NBA: Zach Lowe and Shane Battier: 90s ball was very simple and predictable

[angrydude]

They changed the rules to make it easier to score because once all the great ones retired scoring was down because everyone else was .

[lefty]

Jordan at 40yrs old dropping 40 on Ron Artest, the toughest defender of the 2000's
A Billups led-team making the Finals, let alone winning it
Rashard Lewis being the 2nd banana on a Finals team
Lebron getting punked by Hibbert & the Pacers, scoring 7pts in a playoff game
JJ Barea going toe to toe with Team USA
Tyson Chandler, DPOY
a Blockbuster employee, Hassan Whiteside, getting 20/20 in today's NBA
A white midget in Dellavedova punking the MVP
Jamaal Magloire, Kyle Korver, & Jamal Mashburn, NBA All Stars in 2000's

Leaders in FGA for the Knicks:
91-92 to 96-97 - Ewing
97-98 - Allan Houston

When was Starks ever the 1st option on the Knicks?



Reggie Miller high points in a season - 24.6
Klay Thomspon - 21.7 (so far)



social media puts people in jail now? are courts held on Skype?

Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard, Baron Davis, Eddie Curry, Tony Parker.
because the 00s are still playing
Irrelevant
Bunch of soft sissies.
Lebron refusing to play for a team because it's not loaded, and still wilted in 2011 with a loaded team.
Check out 90s rap lyrics by prominent black artists.
Mark Jackson bullying soft players as a coach. Serge Ibaka and Jackson threatening each other over Twitter.
Tristan Thompson looking for max.
Can't post up
No more jump shots
And yet those players took such a bland product to new heights in the 90s.

[apalisoc_9]

John Starks, poor man's Monta Ellis, being a 1st option on DK's biggest rival
Reggie Miller, the original Klay Thompson, the franchise player on DK's other biggest rival
Minimal media pressure and no social media, otherwise Dad Killer would have been in prison and Olajuwon would have been exposed as a pedophile
Karl Malone banging 12 year old girls
Shawn Kemp fat alcoholic with 20 kids
all the 90s stars going broke
Marv Albert in the bedroom
Sprewell choking his coach
Scottie Pippen refusing to enter the game on the last play of a playoff game because the shot wasn't going to him
goon and thug ball that White people loved because they enjoyed watching s hurt each other
Dad Killer punching teammates and playing a part in the murder of family members
White American players
boring post ups
mid-range jump shots
standard definition games and watching replays on VHS

Harlem with the KO.

[Kidd K]

@ all the dumb dip s in this thread who haven't even watched basketball even a decade ago talking about basketball from two decades ago and claiming it sucked.

Go change your diapers kids. Your posts stink like .

[benefactor]

...is that the ref?

[Ignignokt]

I have no interest in listening to a pussy that's never played. I'd rather listen to a pretty woman... that sucks too.

naruto does cause loneliness

[lefty]

OP right now

[HI-FI]

OP right now

been killing it with the gifs

[Caltex2]

I'm not saying that more scoring automatically means a better product. I'm just pointing out that people complained about the low-scoring games at the time.

Also, there's a happy medium. I'm not saying every game has to be 190-189, but the 60-45 scores of the '90s didn't exactly make for thrilling games either. Iso-chucking on offense and hard fouls being passed off as "defense" amounts to a trash product.

And let's not pretend that players weren't all about the money in the '90s. Just look at the contracts DK was signing on a year-to-year basis in his late prime. Actual quote from Shaq when he signed with the Lakers: "I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok."

60-45, LOL. There were a few 69-65's and the like and the Heat were involved in more than their share of those but there were also a lot of 130-108's.

Not that I like to remind you of a team losing a 3-1 lead to the Rockets (well, maybe I do just a little) but look at the 1995 semifinals between the Rockets and Suns. There wasn't a single game where both teams didn't combine to score over 200 points. As a matter of fact, it only happened five times during the entire championship run.

