have a very hot hockey team there currently, and that it’s a place that the (NBA) do not want to give up on.”

In the decade-plus since the Grizzlies relocation to Memphis, Vancouver has remained on the front burner of hot stove talk whenever the discussion turns to franchise relocation. Most recently, a New Orleans Hornets team, which had been purchased by the league, was the franchise du jour. The Hornets, however, were purchased last week by Saints owner Tom Benson with the sole intent of keeping them in the Louisiana city.

Still, NBA commissioner David Stern said a few years back that the greatest disappointment of his long tenure has been the league’s failure in Vancouver. In 1999, billionaire Bill Laurie was unsuccessful in his attempts to purchase the team and relocate it to St. Louis. Soon after, Chicago-based industrialist Michael Heisley purchased the team and moved it to Memphis prior to the 2001-02 season.

In the decade since, Vancouver’s population and the NBA’s player base has grown substantially more international, and the Canadian dollar has risen from 65 cents to near par with the US dollar — both factors which would more easily sell and sustain the franchise in the city a second time around.

Bucher reiterated that he has heard the Vancouver talk more than once.

“I have heard it several times from several places,” he continued. “It was like ‘Why are you going back there?’ and it is one of those things on the NBA coconut telegraph that will not go away, as far Vancouver being far more attractive than Anaheim and even having the ability to elbow Seattle out of the way.”

Bucher added that his information regarding Vancouver is based on what he is hearing from his many contacts around the league.

“I can’t say that I have this from the Maloofs or I have it from a direct source, directly involved in this,” Bucher told the radio show. “I am giving you what has been the buzz from various people who keep track of where the ownership pieces are going, and have had people that have been involved in putting groups together trying to purchase franchises. They have made it a point of staying on top of where these teams might be going (and) what the most viable markets might be.

Yet one factor to consider in the big picture is the fact that the Maloofs have steadfastly refused to sell their team, meaning that a possible relocation to Vancouver would make them tenants in Rogers Arena, and thus have them competing for a share of the market’s dollars with the Canucks.

“The interesting element with the Vancouver angle is the fact that if the Maloofs are keeping the team, and they seem to be adamant in not selling,” said Bucher.

htsumura@theprovince.com

© Copyright (c) The Province


Read more: Nothing official on NBA coming to Vancouver: Aquilini (http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Nothing+official+coming+Vancouver+Aquilini/6468890/story.html#ixzz1sM8Ymf86)

.

[DanHibiki]

If we can get a team I hope we get it before Steve Nash retires. His jerseys would sell like hot-cakes.

[wasabisashimi]

I dont think basketball would thrive in our city. Maybe in Seattle.

[TPMarko]

vancouver can play host for the kings (if they have to move) until seattle takes over after they build the arena. this way can test vancouver market but not be 100% committed to the team. this is similar to the new orleans and OKC situation after katrina so its not that far-fetched.

[Tim Budong]

vancouver can play host for the kings (if they have to move) until seattle takes over after they build the arena. this way can test vancouver market but not be 100% committed to the team. this is similar to the new orleans and OKC situation after katrina so its not that far-fetched.

no
because then the fanbase wouldnt be able to support the team and it will fail if word gets out on this.

vancity is hockey first

[G-spec]

If you're really into basketball in this city you would already know that it's a complete turn around of what it was 10+ years ago when the Grizzlies were here . The sport of basketball has literally EXPLODED onto the scene even more so when we got the team, it was already on the map before but in the last 10 years (especially the last 5 or so) it has made leaps and bounds. And not just in Vancouver, but Canada as a whole, just one solid example of this change is last year's draft pick #4 Tristan Thompson highest Canadian player drafted ever, and this year's top 10 high school ranked players in North America, 2 of them are from the Toronto area, both are considered to be lottery (first 10) picks when they come out for the draft in 2 years or so. Actually Nike Summit is an annual game where the world's top high school players come play American top high schoolers and the US almost always wins. Well just the other week as it wrapped up, team World beat the team US behind the efforts of our two Canadians who basically won the game for the World team.

