NBA thread

[Show-Me Hog]

I tried. It's just so boring.

There's nothing else going on much. The Hogs slipped away quietly in the baseball tourney again. Excitement for football isn't exactly warranted. My Reds are below .500.

So I turn to the NBA Finals. It's just so boring. Luka Doncic looks slow and fat. Gafford isn't throwing down any exciting slams. The Celtics weave their way into the lane and either dunk or have a muscle spasm while throwing up some wild shot while getting "fouled."

NBA is just so boring.

[The Whyte Boar]

I really wish the NBA would take control of people carrying the ball and do away with the "gather step".  I mean the walking is so out of hand that it doesn't even look like basketball anymore. 

Luka is entertaining to me and a great player.  But the carrying of the ball and the walking is so bad that I'm not sure a lot of these guys could even be average players in the 80s or 90s.  They don't have to go back to the 50s where guys like Bob Cousy had to have his hand directly on top of the ball or it was carrying, but back to the 80s and 90s at least.  Make it so a guy can't put his hand under the ball.  And just do away with the fricking gather step and call traveling.

[Trigger7672]

Luka looks gassed and he is a complete disaster on the defensive end.

[Thin Red Swine]

I really wish the NBA would take control of people carrying the ball and do away with the "gather step".  I mean the walking is so out of hand that it doesn't even look like basketball anymore. 

Luka is entertaining to me and a great player.  But the carrying of the ball and the walking is so bad that I'm not sure a lot of these guys could even be average players in the 80s or 90s.  They don't have to go back to the 50s where guys like Bob Cousy had to have his hand directly on top of the ball or it was carrying, but back to the 80s and 90s at least.  Make it so a guy can't put his hand under the ball.  And just do away with the fricking gather step and call traveling.

They evidently have something else now that I will call a "transition step" (and not the gender-bending kind). I saw a video recently on X where a guy took easily a step and a half without dribbling around midcourt while changing directions. He kept going, THEN did the gather step plus at least two more.

And he didn't even draw glass or iron from about two feet away. I guess he was expecting a whistle.

[The Whyte Boar]

They evidently have something else now that I will call a "transition step" (and not the gender-bending kind). I saw a video recently on X where a guy took easily a step and a half without dribbling around midcourt while changing directions. He kept going, THEN did the gather step plus at least two more.

And he didn't even draw glass or iron from about two feet away. I guess he was expecting a whistle.

I think a lot of the confusion goes back to allowing them to carry the damn ball.  A lot of these guys don't even know how to dribble without carrying.  But anyway, the old rules on walking worked because in order to make a move, the guy had to put two hands on the ball because with the hands more on top the ball while dribbling, two hands were required to bring it under control.  That gave a more definitive starting point and there wasn't likely to be one or two large steps between the last dribble and putting that second hand on the ball.

Now, these guys can cradle that ball back "in the pocket" as they say and take a gather step that is a full step or sometimes even two before they ever even get to their two allowed steps after picking up the ball. 

If they would reign in carrying the ball, it would help a lot.

And yeah, the transition step is part of that.  Impossible to take a big step or more than one step if you aren't carrying the ball.

[BASS]

The rules when I was learning to play was you got one step then a jump after you picked up your dribble on the way to a lay up or dunk.

Go back to that being the only leeway on traveling.

Agreed on the carrying the ball. We weren't allowed to put our hand on the side of the ball at all.

[Son of Spam]

I tried. It's just so boring.

There's nothing else going on much. The Hogs slipped away quietly in the baseball tourney again. Excitement for football isn't exactly warranted. My Reds are below .500.

So I turn to the NBA Finals. It's just so boring. Luka Doncic looks slow and fat. Gafford isn't throwing down any exciting slams. The Celtics weave their way into the lane and either dunk or have a muscle spasm while throwing up some wild shot while getting "fouled."

NBA is just so boring.

Just watch the last three minutes. Those three minutes will last nearly an hour, and if a team is down by 30, they will come back and make it close. I just can't get into NBA.

[The Whyte Boar]

The rules when I was learning to play was you got one step then a jump after you picked up your dribble on the way to a lay up or dunk.

Go back to that being the only leeway on traveling.

Agreed on the carrying the ball. We weren't allowed to put our hand on the side of the ball at all.

Like I said, because of the way they can cradle the ball these days and carry, the point at which a player can be said to have "picked up the ball" is a lot harder to pinpoint than it used to be.

[vegashog]

hurley turns down the lakers.

