It Begins: Training Camp, First 2 C’s Preseason Games Postponed

Posted by Brian Robb on Sep 24, 2011 218378 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2011%2F09%2F24%2Fit-begins-training-camp-first-2-cs-preseason-games-postponed%2FIt+Begins%3A+Training+Camp%2C+First+2+C%27s+Preseason+Games+Postponed2011-09-25+03%3A10%3A11Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D21837

The inevitable has finally arrived, as yesterday afternoon the NBA announced in a press release that , NBA training camps have been indefinitely postponed as well as over 40 preseason games in the second week of October. Here is the full release from the league:

The NBA announced today that player training camps for the 2011-12 season have been postponed indefinitely because a new collective bargaining agreement has not been reached with the National Basketball Players Association.

 Training camps were scheduled to open on October 3.In addition, the league canceled all preseason games scheduled from October 9 through October 15.

“We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. “We will make further decisions as warranted.”

How does this affect the C’s and their preseason schedule?  Boston had two preseason games scheduled over that time span as they will not face both the Philadelphia 76ers at the Dunkin Donuts Center on October 10th, as well as the Knicks on the 15th in Albany, NY.

Yahoo! Sports is reporting the next round of game cancellations could come as soon as October 2nd, as the two sides continues negotiations until then. With both parties seemingly very far apart still when it comes to the money in negotiations, the smart money is on the entire preseason (and likely much more) being washed away by the start of next month.

To make you feel even better, Bill Simmons had this unsettling tidbit from his most recent column on Grantland.com regarding an expected timetable on any potential season from the point when the two sides strike a deal:

 I was told by Someone Who Knows that we need one month from “finished deal” to “signings/trades/training camp” to “we’re ready to start!” That means we’re missing games. If you gave me an over/under of January 15, I’m taking the over. Expect words like “contraction” and “merger” to start getting thrown around. The owners aren’t messing around. As Deep Throat once said, “Follow the money.” The owners paid $2.1 billion in salaries last year. They want to knock that number down by $500 million to $600 million annually while creating a harder cap … and really, they don’t care how they get there. If the players want a bigger share of revenue, fine — the league will dip from 30 to 27 teams, and with 45 fewer players getting paid, the players can have a bigger share of the revenue. The owners are chopping that $2.1 billion figure down one way or the other. Even if it means canceling the 2011-12 season. I will now jam Anusol-covered fingers into my eye sockets.

Woof. I’ll save the needless speculation on my part for what I can expect things to start up again, but for now here’s what left of the C’s preseason schedule (via Celtics.com) 

Sun 16	@ Toronto Preseason	6:00pm
Wed 19	@ Philadelphia Preseason  Mullins Center, Amherst, MA	7:00pm
Fri 21	vs Toronto Preseason	7:30pm
Sat 22	vs New York Preseason  XL Center, Hartford, CT	7:30pm
Mon 24	@ New Jersey Preseason	7:30pm
Wed 26	vs New Jersey Preseason	7:30pm