NBA regional ratings down 10%, TNT prime time games down 18%

[AlexJones]

https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/nba-regional-ratings-tnt-broadcasts-down.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

But great league tho, twitter told me the nba DOMINATED the nfl during super bowl weekend with the trade rumors

[lefty]

:lol today’s NBA

[Rusty]

The NBA was very entertaining before Kevin Durant joined the Warriors.

Bitch ass nikka

[140]

:lol today’s NBA

[Canyonero]

2019 HOF finalists are so fucking trash tbh

[LkrFan]

Were these Spur games tbh?

[Othyus Lalanne]

The NBA was very entertaining before Kevin Durant joined the Warriors.

Bitch ass nikka

I blame the media, him, this superstar worshipping bs and RAANGGS culture..

[SpurSpike]

Seems the no defense league they made this year is not as appealing as they thought it would be. GOOD

[hater]

Todays nba is a pig wrapped up in velvet.

Nice from far away but when you look closely, it is a ham meatball

Sure blame the emo players, gay faggots like worriers, soft no D game, calls keft and right, bearded faggot in hou, bald has been in LA, mute cancer in toronto, etc

Its a disgusting mess

[Dex]

Were these Spur games tbh?

Hey, we aren't good anymore, so people can stop blaming us for ruining the league!

[Clipper Nation]

:lol I'm sure all those faggots who think today's NBA will pass the NFL and MLB any day now will just pretend that the decline is all because of streaming, not because of the Warriors, the Rockets, and the boring-ass styles of play they introduced.

[Mr. Body]

No wonder Silver is trying to bail.

[tenbeersbold]

This past weekends All Star game ratings down 11 percent as well.
Fact is the league has too many shit teams,not enough talent to spread around especially with players wanting easy rings

[Millennial_Messiah]

Seems the no defense league they made this year is not as appealing as they thought it would be. GOOD
Agreed. The league's best was from 1990-2005 tbh when it was all about the stars and the drive and dish game, every touch or poke wasn't a foul, and points were relatively at a premium. It made offense, when it happened, much more enjoyable.

[ambchang]

It really isn’t a surprise it’s down, I’m just surprised it hasn’t been down earlier and by a wider margin.

There are simply too many competing platforms for that entertainment dollar, and casuals will initially flock to high scoring games, but like any type of entertainment, once the initial wave of novelty wears off the interest wanes. The league decided to go after the casual dollars and alienate the hardcore fans and they are seeing th results now.

How many times can a non-basketball fan see Curry nail a shot from half court with 15 seconds left on the shot clock without being bored of it? S/he will decide that instead of seeing the same predictable move for the 500th time, his/her time is better spent watching Netflix or playing video games or hangout with friends or argue on the Internet.

Besides, the teams are so horribly unbalanced now there are no incentives for the small market teams to build a winning team. First they can’t because free agents would rather go to a horribly run lakers team or Knicks team than to join a well run spurs or grizzlies, second because the profit sharing is already pulling in enormous dollars without them having to do anything, and finally the crazy prices of the new teams essentially makes it no point for a team to even make any type of enormous operating profits when the owner can just sell the team and make billions.

So it’s a downward spiral, where the good teams will get better and the bad teams worse, and the fans of the bad teams will just stop being fans because it’s so horribly run they don’t deserve their hard earned dollars.

Finally, basketball fans are aging in general. A 45 year old with two kids and a mortgage has a lot less disposable income than a 27 year old with no financial responsibilities, despite the prior earning much more. Young kids don’t watch the nba has much as the older folks did back in the day, and the old folks don’t have time to watch anymore because s/he has to work and take care of things at home.

[Millennial_Messiah]

It really isn’t a surprise it’s down, I’m just surprised it hasn’t been down earlier and by a wider margin.

There are simply too many competing platforms for that entertainment dollar, and casuals will initially flock to high scoring games, but like any type of entertainment, once the initial wave of novelty wears off the interest wanes. The league decided to go after the casual dollars and alienate the hardcore fans and they are seeing th results now.

How many times can a non-basketball fan see Curry nail a shot from half court with 15 seconds left on the shot clock without being bored of it? S/he will decide that instead of seeing the same predictable move for the 500th time, his/her time is better spent watching Netflix or playing video games or hangout with friends or argue on the Internet.

