NBA

Am I the only person on this board excited about the NBA starting last night? I think I am one of the few people who still thoroughly enjoys the Association. Thoughts on the league? If you do not follow it, what is your reason?

 

It used to be that the NBA only got exciting as the playoffs approached... then came the great ones.

Now the NBA gets exciting about 2/3 through the schedule... Wake me when we get there.

 

I will Petty. Trust me, I will.

 

I've basically lost all interest in the NBA over the last few years. There's a long rant as to why, but I'll spare you guys that.

 

I want to hear it Cash!

 

didn't they impose a dress code for players off the court recently?

 

Yes, and despite what some say, it was a good thing to implement.

 

i just read it on BBC, my favourite was 'no indoor sunglasses'?!

so why did they do that then?

 

I don't have much interest left in the NBA BUT..

misswitch2, for your information, you are a fan of the New York Knicks.

 

Right, so far i've got:

1) Football (american) = Redskins
2) Football = Fulham (goes without saying)
3) baseball (or rounders) = Yankees
4) Basketball (or netball) = New York Knicks

I'd better actually try and watch a few of these games otherwise i'd just be another plastic fan!! Have I missed anymore American sports that i's a fan of?!

 

believe me misswitch. You'd be one of many plastic Yankees fans.

here's my problem with the NBA.

Back in the late 80's and early 90's when i first started watching the NBA, the big stars at least gave the impression of having an ounce of class. It was great to watch Jordan play Bird, or Bird vs. Magic. What they did off the court stayed off the court.

The target marketing audience in the late nineties changed demographics towards younger and more urban fans. And i didn't follow with the league. David Stern at the time said that fans that did not continue to follow were racist, which I obviously disagree with. Today's NBA is filled with thugs. Players complain about being unable to feed their families with $7 million contracts, Ron Artest jumping into the stands and fighting with fans in Detroit, Iverson being...Iverson. I can't pull for any of these people. Obviously there is still a lot of class in the league, Shaq, Lebron, Tim Duncan, etc. Its the bad ones that ruin the image of the rest of the league.

Stern has realized that he's lost his bread and butter audience in the last few years, which is the reason for the ridiculous dress code rule last week. He wants players to act like gentlemen. I can't see that happening when you grab a player after one or two years of college, and coming to the NBA to get paid, act like an adult.

 

well you learn something new everyday...i susapect that i'll have a chance to learn alot more about american sports while i'm over there for thanksgiving!

 

for the meantime i'd like to think of myself as a fan 'by-proxy' rather than a plastic fan

 

It was done as an effort to clean up the thuggery image of the NBA. Quite a few players, both black and white, were not looking professional at all off the court. Thus, contributing to this image of the NBA as a league many casual fans cannot associate with.

I think the NBA went a little overboard with making players wear suits coming to and leaving the stadium. I think if they would have drawn the line at sitting on the bench and press conferences, the point would have been made.

My problem with comments like Cash's about the NBA is that the media has ingraned these kinds of thoughts into fans all around the country. It is now cool to rip the NBA and not follow it. What people do not understand is that these players are just as good, if not better than those from the past. The team concept is not as prevelant in all the squads, but if you want to win, which they all do, you have to play like a team.

 

I don't disagree Tom. I point the finger at ESPN, sports radio, Fox Sports and the rest of the sports media for putting these guys under the microscope whereas the guys in the past got basically a free pass (Wilt Chamberlain and Magic Johnson come to mind).

In the past though, these things stayed off the court. I agree that the players today are better than they were in the past. I would strongly disagree though that the level of play is any better than it was five years ago. Everyone's concerned about themselves first, team a distant second. More effort is put into developing a persona for endorsement deals and personal stats to meet incentive clauses in the players contract.

This is really the reason that I love a player like Tim Duncan. He's dominant at his position and probably at the peak of his playing career. His unselfish play has rewarded him 3 NBA championships. If there were more players like him and less AI's in the league, I'd watch more games.

 

I'm not much of an NBA fan. I'll pay a little attention at playoff time and I like to keep track of the Georgia Tech guys in the league, but that's about it.

Part of the problem is the fact that the local team, the Atlanta Hawks, are terrible. Nobody goes to those games. It was a running joke on ESPN last season. The announcer would say, "Another sellout crowd at Philips Arena tonight," then cut to a shot of two guys surrounded by a sea of empty seats. If the Hawks were better, maybe I could generate some enthusiasm.

 

I agree with this. It pains me that this is true, but it is. I wish players would quit being selfish and start giving of themselves for the better of the team.

This individualism displayed by most players disappoints me. Unless the true team game is brought back and implemented by teams throughout the league, the NBA will have trouble convincing the average Joe this is a good league.

One of the main reasons for this problem is that ESPN and other such sports media outlets are showing the And One Tour on TV on a regular basis. The game has turned into a show of who can do what rather than a show of which team is better than which. If kids are seeing the And One tour and think this is the way to play the game, they are kidding themselves. If kids would watch a player like LeBron and see how he operates and has a complete game is more unselfish than any player in the league, things would look better for the future of this game as a whole here in the States.

 

The Hawks have some young exciting talent this season with Josh Childress, Josh Smith and Marvin Williams. This is the time to get one board if you ask me. This is what I did with the Bulls. In the last 5-7 years, post Jordan, I really got behind the team. They sucked, but it was fun to see them develop and have the kind of season they did last season.

Give it a go Martin! It is worth it my friend!

On a side note..as a Georgia Tech guy and a native of Atlanta as you are, it was sad to hear about Jason Collier's death. He was a good guy!

 

Off Topic

My friend and I were discussing how long it will take for ESPN to be sucked into the vacuum it itself has created.

As much as it likes to complain about spoiled athletes in the NBA and NFL (T.O) and baseball, they perpetuate the entire process by showering them with attention and coverage. I wonder at what point people will start to tire of the whole process and go outside or read a book.

I currently have on my digital cable (doesn't include coverage by the big four networks)

ESPN
ESPN 2
ESPNews
ESPN College (whatever its called)
Comcast Sports Net (fox sports)
NBA TV
NFL TV
Gol TV
Golf Channel
OLN
Speed Channel
ESPN Classic
(no FSC)

 

RE: Off Topic

ESPN Sportscenter is one of the stupidest shows on the planet. You have morons like Stuart Scott and Scott Van Pelt that are making big bucks sounding like fools with their booyah's and yahtzee calls. It drives me nuts. For sports coverage, ESPNews is fine by me. Even that can get a bit much at times, but I want highlights and stats of a game. Sportscenter rarely shows more than a few stats.

Unfortunately, I do not see ESPN fading into the wilderness anytime soon. They are good with their programming and have contracts with the NBA, NFL, College Hoops, College Football, etc. I like that aspect of the channel, just not the glorification of crap topics and bad figures in sports as is always the case on Sportscenter.

Stuart Scott is probably a proponent of the dress code for the professionalism of it and the anti-tuggery it would represent, yet he is the first to get on the mic and ramble off some stupid ghetto saying that kids will repeat for years to come. Kind of hypocritical if you ask me.