And back to the local Vancouver scene, now from every angle you look at it we have made leaps and bounds here locally when it comes to the presence of the game of basketball, from the amount of basketball camps available to kids out there, to men's basketball leagues and just the plain old fashioned amount of people just playing the sport out there, the city landscape has changed significantly.
It's just ridiculous how far we've come along as a basketball city during this stretch, I was serious about basketball since the mid-late 90's and I remember outside of the school basketball team there was really only 1 program for youth development basketball and it was Nighthoops which wasn't even a development oriented program, it was just meant to be one of those things to keep kids off the streets and out of trouble, and the other was Basketball BC which at that time was actually just all star high school players, basically high school ballers only.

Now today, we have various local camps like for example the hugely popular Drive Basketball and many many other camps as well and they are FILLED with kids playing and learning the game. I don't remember one competitive men's league back in the day, now every city district has one with at least 10 teams, I don't remember anywhere for drop in Basketball in Vancouver to get a good run 10 years ago except saturdays at Bonsor and Friday nights at Champlain heights.... now every gym has them.... and all of this is pure interest in the game of basketball, it hasn't gone up a 100%, it's gone up more than that!

This city is ABSOLUTELY ready not just to support an NBA team, but to see it thrive and be profitable. So the guys who really think we aren't ready, or we can't.... bah, this would have made sense years ago and I would have agreed then, but it doesn't match up with the reality of today. We have a tremendous amount of people locally interested in the game of basketball, now combine that with the fact that our dollar is on par and we have an NBA ready arena, not to mention the typical excitement factor that comes with bringing not just a new team but a new sport to the city, all of this is a recipe for more than just success.

[will068]

If you're really into basketball in this city you would already know that it's a complete turn around of what it was 10+ years ago when the Grizzlies were here . The sport of basketball has literally EXPLODED onto the scene even more so when we got the team, it was already on the map before but in the last 10 years (especially the last 5 or so) it has made leaps and bounds. And not just in Vancouver, but Canada as a whole, just one solid example of this change is last year's draft pick #4 Tristan Thompson highest Canadian player drafted ever, and this year's top 10 high school ranked players in North America, 2 of them are from the Toronto area, both are considered to be lottery (first 10) picks when they come out for the draft in 2 years or so. Actually Nike Summit is an annual game where the world's top high school players come play American top high schoolers and the US almost always wins. Well just the other week as it wrapped up, team World beat the team US behind the efforts of our two Canadians who basically won the game for the World team.

And back to the local Vancouver scene, now from every angle you look at it we have made leaps and bounds here locally when it comes to the presence of the game of basketball, from the amount of basketball camps available to kids out there, to men's basketball leagues and just the plain old fashioned amount of people just playing the sport out there, the city landscape has changed significantly.
It's just ridiculous how far we've come along as a basketball city during this stretch, I was serious about basketball since the mid-late 90's and I remember outside of the school basketball team there was really only 1 program for youth development basketball and it was Nighthoops which wasn't even a development oriented program, it was just meant to be one of those things to keep kids off the streets and out of trouble, and the other was Basketball BC which at that time was actually just all star high school players, basically high school ballers only.

Now today, we have various local camps like for example the hugely popular Drive Basketball and many many other camps as well and they are FILLED with kids playing and learning the game. I don't remember one competitive men's league back in the day, now every city district has one with at least 10 teams, I don't remember anywhere for drop in Basketball in Vancouver to get a good run 10 years ago except saturdays at Bonsor and Friday nights at Champlain heights.... now every gym has them.... and all of this is pure interest in the game of basketball, it hasn't gone up a 100%, it's gone up more than that!

This city is ABSOLUTELY ready not just to support an NBA team, but to see it thrive and be profitable. So the guys who really think we aren't ready, or we can't.... bah, this would have made sense years ago and I would have agreed then, but it doesn't match up with the reality of today. We have a tremendous amount of people locally interested in the game of basketball, now combine that with the fact that our dollar is on par and we have an NBA ready arena, not to mention the typical excitement factor that comes with bringing not just a new team but a new sport to the city, all of this is a recipe for more than just success.


Nighthoops at Bonsor. Oh yeah!!!!

[Tim Budong]

Truth to that
if you can build a fanbase with youth camps and youth interest, you build a long term relationship with these kids

its true, its not like basketball doesn't exist, many kids still play. and its a game that is more affordable to put kids into

[GLOW]

i remember grizzlies tickets in the nose bleeds can go for under $30 back in the day when it was a special night...beats the cost of canucks tickets :heckno:

[invader]

I think the new CBA has a lot to do with bringing a team. If they can't compete with the likes of the Lakers, Heat, Bulls, etc, in terms of salary, they won't have a winning product. That in turn will affect attendance and revenue.

