For all you crackers who hate the NBA

[R. Rich]

Has anyone watched the Sonics play?  They don't seem to have much but their record is pretty good.

 

Maybe the NBA is starting to turn.  I haven't watched a game in years because it's such an abomination compared to the game I grew up with.

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I have seen highlights of Sonics games and they don't look that bad overall. Ray Allen is having an MVP-type season for them. He looks incredible.

[R. Rich]

Well, it's pretty sad if one team is playing basketball the way it should be out of what 30 teams?

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Sigh.

 

Phoenix was mentioned as an example to show that there are teams in the NBA that play good, fudamental basketeball. I haven't watched enough of this season to give you statistical data as to what percentage of NBA teams are fundamentally sound and what percentage isn't. It's just an example, that's all.

[Indy Dave]

Has anyone watched the Sonics play?  They don't seem to have much but their record is pretty good.

 

Maybe the NBA is starting to turn.  I haven't watched a game in years because it's such an abomination compared to the game I grew up with.

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Like many people in this thread, I turned my back on the NBA after the '80s. I watched the finals, mostly to see what MJ was going to do next. When he retired, I went years without watching any games at all. When I moved to Indianapolis, I couldn't help but to start following it a little bit. Then my interest increased more and more, and by the end of last season, I was watching at least some of nearly every Pacers game.

When this season started, I was pretty excited. The Bills were struggling, the Sabres weren't playing...I needed something else to get excited about until college basketball started. The Pacers had an excellent team and a coach who I think is the best in the league. They went to Minnesota and won, and had some other quality wins. Then they went to Detroit and kicked their ass. Then we all know what happened. After the suspensions, it was interesting to watch a dismantled team still manage to win games, including another victory over the Timberwolves. But shortly thereafter, reality set in and now they are struggling to stay over .500. It's a shame for Pacers fans because this team was a serious contender to win it all. They were playing a good brand of basketball, one that even the casual fan could learn to appreciate it, much like I did. Carlisle is a fantastic coach.

[Indy Dave]

Sigh.

 

Phoenix was mentioned as an example to show that there are teams in the NBA that play good, fudamental basketeball.  I haven't watched enough of this season to give you statistical data as to what percentage of NBA teams are fundamentally sound and what percentage isn't.  It's just an example, that's all.

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San Antonio is another example.

[Alaska Darin]

Like many people in this thread, I turned my back on the NBA after the '80s. I watched the finals, mostly to see what MJ was going to do next. When he retired, I went years without watching any games at all. When I moved to Indianapolis, I couldn't help but to start following it a little bit. Then my interest increased more and more, and by the end of last season, I was watching at least some of nearly every Pacers game.

When this season started, I was pretty excited. The Bills were struggling, the Sabres weren't playing...I needed something else to get excited about until college basketball started. The Pacers had an excellent team and a coach who I think is the best in the league. They went to Minnesota and won, and had some other quality wins. Then they went to Detroit and kicked their ass. Then we all know what happened. After the suspensions, it was interesting to watch a dismantled team still manage to win games, including another victory over the Timberwolves. But shortly thereafter, reality set in and now they are struggling to stay over .500. It's a shame for Pacers fans because this team was a serious contender to win it all. They were playing a good brand of basketball, one that even the casual fan could learn to appreciate it, much like I did. Carlisle is a fantastic coach.

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I liked Carlisle as a player in college. Heady guy. The NBA is just too slow for me now. I miss teams that actually run when it's available and slow it down only when necessary.

[Kelly the Dog]

Sigh.

 

Phoenix was mentioned as an example to show that there are teams in the NBA that play good, fudamental basketeball.  I haven't watched enough of this season to give you statistical data as to what percentage of NBA teams are fundamentally sound and what percentage isn't.  It's just an example, that's all.

173690[/snapback]

What is kind of neat about them is they play kind of a era hybrid: team basketball, good passing, everyone involved, but they run and gun and hurl up three's all over, slam like mad (read: all of the things some people complain about the NBA). It's, again, quite entertaining to watch and just good basketball. And for all the old-timers or old-whiners about the state of the NBA, most of these good teams in the NBA IMO would beat those old fundamentally sound teams in the bad ol' days. It's arguable, and cannot be proven, but they are just bigger, faster, stronger, more athletic, etc., and just don't like to give up the ball as much as the earlier era did. That would overcome a lot of the older style of, admittedly, better team basketball.

 

That is why there is so much Fun in the Suns.

[jayg]

No

[Indy Dave]

The NBA is just too slow for me now.  I miss teams that actually run when it's available and slow it down only when necessary.

