2023-24 Around the NBA Thread

[95pro]

The league hasn't cared about carrying since... the 70s? It's been rampant for ages.

The rule change most people are talking about is allowing hand checking and cracking down on moving screens, also allowing more time for defenders to stay in the paint.

If they called more fouls on offensive players for initiating contact that might effect LeBron some but not as much as dudes like Embiid, Doncic or Giannis.

He is a strong player with a great handle, the guys I think who would suffer most are dudes who struggle with contact and who use a ton of screens. Golden State would need to change up their offense. Durant would have a much harder time getting space, any of the dudes who take a ton of pull up jumpers and run off lots of screens.

Great handle??? Lebron?

Lebron the last 5 years has been mostly reliant on his strength to get to the rim. Most times its a spin move, which he travels on, there are players who use the spin move but use their pivot correctly. Any touch on him whether there is really a foul or not is a foul for Lebron. That portion of the game needs to be fixed.

KD is 7' and has never had a problem getting a shot off with or without space, his length alone makes him a threat even at this stage of career.

 

[AzStevenCal]

They need something to discourage all the 3 point shooting.

I'm not sure they do. The players are simply too big for the court dimensions, it's either space the court for 3's or clog up the lane with wresting matches. I much prefer watching the current game over the way it was trending back in the 90's.

Defenders shouldn't be allowed to gain advantage by hand checking or redirecting an offensive players movement by body contact or lightly hitting a shooter's elbow or any of the ways defenders use their body to gain an unfair advantage. The rule changes to help free up offense have been effective and great for the game IMO. They just need to apply some of the same thinking when it comes to advantages gained by physicality on offense. We see ridiculous scoring drives by Giannis, Lebron, Doncic and many others on a nightly basis. If you create contact and it gives you an advantage, that's a foul on you whether you're on offense or not.

 

[Proximo]

I'm not sure they do. The players are simply too big for the court dimensions, it's either space the court for 3's or clog up the lane with wresting matches. I much prefer watching the current game over the way it was trending back in the 90's.

Defenders shouldn't be allowed to gain advantage by hand checking or redirecting an offensive players movement by body contact or lightly hitting a shooter's elbow or any of the ways defenders use their body to gain an unfair advantage. The rule changes to help free up offense have been effective and great for the game IMO. They just need to apply some of the same thinking when it comes to advantages gained by physicality on offense. We see ridiculous scoring drives by Giannis, Lebron, Doncic and many others on a nightly basis. If you create contact and it gives you an advantage, that's a foul on you whether you're on offense or not.

Well I don't. 90's Basketball was absolutely far superior and the ratings clearly show that.

That said, I don't see things changing.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Well I don't. 90's Basketball was absolutely far superior and the ratings clearly show that.

That said, I don't see things changing.

Actually, the ratings do not "clearly show that", not even close. Yes, NBA viewership in the mid-90's was much higher than today but much of the dropoff occured almost overnight and not as a result of rules changes that occurred over the 25 years that followed. And the shift in viewing habits (moving from cable to streaming) has hurt ratings across the board, not just the NBA.

 

[Proximo]

Actually, the ratings do not "clearly show that", not even close. Yes, NBA viewership in the mid-90's was much higher than today but much of the dropoff occured almost overnight and not as a result of rules changes that occurred over the 25 years that followed. And the shift in viewing habits (moving from cable to streaming) has hurt ratings across the board, not just the NBA.

The increase in streaming and lack of cable isn't hurting the NFL at all. The Superbowl just had the best ratings ever.

 

[taz02]

I personally like inside scoring, drives to the basket, battling in the post.

Launching threes to me isn't as much fun to watch. I liked the 90's NBA better.

 

[95pro]

I personally like inside scoring, drives to the basket, battling in the post.

Launching threes to me isn't as much fun to watch. I liked the 90's NBA better.

This is the main reason people dont find the nba fun anymore, the amount of 3's being jacked up.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The increase in streaming and lack of cable isn't hurting the NFL at all. The Superbowl just had the best ratings ever.

Live TV has been shrinking for years, but NFL popularity continues to climb. It has no bearing on the other sports though or on TV viewership in general which is in huge decline. And sports betting has a lot to do with the NFL's popularity, it has always been the most wagered of the major sporting events in the US.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I personally like inside scoring, drives to the basket, battling in the post.

Launching threes to me isn't as much fun to watch. I liked the 90's NBA better.

I like inside scoring and drives to the basket but no, I can't say I like "battling in the post", at least not the way it was done through most of the Shaq era. And it was killing the game. And while I am not in love with all the distance shooting, I think the state of refereeing is a bigger issue. Stop allowing the offensive players to push off or barrel through defenders and start getting more agressive in policing the men and women in stripes.

 

[GatorAZ]

Actually, the ratings do not "clearly show that", not even close. Yes, NBA viewership in the mid-90's was much higher than today but much of the dropoff occured almost overnight and not as a result of rules changes that occurred over the 25 years that followed. And the shift in viewing habits (moving from cable to streaming) has hurt ratings across the board, not just the NBA.