Besides, the teams are so horribly unbalanced now there are no incentives for the small market teams to build a winning team. First they can’t because free agents would rather go to a horribly run lakers team or Knicks team than to join a well run spurs or grizzlies, second because the profit sharing is already pulling in enormous dollars without them having to do anything, and finally the crazy prices of the new teams essentially makes it no point for a team to even make any type of enormous operating profits when the owner can just sell the team and make billions.

So it’s a downward spiral, where the good teams will get better and the bad teams worse, and the fans of the bad teams will just stop being fans because it’s so horribly run they don’t deserve their hard earned dollars.

Finally, basketball fans are aging in general. A 45 year old with two kids and a mortgage has a lot less disposable income than a 27 year old with no financial responsibilities, despite the prior earning much more. Young kids don’t watch the nba has much as the older folks did back in the day, and the old folks don’t have time to watch anymore because s/he has to work and take care of things at home.
Good write up. Yes, basketball has been a complete dud to me since TD retired, and not just because TD retired. The last really good hardcore basketball game was the Cavs over the Warriors in Game 7, June 2016. I believe the score was 94-89 which is roughly how basketball was meant to be played.

And it's not like the NFL where parity reigns supreme and it's really a total team game, and most importantly a true match of strategy. People will always love football. Basketball is a pretty simplistic game of something all of us do in real life (ex: throw crumpled paper into a garbage can). Sure, there's strategy and luck involved, and it'll be always be better than the boring games where the only way to score is to put something past a goalie into a net. But it'll never be as good as football because of a lot of reasons.

[Killakobe81]

:lol I'm sure all those faggots who think today's NBA will pass the NFL and MLB any day now will just pretend that the decline is all because of streaming, not because of the Warriors, the Rockets, and the boring-ass styles of play they introduced.

Myyy analytics!!!

a transition 3 point attempt ... on a 3 on 1 fast break is better than a easy layup!!!!

[Killakobe81]

It really isn’t a surprise it’s down, I’m just surprised it hasn’t been down earlier and by a wider margin.

There are simply too many competing platforms for that entertainment dollar, and casuals will initially flock to high scoring games, but like any type of entertainment, once the initial wave of novelty wears off the interest wanes. The league decided to go after the casual dollars and alienate the hardcore fans and they are seeing th results now.

How many times can a non-basketball fan see Curry nail a shot from half court with 15 seconds left on the shot clock without being bored of it? S/he will decide that instead of seeing the same predictable move for the 500th time, his/her time is better spent watching Netflix or playing video games or hangout with friends or argue on the Internet.

Besides, the teams are so horribly unbalanced now there are no incentives for the small market teams to build a winning team. First they can’t because free agents would rather go to a horribly run lakers team or Knicks team than to join a well run spurs or grizzlies, second because the profit sharing is already pulling in enormous dollars without them having to do anything, and finally the crazy prices of the new teams essentially makes it no point for a team to even make any type of enormous operating profits when the owner can just sell the team and make billions.

So it’s a downward spiral, where the good teams will get better and the bad teams worse, and the fans of the bad teams will just stop being fans because it’s so horribly run they don’t deserve their hard earned dollars.

Finally, basketball fans are aging in general. A 45 year old with two kids and a mortgage has a lot less disposable income than a 27 year old with no financial responsibilities, despite the prior earning much more. Young kids don’t watch the nba has much as the older folks did back in the day, and the old folks don’t have time to watch anymore because s/he has to work and take care of things at home.

Yes, the Grizzlies are well run ..said no one ever.
1. They gave a anayltics guru with no experience a GM job
2. They supermaxed out conley and extended Marc Gasol then dumped Marc on the cheap and shopped conley at last deadline
3. Chandler freaking Parsons!! who they are paying max $$$ to stay away

I agree Spurs are well run even considering the Kawhi fiasco ... but the Grizz? come on my dude, you better than this.

[UZER]

This is pretty much what everyone meant when we said Durant signing with GSW was going to ruin the NBA, from 3 point chucking, to stars running to form super teams.

The 3 point chucking is even worse than anyone imagined, and now stars aren’t even playing out their contracts.

[Killakobe81]

Also from the ringer on the Grizz before the deadline ...How can this team be even put in the same category as the Spurs?

The Grizzlies aren’t bad because of their aging stars; they’re bad because of the decisions the front office has made in an effort to support them over the past decade.

