https://x.com/jimmytraina/status/1868694066474717503?s=46&t=ZH1fFGwu8Q0191V3SgsUtQ
If a semi final game cannot outdraw WWE that is a big issue
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Jesse Ventura was freaking awesome though!
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I have thought many times that the three point line should be a circle 6 feet from the basket. The team gets the benefit of a 3 but they have to run plays and play bball to get it. Like Bob Knight used to demand, 9 passes before shooting. Get the highest percentage/ best you can get. A 6’ or layup/dunk is the highest percentage shot. But they have to work to get it. Might require a longer shot clock. But so what.
The NBA and MLB are going down increasingly similar paths IMO, which is why I’ve turned away from both. I lived in Chicago during much of the Jordan era of dominance, and I was a huge Bulls fan. And I’m still a Cubs fan.
My biggest issues with the league and sport at a high level in general:
– Indefinite timeouts. At last check I think teams get about 30 each and an extra 10 in the final minute. There’s 20 seconds left in a game? Call me in a hour to see who won.
– Lack of shooting other than three-pointers, as mentioned above. Even big guys used to be able to hit 15 to 20-footers in the past, now it seems like the average player’s range is about three feet. Which leads me to another peeve, which is:
– Emphasis on dunking. Congratulations, you’re seven feet tall and dunked on a 10-foot rim. I’m 6-feet-2 and fat and can touch the rim, so I fail to see the specialness. I’ve also never seen a sport/league where players are so self-absorbed with making a highlight reel that they’d risk – and sometimes cost --their teams two points by showboating a dunk attempt. What kind of a teammate does that?
– Free throw shooting. One of my best female friends in high school was a 78 percent free throw shooter, and she played in state tournament games with thousands in attendance. The best player in the NBA is 61.5 percent. The league has definitely gotten better in this area, but that was a big turn-off when I walked away from pro basketball.
– Lack of parity. I have no idea why Charlotte and New Orleans continue to field teams. The same team won five straight titles and six of eight. The haves and have-nots are completely obvious 10 games into a season, so there’s little reason to watch Games 11-82.
I could list an equal number of gripes for MLB. You have to let pitchers face three batters, can’t put your defenders where you want and get a courtesy runner at second in extra innings? What TF is that?
We made up more logical rules playing 3-on-3 in my back yard in the 1980s.
And if your team isn’t named the Dodgers or Yankees, good luck winning a World Series ever with the insane contracts teams are currently signing.
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Actually if you watch Travis Steele’s 2 part presser after the Bethany game he comments how people aren’t watching the NBA because of all the threes. Or something to that effect.
Actually the NBA changed the rules years ago which prohibits teams from saving time outs until the end. I think the most you take until the last two minutes is two
Also I think NBA free throw shooting is very good with 27 of the 30 teams above 75%
Also Denver won the title two years ago and the NBA is far more competitive for the small markets than my childhood. Okc- cleveland both with really good teams this year
I think it is too many threes and lack of US based stars.
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For me it’s the lack of a Miami player to root for.
I also think a lot of casual fans would follow their favorite college’s players to their NBA team, but harder to care about a kid who spends 1 or 2 years at your school than 3 or 4.
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I don’t love the aesthetics of today’s basketball as much as pre-analytics but it’s just that…aesthetics and everyone likes different things. As Jive said earlier, college basketball is moving the same direction and there is no arguing with the analytics that 3s, FTs and layups are massivley more efficient than mid-range twos. It would be negligent for a coaching staff to ignore that.
With respect to college hoops vs NBA, I got League Pass about a decade ago and watching a lot of NBA has made college basketball absolutely unwatchable to me (except Miami, only because I’m an alum). The notion that college hoops play more defense than NBA is preposterous. Every year college superstars go into the league and can’t even get their shot off, let alone match the 20+ points they scored in college. And if you watch both a lot, you can’t help but notice the clank clank clank of college hoops. To my eye, it’s brutal.
Full disclosure, I watch less basketball now than I ever have in my life and for me there are a lot of different reasons.
Whichever you prefer is up to each person. You get to choose what entertains you. But to say the quality of college basketball is better than NBA…ummm, no.
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I like the pros more because in high level college you see a really good player maybe one year and they’re gone. I have no idea who best the best players are today in college. Who’s a #1 pick??? At a place like Miami or G5 school it seems you see a good really good player for one year and they portal out of there. No continuity of players great players year to year. Turn on the NBA for most teams and you’ll see players you know and have seen over the years on that one team.
Yes, I did look up current stats and was pleasantly surprised at teams’ FT percentages. Is that due to an influx of Euros, sort of like when Japanese car imports shamed American companies to improve their product?
And five champions in five years is a big improvement on the parity front.
European stretch bigs did play a part, but the big driving factor is analytics. With teams focusing on layups and three pointers, there’s a huge premium on big guys who can stretch the floor, both to make threes themselves and to open up driving lanes to the rim for others. There’s been a big push to bring in guys who can do that and develop it among existing players. Brook Lopez went 0/7 on threes in his first six seasons, but shot 37% on 5 attempts per game last season.
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I am biased and I think the Cavs (my team) is very fun to watch
But everyone is allowed to like what they like. I like MAC football a lot. Most people dont
Some people think womens basketball is more fun than the NBA. I just watched the 2qtr of Miami vs Purdue and honestly believe the top 8 guys that play in the adult basketball league I play in on Monday night could probably beat Miami as long as they had a coach and a week of practice. That top 8 surely doesnt include me
To me, it’s because they stopped advertising a clear message. I know what the NBA is, and how it works. But why should I care?
My hot take on the NBA is that people think the regular season product lacks intensity and creativity because they don’t quite appreciate just how good the average NBA player is nowadays, particularly when it comes to ball handling, passing, and shooting.
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I honestly can’t fathom that anyone who has watched an NBA game at any point in the last decade would have posted this.
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I hate when a player goes to the basket without any body control and gets the benefit of a foul when he runs into another player on defense
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Don’t think this guy is actually in the NBA though, but damn…
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I think they bring him up to the active roster at the last minute, slap on the team’s uniform, and send him out. Rest of the time he’s in the minor leagues
I started following McClung when I read an article about him while he was still in high school. He has been up and down on two way contracts with several teams. Entertaining player. High School teammate of Bradley Dean, who has played previously played a role in his spectacular dunks.
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