[pure.life]

If the Grizzlies do come back, we'll probably have the most Asian players in the league

[mbrodie]

It's true, look at what a minority NBA fans are in GVRD.

I miss kareem abdul jabbar! :toot:

[Airtrackz]

It's true, look at what a minority NBA fans are in GVRD.

I miss kareem abdul jabbar! :toot:

Did you mean shareef?:whistle:

[Obsideon]

If they came back and the tickets were sold at respectable prices (not $100+ for nosebleeds like the Canucks) I would make every effort to attend the games! I am probably one of many that has just recently (within the last 10 years) started to get interest for the NBA. When the Grizzlies were in town I didn't go to a single game ... now I am itching to see a live NBA game ... I might make a trip down to Portland next season just to watch them play!... It would be great if Vancouver brought back a NBA team. I would support them as much as I can!

[G-spec]

^ tickets for nosebleeds to Grizzlies games I remember specifically were under $20, my team won the first 3 Nighthoops championships in a row and like I said in my last post Nighthoops was sponsored by the Grizzlies, so they used to give all the teams tickets to games. It was always roughly 10th row around either hoop area, and I remember my coach telling me even our 10th row tickets were around $200 only. I think pricing would be not super cheap in the beginning, but definitely would be better than the Canucks as it should be. You should pay a premium to watch a very good hockey team in a hockey town.

When an NBA team does come to Vancouver (yea I'm confident enough to say when) so when it does, they won't have a "minority fanbase"
In the first season alone they will easily beat out the Lions and Whitecaps, as far as fan support and revenues. They will be second to the Canucks never to surpass for obvious reasons unless something drastic happens like an NBA championship and even then it would be almost impossible, we love our hockey too much here.

But anyway just a few simple reasons for success would be

- raw star power NBA has to offer (would you rather see Kobe or LeBron or David Beckham or someone from the CFL)

- excitement of a new game (lifetime basketball fans in this city alone will be enough to keep the team profitable and well supported, but a significant amount of interest will come from typical sports fans and just regular people who don't know nothing about basketball and the whole curiosity factor is there for something new

- our dollar is on par with the US so players won't be getting jipped as far as payment, and since the Grizzlies were in town Vancouver has REALLY established itself even more as a top 10 (maybe even 5) world class city, so we won't be having cry babies like Steve Francis bitching about not wanting to play here



I'm very hopeful about a team coming, there are so many factors involved in us getting the team especially over Seattle that I really won't get into becaue it would take another paragraph I don't wanna write, but I'll put it to yall this way if David Stern (NBA commissioner) had only two choices to relocate an NBA team too (Seattle or Vancouver) he would without a doubt put it in Vancouver.

and as far as the Sacramento Kings, remember they are owned by the Maloof's and these guys own Casinos in Vegas, so Vancouver being somewhat of a Casino city I'm pretty sure these guys are seeing dollar signs on some level, because they know exactly how to deal with casino cities

[Tim Budong]

When you say $30 back in the day, think about inflation and all that haha
$30 was a tank of gas lol

whatever it may be... Tickets wont be cheap to begin with.

[G-spec]

^ yea in the late 1990's nosebleeds were around $20, I'm sure it will be a bit more today if they were to start like you said.

But still in the first year or so I'm sure they would be doing like introductory prices just to try getting people out to the games.
I would be going to a game a month, a good game too with teams I like, monthly Grizzlies budget would probably look something like $200-$300 lol

[G]

I remember when I went courtside to griz games like 3-4 times. Fuck those were the good days. I even shook shareef's hand and shot around prior to the game. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF :tears:

[DanHibiki]

Steve Francis in "Vancouver gets the last laugh" - YouTube

[willystyle]

I guess he prefers China over Vancouver cause that's where he's playing now.

[will068]

Fuck Stu Jackson... Fuck Otis Thorpe... and Fuck Steve Francis....

[fishCak3s]

^fuck stu jackson +1

[wasabisashimi]

fuck big country

[bballguy]

fuck big country

Why are you blaming him?? It's not his fault he was signed for $65-mill over 6 years when he hadn't proven shit; what is he supposed to say? "no thanks, I'm going to have to kindly decline that offer because I don't think I'm worth it"??....again, +2 on the fuck Stu Jackson...