Conley, drafted fourth in 2007, is one of the last two Grizzlies picks to receive a second contract from the team; the other is Darrell Arthur, who was selected 27th in 2008. Every other pick has either been let go in free agency (like O.J. Mayo, drafted third in 2008), traded (like Xavier Henry, drafted 12th in 2010), or waived (like Wade Baldwin, drafted 17th in 2016). The Grizzlies have nailed some acquisitions over the years, such as the 2009 trade for Zach Randolph and the 2010 signing of Tony Allen, and they’ve built some strong benches featuring veterans like Mike Miller. But long-term success is difficult to maintain without a steady influx of youth. Hitting on draft picks means building up a team’s infrastructure, providing cheap players who can round out a roster and, in a best-case scenario, raise its ceiling. The front office has missed its countless swings, which factored into the team’s downfall in seven straight postseasons.

Now, as the Grizzlies seem ready to give up the ghost, no mistake looms larger than Parsons. Despite his close relationship with owner Mark Cuban, the Mavericks refused to make him a max contract offer because of concerns about his health. Parsons had undergone “hybrid” microfracture procedures and surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee in the two years ahead of his free agency, which probably should’ve been a red flag. But the Grizzlies—and the Blazers, for what it’s worth—made a max offer of $94.4 million anyway. By winning the Parsons sweepstakes, Memphis lost its future. Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace said earlier this month that Parsons was “by far the best option at that time,” but sometimes the best option is to make no move at all, especially for a player with Parsons’s injury history. It’s not like Parsons was a superstar hampered by injury; he was a good player who showed occasional flashes of being something more. The Grizzlies could have resisted splurging for Parsons during the 2016 cap spike and instead remained financially flexible for other opportunities. Parsons’s signing brought undeniable risk, and the Grizzlies are paying for it—not only literally, but in the ways that it has hampered their ability to sustain success.

[Killakobe81]

This is pretty much what everyone meant when we said Durant signing with GSW was going to ruin the NBA, from 3 point chucking, to stars running to form super teams.

The 3 point chucking is even worse than anyone imagined, and now stars aren’t even playing out their contracts.

Thing is UZER, I'm not disputing that speeding up pace, increasing possessions and shooting more 3's isnt sound ... the numbers dont lie that doing SOME of that is smart.
But most teams have forgotten the D part from "3 and D"

when i used to play 2k online competitively I saw this happening already no one tried to play defense or run offense ... lots of players some of them good players ...decided that gambling for a steal even if it lead to a layup or dunk at the cost of moving the game faster and jacking up 3's was more valuable than playing defense and you can win but the game becaomes more like that boring ass ASG last Sunday or worse like the rising stars game.

I like young players, i like some of the modern NBA i even defend harden minus his flopping.

But unless its late and your trailing ...taking a transition 3 over a wide open layup unless the shooters are Klay/Korver/steph etc. will NEVER make sense to me ...
Take the layup and set up your defense is better than takine a 30%-40% shot that can also lead to a fastbreak and sure points the other way 70-60% of the time.

[Millennial_Messiah]

This is pretty much what everyone meant when we said Durant signing with GSW was going to ruin the NBA, from 3 point chucking, to stars running to form super teams.

The 3 point chucking is even worse than anyone imagined, and now stars aren’t even playing out their contracts.

It started with the Boston Three Party, which was immediately followed by the trade of Best Gasol for a happy meal, which was followed by the Heatles fiasco.

Wish we could go back to 2007 status quo when we could still laugh about Kobe being a ballhog and winning nothing without Shaq and the Spurs being perennially at the top of the league tbh.

[ambchang]

Yes, the Grizzlies are well run ..said no one ever.
1. They gave a anayltics guru with no experience a GM job
2. They supermaxed out conley and extended Marc Gasol then dumped Marc on the cheap and shopped conley at last deadline
3. Chandler freaking Parsons!! who they are paying max $$$ to stay away

I agree Spurs are well run even considering the Kawhi fiasco ... but the Grizz? come on my dude, you better than this.

THey made some mistakes but I think as a small market team with very limited resources, they did better than average. Maybe not the best there is but they were certainly better ran than Knicks, lakers, Chicago

Perhaps I should’ve gone with Portland or Denver

[ambchang]

Thing is UZER, I'm not disputing that speeding up pace, increasing possessions and shooting more 3's isnt sound ... the numbers dont lie that doing SOME of that is smart.
But most teams have forgotten the D part from "3 and D"

when i used to play 2k online competitively I saw this happening already no one tried to play defense or run offense ... lots of players some of them good players ...decided that gambling for a steal even if it lead to a layup or dunk at the cost of moving the game faster and jacking up 3's was more valuable than playing defense and you can win but the game becaomes more like that boring ass ASG last Sunday or worse like the rising stars game.