Just because a few teams uglied it up (like the Cavs under Mike Fratello, ugh) doesn't mean the whole decade was bad.

[Caltex2]

They changed the rules to make it easier to score because once all the great ones retired scoring was down because everyone else was .

I'm pro-90's nostalgia but I gotta call BS on this. Look at some of the scores from the 1998 NBA Finals with the greatest player in NBA history, Stockton and Malone.

87-86
83-81
88-85 (in OT!)
96-54 (!)

The great players of the 80's and 90's were hampered by coaches looking to stop them, either with harsh/stifling/fouling defense or slowing the ball and game down, which is why they enacted the new rules.

[djohn2oo8]

a team with 2 White American players as 2/3 of their big 3 making consecutive Finals is pathetic, if we are being honest..there's a reason the NBA went from 25% White in the 80s to around 6% today IIRC..

This isn't baseball, tbh..

I would bet my life that Patrick Beverley would easily beat John Stockton 1 on 1..

Patrick Beverley is a 38% shooter you buffoon.

[djohn2oo8]

Leaders in FGA for the Knicks:
91-92 to 96-97 - Ewing
97-98 - Allan Houston

When was Starks ever the 1st option on the Knicks?



Reggie Miller high points in a season - 24.6
Klay Thomspon - 21.7 (so far)



social media puts people in jail now? are courts held on Skype?

Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard, Baron Davis, Eddie Curry, Tony Parker.
because the 00s are still playing
Irrelevant
Bunch of soft sissies.
Lebron refusing to play for a team because it's not loaded, and still wilted in 2011 with a loaded team.
Check out 90s rap lyrics by prominent black artists.
Mark Jackson bullying soft players as a coach. Serge Ibaka and Jackson threatening each other over Twitter.
Tristan Thompson looking for max.
Can't post up
No more jump shots
And yet those players took such a bland product to new heights in the 90s.

Ambchang kicking Harlem right in the turdcutter.

[djohn2oo8]

Today's players don't have the mental for ude. Example: LeBron taking two weeks off during the season because his HGH ran out

[HarlemHeat37]

^^Those are mostly terrible arguments, tbh..I don't respond to ambchang anymore, though, he's like ChumpDumper with more words.. , responding to White people enjoying watching s hurt each other with "rap lyrics"? that's just silly..

mental for ude..such a vanilla argument..Pippen quitting on the final play of a playoff game because the gw wasn't called for him is the most "mentally weak" moment in league history..Lebron taking 2 weeks off? What about Dad Killer taking 2 ing years off..mentally weak like getting ed in the ass and getting AIDS? Pathetic..

[HarlemHeat37]

Tim Hardaway's weak-ass crossover being the gold standard

[djohn2oo8]

^^Those are mostly terrible arguments, tbh..I don't respond to ambchang anymore, though, he's like ChumpDumper with more words.. , responding to White people enjoying watching s hurt each other with "rap lyrics"? that's just silly..

mental for ude..such a vanilla argument..Pippen quitting on the final play of a playoff game because the gw wasn't called for him is the most "mentally weak" moment in league history..Lebron taking 2 weeks off? What about Dad Killer taking 2 ing years off..mentally weak like getting ed in the ass and getting AIDS? Pathetic..

You already know why Jordan took two years off. Yet and still wanted to play every game. Unlike today's players who are resting on back to backs in their prime. Then you have LeBron who wants a shorter season because one of his only skills, running over people, tires him out before the playoffs. soft gots getting tired in the regular season.

today's NBA

[SquawkinHawkBigCock]

All of these guys in the NBA today are supposed to be superior athletes but cry and rest about back to backs and want a shortened season. Crofl.