[Manic!]

So who here will buy seasons tickets if we get a team?

[ae101]

lol i remember a few of my friends that bought tickets to the grizz games just to see Jordan play back when he was with the bulls

but seriously i think getting a team is just too much for vancouver to handle ATM, wait & see how thinks turn out

IF STU JACKSON COMES BACK IM GONNA FLY BACK TO KILL HIM

[G-spec]

the NBA is one of those pro sports leagues where you can screw and fck up anything and everything you touch, leave your job and go work for another team or end up in the NBA front office like Stu. Stu hit teh big payday when he moved up, me and my friends always joke around how he must have had some major dirt on some bigshot NBA execs to have weaseled his way into that job.

Happens with head coaches all the time especially they just move to another team when they get fired or leave, on a similar note I can't understate how idiotic it is to have a guy who used to be a gotdang video co-ordinator (yes the guy with no playing nor coaching background whatsoever in the video room chopping up clips making copies for players) to move his ass up all the way to head coaching position. That just blows my mind, and there's a handful of coaches like that in the NBA currently, it's almost like going from the mail room to being CEO of a company.

[Mike Oxbig]

Rather have a MLB team instead of basketball here.

[Mozo]

if they didnt move the sonic's to okc, that would have been good enough for me. Would be a close enough drive to see one of the top teams in the west for the next how ever many years.

If the grizz come back, they should sign Lin and make Yao come out of retirement, would be a media frenzy in this city.

[GLOW]

I can't understate how idiotic it is to have a guy who used to be a gotdang video co-ordinator (yes the guy with no playing nor coaching background whatsoever in the video room chopping up clips making copies for players) to move his ass up all the way to head coaching position. That just blows my mind,

when i heard a commentator describe the coach's previous position i was like :rukidding::heckno:

wasn't it erik spolstra?

[Manic!]

if they didnt move the sonic's to okc, that would have been good enough for me. Would be a close enough drive to see one of the top teams in the west for the next how ever many years.

If the grizz come back, they should sign Lin and make Yao come out of retirement, would be a media frenzy in this city.

:rukidding:

They should also sign Kobe and bring Jordan out of retirement too.

[GLOW]

they should sign Lin and make Yao come out of retirement

lets not forget menke bateer, yijianlian, wang zhizhi, and sun yue :lawl:

[Vansterdam]

fuck stu jackson

[DanHibiki]

Lin and Nash in Vancouver would be sex

[i-VTEC]

Hockey is still first, but I don't see Basketball can be too far behind it too, Might even take over who knows. With the Chinese keeps coming in here, basketball will become more and more popular. Most Chinese Immigrate, are mostly canucks bandwagoner, just during the deep playoff not regular season games, yet don't even play hockey at all, but they do play basketball at University/College Gyms, or Community Centre, or Their Backyard almost like every day. Asian, who pay attentions to Canucks, are CBC or those who been here in Vancouver for 5+ years at least. So I believe having a NBA team here, will definitely have the fan base. Asian booming in Vancouver were like during year 2005 and on going. If only they didn't move in 2001

[quasi]

Hockey is still first, but I don't see Basketball can be too far behind it too, Might even take over who knows.

It's so far behind that it can't be seen from earth. Not a chance in hell, not in our lifetimes. That's like saying given time the Kings will be more popular then the Lakers, it's not happening.

[Tim Budong]

Hockey is still first, but I don't see Basketball can be too far behind it too, Might even take over who knows. With the Chinese keeps coming in here, basketball will become more and more popular. Most Chinese Immigrate, are mostly canucks bandwagoner, just during the deep playoff not regular season games, yet don't even play hockey at all, but they do play basketball at University/College Gyms, or Community Centre, or Their Backyard almost like every day. Asian, who pay attentions to Canucks, are CBC or those who been here in Vancouver for 5+ years at least. So I believe having a NBA team here, will definitely have the fan base. Asian booming in Vancouver were like during year 2005 and on going. If only they didn't move in 2001

You sound like you think the NBA will work if all us chinese ppl gathered to support the team... That is just a small small small factor of the big picture

[will068]

You sound like you think the NBA will work if all us chinese ppl gathered to support the team... That is just a small small small factor of the big picture


haha exactly.