I like young players, i like some of the modern NBA i even defend harden minus his flopping.

But unless its late and your trailing ...taking a transition 3 over a wide open layup unless the shooters are Klay/Korver/steph etc. will NEVER make sense to me ...
Take the layup and set up your defense is better than takine a 30%-40% shot that can also lead to a fastbreak and sure points the other way 70-60% of the time.

Players didn’t forget to play d, the league our ruled d.

[midnightpulp]

NBA fans don't even watch the games anymore. They just follow shit on twitter. I mean, ESPN had a article about which storylines to follow this season :lol.

[Rosewood]

NBA fans don't even watch the games anymore. They just follow shit on twitter. I mean, ESPN had a article about which storylines to follow this season :lol. This.

It's like political entertainment now.

[Spurtacular]

Putting in geriatrics into the all star game might help.

[Thanos]

The biggest issue is the fact that EVERY big star is now a drama queen who pouts and whines and refuses to put in the effort to build team chemistry, instead demanding teams cater to them under threat of leaving. I’d bet most fans have grown weary of the never ending drama.

And while there’s been isolated examples in the past, in today’s current culture, LeBron is 100% responsible for influencing all other stars to behave like this.

[R. DeMurre]

Not sure what most of you people are talking about. I think this is a great NBA season. Milwaukee, not Golden State, has the best record in the league, Indiana was out-performing Boston and Philly before Oladipo got hurt, Sacramento might make the playoffs, the Lakers might miss the playoffs, Jokic is leading Denver to a top seed, Orlando finished 5-0 before the ASG and could make the playoffs, Brooklyn is surprising everyone, Jarrett Allen is blocking shots on stars, Lavar Ball's press coverage is drying up, De'Aaron Fox and Derrick White are playing better than Lonzo Ball and Markelle Fultz, the Clippers and the Knicks have cleared enough space to sign to two major free agents each, the list goes on and on... I think this season is amazing.

[NASpurs]

I enjoy the off season and following the transactions more than the actual fucking games. Didn't think I would ever become one of those people.

[AlexJones]

:lol I'm sure all those faggots who think today's NBA will pass the NFL and MLB any day now will just pretend that the decline is all because of streaming, not because of the Warriors, the Rockets, and the boring-ass styles of play they introduced.

Bro.. never forget when people thought the NBA surpassed the MLB after the 2016 Finals... the World Series game 7 that year did a monster 40m viewership, dwarfed the fuck out of the NBA game 7

[Ginobilly]

It really isn’t a surprise it’s down, I’m just surprised it hasn’t been down earlier and by a wider margin.

There are simply too many competing platforms for that entertainment dollar, and casuals will initially flock to high scoring games, but like any type of entertainment, once the initial wave of novelty wears off the interest wanes. The league decided to go after the casual dollars and alienate the hardcore fans and they are seeing th results now.

How many times can a non-basketball fan see Curry nail a shot from half court with 15 seconds left on the shot clock without being bored of it? S/he will decide that instead of seeing the same predictable move for the 500th time, his/her time is better spent watching Netflix or playing video games or hangout with friends or argue on the Internet.

Besides, the teams are so horribly unbalanced now there are no incentives for the small market teams to build a winning team. First they can’t because free agents would rather go to a horribly run lakers team or Knicks team than to join a well run spurs or grizzlies, second because the profit sharing is already pulling in enormous dollars without them having to do anything, and finally the crazy prices of the new teams essentially makes it no point for a team to even make any type of enormous operating profits when the owner can just sell the team and make billions.

So it’s a downward spiral, where the good teams will get better and the bad teams worse, and the fans of the bad teams will just stop being fans because it’s so horribly run they don’t deserve their hard earned dollars.

Finally, basketball fans are aging in general. A 45 year old with two kids and a mortgage has a lot less disposable income than a 27 year old with no financial responsibilities, despite the prior earning much more. Young kids don’t watch the nba has much as the older folks did back in the day, and the old folks don’t have time to watch anymore because s/he has to work and take care of things at home.

This!

Im 31 years old and I don't watch the nba anymore like I used to when I was a kid back in middle and highschool/college. I remember I couldn't wait to catch wed/thur marquee matchups on espn/tnt to watch lebron vs kobe back in the 2000s. Now the game has gotten to bland and predictable with all the flopping and 3pt chuckfests that I rather just go play bball with friends or do some weighlifting instead. I also cut off cable too and just have the internet to stream some spurs games and watch some of the marvel series on netflix.

