The NBA is pathetic and unwatchable these days

[UNT Eagles 2016]

There was a thread blaming Wemby for laziness and chucking which is accurate but it's not in a vaccuum. The fact is the whole league just ing sucks these days. The Adam Silver regime has completely ed the NBA permanently. How did we turn a beautiful sport where players worked to get the best shot selection against players who fought equally compe ively on defense, to arcade mode skittleball-chuckball basically a professional sport composed of 7 year olds playing 2k on easy mode?

Heck, in my day the All Star Game (which was East vs West as it SHOULD be, tbh) was actually compe ive, people actually played defense and it wasn't a chuckfest and dunkfest. In the ALL STAR GAME. When it started getting that way close to 2010 it was all downhill for the league from there. I remember that, zoomers don't. But now, the "modern" All Star Game is now just about every game. Why play defense if everyone is just going to chuck the first available three?

One solution might be that the three point shot needs to get axed. In the 80s when we last had this stupid frenetic brand of basketball at least there wasn't a gimmick shot available. Oh, and you could foul someone without getting ejected and suspended back then, too. The NBA is a soft basket of pussies these days, sold out to China, sold out to zoomer s, sold out to Stef Curry, Adam Silver, and every got associated with them.

People of the ilk of.... Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Bruce Bowen, Manu Ginobili, Stan Kelly, Joel Meyers and Bill Land are never coming back. Why does upstairs still watch?

Today's NBA.

[Mr. Body]

It worked for a while. They changed the rules to help whatever the Golden State Warriors wanted to do, then changed the rules more to suit whatever James Harden and his followers wanted to do, and here we are. They were hugely popular for a while.

I don't personally think they need to make impossible changes to the 3-pointer. They just need to crank back ignoring the rules violations that got us here. Once you do that, you'll need more comprehensive, more talented players who do more than just ring around the 3-point line and chuck away.

- Get rid of moving screens. The offensive screener gets to set a screen; if he moves at all while the defender tries to navigate, it's an offensive foul. Full stop.
- Get rid of step-backs, side-steps, stopping with the dribble yet still getting two steps. Those are all travels.
- Defenders get the benefit of the doubt on rip-throughs. They tried to correct this but more should be done. If an offensive player moves through a defender's arm to make a shot, there is no call or offensive call.
- Allow actual contact on the perimeter and elsewhere. The league charges defenders often for just standing or slightly moving when an offensive player moves into them. SGA is excellent at this call. The defender has a right to exist and should never get called just because a player runs into them.

If you get rid of the massive rules changes the league made to boost this kind of offense, then things will likely settle back into a better state. Moving screens and those travel step-backs will be a major part of it.

[John B]

I’m glad you got that out of your chest.

Pop for the longest time didn’t like chucking 3pts. But it caught up to him. The league average % for 2pts is 45%, while 3pts is 39%. At 10 attempts it’s 9 pts < 11.5 pts. Easily you take the 3! So unless you remove the 3pt, which would clog the lanes. I doubt Wemby’s body type could handle that. I think it favors Wemby to play in this era, and he’s our guy. So I’m not complaining.

[LeBowen]

Everything is in there.
Carrying is the most egregious thing for me.
Some players legit just carry the ball around.

[paperboy77]

Crazy but today's NBA is crazy... how bout only allow a number like 7 three's per game and 2 in OT and in the last 2 minutes. That's it. That's 7 made until the end.

[Das Texan]

Bring back hand checking as well while we are at it.

Just eliminating some of these moronic step and gather rules alone should help reign in the lunancy that is the NBA today.

[scott]

Boomer thread

[ambchang]

Gather step should be gone as well. It’s three sometimes four steps on a layup, it’s just impossible to guard.

[TheBallsbreakers]

There was a thread blaming Wemby for laziness and chucking which is accurate but it's not in a vaccuum. The fact is the whole league just ing sucks these days. The Adam Silver regime has completely ed the NBA permanently. How did we turn a beautiful sport where players worked to get the best shot selection against players who fought equally compe ively on defense, to arcade mode skittleball-chuckball basically a professional sport composed of 7 year olds playing 2k on easy mode?

Heck, in my day the All Star Game (which was East vs West as it SHOULD be, tbh) was actually compe ive, people actually played defense and it wasn't a chuckfest and dunkfest. In the ALL STAR GAME. When it started getting that way close to 2010 it was all downhill for the league from there. I remember that, zoomers don't. But now, the "modern" All Star Game is now just about every game. Why play defense if everyone is just going to chuck the first available three?

One solution might be that the three point shot needs to get axed. In the 80s when we last had this stupid frenetic brand of basketball at least there wasn't a gimmick shot available. Oh, and you could foul someone without getting ejected and suspended back then, too. The NBA is a soft basket of pussies these days, sold out to China, sold out to zoomer s, sold out to Stef Curry, Adam Silver, and every got associated with them.

People of the ilk of.... Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Bruce Bowen, Manu Ginobili, Stan Kelly, Joel Meyers and Bill Land are never coming back. Why does upstairs still watch?

Today's NBA.

Bill Land?Joel Meyers? Stan Kelley? HAHAHA

[TrainOfThought5]

This is the most old man shakes fist at cloud thread I’ve ever seen.

[couchman]

I just want FIBA style officiating.
The Olympics refs were a breath of fresh air and there was a lot less referee controversy.
Don’t bail people out anytime they struggle against minor contact.
Don’t reward free throw merchants.
I’d rather watch a 3pt contest than a FT contest.

[itzsoweezee]

I know this is just some boomer whining , but the claim that the all star game was ever compe ive is just laughable and makes me wonder if you actually watch the nba outside of the spurs.