If you check out the crowds in the past exhibition games and Steve Nash Charity Games, the crowds are mostly white and surprisingly - blacks (like wow, where do the blacks hide in the city ?) .

[i-VTEC]

It's so far behind that it can't be seen from earth. Not a chance in hell, not in our lifetimes. That's like saying given time the Kings will be more popular then the Lakers, it's not happening.

Never say never.

LA Laker was crappy team before they got Paul/Odom. They even thought about trading Kobe haha.

Boston is another example, before Ray Allen, KG, they were on terrible, lost tons of games.

Vancouver Grizzlies was a :failed: team at that time due to not enough fan base. All I can say is the timing wasn't right at that time

Look at it now after they moved, with hiring the right GM and Coaches, they were able to change everything around with more fan base in Memphis. They beat San Antonio and almost beat OKC in last year's playoff

Another example would be the Seattle Sonic, now the OKC Thunder. Smart GM, lands 2 big superstars through draft.

Memphis/OKC even tho they can't compare to City like LA, to attract free agents. But with the Right Hiring of GM any team can be successful.

Btw, wouldn't you agree the Vancouver City > Memphis , Vancouver > OKC?

If Basketball would come here again, and more and more mainlander from China, HK, Taiwan immigrates here, I would like to see how many seats Canucks and XXX Basketball sells. Maybe Canucks will in the beginning, but I highly doubt it will stay that way

:fullofwin:

[Soundy]

Vancouver Grizzlies was a :failed: team at that time due to not enough fan base. All I can say is the timing wasn't right at that time.
It didn't help that the NBA had rules in place that limited new teams' abilities to draft well... or that they really had shit management. Expansion teams at that time were basically made to fail the first few years... don't know if it's any different now.

[i-VTEC]

You sound like you think the NBA will work if all us chinese ppl gathered to support the team... That is just a small small small factor of the big picture

Im talking about the Chinese will be the biggest contributor to the team as the fan base. Will be the driving force. Yes, its small factor, but without that factor, everything could fall apart. The first step is also comes down if you have the fan base. If not, don't even think about it.

I doubt Lakers or the Boston can win Championship with no fan base at all haha

The Owner/GM won't even want to put the effort to do their job if no one support their decision.

[pure.life]

Vancouver would undoubtedly be known as "China's" team with all the investors here coming from the Mainland. Just think of Mariners and Ichiro. Everyone in Japan knows the Mariners because of Ichiro and half of their ads have some sort of Japanese in them. Likewise, if a NBA team do land themselves in Vancouver again and given that we have some decent Asian players, the team will be backed by not only fans in Vancouver but their origin - China.

Monetary support will not be an issue

But all these may just be wishful thinking :okay:

Btw, our logo was sick
http://img.ffffound.com/static-data/assets/6/cc05aec1eadf38994b55625c7b18089382f5275f_m.jpg

[i-VTEC]

It didn't help that the NBA had rules in place that limited new teams' abilities to draft well... or that they really had shit management. Expansion teams at that time were basically made to fail the first few years... don't know if it's any different now.

Well, it's not like if Kings were to move to Vancouver, they have to build from scratch.

They already got good pieces. Tyreke Evans (even tho, this year was slump for him), Cousins, Jimmer, on coming Draft.

Now they really need is a good coach, and knows how to develop their potential. Also make good decision on getting the right pieces to the team.

Give a few more years, they could be a playoff time, 8th seat.

:woot2:

[i-VTEC]

Not all owner have their main goal is to win Championship, mostly they just want to make profit. Right not, Kings in Sac is not making any profit. However, moving to Vancouver, would definitely be a good investment. Moreover, if they were to get JLin, to play for them, I dont know if everyone will be talking about Canucks, or the Basketball team. Even if JLin turns out to be not as big as a star like that week of amazing performance, it would still be best advertising tool to make a lot of money like how Huston use Yao Ming, but Yao was a great player. All in all, as long as owners can make money, whether is through ticket sales or advertisement, owners will tend to move to that area.

Furthermore, look how JLin created a hugh buzz. He plays for New York, not even here in Vancouver. He affected a lot of countries.

Since when Canucks, were able to create that kind of buzz like how Lin, 1 person, did.