They need to bring back 90s/00s nba ball. Along with extending the 3 point line and bring back hand checking.

[Laker_1995]

Just download the bleacher report app and cut your cable. Them niggas literally post every small dunk, 3 pointer, block, steal, assist, . Just watch clips it’s the same shit lol.

[Kobe'sAchilles]

Several factors here. There's no real rivalries anymore. I can't name a single rivalry. Maybe Houston and Golden St but not really. I remember watching the Knicks vs Pacers or Heat vs Knicks. These teams hated each other. Rockets vs Spurs was a huge rivalry in the day with thousands of Rocket fans screaming "YEAH GO ROCKETS!" During the anthem here at the dome. Spurs Vs Jazz was another one. Then in the 2000s you had Lakers vs Spurs. Boston vs Miami. Dallas and Phoenix vs Spurs and Lakers. These teams really competed against each other and showed no love between them.


Also as smart as the media claims Lebron, Curry, and Durant are, they are really dumb when it comes to marketing the NBA. For such woke athletes, I don't know how any of them realize it's horrible for your ownership and the entire NBA brand to say over and over and over again how meaningless the NBA regular season is. Just the other day ago, Lebron threw a hissy fit over the fact that he has to play hard on the regular season. If they don't care then why should the fans? Why should anyone pay or take the time to watch meaningless games?

Also the stars are alienating the fans by not fulfilling their contracts. If players really don't want to play for an origination then don't sign the 5 year max money deal. We hear them bitching and whining about how hard it is to play for a franchise while making 30 million a year. For that kinda money dude suck it up and play. Everyone has bad stuff they deal with at work. That's why it's called work. Instead of whining about wanting out 2 years early: Kyrie, Kawhi, and AD- play the best that you can for your team and leave when your contract is actually up. Like Durant.

[lefty]

Good point on rivalries

Back when true rivalries existed, regular season games between 2 teams thst hated each other had a real playoff atmosphere

[DAF86]

Meh, the NBA still kicks every other US league ass on Worldwide views.

[Play Boban]

https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/nba-regional-ratings-tnt-broadcasts-down.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

But great league tho, twitter told me the nba DOMINATED the nfl during super bowl weekend with the trade rumors

I think it's because of the kneeling and poops rambling

[midnightpulp]

Meh, the NBA still kicks every other US league ass on Worldwide views.

:lol because foreigners have terrible taste in sports. "Hey, Klaus, the footie is over, let's now go watch the handball that is the same fuckin' thing as soccer except you use your hands. After the handball match, we'll watch some basketball, which is the exact same thing as footie and handball except with more scoring. Then tomorrow the field hockey match is on, which is the exact same thing as footie, handball, and basketball except they use sticks."

[midnightpulp]

Australia has great taste in sports, though. So not all foreigners.

[DAF86]

:lol because foreigners have terrible taste in sports. "Hey, Klaus, the footie is over, let's now go watch the handball that is the same fuckin' thing as soccer except you use your hands. After the handball match, we'll watch some basketball, which is the exact same thing as footie and handball except with more scoring. Then tomorrow the field hockey match is on, which is the exact same thing as footie, handball, and basketball except they use sticks."

Terrible taste in sports only because they aren't down with watching out of shape people standing around for 5 and a half hours. :lol

[midnightpulp]

Just download the bleacher report app and cut your cable. Them niggas literally post every small dunk, 3 pointer, block, steal, assist, . Just watch clips it’s the same shit lol.

Yeah, this is the primary culprit for the ratings decline. It's not NBA "fans" streaming full games, but following the highlights on twitter and through apps in lieu of watching the games that is killing tv ratings. This is one way the NBA's star centric marketing approach can backfire. The majority of "fans" don't care about the game or teams, they care about stars. As proof, regional NBA ratings are terrible for all but the marquee teams like the Warriors and whenever Lebron plays.

https://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/more-sports/mlb-outrates-nba-in-14-of-17-shared-us-markets-in-local-tv-ratings/78056337/

Concerning is how poor small market teams do, many below a 1.00 rating.

Basically, NBA fans go where the stars go. This is problematic because you're not guaranteed to get a Lebron or Curry level marketing phenomenon every generation.

