NBA fans?

[AtomicDumpling]

I used to be an avid fan of college basketball -- back when the good players actually still played college ball. Nowadays college hoops is uber boring to watch. Nothing but three-point shots from unathletic players that can't drive the ball to the basket nor post up and score.

Back in the day we couldn't wait to see superstar players like Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, and Hakeem Olajuwon take the court. It used to be a star-driven game, which made it tons of fun to watch all the games -- not just your favorite teams. Now the players are mostly faceless, anonymous robots wearing school jerseys. It is now a game driven by your loyalty to your school and the players are secondary. The coaches are the only guys with any name recognition anymore. I bet the average casual sports fan couldn't name three players in all of college basketball. Back in the day everybody knew who the star players were. I miss those days a lot.

So when I need a basketball fix I look for some NBA action. There are still fantastic superstar players in the NBA that can really dazzle the viewer. I wouldn't say I am a huge fan of the NBA, but it sure is a lot more interesting than college hoops.

[RedLakerFan24]

im a die-hard Laker fan, i watch every single lakers game, i dont miss a game, i also dont miss a Reds Game, im problaby the biggest Laker Fan

[Redsfan320]

Lakers. Blech. The Yankees, the Cowboys, of the NBA.

320

[KoryMac5]

I used to watch the NBA a lot in the late 80's and throughout the 90's, can't say I really like the way the game has evolved. Players can't shoot as well as they used to and it seems like every play is an isolation. I blame a lot of it on players leaving college after a season or two. While the talent may be there the coaching that these kids have had is not what it needs to be.

[TeamSelig]

I couldn't find the most updated statistics so this is just up to 06-07...

From 87 to 07, it is just a minor .020% drop in FG%, but a .042% increase in 3PT%.

I think I have a theory why old timers don't like basketball anymore. You have to really strain your brain to think of a white American basketball player that is any good. You won't find a top player.

[westofyou]

I couldn't find the most updated statistics so this is just up to 06-07...

From 87 to 07, it is just a minor .020% drop in FG%, but a .042% increase in 3PT%.

I think I have a theory why old timers don't like basketball anymore. You have to really strain your brain to think of a white American basketball player that is any good. You won't find a top player.

Old timers?

Umm I could care less if the guy is white or orange, I like team basketball, Riley changed the game with it being nothing but a 2 man game.

[TeamSelig]

If you're not an old timer then maybe I wasn't referring to you.

[westofyou]

Depends on what actually the definition of an old timer is?

Old-timer may refer to:

A veteran
An elderly person
A vintage car in Dutch and German as a legal definition (written unhyphenated)
Oldtimers (Pern), a group of dragonriders in the fantasy fiction series Dragonriders of Pern
A line of knives manufactured by Imperial Schrade
Oldtimer Grand Prix, a name of two different historic motorsport events

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old-timer

[TeamSelig]

Sorry, I forgot you were a dragon rider. lol

[Roy Tucker]

I blame it on the Bad Boys era Detroit Pistons. Their sumo wrestling defense destroyed the running game and reduced the game to hand to hand combat.

And then the Riley-era Knicks made it even uglier.

[westofyou]

I blame it on the Bad Boys era Detroit Pistons. Their sumo wrestling defense destroyed the running game and reduced the game to hand to hand combat.

And then the Riley-era Knicks made it even uglier.

valid arguement, google Riley ruined basketball and find this:

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/ar...basketball.php

[improbus]

You can "blame" Pat Riley and the Pistons for ruining basketball, but that raises two important questions.

1) What they heck else were they supposed to do against Jordan?
2) Why didn't earlier NBA teams employ a similar strategy?

Question #2 is the more important one. Why is it the modern NBA's fault that '80's hoops involved no tough perimeter team defense until the Pistons. Before the Pistons, teams would have a "defensive specialist" like Michael Cooper or Dennis Johnson. Then the Pistons realized that it might be smart to play multiple defenders at the same time. Now, you can't have more than one or two "defensive liabilities" on the floor (see Phoenix and Golden State for exhibits A and B.)

If you think about it, Jordan was the greatest player in NBA history, but Pippin may have been the most influential on todays NBA. His combination of size, speed, and toughness was never seen before but is now the archetype for wing players.

[Joseph]

There aren't exactly a lot of guys with Pippens ability roaming the court today though. Don't confuse a bunch of guys who don't do any one thing well with a Pippen who did a lot of things well but no one thing better than the others.

[improbus]

There aren't exactly a lot of guys with Pippens ability roaming the court today though. Don't confuse a bunch of guys who don't do any one thing well with a Pippen who did a lot of things well but no one thing better than the others.

I'm not saying that there are Pippin clones, but he is an archetype that didn't exist in 1985. Dr. J and David Thompson created the uber-athletic wing and Jordan perfected it and Pippin created the 6'8'' athletic defender who can guard 3-4 positions. None of them have approximated Pippin's overall game, but here are some examples:
Shawn Marion
LeBron James
Gerald Wallace
Stephen Jackson (prbably the closest overall)
Jeff Green
Josh Howard
Caron Butler
Andre Iguodala
Josh Smith
Danny Granger
Lamar Odom
Wilson Chandler
Andrei Kirilenko
Trevor Ariza
Ron Artest (more 3-4 years ago)
Again, Pippin was a top 15 player all-time, so comparing anyone to him is a tall order. But, teams love the flexibility of guys who can guard all over the floor.

[Revering4Blue]

Why is it the modern NBA's fault that '80's hoops involved no tough perimeter team defense until the Pistons.

I disagree.

Teams in the '80's and earlier simply executed better offensively. Read: Over-dependence on isolations and three-point shots at the expense of the mid-range game bogged offenses down and helped to disrupt the flow of the game.

Factor in over-expansion, shake well, and the result wasn't pretty, for the most part.

Thankfully, the NBA now allows zone defenses, which allows a team to place it's five best players on the court regardless of position, allowing for more mismatches on the offensive end.

The result: Significantly fewer 85-72 clunkers than a decade or so ago.