Jerry West is a fan of contraction

[J.R. Locke]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

I love the NFL with almost every game mattering.

Like the ones where players rest their starters for two weeks?

Basketball is much more like baseball in comparison to the season. It is a marathon not a sprint like the football.

[J.R. Locke]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

Nothing new, expansion killed all three of the major sports in this country. Glad some people are speaking up about it though.

Can you explain how it killed it? By all accounts every league is doing better than before.

How would having better players sitting the bench make the league better? There are only 48 minutes. You can really only have a 8-9 man rotation. I am baffled at how things have changed that much.

You guys do realize that population growth does occur therefore there are more males than before.....in fact if you would look into the actual numbers I would almost bet that there are in fact much more athletes and NBA quality players than previous generations. Statistically I would venture to say that the 30 or 45 extra players they have added don't even compare to the numbers of eligible players proportionally that we could have had in the late 80's.

You guys sound like Glenn Beck mythologizing the days gone by.

I do agree that 82 games is probably too much. But I think they should split the season up and make basketball year round. With more breaks in between stretches in the season.

[tehova]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

For a less sarcastic but more selfish answer. Basketball should indeed be year round, I enjoy watching basketball every single night of the year, I think small scale.

To me all basketball games are equal,
others love the finality and excitement of the playoffs

[BJNT]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

I'd rather see the amount total teams reduced in the playoffs from 16 to 12. With the top 2 teams of each division making the playoffs only.

[P2K]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

Can you explain how it killed it? By all accounts every league is doing better than before.

How would having better players sitting the bench make the league better? There are only 48 minutes. You can really only have a 8-9 man rotation. I am baffled at how things have changed that much.

You guys do realize that population growth does occur therefore there are more males than before.....in fact if you would look into the actual numbers I would almost bet that there are in fact much more athletes and NBA quality players than previous generations. Statistically I would venture to say that the 30 or 45 extra players they have added don't even compare to the numbers of eligible players proportionally that we could have had in the late 80's.

You guys sound like Glenn Beck mythologizing the days gone by.

I do agree that 82 games is probably too much. But I think they should split the season up and make basketball year round. With more breaks in between stretches in the season.

Because there are more athletes doesn't mean they can play.

Some of these teams are terrible because they have awful benches. Guys that have no business being in the league. The dilution of talent is so bad, Jonathan Bender was brought back.

As for the amount of games, 82 games suck to alot of people because the product is bad. It's bad enough with the talent so spread out, then add the wasting away of fundamentals, isolation play awarded, while being punished for playing defense...fans start to care less.

[mvb34]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

Contraction is not the answer. Reducing the games would be better. Cut the time teams play back to back and three times in four days would help.

[P2K]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

Contraction is not the answer. Reducing the games would be better. Cut the time teams play back to back and three times in four days would help.

I don't understand the reasoning here. Reduce the games all you want, there will still be a dilution of talent.

Cut back the teams. That would make benches better league wide, which leads to better play overall.

[J.R. Locke]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

Because there are more athletes doesn't mean they can play.

Some of these teams are terrible because they have awful benches. Guys that have no business being in the league. The dilution of talent is so bad, Jonathan Bender was brought back.

Like Greg Kite and Rick Carlise? Think back to those great Lakers/Celtic teams. The 9-12 guys were stiffs!!!

It is fine to say that there should be contraction but lets not pretend that the NBA was getting the best athletes like they are now. Historically the NBA was struggling to maintain players.

[mvb34]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

I don't understand the reasoning here. Reduce the games all you want, there will still be a dilution of talent.

Cut back the teams. That would make benches better league wide, which leads to better play overall.

Reducing the number games you get more practice time. Less back to back games the better the quaillty of regular season games....

[slimm44]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

Keep the season the same length, contract the 4 or 6 teams that generate the lowest revenue and make those players free agents or have some sort of draft. Every team would be deeper and more competitive and it would bring a crazy amount of excitement to the rest of the teams/cities. Imagine today's rules and athleticism with teams that have depth like those in the 80's. It'd be silly.

[J.R. Locke]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

Imagine today's rules and athleticism with teams that have depth like those in the 80's. It'd be silly.

Tell me one of those eighties teams that had more depth than the current Lakers team?

Still only 48 minutes and so many shots.

[Fiasco West]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

No matter how many teams you have, there will still be crappy teams.

I don't see how contraction would help(competition-wise), you'd just be putting better players on the bench.

It's too bad this doesn't work like Soccer, where horrible teams get relegated down, so then at least, teams like the Nets and T'wolves would have something to fight for.

[mvb34]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

No matter how many teams you have, there will still be crappy teams.

I don't see how contraction would help(competition-wise), you'd just be putting better players on the bench.

It's too bad this doesn't work like Soccer, where horrible teams get relegated down, so then at least, teams like the Nets and T'wolves would have something to fight for.

They have something to fight for now John Wall...

[slimm44]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

Tell me one of those eighties teams that had more depth than the current Lakers team?

Still only 48 minutes and so many shots.

The Lakers are solidly 6 deep if you count Fisher, 5 if you don't. I think he's a solid, veteran point guard, but is he even a top 10 pg in the league now? Past that, they have some solid players for today's league, but I'm not sure Sasha, Farmar, or Brown would have gotten much burn on the championship squads. So they really have Kobe who is a superduperstar, Gasol who is a very good PF alongside Bynum who is a young but good center, Artest who is a very good defender and capable scorer, and Lamar Odom who is good but no where near great. Aside from Kobe, only Artest and Gasol have been all-stars, and they have 3 appearances between them. I didn't look earlier than 85, but here is a non-comprehensive list from 85 on.

85-86 76ers
Pick from the Celtics teams
Pick from the Lakers teams
85-86 Rockets
86-87 Hawks are iffy, but possible
Pistons from 86-87 on
Cavs from 87-88 on
Knicks in 88-89 and 89-90
Suns in 88 and 89
87-88 Bulls
Blazers from 87-88 on

If you want, I can list key members from each team and all-star appearances for the teams I listed also.

[P2K]

Re: Jerry West is a fan of contraction

I don't see how contraction would help(competition-wise), you'd just be putting better players on the bench.

Annnnd that wouldn't make teams better?