Also, have you seen Floyd Mayweather making fun of Canucks or ESPN =)

:nyan:

[Vansterdam]

gotta admit our logo was sick

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_308uBkwcaYk/StytXoDDU_I/AAAAAAAAAOI/Sl3eRKuPd9U/s400/Grizzlies+Logo.gif

grizzlie + orcha

preety badasss combo

[i-VTEC]

haha exactly.

If you check out the crowds in the past exhibition games and Steve Nash Charity Games, the crowds are mostly white and surprisingly - blacks (like wow, where do the blacks hide in the city ?) .

If Kings were to move here, and were somehow able to get JLin here to play.

Let see, how many Blacks vs White vs Banana Skin Color are at the seat.

You'll probably notice, more Chinese Grandma or C-lais in Kings attendance than you would see in Canucks game in which you have all kind of age groups to be the fan base.

However, it would probably be terrible idea, since the ticket price would be higher than normal, the Asian will also behind the ticket price scalping like the housing price =(

[Soundy]

Btw, our logo was sick
http://img.ffffound.com/static-data/assets/6/cc05aec1eadf38994b55625c7b18089382f5275f_m.jpg
What logo???

Not all owner have their main goal is to win Championship, mostly they just want to make profit. Right not, Kings in Sac is not making any profit.
Or they're just ballin' playboys who need to own a major sports franchise to keep up with their buds.

[niu99]

needs chinese players in the team for it to work in vancouver. all the fobs would buy up all season tickets in a heartbeat.

[quasi]

needs chinese players in the team for it to work in vancouver. all the fobs would buy up all season tickets in a heartbeat.

They thought the samething with a franchise white player, aka Big Country. That worked out splendid. :)

[kingprince22]

The Ric Bucher interview
Kevin Calabro Show - Podcasts - MyNorthwest.com (http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=577&a=9940596&p=1013&n=Kevin%20Calabro%20Show)

[Jermyzy]

the NBA is one of those pro sports leagues where you can screw and fck up anything and everything you touch, leave your job and go work for another team or end up in the NBA front office like Stu. Stu hit teh big payday when he moved up, me and my friends always joke around how he must have had some major dirt on some bigshot NBA execs to have weaseled his way into that job.

Happens with head coaches all the time especially they just move to another team when they get fired or leave, on a similar note I can't understate how idiotic it is to have a guy who used to be a gotdang video co-ordinator (yes the guy with no playing nor coaching background whatsoever in the video room chopping up clips making copies for players) to move his ass up all the way to head coaching position. That just blows my mind, and there's a handful of coaches like that in the NBA currently, it's almost like going from the mail room to being CEO of a company.

You mean like Bob Ackles? :)

[bballguy]

Never say never.

LA Laker was crappy team before they got Paul/Odom.

I stopped reading d87c's posts after this....Clearly, someone who thinks a guy named Paul Gasol plays for the Lakers doesn't know what he's talking about...

[Tim Budong]

Never say never.

LA Laker was crappy team before they got Paul/Odom. They even thought about trading Kobe haha.

Boston is another example, before Ray Allen, KG, they were on terrible, lost tons of games.

Vancouver Grizzlies was a :failed: team at that time due to not enough fan base. All I can say is the timing wasn't right at that time

Look at it now after they moved, with hiring the right GM and Coaches, they were able to change everything around with more fan base in Memphis. They beat San Antonio and almost beat OKC in last year's playoff

Another example would be the Seattle Sonic, now the OKC Thunder. Smart GM, lands 2 big superstars through draft.

Memphis/OKC even tho they can't compare to City like LA, to attract free agents. But with the Right Hiring of GM any team can be successful.

Btw, wouldn't you agree the Vancouver City > Memphis , Vancouver > OKC?

If Basketball would come here again, and more and more mainlander from China, HK, Taiwan immigrates here, I would like to see how many seats Canucks and XXX Basketball sells. Maybe Canucks will in the beginning, but I highly doubt it will stay that way

:fullofwin:

AGAIN.. the asian population would make a small chunk of what would support the team. Selling tickets is only HALF the issue here. Corporate support is whats going to drive the team to success. Ownership is also going to play an important factor. No owner is stupid enough to try to bring a team to vancouver and even try to take a chunk of revenue from the Canucks. Unless Canucks Sports and Entertainment are the ones making the NBA possible in town, the NBA isn't going to come here. At the same time, the speculation around the NBA is that unless IT IS Aquilini owning a team, there is no chance in hell that Vancouver is going to get a team.