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Every once in a while, I'll watch parts of a game on ESPN Classic or NBA TV. It amazes me how the pace was so much faster back then. The other thing that stands out is the art of hitting the 12-16-foot jumper. Nowadays, it's dunks and three-pointers. Those are what make SportsCenter, so that's what players try to do.

[Greg de'Ville]

...skip the first 46 minutes of an NBA game and watch the last two.

 

I pine for the days when the Celtics, Lakers and Knicks teams of old played fundamental TEAM (read: unselfish) basketball. At both ends of the court.

 

Sadly, it's about "I" or "me" rather than team in the pros anymore. Given a choice between college and pro hoops, I prefer college, though again, the fundamentals have gone the way of the dinosaur in most cases. Even free throw shooting has become a lost art at both levels.

 

My interest in the NBA waned when the Braves skipped town, thanks to John "Why" Brown...carpetbagger deluxe.

[Kelly the Dog]

Every once in a while, I'll watch parts of a game on ESPN Classic or NBA TV. It amazes me how the pace was so much faster back then. The other thing that stands out is the art of hitting the 12-16-foot jumper. Nowadays, it's dunks and three-pointers. Those are what make SportsCenter, so that's what players try to do.

173748[/snapback]

People always say that and I simply don't agree. The reason players take all the 3 pointers is because if you hit 35% of them you score more points than if you hit 50% of your 12-16 foot jumpers. These guys always think they can shoot better than 35% of their threes. It's also more exciting, and it's easier to get an offensive rebound on a 3 point shot than a 2 point shot. I rally don't believe it's because the players cannot shoot as well. They shoot from further away, much more often, so of course their percentages are going to reflect it.

[Indy Dave]

People always say that and I simply don't agree. The reason players take all the 3 pointers is because if you hit 35% of them you score more points than if you hit 50% of your 12-16 foot jumpers. These guys always think they can shoot better than 35% of their threes. It's also more exciting, and it's easier to get an offensive rebound on a 3 point shot than a 2 point shot. I rally don't believe it's because the players cannot shoot as well. They shoot from further away, much more often, so of course their percentages are going to reflect it.

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Point taken. It's not so much that people don't MAKE the 12-16-foot jumpers. It's that they don't even TAKE them as much nowadays. If they are not shooting a three-pointer in a half-court set, then guards are just lowering their head and driving to the basket like a bull, hoping to score the basket, or draw a foul, or dump it off to a post player, or kick it back outside for a three-pointer.

[Greg de'Ville]

Every once in a while, I'll watch parts of a game on ESPN Classic or NBA TV. It amazes me how the pace was so much faster back then. The other thing that stands out is the art of hitting the 12-16-foot jumper. Nowadays, it's dunks and three-pointers. Those are what make SportsCenter, so that's what players try to do.

173748[/snapback]

 

ID, you nailed another lost fundamental: the mid-range jumper. Make more of those high percentage shots and they more than offset the gain from low percentage three-balls. The pull-up 15-footer. I see only a handful of players in my league who do it.

 

Teams who live by the three ultimately die by it. I've seen enough bricks over my 25 years in my profession to build arenas several times over.

[dib]

So you hate rock stars, baseball players, Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, movie stars and corporate executives, and lottery winners, too?

 

The salaries of:

Rock stars

baseball players

Manning

Woods

Movie stars

a resounding yes. explain to me why they get paid such exhorbitant amounts of money. If your answer is "could you do what they do" my answer would be yes, some of them. But I doubt they could do my job.

 

Corporate executives- depends on if daddy owns the company

 

Lottery winners- no, because we all have the same chance.

[Kelly the Dog]

So you hate rock stars, baseball players, Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, movie stars and corporate executives, and lottery winners, too?

 

The salaries of:

Rock stars

baseball players

Manning

Woods

Movie stars

 

 

a resounding yes. explain to me why they get paid such exhorbitant amounts of money. If your answer is "could you do what they do" my answer would be yes, some of them. But I doubt they could do my job.

 

Corporate executives- depends on if daddy owns the company

 

Lottery winners- no, because we all have the same chance.

Ummmm, because we live in America? It's a capitalist system? Rock stars make that much money because people are willing to pay for their CDs and concerts and T-shirts and their record companies dont want other record companies making that money? Pro Athletes make that much money because their leagues generate that much money through TV and tickets and merchandising so the team owners sign them to contracts? Peyton Manning could get that much or more money from a team if he didn't sign for that much with the Colts and the Colts want him to be their QB for now and the next few years? Tiger Woods wins a lot of purses and sells a lot of cars and American Express cards so a lot of companies pay him a lot of money?

