pixelbend

For the past five or six years, my intrest in the NBA has waned. Maybe it's because I have no local team to root for (Missouri), but then again, I'm a die hard Packers fan, so that's probably not it. I did get into this year's Finals. Seeing the Lakers dissolve in front of my eyes was a hoot.

I think I, and a lot of other people, have become disinterested in the NBA because of a few reasons:
The three most popular shots: Dunk, dunk and reverse dunk.
Lack of any dissernable defense.
Rich, loudmouth star players who practice less and make more excuses.

Maybe I'm way off base, but I think the performance of Team USA in the olympic pre-games is a big indicator that we may be losing the game that we made popular around the world to other countries that are willing to work harder at their games for less money.

Or maybe I'm just way off base.

pan6467

The NBA is looking for a new MJ because they are hurting.

They do get a lot more bad press over the drug addicts and the players that have multiple paternity suit cases, and Kobe, Iverson and the players seem to be less fan friendly. The price is higher than any other sport. They are pricing themselves out of existence.

There are very few teams that are truly holding fans interest. The CAVS being one of them mainly because of Lebron.

Had Gund and the CAVS not gotten Lebron, Gund was rumored going to move the team to KC but even then KC supposedly was not really wanting them.

Lebron is being groomed for the next king spot. And when a ROOKIE's apparel and souvenirs sell more nationwide than most teams, one has to ask will he be that good? Time will tell.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

jobu

one problem i see is that the nba has become a developmental league. way too many kids in the league that have yet to develop any skills.

djtestudo

They need to do two critical things:

1) Age limit. As much as LeBron is going to help the league, there are too many guys that shouldn't be near the NBA at that point in their lives. They have neither the skills nor the maturity for the NBA.

2) Rework the compensation system. The salary cap is a great idea, but when you are signing marginal starters for 5 years and 50 million while allowing others to sign with a whole series of "exemptions" that are too confusing for most people, you have a major problem.

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"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

gorilla

when they start playing by the rules, I might take interest again. There is nothing I hate more then watching Shaq take a step, pivot, step, pivot on other foot, dribble, step, step, dunk. the refs let the stars get away with anything... I was a huge bulls/Jordan fan, but even I thought that when he pushed Russell out of his way in the finals was rediculous.

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I'll bet you $5 that you read the previous word...

shaq=ignorance

I agree with your assessment. Just to prove your case, how many times did our U.S. team get called for traveling while playing with international referees over the past few games in the Olympic trials? James was sat during one of the games because he kept carrying the ball.

xray21

The youngster are not the reasion for the nba failures... You telling me the youngsters are getting into most of the trouble.. Hell Jermaine Oneil played in portland and has not had one drug problem it was everyone in portland having a problem... Like are USA team its full of should be collage freshmen for all the hype needed to make any money.. its not the players and for you to say at 18 you woulnt take a malt million dollar contract you a fucking lier..

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Blessed By Pain

BigGov

The youngsters ARE the problem. They're not getting into drug problems, just a large amount of them SUCK.

Eddie Curry, Tyson Chandler, Kwamie Brown, Darko Milicek, the list goes on.

They get them cheap for a while, and let them learn how to play for 3-4 years, when they could have *GASP* learned it in college, and produced a much better product in both the NCAA and the NBA.

The age of NBA players is a reason for their lack of skill compared to years past, and they will continue to lose their audience while this continues.

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One day an Englishman, a Scotsman, and an Irishman walked into a pub together. They each bought a pint of Guinness. Just as they were about to enjoy their creamy beverage, three flies landed in each of their pints. The Englishman pushed his beer away in disgust. The Scotsman fished the fly out of his beer and continued drinking it, as if nothing had happened. The Irishman, too, picked the fly out of his drink but then held it out over the beer and yelled "SPIT IT OUT, SPIT IT OUT, YOU BASTARD!"

ForwardtoDeath

The one thing thats killing the nba is all of the hype that players get, even mediocre ones. When someone like allen houston is being paid a ton of money a year for being at best, a mediocre shooting guard, you know the league is in trouble. The hype and inflated salaries leads to the inflated egos of almost every NBA player, which distances them from the fans. Detroit winning last year is probably the best thing that could have happened for the league, as everyone could relate to and appreciate the work ethic on a team like that, with no "superstars."

inferno360

For once I'm actually excited for the upcoming season, for the past 3 or 4, the playoffs were semi-exciting yet were kind of predictable.

