Yeah I’m also not one of these ‘back in the day’ kinda person ( although who admits it anyway?) but it seemed to me there was less variance in the game, coaching mattered more, schemes were different both offensively and defensively and teams had specific styles of play, whereas now it’s all about jacking up 3s and whoever has a better day wins.
As for players trying to emulate low post scoring, it’s just not that important anymore. Nowadays low post players are pushed, shoved, hit all the time with no fouls given, but at the same time you can’t breathe on anyone on the perimeter, let alone playing any semblance of defense. Surely there must be some middle ground that would make the game more interesting and balanced? I think even casual NBA fans are tired now of the 140-145 kind of scores, which had a bit of a wow factor a few years ago.