The Grizzlies failed because of the dollar, bad management and the owners just ddint support the team. Understand that during that time, the Canucks were NOT in the best shape either, and was slowly slowly on the rebuild.

Vancouver would undoubtedly be known as "China's" team with all the investors here coming from the Mainland. Just think of Mariners and Ichiro. Everyone in Japan knows the Mariners because of Ichiro and half of their ads have some sort of Japanese in them. Likewise, if a NBA team do land themselves in Vancouver again and given that we have some decent Asian players, the team will be backed by not only fans in Vancouver but their origin - China.

Monetary support will not be an issue

But all these may just be wishful thinking :okay:



The Mariners work because Nintendo owns them. Unless theres a big name COMING from China to play on this team, you can kiss chinese sponsorship goodbye.

Not all owner have their main goal is to win Championship, mostly they just want to make profit. Right not, Kings in Sac is not making any profit. However, moving to Vancouver, would definitely be a good investment. Moreover, if they were to get JLin, to play for them, I dont know if everyone will be talking about Canucks, or the Basketball team. Even if JLin turns out to be not as big as a star like that week of amazing performance, it would still be best advertising tool to make a lot of money like how Huston use Yao Ming, but Yao was a great player. All in all, as long as owners can make money, whether is through ticket sales or advertisement, owners will tend to move to that area.

Furthermore, look how JLin created a hugh buzz. He plays for New York, not even here in Vancouver. He affected a lot of countries.

Since when Canucks, were able to create that kind of buzz like how Lin, 1 person, did.

Also, have you seen Floyd Mayweather making fun of Canucks or ESPN =)

:nyan:

J-Lin created BUZZ...and he plays in NYC...ever heard of the "east coast biased media"? Your also comparing the NHL to the NBA... yea good luck with that.

Vancouver needs a player in which the NBA needs to HELP market from the ground up in order for it to work. Yao Ming's camp along with the Rockets and the NBA had a buncha deals and such in place to make it happen. Its why you see Chinese advertising at Rockets games.

At the same time, the NBA left this city with a really big sour note. its why you see so many haters about the subject.

Lastly, this is my own personal opinion, the building is gonna be a key factor. CSE owns the building, meaning another ownership group brinigng in a team will need to work out a lease with them. Have fun competing with a GIANT in this city for the same dollars

[G-spec]

You mean like Bob Ackles? :)

when i heard a commentator describe the coach's previous position i was like :rukidding::heckno:

wasn't it erik spolstra?



don't know Bob Ackles is, lol, but just off the top of my head this year that I know off, I'm pretty sure there is more, yea Erik Spoelstra (heat), Kalen Canales (blazers) Frank Vogel (pacers)




fck's sake, lol

http://www.vancouversun.com/4312491.bin

[bballguy]

don't know Bob Ackles is, lol, but just off the top of my head this year that I know off, I'm pretty sure there is more, yea Erik Spoelstra (heat), Kalen Canales (blazers) Frank Vogel (pacers)


Frank Vogel has done a fucking TREMENDOUS job with the Pacers....That team was 100x better when he took over midseason last year.

[Ch28]

Bibby was such a great player that ended up being wasted in Vancouver

[Mike Oxbig]

NBA is a sport that is only successful if there are superstars without it, its just a mickey mouse team. Toronto cant even attract stars to stay although they drafted some pretty high end forwards.

Rather have a MLB team here and just chill at the baseball stadium on a hot summer day in Vancouver. They should model the stadium by waterfront similar to AT&T park (SF giants)

http://www.pnwarchitecture.com/LegacyImages/R/renderingsouth.jpg
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/9924/whitecaps24jc.jpg
http://california-travels.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/att_park-2_lrg.jpg

[DanHibiki]

baseball team? why? you have problems falling asleep?



:troll:

[Tim Budong]

Shareef really represented what it was like to be a Vancouver Grizzly

[hotshot1]

^^ Put up nice stats but never make a difference?



:troll:

[will068]

don't know Bob Ackles is, lol, but just off the top of my head this year that I know off, I'm pretty sure there is more, yea Erik Spoelstra (heat), Kalen Canales (blazers) Frank Vogel (pacers)




fck's sake, lol

http://www.vancouversun.com/4312491.bin

Damn, epitome of laziness in big cunt right there.

