Is this SAC-DAL game pissing anyone else off?

[Radja]

Re: Is this SAC-DAL game pissing anyone else off?

basketball was just about unwatchable in the 90's. that was not good defense. that was ugly basketball where you were allowed to mug guys. they took away the finesse and the strategy and turned it into a two man game of boredom. who can forget those amazing heat knick barnburners? 70-69 with 34% shooting and both teams getting 30+ FT attempts. oh the memories.

the league screwed up when they marketed players only (jordan 24/7) and did not market the league and rivalries like the nfl and mlb. because of that now they have suffered with decilining national interest in their search for the next jordan.

they further blurred the lines of credibility over the end of the 90's with blatant superstar calls and questionable officiating. while there are die hard fans in certain cities and demographics, a vast majority of the nation dont care and consider the NBA to be the WWF. when players end up with broken hands and noses without getting the call, you have a problem.

they are doing what they need to do. go back to basketball they way it is supposed to be played. they are enabling the casual fan to see the things that make the game exciting. they are getting the fans to look at teams rather than simply a player. they need to develop fans of the franchise, not simply fans of the player.

there are some NBA fans, lakers.. kings...knicks and a few others, who will follow their team no matter who wears the jersey. but by and large, most do not have much of a following. in order for the league to really prosper again, they need to develop a form of the type of following the NFL has. the NFL draft is still more popular nationwide than the NBA playoffs.

unlike baseball and football, the nba does not have historic rivalries outside of celtics vs. lakers. and no historic does not mean the past five years of kings vs. lakers or anything of that nature, either. the other sports have devoted followings. the nba does not even come close to the loyalty of the other two.

dont discredit some of the talent that is playing the game now. when you watch some of these teams today like dallas, sac, seattle and phoenix, how are you supposed to gaurd them?

novitski can shoot on anyone under any circumstance. even when the kings forced him into a double team contested fade away, he made it.

i for one am looking forward to this evolution of the league because it may mean a more watchable form of basketball.

[Playmakers]

Re: Is this SAC-DAL game pissing anyone else off?

I'd take Dirk's game in any generation or era of basketball.....

[Playmakers]

Re: Is this SAC-DAL game pissing anyone else off?

I'd take Dirk's game in any generation or era of basketball.....

[RahKhem]

Re: Is this SAC-DAL game pissing anyone else off?

This isn't a microcosm of the league obviously, but to me, it is still bad defensive basketball. It is not about the teams being more talented offensively, it is about the effort exerted on defense. Uncontested layups in halfcourt sets is not offensive talent, it is defensive laziness. San Antonio is proving that even with the increased enforcing of hand-checking, good defense is STILL good defense. As for saying that the players now could not compete with the players in the 80s, name one person in the NBA in the 80s that could guard Lebron James or Dirk Nowitski effectively. People are faster and longer nowadays, a LOT of these players now would see significant playing time in the 80s. You should actually watch some older games and see how slow the game was back then compared to now, its a totally different game.

[RahKhem]

Re: Is this SAC-DAL game pissing anyone else off?

This isn't a microcosm of the league obviously, but to me, it is still bad defensive basketball. It is not about the teams being more talented offensively, it is about the effort exerted on defense. Uncontested layups in halfcourt sets is not offensive talent, it is defensive laziness. San Antonio is proving that even with the increased enforcing of hand-checking, good defense is STILL good defense. As for saying that the players now could not compete with the players in the 80s, name one person in the NBA in the 80s that could guard Lebron James or Dirk Nowitski effectively. People are faster and longer nowadays, a LOT of these players now would see significant playing time in the 80s. You should actually watch some older games and see how slow the game was back then compared to now, its a totally different game.

[Playmakers]

Re: Is this SAC-DAL game pissing anyone else off?

This isn't a microcosm of the league obviously, but to me, it is still bad defensive basketball. It is not about the teams being more talented offensively, it is about the effort exerted on defense. Uncontested layups in halfcourt sets is not offensive talent, it is defensive laziness. San Antonio is proving that even with the increased enforcing of hand-checking, good defense is STILL good defense. As for saying that the players now could not compete with the players in the 80s, name one person in the NBA in the 80s that could guard Lebron James or Dirk Nowitski effectively. People are faster and longer nowadays, a LOT of these players now would see significant playing time in the 80s. You should actually watch some older games and see how slow the game was back then compared to now, its a totally different game.

