Myth Of The NBA Playoffs?

[Deleted]

I am a HUGE basketball fan and a reluctant NBA fan (I love the game too much to ignore the world's top league).

That said, is it just me or is this whole conventional wisdom of "oh, the game is so much better come playoff time" a bunch of bunk? The last thing the NBA needs are slower games, more hack-filled defensive struggles, more slow-it-down-and-wait-for-the-shotclock-to-run-down-to-four pick-and-roll offenses...

... I love hoops and want to love the NBA, but these games are so painful to watch. Granted, not every team plays this way, but most do. And its boring hardcore fans like me out of the building.

Anyone else? Am I alone on this? Imagine the athletes of today playing the open style of ball pre-"Bad Boys." There's no reason EVERY NBA GAME shouldn't be 100-something to 100-something.

[the_way]

Buff, you are not a hardcore fan. You are a casual fan. If you like the Phoenix Sun style of basketball, then you don't like real basketball, man. Defense and the "Bad Boys" and Pat Riley style of play is what wins championships, man. You need defense. This is basketball, man. How can you be a Hoya fan, and not like this deliberate style. ;D Those 100-something to 100-something games are for the casual fan.

But its not even that. The game has declined, IMO. The product isn't as good. The players aren't as good. They aren't as fundamentally sound or smart. That is why you see teams like the Spurs and Pistons as favorites, because they do all those things that use to be the standard in the NBA. The players of today are more athletic, but the rule changes and the youth movement has made it declined. Young guys take a couple of years to develop and thy don't get the fundamentals in college. No more man-to-man, no more hand-checking. I mean just watch that Cleveland-Washington game. Where was the defense?

[williambraskyiii]

oh snizzap

[MCIGuy]

My only complaint with Buffalo's argument is that college fans are willing to overlook in the college game the flaws they see in pro basketball. College teams can't shoot either. College teams don't play good defense. College teams may play slow, ugly, boring, low scoring basketball without fans and the media being critical of them doing so. I could go on and on. The truth is that the NBA takes more unfair shots from fans and the media than any sports league. They say the season is too long (check MLB and the NHL). They say many of its players are punks (check the NFL). They say the regular season games are often unexciting (check out EVERY sports league). Its non-stop bashing of the NBA and its done by a bunch of people who have no appreciation of the sport and its players. Its more about perception than reality. For example Iverson is taking a lot of abuse by a bunch of media types and sports fans who don't keep up with the NBA and were essentially silent on AI when he had almost two straight drama-free seasons. But as soon as he slips up all of a sudden the media wants to talk about Iverson again because now they get a chance to bash him. And they make statements that he is uncoachable. So two years of giving his last two coaches problem-free seasons as well as being the one stand-up guy on the last Olympic team is immediately wiped out by his showing up late to "fan appreciation" (one of those new favorite buzz terms) night. What a joke.

By the way the NBA was better in the 80s. But so was college basketball and the NFL.

Do you want to know the real myth? Its that the NBA games are only good or interesting when its the playoffs. Who came up with that garbage? People who have something against the league or at best indifferent towards the league. Last season there was a regular season game between Phoenix and Seattle that was better than any college basketball game I have seen in ten years. If there were more NBA friendly guys in the media those great regular season games would be discussed and praised more. But the guys in the media don't care. ESPN only seems to hire people who are NOT fans of the NBA, at least that seems the case for ESPN Radio. If you listen to ESPN Radio there are now only two major American pro team sports: NFL and MLB. Outside of those sports, the college team sports and golf, the radio hosts don't have passion for anything. And don't give me any excuse about ratings because if that was the case NASCAR would get a whole lot more attention on ESPN Radio.

[Deleted]

Oh, I agree with you MCI. Like I said, I'm a hardcore NBA fan. I'm not one of these bash-when-convenient dopes, because like you I know the college game ain't what it used to be, either. I love hoops and spend a decent amount of cash on the NBA every season. I also agree with your points about all sports having their faults (too long of a season, punks, etc).

I wasn't trying to bash the NBA in my post, but the conventional wisdom is that once the playoffs hit its suddenly a much more enjoyable game. All the writers and talking heads try and throw that one by us, and I just don't see it. My point was just that the "problems" in the NBA that drive casual fans away (I'm talking about ON-COURT PRODUCT, not the "thugs" or other image problems) are exacerbated in the playoffs: clutching-and-grabbing on defense, slower pick-n-roll isolation (in my opinion, not creative) offenses, and so forth.

And it frustrates me because these are supposedly the best of the best in the WORLD when it comes to hoops, and the way the game is played today suffocates what could be a leauge of uber-exciting stars who have the freedom to create at-will. I would KILL to see today's players play in a game called under the rule interpretations of a decade ago. Of TWO decades ago. You can play great defense without mauling your man, but unfortunately its become a league-wide epidemic.

I don't mind a slow-down, hide-our-weaknesses college offense because there's such a greater dilution of talent across the land (plus, we're talking about kids), but the same makes the pro game tough to watch. There are plenty of people who stay away because they don't like the "punks" and "spoiled millionaires" (which is dumb, 'cause all sports have those problems), but there are as much - if not more - who stay away simply because they don't like the product.

In my opinion, the NBA should start worrying more about its on-court product before they alienate too many fans who are bored by this. Its what happened to the NHL, and they're just now getting their act together with the new rules, stricter enforcement, etc. And its made for a much more exciting game and brought a lot of casual fans back (well, lots I personally know of who'd tuned out a bit in recent seasons). If the NBA really wants to get back to the Jordan-era level of popularity you hear Stern and others talk about, I'd start by taking SERIOUS steps to open the game (none of this, "no tolerance on hand checking" which goes away mid-season).

[Deleted]

Oh, and MCI... I'm TOTALLY with you an Illy. He's just one of those guys - right or wrong - that people only seem to want to talk about when something even remotely negative happens (and some of it, he brings it on himself).

At the very least, thanks for your INTELLIGENT response. I was worried _way's garbage was going to be the only one.

[MCIGuy]

The interesting thing about Jordan and the Bulls is that during their second three-peat, they too got to a point of playing slowed down, clutching ball. The only reason why it was acceptable or considered exciting was because the perception that every game Jordan was part of was spectacular. Nonsense.

Buffalo, I have been buying these DVD sets that include entire boardcast of Classic NBA games on DVD. The first I purchased was the Jordan 20th Anniversary. It has a collection of all those best selling Jordan videoes that came out in the 80s and 90s. Those are okay but the true gem of the set are the five games on DVD (one of them being Jordan's 60 point outburst against the Celtics in the post season).

The second DVD I purchased was the Larry Bird edition. It too had his video perspective transferred to DVD but it were the three games in their entirety that made me pick it up.

I'ne just ordered the New York Knicks DVD which includes six to seven games. The others that are on sale as of now that I must but are the Sixers edition, the Lakers edition and the Bulls edition. Its fantastic to see classic NBA games. There's nothing like it (even though my fave sport is college hoops). I wonder what team or player the NBA will choose to honor next. Magic? The Pistons?

You're right about the on-court product of the current game. Like Bob Ryan I believe it has gotten better the past two seasons but there is still a long way to go. That's why I love Phoenix. D'Antoni is a God. With no disrespect to Steve Nash the reason why the Suns are blossoming so much has more to do with D'Antoni's system than it does Nash (who is my MVP for a second straight year by the way). I wish Iverson was as lucky to have a coach like that.