[DAF86]

Also, after soccer, the most popular sports in the World are Rugby, car racing, boxing and tennis. None of them have anything to do with each other. :lol

[midnightpulp]

Terrible taste in sports only because they aren't down with watching out of shape people standing around for 5 and a half hours. :lol

Golfers have gotten in much better shape over the years.

[midnightpulp]

Also, after soccer, the most popular sports in the World are Rugby, car racing, boxing and tennis. None of them have anything to do with each other. :lol

You're wrong on this point. Rugby is pretty localized to the "6 home nations," South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and your country. You'll probably bring up the silly stat that the Rugby world cup had a 4 billion reach, but reach doesn't mean viewership.


The 2007 final attracted a total of 33 million viewers worldwide, who watched the game live and in its entirety.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10761073

The fact Rugby doesn't have a flourishing pro league anywhere in the world (on the level of a soccer league, baseball league, basketball league) tells me it's totally irrelevant outside of international competition. Basketball and Cricket are the number 2 and 3. Boxing is hard to gauge, since popularity can wax and wane depending on whether or not a country has a great fighter.

[FrostKing]

:lol because foreigners have terrible taste in sports. "Hey, Klaus, the footie is over, let's now go watch the handball that is the same fuckin' thing as soccer except you use your hands. After the handball match, we'll watch some basketball, which is the exact same thing as footie and handball except with more scoring. Then tomorrow the field hockey match is on, which is the exact same thing as footie, handball, and basketball except they use sticks."
From my experience, Central Europeans really like tennis and formula 1. And they most certaintly don't spend their
days watching sports talk. More time spent out doors.

[midnightpulp]

From my experience, Central Europeans really like tennis and formula 1. And they most certaintly don't spend their
days watching sports talk. More time spent out doors.

indeed, but I was considering more team sports. Seems Europeans, UK aside, prefer team sports designed like soccer (i.e. ice hockey, handball, basketball, etc) where you got players running around a rectangular surface trying to put an object into a goal. Even Rugby follows this template. And shit, even the UK, cricket and rugby aren't really relevant outside of international comp.

[baseline bum]

Durant ruined the league. It was like seeing Magic join the 86 Celtics or if Shaq got drafted by the 92 Bulls. No point in watching when you know Golden State is already the champion.

[midnightpulp]

Durant ruined the league. It was like seeing Magic join the 86 Celtics or if Shaq got drafted by the 92 Bulls. No point in watching when you know Golden State is already the champion.

Yeah, and it could get progressively worse when the Lakers get their eventual superteam through FA. On the Warriors side, who are probably the hottest brand in the NBA, there's rumors they might pursue Giannis. I'm cool with FAs choosing where they want to play, but it highlights basketball's problem just how star centric the sport is. The Bucks franchise is basically Giannis, and if they lose him, they're done for the foreseeable future. In the NFL and MLB, you can easily withstand marquee players leaving the franchise if you know how to develop and draft.

[midnightpulp]

All told, MLB saw ratings increase by 2%, and average households increase by 1% compared to 2017.

:downspin:

[spurraider21]

:downspin:
nyquil prices have gone up

[spurraider21]

Durant ruined the league. It was like seeing Magic join the 86 Celtics or if Shaq got drafted by the 92 Bulls. No point in watching when you know Golden State is already the champion.
yeah before it was exciting when two of the elite teams had a big matchup on TNT or somethin. LeCavs vs Celtics, Spurs vs Thunder, etc.

[midnightpulp]

Good write up. Yes, basketball has been a complete dud to me since TD retired, and not just because TD retired. The last really good hardcore basketball game was the Cavs over the Warriors in Game 7, June 2016. I believe the score was 94-89 which is roughly how basketball was meant to be played.

And it's not like the NFL where parity reigns supreme and it's really a total team game, and most importantly a true match of strategy. People will always love football. Basketball is a pretty simplistic game of something all of us do in real life (ex: throw crumpled paper into a garbage can). Sure, there's strategy and luck involved, and it'll be always be better than the boring games where the only way to score is to put something past a goalie into a net. But it'll never be as good as football because of a lot of reasons.

