NBA discussion thread

Originally posted by darth_royke
i do think a majority of people watch teh nba for dunks... but you have to remember these teams have been supported for years, and have a huge fan base behind them. with the wnba it'll take a while for people to start realising theres some decent talent there.

however, the WNBA is decreasing in popularity, and i dont think it will gain it back until they do something. And keep in mind, the NBA in the 60's and 70's was one of the least popular sports. Many called it a "sissy" sport. But in the 80's with magic, jordan, and dr. J, it became more popular. And now, its one of the nation's most popular sports. Why? because back then they didnt do fancy moves and dunks, but now they do it all the time, and now they even designate a whole weekend for it: Allstar weekend. They have the slam dunk competition and the skills competition with all the dribbling around the NBA logos and making passes inside hoops. Back then, the allstar games were meant for the east and west to try their hardest to win. Now, its all about having fun and showing off your best moves which you normally cannot do in a real game. These days, nobody really cares who wins, its all about goofing off and having a blast. and thats what is bringing more fans. the fans dont pay money to watch a bunch of serious players trying to win in the most ethical and boring way. no, they want to see the highlights. they want entertainment to its greatest.

NBA season starts in 62 days. Im starting a countdown.

Rza, welcome back dude. Good to see you posting again.

The World Champs, USA should win it all. They have the talent but i agree they do lack outside shooting. A good team like Argentina or Spain that play an aggressive zone will give them problems. They have players that can make the 3 ball but nobody that makes a living doing it like Allen or Redd. Melo, Hinrich, Bron and Johnson can all shoot but not as consistently as some of the other countries shooters. The USA team's defense has been great at creating turnovers but against a good team that can break the press consistently they will have to play solid half court D and i havent seen them do that yet. I like Johnson in the team, he is probably the most complete player they have. He does everything well but players like Bron, Wade and Melo do specific things much better. I love CP3's game, he reminds me of a young Isiah Thomas (forget his GM history, dude could flat out ball) the way he runs the team and gets them easy shots. He and Hinrich have impressed me the most defensively, they really get after it. Im picking a USA victory in the final against Argentina, providing the US can run some high percentage plays against the Argentinian zone. If they just jack up 3's all day they will lose.

Onto the WNBA, i watch a few games but it does lack a certain something. I am usually so desperate for some hoops this time of year i find myself watching but i wouldnt call myself a fan. The one player that impresses me the most is Deanna Nolan from the Detroit Shock, she plays SG and is more athletic than some NBA players. The height she gets on her jumper is ridiculous and on a 8.5 ft rim she would probably be dunking in traffic. If they want to jazz it up i think lowering the rim to allow more dunks would be a great start, its not the be all and end all of the game but nobody can deny that dunks are exciting and make you jump out of your chair.

Lastly Rec, i feel your pain. I wish the season would just start already.

Thank you my friend. I was gone on holiday for a while.

I think Argentina will definitely test the US team but I still feel like they'll have enough to pull it out. Gotta like the depth on that team and how coach K does a good job of rotating the players to keep them fresh but I still would've like to have seen a pure shooter included in that squad, again Redd, Allen, Gordon, etc.

As far as the WNBA goes, lol...I feel your pain when it comes to no hoops but man I just can't get into it at all. It's just not for me. I agree they have to do something to make it more exciting. I'm glad there's at least FIBA to lessen the void a bit this time.

Anyone checkout the official schedule yet for the upcoming season?
Any thoughts? Any particular games your really looking forward to?

Personally, I can't wait till Halloween night!

Lakers vs Suns opening night should be fun, providing Amare is still less than 100%.

Suns will destroy them.

Here's a question for you guys. If you could change or get rid of any rules in the NBA what would they be?
I would bring back handchecking and get rid of all the flopping and simulation thats going on. Last year was terrible for flopping and it seems that the refs are none the wiser because they keep falling for it. Some players dont even have to be able to D up anymore, they just wait for any contact (or even worse none at all) and hit the deck like they've been shot. It really pisses me off and i'd like to see it cleaned up this year, but judging by the antics in the World Champs it seems to be here to stay.
Handchecking needs to come back, its too easy to get to the basket now and too many fouls are called on the perimeter. It just disrupts the flow of the game and makes it a free throw contest. Even the best defenders cant be expected to totally keep their hands off of the player, look at the old school lock down defenders like Dumars, Jordan, Pippen, Rodman and Michael Cooper and they played honest physical defense. Nothing dirty just defense the way it should be.
Anyway thats my rant, what do you guys want to see changed?

I agree, I'm so tired of seeing guys flopping and purposely sneaking under guys when they go up for dunks in an effort to draw the charge. Not only does it take away from the game but it can also cause a serious injury. I especially got tired of this during the finals watching Posey do it like every single time. I thought he should change his name from Posey to Pussy, C'mon man give me a break just play good solid man-to-man D and stop with all that pussy ass floppin around.

I like the way they use to hand check in the old days, when the defender would put a hand in your face and you could just slap it away, like I remember Jordan doing on many occasions. That was pretty funny.

"STOP THE FLOP!"

Who's with me?

YAYA!!