[Kawhitstorm]

Players that were All-NBA in the 90s/2000s
-Iverson
-Kobe
-Shaq
-KG
-Duncan
-Kidd
-Payton
-G.Hill
-Malone
-Alonzo
-Marbury
-Admiral
-Webber
-Carter

[Killakobe81]

Look I like Lowe but of course they would talk about 90's ball. Both are analytic lovers , Battier is one of the first players I have heard of that used them extensively. Nothing is wrong with metrics. It makes Lowe a better writer and helped battier forge a career greater than his talent ...

But gotta take their opinions on this with a grain of salt just like you have to take the MJ era writers opinions in the MJ/Lebron debate the same way. I of course am Squarely MJ over LeBeon but woul have LOVEd to seen the debate if James could have made it to 5 or 6 rings. Those guys would have a fit.

I am of the camp that MJ is GOAT but not in the camp that James could not pass him. He had the talent, ...I just dont think he was mentally tough or as driven (sociopathical?) enough to get there. But someday someone will surpass him I kind of wanted James to (after Kobe failed) just for the butthurt it would cause but James failed me ...

[Clipper Nation]

Today's players don't have the mental for ude. Example: LeBron taking two weeks off during the season because his HGH ran out

DK took two years off during his prime because of his gambling addiction

[ambchang]

^^Those are mostly terrible arguments, tbh..I don't respond to ambchang anymore, though, he's like ChumpDumper with more words.. , responding to White people enjoying watching s hurt each other with "rap lyrics"? that's just silly..

Hilarious how you would say terrible arguments on one hand, then talk about the weakest of all your argument, which had no proof, and nothing to back up.

You want to talk about how Whites enjoyed Blacks hurting each other in the paint in the 90s?

Then see how many prominent black artists were rapping about basketball and the paint area where their brothers were hurting each other, glorifying it in fact.

I got next you wanna run with me homey
Well I don't need players in the paint that can't do nothing for me

Steppin' into the jam and I'm slammin' like Shaquille

I’m slamming n***as like Shaquille, s**t is real /When it’s time to eat a meal, I rob and steal

Rebounding, outstanding, no one surrounding / I’m screwing and doing like I was Ewing / The only one soaring and scoring is Jordan / He must of had his Wheaties this morning

So now what? Brothers like seeing black folks hurting each other in the paint?

mental for ude..such a vanilla argument..Pippen quitting on the final play of a playoff game because the gw wasn't called for him is the most "mentally weak" moment in league history..Lebron taking 2 weeks off? What about Dad Killer taking 2 ing years off..mentally weak like getting ed in the ass and getting AIDS? Pathetic..

Players craving to be in the centre stage and throwing hissy fits is not professional, it's not being mentally weak. You should have at least used the Pistons migraine game as an example. As opposed to today's superstar who plays hot potato with the ball in the last second. Who's the clutchest guy in the last 15 years? Dirk? Ginobili? Both foreign born white players, which is an entire race you try to denigrate. Kobe, who shoots 25% from the field in clutch situations, NEVER making a clutch shot in the WCF and F is your face of clutch in this era? Compared to Jordan, Bird, West, Gar Heard, Horry, and others who have no hesitation shooting the rock, AND making it, in pressure situations.

As for Jordan, he got suspended for his gambling (rumour), and that isn't mentally weak, he flaunted his power and dared the authorities to touch him.

[Caltex2]

DK took two years off during his prime because of his gambling addiction

Father Setter Upper took them off because the league needed him to lay low because of all the media scrutiny over his father and gambling. I'm also open to the idea he didn't want to personally deal with it because of his emotional makeup, losing his dad just before the season and the media scrutiny that would follow.

[lefty]

If DK didnt retire in 94-95, the Rockets would have c-stomped the Bulls tbh

[Infinite_limit]

If DK didnt retire in 94-95, the Rockets would have c-stomped the Bulls tbh

Otis Thorpe as the 2nd leading scorer is frightening

[djohn2oo8]

Otis Thorpe as the 2nd leading scorer is frightening

Otis Thorpe was traded that year.