The reason I feel football and baseball are the best team sports ever invented is because both are designed around the achievement of, for lack of a better term, "mini-goals" as you progress toward a proper score. In football, this is the down and yardage structure. In baseball, this is the count, on base, and outs structure. These structures create a natural "narrative" build-up toward scoring (or defending) and add a lot more drama to non-scoring situations, i.e. can my team convert here on this 3 and 5 to keep the drive alive? Can my batter hold up here on 3-2 to draw a walk and put some pressure on the pitcher? Also fascinating is how the odds dramatically shift with each achievement or failure to achieve these goals. Ex. 3rd and 3 is totally different situation than 3rd and 8, as is a 2-1 vs 1-2 count in baseball.

Most other team sports don't "build up" like this. You either stop the score/possession or score/retake possession. In the common goal sports, there's no defined mini-goals in between to achieve or prevent that increases/decreases the odds of scoring.

[Chris]

Ever since the CBA it seems like the league has gone to shit. Maybe those lucrative contracts created zero incentive.

[midnightpulp]

nyquil prices have gone up

Yeah, it's being sold to NBA fans :lol

[spurraider21]

Yeah, it's being sold to NBA fans :lol
that doesn't help you.

people are turning to MLB because they cant afford nyquil anymore.

if NBA fans are needing nyquil, that means they cant fall asleep (sport is too exciting)

[Chris]

Ruin the game right?

[SpursforSix]

The reason I feel football and baseball are the best team sports ever invented is because both are designed around the achievement of, for lack of a better term, "mini-goals" as you progress toward a proper score. In football, this is the down and yardage structure. In baseball, this is the count, on base, and outs structure. These structures create a natural "narrative" build-up toward scoring (or defending) and add a lot more drama to non-scoring situations, i.e. can my team convert here on this 3 and 5 to keep the drive alive? Can my batter hold up here on 3-2 to draw a walk and put some pressure on the pitcher? Also fascinating is how the odds dramatically shift with each achievement or failure to achieve these goals. Ex. 3rd and 3 is totally different situation than 3rd and 8, as is a 2-1 vs 1-2 count in baseball.

Most other team sports don't "build up" like this. You either stop the score/possession or score/retake possession. In the common goal sports, there's no defined mini-goals in between to achieve or prevent that increases/decreases the odds of scoring.

That's a very interesting take.

[midnightpulp]

that doesn't help you.

people are turning to MLB because they cant afford nyquil anymore.

if NBA fans are needing nyquil, that means they cant fall asleep (sport is too exciting)

:lol Damn, you Philo'ed me on that one.

[spurraider21]

:lol Damn, you Philo'ed me on that one.
:bobo

[DMC]

Were these Spur games tbh?

No you can't get 10% of nothing.

[LkrFan]

No you can't get 10% of nothing.

:lol

[DMC]

I am not that interested in watching these second and third level stars try to out schoolyard each other.

you're watching some 6 ft 112 lb player shoot 30 foot shots all night long with some rich man's Baron Davis take 60 3 pointers a game and 30 free throws... that's not my idea of a game at all. Might as well be playing shuffleboard.

When one of the top 5 players in the league is an autistic team killer who sits out every other game because he can't wipe his own ass, you can't expect people to get excited about the prospects of the NBA.

[Millennial_Messiah]

The reason I feel football and baseball are the best team sports ever invented is because both are designed around the achievement of, for lack of a better term, "mini-goals" as you progress toward a proper score. In football, this is the down and yardage structure. In baseball, this is the count, on base, and outs structure. These structures create a natural "narrative" build-up toward scoring (or defending) and add a lot more drama to non-scoring situations, i.e. can my team convert here on this 3 and 5 to keep the drive alive? Can my batter hold up here on 3-2 to draw a walk and put some pressure on the pitcher? Also fascinating is how the odds dramatically shift with each achievement or failure to achieve these goals. Ex. 3rd and 3 is totally different situation than 3rd and 8, as is a 2-1 vs 1-2 count in baseball.

Most other team sports don't "build up" like this. You either stop the score/possession or score/retake possession. In the common goal sports, there's no defined mini-goals in between to achieve or prevent that increases/decreases the odds of scoring.
I guess the only mini goals in basketball are fatigue management and foul trouble, but you're right it's a lot less than football and baseball. In baseball you left a major mini goal out: to win the pitcher stamina battle. The team with the most pitches generally loses unless they have a bonafide ace on the mound.

The thing that kind of always sours me on baseball is the 162 game season. Like, that's ridiculous. Cut it in half, for starters. But the playoffs are awesome, if not too short.

