[ChicagoCaseyParticipant]

 I typically don’t want to rant on this site and strickly talk positive when whiting post. But, I’m sick and tired when people try to downgrade this era of basketball. All I hear is how great and perfect the "old" NBA was and how this NBA is trash.because there’s no elite big man, the players are soft, they play no defense, the super teams, opposing players are friends, lack of parity, and that elite players rarely guard each other. When people talk about the 80’s and 90’s they make it seem like it was perfect and that they don’t have the same problems or even worse problems that today’s NBA faces, if it’s even problems. People like to use false narratives when describing yesteryears game.

One narrative that I keep hearing is the argument with super teams and how back in the day that Jordan wouldn’t want to team up with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, and vice virsa, and that there wasn’t no super teams back in the day. Also, the big parity that was the 80’s and 90’s. People fail to add on that when talking about yeasteryears game is that the Celtics had like 5 hall of fame players on the starting lineup in the Larry Bird era. Magic Johnson played with James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Ben McAdoo, and a bunch of other hall of fame caliber players. And Michael Jordon had great teams. It’s not like they those three didn’t win on their own and that they didn’t have any teammates. So the whole "superteams" debate that I always hear that started by LeBron is hilarious because players had super teams back in the day. Also, people failed to realize that Magic, MJ, and Bird played in te biggest markets in the NBA, there were no need to leave to play with great talent like LeBron and KD had to do. And during the 80’s and 90’s, the league was run by the Lakers, Bulls, and the Celtics. They won mostly all the championships.

We have the notion that the NBA back then was competitive, every great player guarded one another, and they actually played defense back in the day. Having bad offense is not being good on defense. To add on to last paragraph, only the Rockets and the Pistons won in the 80’s and 90’s besides the Lakers, Bulls, or the Celtics. You can make the argument that the Rockets only won is due to Michael Jordon not playing during that span. The competition must not be very good if only 3 teams domintated the NBA during the "best era". The notion that back then, elite players guarded elite players is trash. Magic didn’t guard Isaiah, Byron Scott did. Michael Jordan didn’t guard Magic, Scottie Pippin did. You can say with a lot of matchups. We need to stop the superhero-like narritive with this golden era. We put false narratives into that era.

In my opinion, the NBA is fun and have been the best sporting league in the world. People like to say because we already know the champion, which we don’t, what’s the point in watching?. There’s tons to be excited about in today’s NBA, you have the Joel Embiid and the 76ers playing amazing basketball, Giannis and Jabari doing amazing things in Milwaukee, all the point guards going crazy, lack of injuries, Russell Westbrook and James Harden MVP race, and plenty more amazing things that’s going on in today;s NBA.

I alway’s hear Tracy McGrady talking down on this era of basketball like when he was playing was probably the worst time in basketball. You had games ended in the 70’s and 80’s, you lacked star power, and you had the worst shots taken (the fadeaway mid range jumper). It’s crazy to think this NBA is not fun and not fun watching. People can have their opinion, but I believe the NBA is great. Sorry for the rant.

 

 

 

  

[BallerScriptParticipant]

 Media and analytics have heavily influenced a lot of people’s perspectives on the game of basketball and on the NBA. I agree that NBA offensives run differently to how they did in the 80s and 50s but that doesn’t make it any worse does it?

[OhCanada-Participant]

This era is soft. Physical play has been taken away from the NBA game and flopping is at a premium but this era of basketball is still great in its own right. These players are as talented as any era imo.

[Robb_CParticipant]

 Casey, Very interesting perspective.. 

I believe a lot of these old heads are speaking about the game not being the same from players and coaches perspective, not necessarily from a spectators perspective…  I think a lot of the more casual fans struggle to comprehend the fact lots of former players notice more rudimentary offenses, lack of fundamentals and understanding of basketball theory.. 

 

 

[ChicagoCaseyParticipant]

 Yeah I agree with that. But, everyone can see, watch, and compare the game from the early 2000’s and now. It all depends on the perspective and how you want to look at the game. Like, it’s a fact that the three point shot and the layup are the most effective shots in the NBA, but the older heads view the three point shot as a stupid shot. By common logic you would believe that taking more three point shots is better than taking the mid range jumpers, like the older players did back in the day.

[Robb_CParticipant]

Yes, shooting the three ball at 33% is equally effective as a team shooting from the mid range or paint at 50% I can make a convincing argument that the most compromising shot in basketball isnt the three ball but the back to the basket post play.. All that being said, I believe this turbo ball movement of creating as many possession as possible while attempting three balls as much as possible is effective in the regular season.. Playoff Basketball is a different story, this is where coaches are paid to perform.. Majority of the intelligent coaches will kill possessions and shot attempts by grinding in the mid range, unfortunately we have been developing players who struggle to understand this theory.. Phil Jackson is trying to deliver this message to his team right now

[Robb_CParticipant]

The NBA hand checking rule is the result of this explosion of three point shooting teams, If you understand basketball theory you will understand why this holds merit.. The statement players are better offensive talents now oppose to earlier eras is absolutely BS, Our Current ERA Offensive players on the perimeter have exploited the fact that they have more freedom to operate.. Hand Checking was extremely useful for defensive players and if used correctly was an excellent approach to allow players time to recover on defense, as well as forcing shooters to drag off the three point line.

 

[Robb_CParticipant]

Analytics Guys crack me up, The NBA passes a huge fundamental rule change which allows Offenses to roam untouched,  and eventually the Analytics movement comes along and attempts to validate themselves through this rule change.. The Data Geeks act like they cracked the code to basketball, which is hilarious to me.. Bring back the hand check and you’ll see very familiar team offensive numbers to prior eras..

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