Stern smarter than Goodell

[sheepshead]

It's not terribly worse than it was, but I think it used to be a lot better. The team concept, shortie shorts, players who could hit a midrange jumper - like the Ice Man Geroge Gervin, A Tree that bites Danny Ainge, Red Auerbach calling Don Nelson a whore, and Nelson getting fined for it, Kevin McHales' arm pit juice smeared in your face, hook shots from your big men, broken backboards from Chocolate Thunder - That's my NBA!

That's a beautiful thing.

I for one, dont follow the NBA like I used to. The games look like the All Star games used to 20 years ago. Just run and score, little defense. I also have trouble getting excited about guys with no vowels in their names. Guys that we didnt see in the tournaments. Then there's the guys all coming out early so now you dont get to know them in college like you did before. The whole thing has made for an uninteresting show that's difficult to follow and get excited about.

[Scott Campbell]

The decline of the NBA is directly attributable to the retirement of Paul Mokeski

Good ole Speedbump. I wonder what he's up to these days.

[bobblehead]

A parakeet could've successfully run the NBA during the days of Magic, Bird and Jordan. I don't get all the hype for Stern...he's presiding over a product that is losing money in bushels, and where many of the league superstars have some kind of negative aura attached to them. How does that make him a genius?

I disagree. I think most people would have kept the officiating on the up and up and we would not have been so fond of the "winners" that people desperately want to associate themselves with....ie, bird, jordan and magic.

[SkinBasket]

Stern ran the NBA into oblivion in his quest to make it a superstar driven league. Sure, that worked with Jordan around. Without him, not so much.

The officiating is what killed it for me. The Bucks run to the Eastern finals was the last time I too any interest. That whole season, Milwaukee was playing against a 6th man on the floor, wearing black and white, whenever they played one of the "top" teams. I can still recall Malone essentially punching Tim Thomas is the gut to take the ball out of his hands as he drove the lane. And lets not even start on Shaq and kobe and the luxuries they were afforded. In the EF, the Bucks could have vacated the defensive half of the court and Iverson still would have gotten a whistle whenever he drove the lane.Anyway, it felt worse than watching the WWF after being told it wasn't real. It wasn't a conscious decision where I said, "fuck this, I'm mad and not watching this anymore." That season simply killed any interest I had in watching the league, at a time when most Milwaukee fans should have been excited, despite the loss to PHI.

Now I try to watch parts of a game here and there, but it's tough to keep my attention on it for more than a few minutes. The officiating has gotten better over the past 10 years, probably as a result of that official who was caught fixing games or whatever, and also because they didn't hire any more women officials. But the game is just kind of boring. As others have said, without even a semblance of defense, it's like watching a bunch of tall guys play HORSE. It's a shit league.

[pbmax]

It's not terribly worse than it was, but I think it used to be a lot better. The team concept, shortie shorts, players who could hit a midrange jumper - like the Ice Man Geroge Gervin, A Tree that bites Danny Ainge, Red Auerbach calling Don Nelson a whore, and Nelson getting fined for it, Kevin McHales' arm pit juice smeared in your face, hook shots from your big men, broken backboards from Chocolate Thunder - That's my NBA!

Well, the 3 point line took care of midrange jumpers everywhere. So while I may be nostalgic for Steve Mix hitting from Mixville, it will never be quite the same.

I do miss a better low post game. And I place the blame for that squarely on Ralph Sampson*. Should have dominated the low post but wanted to play outside and now every does. A small portion of the blame should also be apportioned to Bill Laimbeer and Brad Lohaus.

*Not really, but this phenomenon is truly weird. 7 footers looking to be wingman rather than settle for shots that have a 75% chance of going in.

[pbmax]

Stern ran the NBA into oblivion in his quest to make it a superstar driven league. Sure, that worked with Jordan around. Without him, not so much.

The officiating is what killed it for me. The Bucks run to the Eastern finals was the last time I too any interest. That whole season, Milwaukee was playing against a 6th man on the floor, wearing black and white, whenever they played one of the "top" teams. I can still recall Malone essentially punching Tim Thomas is the gut to take the ball out of his hands as he drove the lane. And lets not even start on Shaq and kobe and the luxuries they were afforded. In the EF, the Bucks could have vacated the defensive half of the court and Iverson still would have gotten a whistle whenever he drove the lane.Anyway, it felt worse than watching the WWF after being told it wasn't real. It wasn't a conscious decision where I said, "fuck this, I'm mad and not watching this anymore." That season simply killed any interest I had in watching the league, at a time when most Milwaukee fans should have been excited, despite the loss to PHI.