 

Is it starting to look like a trend?

[Indy Dave]

ID, you nailed another lost fundamental:  the mid-range jumper.  Make more of those high percentage shots and they more than offset the gain from low percentage three-balls.  The pull-up 15-footer.  I see only a handful of players in my league who do it. 

 

Teams who live by the three ultimately die by it.  I've seen enough bricks over my 25 years in my profession to build arenas several times over.

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I see it across the country every week. Look at our updated stats for DI men's basketball. The teams who rely heavily on the three-point shot...the ones that make (and often take) the most three-point shots are Troy, Belmont, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Furman, Texas, Auburn, Brown, Butler and Samford. One ranked team in that bunch (Texas). The others, except West Virginia, all have at least three losses already. Troy and Belmont are 1-2, and their combined record is 3-13.

[R. Rich]

I see it across the country every week. Look at our updated stats for DI men's basketball. The teams who rely heavily on the three-point shot...the ones that make (and often take) the most three-point shots are Troy, Belmont, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Furman, Texas, Auburn, Brown, Butler and Samford. One ranked team in that bunch (Texas). The others, except West Virginia, all have at least three losses already. Troy and Belmont are 1-2, and their combined record is 3-13.

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Even if they're not one of the top teams, Duke takes a lot of 3 pointers as well. They've been successful on getting guys who can not only defend the full length of the court, but can also shoot, including their post players. Very few college teams can compare with them when it comes to creating/running with turnovers and also stretching a 4 point lead into a 20 point win down the stretch. Usually, if they enter the last 5 minutes of a game up by 6 points, they win. I'm a Tar Heels fan, so that pains me to say, but I give credit where it's due.

[Indy Dave]

Even if they're not one of the top teams, Duke takes a lot of 3 pointers as well.  They've been successful on getting guys who can not only defend the full length of the court, but can also shoot, including their post players.  Very few college teams can compare with them when it comes to creating/running with turnovers and also stretching a 4 point lead into a 20 point win down the stretch.  Usually, if they enter the last 5 minutes of a game up by 6 points, they win.  I'm a Tar Heels fan, so that pains me to say, but I give credit where it's due.

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Well, Duke gets many of the nation's best collegiate players who buy into Coach K's system. And you hit the nail on the head....they often win with good pressure defense. They score 85 points a game and shoot a lot of 3's, but they also are giving up only 57 points a game, and they don't shoot a lot of mindless long-range shots. The vast majority of their three-point shots come as the result of executing their offense and creating open looks.

[PromoTheRobot]

NBA basketball is a snooze-fest. I prefer college basketball, which is ironic because I don't care for college football at all. Why?

 

NBA is glorified playground ball. 5 guys playing to make the ESPN highlight reel. College ball actually has plays, defense, and intensity from start to finish. NBA guys take half the game off.

 

Occaisionally I will catch the last few minutes of a Celtics game. The same thing happens every time. Paul Pierce takes the ball and tries to dribble through 5 defenders and puts up a desperation shot, then cries he was fouled. Meanwhile the rest of his teammates stand around picking their noses. Oh yeah, the Celtics usually lose.

 

When I said I dislike college football, I meant only Div-1A. I hate it because the BCS and bowl system are a joke. In every other college sport, every team starts the year with the chance to be national champion. But in Div-1A football. Only 5 or 6 pre-annointed teams can be national champion. I refuse to watch or support such a travesty.

 

PTR

[buckeyebrian]

when the Clippers move back to Buffalo and call themselves the Braves, I'll watch the NBA.  Until then........rat's ass.

 

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Fu****g - A. Garfield Heard as a Brave and not a Sun. Paul Snyder - you rat bastard!

[billfan63]

The postseason is a LONG way away and many things can happen between now and then. 

 

My Rockets are playing better with McGrady, though, than I thought they would.  Still, Yao has to learn how to REBOUND!!!!!!  Besides that, he's as good as any center in the game.  Funny thing is, though, that rebounding is perhaps THE most important function of a center!  Get tougher, Yao.

 

I still miss Cutty Mobley, Cato, and, most of all, Stevie Franchise.

173053[/snapback]

The Rockets are mediocre, their getting fat off the NBA bottom feeders.

They NEED a point guard, Ward, Sura, and Lue are not going to get it done. As for Yao he's not even in the top five center's in the game.How can you say he's as good as Shaq. He's soft and too nice a guy, another Bradley. Bring back Bokie off ir.