[Gambler]

hurley turns down the lakers.

Can't really blame him. Too much drama to deal with.

[egregious]

Wait, the Mavericks are in the finals?  I literally did not know that.

Is this cuban's first year gone?  hahaha

[Third_down_draw]

Wait, the Mavericks are in the finals?  I literally did not know that.

Is this cuban's first year gone?  hahaha

Not gone - got 3.5 billion and still owns 27%

[vegashog]

and control of basketball operations.

he'll use that money to build a casino if texass ever allows them.

[Gambler]

and control of basketball operations.

he'll use that money to build a casino if texass ever allows them.

Right next to Jerry's casino.

[egregious]

Not gone - got 3.5 billion and still owns 27%

Well shit, now I haz a sad

[Snorts]

NBA rules interpretations, to open the game up, have made it almost unrecognizable from the 70-80's style of play.  No 3 point shots, no carrying, hand checking, 2 referees, no zone defenses, no poorly set screens allowed...it was a different, brutal game, not for the faint of heart.

Some, probably most of todays stars would still flourish in that game if magically transported.  I don't think the sissies, like LeBron, would.  If you flopped, a player on the other team would clobber you (see Dave Cowens).  Crowing and mouthing off were met with violence.

To speed up and clean up the game most of the fighting and rough play were legislated out.  Referees call everything now, and protect the stars to the point everyone knows it but just sort of wink and smile.

The shooting.  Well, players today regularly make shots that were reserved for the end of the shot clock, game, half or quarter.  No question shooting skills have progressed to a point unimaginable 30 years ago.  Ball handling, moving without the ball, blocking out and defensive toughness?  I dunno.  I used to love the NBA, and lived and died with the Celtics.  I haven't watched a full game in decades.

[Trigger7672]

NBA rules interpretations, to open the game up, have made it almost unrecognizable from the 70-80's style of play.  No 3 point shots, no carrying, hand checking, 2 referees, no zone defenses, no poorly set screens allowed...it was a different, brutal game, not for the faint of heart.

Some, probably most of todays stars would still flourish in that game if magically transported.  I don't think the sissies, like LeBron, would.  If you flopped, a player on the other team would clobber you (see Dave Cowens).  Crowing and mouthing off were met with violence.

To speed up and clean up the game most of the fighting and rough play were legislated out.  Referees call everything now, and protect the stars to the point everyone knows it but just sort of wink and smile.

The shooting.  Well, players today regularly make shots that were reserved for the end of the shot clock, game, half or quarter.  No question shooting skills have progressed to a point unimaginable 30 years ago.  Ball handling, moving without the ball, blocking out and defensive toughness?  I dunno.  I used to love the NBA, and lived and died with the Celtics.  I haven't watched a full game in decades.

Lebron has Magic's skillset + elite athleticism in Karl Malone's body. I think he'd be okay in any era.

[Snorts]

Lebron has Magic's skillset + elite athleticism in Karl Malone's body. I think he'd be okay in any era.

Every word you say is true.

And he plays like a sissy.  You don't think he'd have even a LITTLE trouble dropped into a Detroit - Knicks game in 1987?

I question his toughness.  Not his athletic ability.  That was the point of my post, not that todays players aren't outstanding athletes.

Get off my lawn, right?

[Trigger7672]

Every word you say is true.

And he plays like a sissy.  You don't think he'd have even a LITTLE trouble dropped into a Detroit - Knicks game in 1987?

I question his toughness.  Not his athletic ability.  That was the point of my post, not that todays players aren't outstanding athletes.

Get off my lawn, right?

I mean I know he has a reputation for flopping but saying he plays like a sissy is silly. When prime Lebron put his shoulder down and decided to get a shot at the basket no one was stopping him. He didn't become the league's all time leading scorer because he's an elite jump shooter.

[Snorts]

No, no he didn't.  However, the jaded would say he charges, literally, on his way to the hoop, then gets bailed out by the superstar-loving refs.

This does not happen in 1976 versus the Celtics.  He gets called for a. An offensive foul or b. Carrying, or c. Steps, or d. The ref lets the play go with a no-call and does NOT bail him out due to superstardom. 

Or, Dave Cowens or Paul Silas dive on top of him and knock him on his ass to the shrugs of everyone at the arena.  LeBron doesn't like it, either one will gladly beat the fuck out of him, or die trying.

Different game, not for the faint of heart was my point.  Is the current game front loaded to show case skills?  Probably.  Is it as fun to watch?  Well, for a little while.