Now I try to watch parts of a game here and there, but it's tough to keep my attention on it for more than a few minutes. The officiating has gotten better over the past 10 years, probably as a result of that official who was caught fixing games or whatever, and also because they didn't hire any more women officials. But the game is just kind of boring. As others have said, without even a semblance of defense, it's like watching a bunch of tall guys play HORSE. It's a shit league.

Yes, yes and no, though I am not sure about refereeing getting better. The home court and star refereeing is abominable. At lease in the NFL the rulebook is completely indecipherable which leads to baffling rulings. In the NBA, its like watching the WWE refs. I think the game is better than in the 90s when Riley tried to kill basketball offense in its crib.

[Smidgeon]

Stern ran the NBA into oblivion in his quest to make it a superstar driven league. Sure, that worked with Jordan around. Without him, not so much.

The officiating is what killed it for me. The Bucks run to the Eastern finals was the last time I too any interest. That whole season, Milwaukee was playing against a 6th man on the floor, wearing black and white, whenever they played one of the "top" teams. I can still recall Malone essentially punching Tim Thomas is the gut to take the ball out of his hands as he drove the lane. And lets not even start on Shaq and kobe and the luxuries they were afforded. In the EF, the Bucks could have vacated the defensive half of the court and Iverson still would have gotten a whistle whenever he drove the lane.Anyway, it felt worse than watching the WWF after being told it wasn't real. It wasn't a conscious decision where I said, "fuck this, I'm mad and not watching this anymore." That season simply killed any interest I had in watching the league, at a time when most Milwaukee fans should have been excited, despite the loss to PHI.

Now I try to watch parts of a game here and there, but it's tough to keep my attention on it for more than a few minutes. The officiating has gotten better over the past 10 years, probably as a result of that official who was caught fixing games or whatever, and also because they didn't hire any more women officials. But the game is just kind of boring. As others have said, without even a semblance of defense, it's like watching a bunch of tall guys play HORSE. It's a shit league.

I pretty much agree. Except my hatred for the one-sided officiating stems from the Lakers, Kobe, and Shaq. They kept being handed games. Made me sick, and I lost interest in following the "sport".

[Upnorth]

Regarding Stern Vrs Goodell, the NBA had its strongest following at one point with Stern in charge, it has fallen to much lower levels since then. Under Goodell there has not been any weakness in the league and I doubt that the lockout will hurt it this year. If the league's strenght dips significantly under Goodell's watch, then we could compare the two, but so far Goodell is winning. Only time will tell so this disagreement can't be settled yet.
As an aside I am not a Bucks fan but they were jobbed in the east finals.

[smuggler]

God this thread reminds me what utter shit the NBA is!

[mraynrand]

You Lakers haters know that it was Fletch - 6'9" with the afro - who won all those championships for LA. Fletch truly defined grace under pressure!

[TheRaven]

*Not really, but this phenomenon is truly weird. 7 footers looking to be wingman rather than settle for shots that have a 75% chance of going in.

I agree. There are a few aspects at play with that..I don't think there are enough big men that played a physical game teaching the game of basketball to younger players. I also think the mentality of young, gifted athletes concentrating on one sport has hurt the physical aspect of basketball perhaps more than any other major sport. Gone are the days where your big men in basketball also grew up playing a tough nosed position on the football team as well. Once they reach a certain height, they are shuttled off to the basketball program. Then taught by coaches that may not truly understand how to teach a big, young athlete to play with that physical presence and they have no other outside influence, such as football, to teach them how to use their size/strength to initiate contact and use it to their advantage.

Look at when Julius Peppers played basketball back at UNC. For a basketball player, his size wasn't great, but he was always a physical presence on the court. He never shied away from using his size and his mentality to bully bigger players.

[Pugger]

To me the NBA isn't a team sport any more. Yes, the officiating stinks but the game resembles a pick-up game with no defense. I find it rather boring.