Seriously, big man, soft hands, damn dude, what a waste. Hire a a personal trainer ad personal chef and work out everyday.

I still remember the article about his mom serving him 10 fried eggs, a dozen pancakes, and tons of bacon every morning during the off season. Seriously ? wtf man..

[will068]

Wow , Shareef is Assistant Manager for the Kings.

[PiuYi]

i remember his fan club used to be called the Reefers Club :lol

[Soundy]

it's almost like going from the mail room to being CEO of a company.You mean like Bob Ackles? :)

don't know Bob Ackles is,
:failed:

Bob Ackles was the first-ever water boy for the BC Lions when they started... rose to eventually be a bigwig with the CFL, NFL, played a major part in forming the XFL, and came back to be president of the Lions and help bring them out of teh suck they were in for most of the late 90s.

I've never been big on reading bios, but his is really amazing. Check it out sometime, if you know how to read.

http://ebooks-imgs.connect.com/product/400/000/000/000/000/204/219/400000000000000204219_s4.png

Yeah, he looked like a dorky, geeky little guy... but he was absolutely brilliant in sports business.

[Harvey Specter]

Vancouver will never get a MLB team. You need big money to even have a remote chance of competing with the powerhouse teams. Look at the condition of the Seattle M's; they had the lowest attendance ever last night with something like a 11,000 fans showing up. And it's going to take them a few years just to have a shot at the post season.

[PiuYi]

Michael Heisley passed away today.

[invader]

Holy thread revive.

[will068]

Michael Heisley passed away today.

Hated the guy. But damb.... time flies.
Posted via RS Mobile

[SkinnyPupp]

(Jeremy) Lin on the Grizzlies would have been epic :lawl: :awwyeah:

[Tr1ll]

Justin Lin on the Grizzlies would have been epic :lawl: :awwyeah:
Who?

[SkinnyPupp]

Who?
The guy on the Knicks.. he was a big superstar for about 1 week, then every chinese person outside asia bought his jersey

I think I got at least half the name right, and I'm sure you know who I am talking about ;)

[willystyle]

Justin Lin on the Grizzlies would have been epic :lawl: :awwyeah:
U mean Jeremy Lin?

[SkinnyPupp]

U mean Jeremy Lin?
yup

Justin Lin is the guy who directed some Fast and Furious movies :lol

[GLOW]

Hated the guy. But damb.... time flies.
Posted via RS Mobile

I still remember hunttheowner.com after he lied and said he had no plans to move the team but did
Posted via RS Mobile

[murd0c]

Maybe the Clippers will be for sale soon since the owner is no longer welcomed in the NBA lol

[DanHibiki]

Roy rogers baby
Posted via RS Mobile

[ae101]

after hearing the news, i totally smiled & no im normally that cold hearted but for some reason this time i was

[viciouscoatings]

gotta admit our logo was sick

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_308uBkwcaYk/StytXoDDU_I/AAAAAAAAAOI/Sl3eRKuPd9U/s400/Grizzlies+Logo.gif

grizzlie + orcha

preety badasss combo

Our logo was the best! The electric blue was way ahead of its time
Posted via RS Mobile

[PiuYi]

mann time flies.... for nostalgia's sake

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ll08m3KgAJ1qh9acyo1_500.jpg

(From Left to Right)

Toronto Raptor - Marcus Camby
Milwaukee Buck - Ray Allen
Minnesota Timberwolves - Stephon Marbury
Los Angeles Lakers - Kobe Bryant
Vancouver Grizzlies - Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Portland Trailblazers - Jermaine O’Neal
New Jersey Nets - Kerry Kittles
Phoenix Suns - Steve Nash
????????
Boston Celtics - Antoine Walker
San Antonio Spurs - Samaki Walker

[ae101]

^
man time does fly

ray allen is still playing

kobe benching this season

nash rarely goes on court (i think)

marburys making it big here in china

not sure if jermaine o neal or antoine walker still plays

everybody else on that list has stopped in the pro ball (i think)

[PiuYi]

jermaine o'neal starts for GSW since bogut is injured

antoine walker retired years ago and went bankrupt from gambling addiction i think