Now a whole bunch of players are now wearing jerseys that they weren't wearing last year, everything's been mixed up.

Shaq is playing in the east. How scary is that? Could you have even imagined this?

Yao vs. Shaq in the all-star game? Amazing.

I think that an age limit is obviously the issue that could be discussed for ages, on the one hand, the NCAA would probably get fed quality talent, and I would probably tune in before the sweet 16, on the other, we wouldn't have been blessed with the likes of KG, Kobe, LeBron, and the like.

It seems to still be alright that the players have the choice whether or not to go pro straight from high school, because they do realize that if they aren't good enough they should go to play college ball, and develop.

I mean, isn't anyone else excited with all of the trades that have gone down in the league? Forget about the youngsters for a second and actually think... Phoenix is good again. Houston got a face lift, Orlando had an amazing draft and also have a solid backcourt. etc. etc.

*shrugs* I'm excited.

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If it's stupid but it works, it's not stupid.

Nimbletoe

Well, a part of it I guess is who you're a fan of. I've always been a follower of the pistons, and proving all the doubters wrong this year has made this one of my favorite seasons that I can remember. I'm looking forward to seeing if we can hold strong and defend the title this year.

As for if it needs saving, the only changes I would make is to go back to the 5 game format in the first round of the playoffs.

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Go Pistons!

Jesus Malverde

I think they need to have an age limit. Maybe one year less than the NFL, so that they only have to be two years removed from high school. That way they can still go get a LITTLE bit of an education, NBA coaches will see who develops/regresses, and the NBA won't turn into a "developmental league."

Other than that, the NBA is fine. Every single league has its problems with superstars getting into trouble. Tickets are expensive for every sport. The playoffs this year were absolutely phenomenal, even with my beloved San Antonio Spurs choking against the now dismantled Lakers.

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...I'm that cat by the bar toasting to the good life...

djtestudo

A couple things.

First, we WOULD have been blessed with those players. The difference is we would have seen them dominate for two-four years of college and let them develop there. KG was a good player when he was drafted, but it still took him several years to reach what he would have if he went to college first. Same with Kobe.

Second, you say that because of their choice, many realize they aren't good enough and go to school. That is true, but many others either don't realize this, or think they are really that good, or just go for the paycheck.

Imagine if Kwame Brown had spent two years in school, developed properly, and dominated like he would have. He would have still been a #1 overall pick most likely, but with more developed skills and without the three wasted years he has spent with Washington.

An age limit is definately needed.

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"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

Rudel73

djt you dont seem to understand this at all. If you were offered a multi million dollar contract to play the sport you love, or go to school more at age 18 what would YOU do??

slant eyes

i would really like to see some rules of the nba be upheld. possibly some changed too.

i at least would like to see the charging rule provisioned a bit. from what i gather, the charging rule was set to protect the defensive player from get smashed in the face/chest by an un-controlled player making way for the basket *cough* shaq *cough*. but too many times have i seen an offensive player going for a lay-up, committing thier dribble, and jumping when all of a sudden, a guard just jumps in the way, setting both feet and falling.

that to me isn't a charge. it's like someone swinging their arm and me jumping in the way of their fist, getting socked for my stupidity, and sueing them for assault.

the charging rule allows for players to just disregard playing defense totally and just relying on the jump, set, and flop. that's lame

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question authority, don't ask why, just do it!

djtestudo

That is EXACTLY why there needs to be an age limit.

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"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

Cross-Over

My opinion on those reasons:

1.) I know of only one player who has been a distraction with trying spectacular dunks at akward times, and thats Ricky Davis of the Celtics. Otherwise, its a efficent play that is part of the game. I dont think their is an abundance of them, and its only one of numerous types of ways to score.

2.) Some teams were horrible defensively, the majority mediocre, and a few ( San Antonio, Indiana, Detroit, and Houston) very good defensively. Zone defenses have made it more interesting, but no single team used it primarly. In college though, the majority of teams do. Ever thought why? In the NBA you have ball handlers who can penetrate all day against a zone, and every team has at least one very good outside shooter who will make you pay for sagging in. In addition to the fact the fact that NBA players are older and play a lot more games than college kids, is why I think a lot of people misinterpret pro players as lazy/ not giving effort.