If MJ didn’t come back in 95’ the league would’ve been in a terrible place. Too many teams were mucking up the league with thug ball like the Jazz, Knicks, Heat and Pacers types. Nobody could score and it wasn’t fun to watch.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

If MJ didn’t come back in 95’ the league would’ve been in a terrible place. Too many teams were mucking up the league with thug ball like the Jazz, Knicks, Heat and Pacers types. Nobody could score and it wasn’t fun to watch.

Gotta try to find that balance that existed in the early 90s. The average team was scoring around 105 ppg and defensive players weren't at such a disadvantage.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Gotta try to find that balance that existed in the early 90s. The average team was scoring around 105 ppg and defensive players weren't at such a disadvantage.

Sure but it seems a fairly easy fix to me. The league cleaned up the offense, mostly by calling fouls on the defense that they'd been ignoring for years. Do the same thing now, start calling fouls anytime an offensive player uses contact to gain an advantage over the defense.

 

[Joe Mama]

I just hate the idea of looking at stats alone and determining that they have somehow screwed up the balance. Do fans really sit around and complain about how high the scores are? They long for the days where teams scored a few points? This just seems as ill-conceived as the dumb flopping technical… Which by the way usually only happens because the officials are allowing the offensive player to run somebody over.

Again, the biggest reason the scoring is up is because of increased pace, increased volume of three points shots, and increased accuracy of the three-point shot. The old school players who long for the days of ugly wrestling matches just did not shoot the basketball like this . I forget who it was here that suggested getting rid of the corner three-pointer but that would actually be interesting. I find it far more likely though that they will do something like get rid of the defensive three second violation.

Boy,I apologize for all my rambling nonsense here lately.

Joe

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I like inside scoring and drives to the basket but no, I can't say I like "battling in the post", at least not the way it was done through most of the Shaq era. And it was killing the game. And while I am not in love with all the distance shooting, I think the state of refereeing is a bigger issue. Stop allowing the offensive players to push off or barrel through defenders and start getting more agressive in policing the men and women in stripes.

Agree. Posting up with footwork is a thing of beauty (see Kevin McKale) but the battering ram “post” is just ugly and boring.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Sure but it seems a fairly easy fix to me. The league cleaned up the offense, mostly by calling fouls on the defense that they'd been ignoring for years. Do the same thing now, start calling fouls anytime an offensive player uses contact to gain an advantage over the defense.

The irony is if they just called the game as the rules were written and didn’t give preferential treatment the game is beautiful as-is.

 

[Joe Mama]

The irony is if they just called the game as the rules were written and didn’t give preferential treatment the game is beautiful as-is.

Amen

 

[Raindog]

I like inside scoring and drives to the basket but no, I can't say I like "battling in the post", at least not the way it was done through most of the Shaq era. And it was killing the game. And while I am not in love with all the distance shooting, I think the state of refereeing is a bigger issue. Stop allowing the offensive players to push off or barrel through defenders and start getting more agressive in policing the men and women in stripes.

Call me Grandpa Simpson, but I really preferred the late 1970s through late 1980s era of the NBA. Although I hated the lack of parity, and both the Lakers and Celtics dominance of the league through most of that, the game was far more entertaining to me then.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Call me Grandpa Simpson, but I really preferred the late 1970s through late 1980s era of the NBA. Although I hated the lack of parity, and both the Lakers and Celtics dominance of the league through most of that, the game was far more entertaining to me then.

Yeah, pretty much the same for me. I liked 60's basketball too but back then, there just wasn't much coverage until Phoenix got it's own team.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

The Sports Report: LeBron James nears milestone in Lakers' lackluster victory

LeBron James is nine shy of 40,000 career regular-season points after scoring 31 in Lakers' overtime win over the Spurs.

www.latimes.com

Davis led the Lakers with 40 points and 15 rebounds. James finished with 31, leaving him nine shy of 40,000 career regular-season points.

He’ll likely pass that mark Saturday in a marquee game with Denver.

 

[Chaplin]

Jamal Murray sprained his ankle last night and is dealing with shin splints. Wondering if we see him when we play the Nuggets next week.

 

[GatorAZ]

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[Russ Smith]

I don't think we have a draft thread yet so I'm just going to throw it in here. If he goes pro Myles Rice from Washington State is going to be a first rounder and it will be an amazing story. Kid signed with WSU 3 years ago, hurt himself lifting weights, at least he thought, turned out to be Hodgkins Lymphoma. 2 years completely missed, best freshman in the Pac 12 15 PPG almost 4 assists, very athletic extremely quick, has good size. not a great shooter but not a bad shooter. Has some Tony Parker to his game the way he gets inside and scores.

 

[GatorAZ]

The Celtics are a different animal:
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[95pro]

The Celtics are a different animal:
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You must be registered for see images attach

I saw post on FB from theScore i think it was, saying "do the celtics end the drought this year". I'm like they've got some chips, how much of a drought can they be in, meanwhile the suns....

 

[Phrazbit]

I saw post on FB from theScore i think it was, saying "do the celtics end the drought this year". I'm like they've got some chips, how much of a drought can they be in, meanwhile the suns....

If an area has never seen rain can it be called a drought?