OMG, the biggest upset, Greece beat the US! Totally unexpected. And Spain beat Argentina by 1. I think Greece is winning the whole thing, how bout you guys?

The WNBA just lacks the character that the NBA has. The league needs to make an ajustment so that it is unique.

There are a few games in particular that i want to watch. 1. i always see VC's return to toronto (i laugh at the booing fans) 2. big ben's return to detroit (i think some fans will cheer, but most will boo because of the abrupt decision to CHICAGO, their rival) 3. Shaq vs. Kobe, you cant miss those games.

If their was one rule that i had to pick, it would be the stupid "offensive interference" rule. I can understand defensive goaltending, but offensive? to me, if the guy puts the effort to box everyone out on offense and reach up and tip the ball in, he deserves the 2 points, whether the ball was above the cylinder or not. Hand checking too should be allowed.

But i dont know about flopping, because you hate it when the team you hate does it, but you dont mind if the team you're rooting for does it. For example, when jason collins guarded shaq in the net vs. heat series, sometimes those charges were flops, but SOME were actual charges, where shaq out of frustration pushed collins. And you know how coaches are say, "be brave and take the charge," well is the league going to ban it and say, "even if your feet are set and you're still, its still a block, because you cant intentionally take a charge." I know i hated it when posey was doing it, but not when collins was doing it, because sometimes shaq did intiate the contact.

Good to have a nice conversation during this sluggish offseason. btw kool, im counting down all the way.

NBA season starts in 61 days.

USA once again went down, this time Greece beat em 101-95 in the FIBA World championship, i dont know about anyone else but i find this embarrassing once again. Just explain to me how a team consisted of the so called savior of the league- Lebron, Dwade, Carmelo, and shit load of other NBA superstars can lose to Greece. ill tell you why...No Kobe. I knew from the time kobe had the surgery that if he wasnt playin the US wasnt gonna win anything. I cant wait for him to join up in the olympics. I just hope that more peeps can join up for the team. I would have rather had Kobe, Tmac, and Carter rather than lebron wade and melo. I know the US did dominate all of its opponens but to lose to Greece...lol @ them losing at all. Kobe Tmac and Carter would have given us the Gold no doubt in my mind

It's kind of like when a bunch of people bring their pets together and still expect them to obey their commands.

Firstly, i brought this up in the NBA Disscussion thread, you dont have to bring it up in a different thread. and there are not gonna be many replies, because the US is only playing one more game and thats it, there's nothing else to discuss. so i dont think its gonna last long, but w/e.

Second, the US could have easily beaten Greece, and its not a matter of if kobe plays or not. LeBron, Melo, and Wade, and the rest were there. but this game against Greece, they got complacent, they relaxed. they didnt play there full potential and Greece took advantage of that. They probably took too many 3's without driving much, and you know in the NBA, nobody can stop LeBron. not even detroit could contain him in the playoffs, even though they barely won. So, if those 3 tried their best, it would have been a comfortable win for the USA. I guess the team was a little too inexperienced to win. thats all. its not like kobe, t-mac, and carter would automatically win it for the US. The way they cremed every other team, I think this was one of the best USA teams ever, even though it ended in a disapointment.

first off, even though its composed of nba players, usa basketball(olympics) has nothing to do with the NBA.
Second...there is always gonna be US basketball, not just this year, but next and then there is the olympics, but this is just where you discuss all of that, maybe a mod needs to change the title to olympic basketball or something
third...how is this one of the best us teams ever...they lost. talent wise maybe but you cant say there one of the best if they didnt win the gold. you sayin there one of the best is actually an insult to the US since they lost

Whatever, you can still put it in the NBA thread because thats pretty much the only place to dicuss anything basketball.

Anyways, is it any surpraise they lost?
Also, can you really believe a team with James, Kobe, McGrady and Carter could win the championship?

why the hell not?? i actually just said tmac kobe and carter, but james is just an added bonus...but i would think they need a good point guard like jason kidd to run the show

In my opinion, this is the 2nd best team we've sent to an International competition, excluding the 92 Olympic team.

Why they didn't win? ...don't have an answer, except for maybe inexperience. It's odd too since they dismantling everyone. Just goes to show you that merely showing up doesn't automatically give you a "w". Had they really tried (like Recspecs has mentioned), they would have won. But, that's just my opinion. 😬

The '92 team was never going to lose, even if they were to play today. And it's because they didn't make a big deal of it. They were sweet, and they knew it, and they had fun rather than feeling a bunch of pressure to win.

We obviously have the most talent, but apparently team chemistry is hard to come by in this age of showmanship and "superstar" status. 🙄

But I think it's great. Pro basketball is so overrated, it's sick, so the loss kinda made me laugh. I have American pride and all, but somehow I don't think my apathy toward a bunch of overpaid 20-somethings is un-American.

its like, we had shooters and all but i think the places we were lackin was the center position, even though they were blockin shots and experience, which is why when kobe joins the team we'll be unstoppable. o yeah a real veteran PG, no disrespect to chris paul, one of my favorite players *wake forest fan* but he just lacks the experience, he had a great season but it was only his rookie season. Did Jkidd even get an invite??