3.) Rich? All NBA players sure are, they have the higher league minimum salary (small rosters) than the NHL, MLB, and NFL. Loudmouth? There are a good amount who are, but I think only a handful are to a detriment. Practice less? I have only heard of one player who had a problem with practicing.

I think one reason that there is an exaggeration about issues like you mentioned is that rostersare so small, and everything a player does is big news.


I think that every player coming into the league should have to at least spend two years in college. Players can obviously come in and contribute with less exeperience than that (Lebron, Carmello, Marbury), but there are numerous more who have came in early and can not (Outlaw, Ebi, Stevenson, Bender). It is, so to speak, watering down the league. These types of players make the level of play worse. Furthermore, with short term contracts for rookies, teams pay big and help the highschoolers develop, and sometimes aren't able to resign (or chose not to because of what they have seen) them once they are capable.

Its very difficult to judge young talent. There is no way in hell that Kobe Bryant should have been drafted 13. After two years in college, a bad team should have got him number 1.

The Wizards should have been able to draft Kwame after two years in college with the first pick, and he proved it. Same with Tyson Chandler at the number two pick that year to the Bulls.

It is fair for teams to have to essentially guess with a lot of players in the draft, and is it fair to those players to not be able to dominate and blossom at the college level?

I don't think so.

Are we maybe throwing some to the wolves too early, and in return not always getting what could have been?

I think it has and will continue to happen in some situations.

This is what I think is best for the NBA, not the recently graduated high school kids. In a low income situation I think it would be extremely difficult to pass up on guaranteed millions.

I also think that the NCAA should at least give players a stipend, but thats a seperate arguement.


I agree with you about the charging rule, though many players utilize it well, I saw a drastic increase in what I consider bullshit charge calls all throughout the NBA this past year.

Andrew

As a Detroit fan, I always have enjoyed the way Hamilton played the game. Coming off screens, hitting the mid-range jumper, etc., are the skills that all the traditionalists bemoan that have been lost. As much as I enjoy his approach to the game, I equally enjoy watching Iverson's electric crossrover, Shaq's dominance, Wade's creativity, Kobe's reverse-dunks, and all the other signs of the new NBA. Some of the fundamentals have been lost as the game's players grow younger with more emphasis placed on ESPN-type plays, but I much rather would want to watch the new NBA than overseas basketball or the WNBA.

When people speak of the golden age, most of the time they're refering to the high-scoring epic battles back in the day. After watching those games, I realized a few things.

1. There was practically no defense.

2. The athletism was not as good.

3. The shooting was only marginally better.

4. The players did not play as hard as the ones who play now.

All thngs considered, I think the NBA is worth watching and has unfairly recieved a lot of flak.

CityOfAngels

Here's the real problem: MY CLIPPERS
They SUCK! And why? Donald Sterling doesn't want to pay his players. People like Donald Sterling, who have made the words "NBA team" and "Tax-break" synonymous with each other, keep the sucky teams sucky, while leaving other teams the opportunity to stack up on talent in one off-season. Look at Phoenix; the Clippers could've made a run for Steve Nash, and even kept Q. But no, now Phoenix looks like they're going to have a dominating team, and my Clippers are suckier than ever.

Bookman

The NBA hurts because of the business aspect of the industry.
If owners would place more emphasis on winning and less on filling the seats these would be better basketball being played. If what sold seat was winning teams rather than flashy players the game would thrive and "catch-up" to European Ball.

Dont try to blame the players. They are high paid cogs in the wheel.

fugue_life

Being a Portland fan I used to hate the Pistons, but after watching them in the playoffs ( and profiting a bit on their play) I respect them more then any other team inthe league right now. They are one of the few teams that play team ball and I died laughing when they killed LA, who seemed to represent everything that was killing the league. Of course my Jailblazers aren't any better ANyone else feel Big Ben should have earned MVP, he killed on defense thru out the entire playoffs.

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Shpoop

i agree with djtestudo...no one would pass up a multi million dollar contract out of highschool, so we need to take away their choice. It will better them and the league in the long run, whether or not they can see it.

im a heat fan, so last season was pretty exciting. we were definitely playing team ball and the team was just electric to watch...i hope the addition of shaq doesnt turn it into a one man team, but i get the impression that hes sick of being places that dont play like a team, so we'll see what goes down.

djtestudo, who are u a fan of? the wizards? i feel your pain