I agree with you regarding Dirk and LeBron but as for the defense by these two teams it's not only Dallas and Sacramento. I would say their are only really 2-3 very good defensive teams in the NBA. Your basing this theory off of watching these two teams well the entire league gives up uncontested layups. I think bad offenses generate good defenses aswell and thats the case with the Eastern Conference. Most of those teams seem better defensively because look at the offenses they are playing. Teams in the East can't shoot straight and as a result the scores are lower and FG% are down compared to the West. I do know this that if you watched the Kings and Mavs in their playoff matchup last year everyone was shocked by the defense those two teams played in the first round against each other. The scores were in the low 90's and both teams actually buckled down and put forth more of an effort. They don't have that since of urgency during the regular season because quite frankly these two teams can win just by outscoring you.

It's ironic though that you should criticize Dallas defensive effort because they have improved this year. In fact they rank in the top 10 in defensive fg% and they are #1 in defensive 3-pt fg% which means they are making an effort to challenge shots this year. The problem is Dallas for years has been an offensive juggernaut that their defensive #'s this year have gone unoticed. At one stretch during a 10 game coaching stint with Avery Johnson at the controlls the Mavs allowed only 1 opponent to score over 100 points and held 6 of those teams to less than 40% shooting. A prime example of their defensive improvement could have been seen first hand two weeks ago against Miami when they literally shut down Shaq and the Heat in the 4th qtr holding them scoreless for over a 6 minute stretch in their come from behind win. Also they are 26-0 when leading after 3 qtr's which is the NBA's top record when it comes to having a lead and holding it.......thats defense not all offense.

Also on a sidenote Josh Howard had 4 steals and he limited Peja to 9 points. Howard always gets lost in the shuffle because people aren't very familiar with him but he's a very good defensive player for Dallas and he always draws the other teams top offensive threat from KG to D.Wade the Mavs will put Howard on just about anyone other than Duncan or Shaq.

[Playmakers]

Re: Is this SAC-DAL game pissing anyone else off?

This isn't a microcosm of the league obviously, but to me, it is still bad defensive basketball. It is not about the teams being more talented offensively, it is about the effort exerted on defense. Uncontested layups in halfcourt sets is not offensive talent, it is defensive laziness. San Antonio is proving that even with the increased enforcing of hand-checking, good defense is STILL good defense. As for saying that the players now could not compete with the players in the 80s, name one person in the NBA in the 80s that could guard Lebron James or Dirk Nowitski effectively. People are faster and longer nowadays, a LOT of these players now would see significant playing time in the 80s. You should actually watch some older games and see how slow the game was back then compared to now, its a totally different game.

I agree with you regarding Dirk and LeBron but as for the defense by these two teams it's not only Dallas and Sacramento. I would say their are only really 2-3 very good defensive teams in the NBA. Your basing this theory off of watching these two teams well the entire league gives up uncontested layups. I think bad offenses generate good defenses aswell and thats the case with the Eastern Conference. Most of those teams seem better defensively because look at the offenses they are playing. Teams in the East can't shoot straight and as a result the scores are lower and FG% are down compared to the West. I do know this that if you watched the Kings and Mavs in their playoff matchup last year everyone was shocked by the defense those two teams played in the first round against each other. The scores were in the low 90's and both teams actually buckled down and put forth more of an effort. They don't have that since of urgency during the regular season because quite frankly these two teams can win just by outscoring you.

It's ironic though that you should criticize Dallas defensive effort because they have improved this year. In fact they rank in the top 10 in defensive fg% and they are #1 in defensive 3-pt fg% which means they are making an effort to challenge shots this year. The problem is Dallas for years has been an offensive juggernaut that their defensive #'s this year have gone unoticed. At one stretch during a 10 game coaching stint with Avery Johnson at the controlls the Mavs allowed only 1 opponent to score over 100 points and held 6 of those teams to less than 40% shooting. A prime example of their defensive improvement could have been seen first hand two weeks ago against Miami when they literally shut down Shaq and the Heat in the 4th qtr holding them scoreless for over a 6 minute stretch in their come from behind win. Also they are 26-0 when leading after 3 qtr's which is the NBA's top record when it comes to having a lead and holding it.......thats defense not all offense.

Also on a sidenote Josh Howard had 4 steals and he limited Peja to 9 points. Howard always gets lost in the shuffle because people aren't very familiar with him but he's a very good defensive player for Dallas and he always draws the other teams top offensive threat from KG to D.Wade the Mavs will put Howard on just about anyone other than Duncan or Shaq.