[FrostKing]

The reason I feel football and baseball are the best team sports ever invented is because both are designed around the achievement of, for lack of a better term, "mini-goals" as you progress toward a proper score. In football, this is the down and yardage structure. In baseball, this is the count, on base, and outs structure. These structures create a natural "narrative" build-up toward scoring (or defending) and add a lot more drama to non-scoring situations, i.e. can my team convert here on this 3 and 5 to keep the drive alive? Can my batter hold up here on 3-2 to draw a walk and put some pressure on the pitcher? Also fascinating is how the odds dramatically shift with each achievement or failure to achieve these goals. Ex. 3rd and 3 is totally different situation than 3rd and 8, as is a 2-1 vs 1-2 count in baseball.

Most other team sports don't "build up" like this. You either stop the score/possession or score/retake possession. In the common goal sports, there's no defined mini-goals in between to achieve or prevent that increases/decreases the odds of scoring.
Yes but these "mini-goals" also result in countless breaks. Games move faster at the amateur level but MLB & NFL, you are watching more replays than live action.

But at the amateur level it is an interesting point as Tennis also follows this formula and is probably GOAT to be honest

[AlexJones]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dd_WlG8U0AA4fvB.jpg:large

[Play Boban]

I am not that interested in watching these second and third level stars try to out schoolyard each other.

you're watching some 6 ft 112 lb player shoot 30 foot shots all night long with some rich man's Baron Davis take 60 3 pointers a game and 30 free throws... that's not my idea of a game at all. Might as well be playing shuffleboard.

When one of the top 5 players in the league is an autistic team killer who sits out every other game because he can't wipe his own ass, you can't expect people to get excited about the prospects of the NBA.
Worst thing is the last paragraph applies to Kawhitter AND LABron tbh....... :lol

[midnightpulp]

Yes but these "mini-goals" also result in countless breaks. Games move faster at the amateur level but MLB & NFL, you are watching more replays than live action.

But at the amateur level it is an interesting point as Tennis also follows this formula and is probably GOAT to be honest

Don't mind the breaks (within reason) in either sport as it gives you time to contemplate what play an offense is going to run/what pitch is going to be thrown and heightens the tension. The breaks probably naturally work better for baseball since it allows you to get inside the head of the pitcher ("Damn, Kershaw missed with his curve again. 3-2. He looks shaky, Is he going back to it? Maybe not. Catcher is setting up inside.") and batter ("Just chased a slider out of the zone. 1-2. He's likely getting that same pitch. Can he hold up?").

I do agree modern baseball needs to pick up the pace. 15-20 seconds in between seconds is enough time for all of that. But since clubs are so overly paranoid about sign stealing and pitchers are throwing with more max effort than ever before, you're getting 25-35 seconds between pitches. Pitch clock is coming, thankfully. NFL could probably benefit from a 30 second play clock. Also get rid of the two minute warnings.

[313]

who watches cable tv anymore tbh lol

[Trainwreck2100]

It will be much worse if Sinclair gets their hands on the regional Fox Sports networks

[FrostKing]

Don't mind the breaks (within reason) in either sport as it gives you time to contemplate what play an offense is going to run/what pitch is going to be thrown and heightens the tension. The breaks probably naturally work better for baseball since it allows you to get inside the head of the pitcher ("Damn, Kershaw missed with his curve again. 3-2. He looks shaky, Is he going back to it? Maybe not. Catcher is setting up inside.") and batter ("Just chased a slider out of the zone. 1-2. He's likely getting that same pitch. Can he hold up?").

I do agree modern baseball needs to pick up the pace. 15-20 seconds in between seconds is enough time for all of that. But since clubs are so overly paranoid about sign stealing and pitchers are throwing with more max effort than ever before, you're getting 25-35 seconds between pitches. Pitch clock is coming, thankfully. NFL could probably benefit from a 30 second play clock. Also get rid of the two minute warnings.
In terms of watching my personal favorite teams - MLB playoffs are the only ones that don't leave me thirsty for more. I truly feel spent because of the mental gymnastics. The irony to me is MLB regular season is the most helped by Fantasy and possibly not as utilized. When I still participated roughly 6 years ago it really got me thru the grind of midseason games. I think what most American sports fans don't appreciate about Baseball is that once you achieve the long process of building a contender, the joy lasts for an extended period of time. The difficulty in building a quality club also means it takes that long for your rivals to also build one to overtake you. But the biggest negative is payrolls size play too big of a role in success. A team in the NFL can overcome cap squeeze. It might be good for TV ratings but I don't think it is good for the sport how the A.L East is always the top division and many times by a large margin.