You guys can blame the rules all you want, but the play style these days is dictated by math. Smarter prime are running nba teams now and they are maximizing advantages and eliminating non compe ive aspects of traditional nba play. It has nothing to do with being “soft” you geezer

[CorrectCrusader]

I love modern ball. I just want the refs to stop with the ticky tack

[rjv]

op-ed misses those old Syracuse Nationals and Rochester Royals battles.

[Spurminator]

The NBA and its players have never been better. The overall shooting talent in the league has evolved to the point where it is a mathematical imperative that players shoot more threes.

If it was just chucking, the league wouldn't be consistently at its highest 3P% in history. You could move the line out but that would probably just clog the lanes more because it's not like players are going to take a bunch of 24-foot 2-pointers. The Harden/Kobe baiting fouls were much worse 10 years ago, now they're at least sometimes called an offensive foul for initiating contact.

So I don't know, maybe get over it and enjoy the NBA's golden age instead of whining like every previous generation about how the good ol' days were so much better.

[Spurminator]

The past nine seasons are the top nine NBA seasons for league-wide True Shooting %.

"Chuckball"

[K...]

it be fun if there was a "every 10m change the rules of the game" like a height restriction, decreased shot clock, double point dunks, etc. would make coaching and teambuilding way funner but would wreck players stats. maybe even do some house rules every home game. people have short attention spans so you need a hook like this, and it would elevate so many random scrubs which expands marketability. Maybe just for the the second quarter so boomers can come in late for their courtside seats, do ent the memes on their phone and leave.

[rascal]

Change the 3 point shot to 2.5 points.

[baseline bum]

I know this is just some boomer whining , but the claim that the all star game was ever compe ive is just laughable and makes me wonder if you actually watch the nba outside of the spurs.

You guys can blame the rules all you want, but the play style these days is dictated by math. Smarter prime are running nba teams now and they are maximizing advantages and eliminating non compe ive aspects of traditional nba play. It has nothing to do with being “soft” you geezer

I remember the ASG being must watch in the 80s through the early 00s. Especially loved the 2000 ASG seeing Tim, Kobe, and Kidd on the same team.

[scott]

I know this is just some boomer whining , but the claim that the all star game was ever compe ive is just laughable and makes me wonder if you actually watch the nba outside of the spurs.

You guys can blame the rules all you want, but the play style these days is dictated by math. Smarter prime are running nba teams now and they are maximizing advantages and eliminating non compe ive aspects of traditional nba play. It has nothing to do with being “soft” you geezer

100% and thanks for saying this. The exact same thing has happened it other sports as well as stupid old s have been pushed out of front office roles by people who know how to do math. "Analytics has ruined the game!!!" are the screams of middle-school educated boomers who miss Bill Russell scoring over 5'7" white dudes who's full time job is accountant and when a 300 yard passing day was a big deal in the NFL. Times change, if you don't like it you can go back to your Readers Digest.

[z0sa]

100% and thanks for saying this. The exact same thing has happened it other sports as well as stupid old s have been pushed out of front office roles by people who know how to do math. "Analytics has ruined the game!!!" are the screams of middle-school educated boomers who miss Bill Russell scoring over 5'7" white dudes who's full time job is accountant and when a 300 yard passing day was a big deal in the NFL. Times change, if you don't like it you can go back to your Readers Digest.

Yep. The talent level has never even been close. The "chuckball" people love to reference is a direct reflection of how shooting 3's (and making them consistently) is a more effective (IE winning) game plan than inside out is.

Now, that doesn't mean the rules can't be changed to reflect a more inside-out style of play -- if that's what the consumer wants. I'm not yet convinced it is.

[scott]

Yep. The talent level has never even been close. The "chuckball" people love to reference is a direct reflection of how shooting 3's (and making them consistently) is a more effective (IE winning) game plan than inside out is.

Now, that doesn't mean the rules can't be changed to reflect a more inside-out style of play -- if that's what the consumer wants. I'm not yet convinced it is.

Yeah, I think consumer wants dunks and threes... and that's what the NBA in it's current form caters to. Dudes who wear Oakleys and have Blue Lives Matters stickers on their Chevy Silverados will reply to this with the latest Nielsen ratings

[benefactor]

Andy
gui ude
boomer trapped in an autistic hobbit suit

[exstatic]

I know this is just some boomer whining , but the claim that the all star game was ever compe ive is just laughable and makes me wonder if you actually watch the nba outside of the spurs.

You guys can blame the rules all you want, but the play style these days is dictated by math. Smarter prime are running nba teams now and they are maximizing advantages and eliminating non compe ive aspects of traditional nba play. It has nothing to do with being “soft” you geezer

The math has always been there, but the absolute explosion of threes happened due to a rule change in 2015, making it illegal to fight through screens dictating that everything becomes a switch. Traditional bigs couldn’t defend in space, leading to easier and better looks from three. The secondary effect was the devaluation and near extinction of said traditional bigs.

[Pauleta14]

I know this is just some boomer whining , but the claim that the all star game was ever compe ive is just laughable and makes me wonder if you actually watch the nba outside of the spurs.

You guys can blame the rules all you want, but the play style these days is dictated by math. Smarter prime are running nba teams now and they are maximizing advantages and eliminating non compe ive aspects of traditional nba play. It has nothing to do with being “soft” you geezer

I agree it has nothing to do with the rules of the ASG, imo it has to do with the personnel.

This generation is way too cynical and doesn't have the same compe ive mindset/culture. ANT not gaf last season wasn't surprising for ex

All they want is the bag and they forget the fans are the reason they're getting it. MJ's era prided itself for showing up for every game when they dgaf now.

What made past ASG compe ive was the players's compe iveness