I would agree with that. Of course, I had no real issue with the 'dead puck' era, but I can certainly understand that was not particularly appealing to the average person and not a great way to grow interest in the game. I think the game is in pretty good shape on the ice.
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Originally Posted by DrJones |
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As far as the NBA goes, there are problems, but surprisingly parity isn't one of them at the moment. Most of the American stars are either ancient, injury-prone, or both. Seriously, which US-born players 30 or under qualify as superstars? Maybe Tatum and Booker? Old farts like LeBron, Steph, KD, etc. can't afford to waste their energy on playing 70+ games. Kawhi and AD are made of glass. Ja and Zion are undisciplined losers. The NBA complains about "load management", then increases the playoff field to 20 teams, which further incentivizes stars to sit. The only way to make the NBA season more meaningful is to either reduce the number of regular season games or reduce the number of playoff teams, but that would cost $$$. Thus we get dumb stuff like a consequence-free "Mid-Season Tournament" (sounds like an EA executive came up with it; that's not a compliment!)
My main problem with the NBA is the excruciating foul/timeout/replay/TV timeout sequence at the end of close games. Make me NBA Commissioner, and the 1st rule changes I'd institute would apply to the final 2 minutes of every 4th quarter and OT:
- Each team has only 1 timeout to use, regardless of how many they've used beforehand
- No TV timeouts
- Replays are handled by a remote HQ in New York; decisions must be relayed in 30 seconds, or the call on the court stands
- Once your team is in the bonus, all fouls are 2 (or 3) and the ball
(Of course, as soon as I've made those changes for the betterment of the game, I'd promptly be fired for the resulting loss in ad revenue.)
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You've got my vote. Not that it's an elected position...
The issues with the NBA are legion. Can't even collect them all in 1 post. But I suppose a common through-line to all of my issues with the league is that in the so-called "player empowerment" era, the league seems to run for the sole benefit of the players, not the fans. I suppose that would be fine if it led to a better product on the floor, but that doesn't appear to be the case (and viewership seems to back that claim). The downstream effects of players having all the power in the league has functionally led to unlimited and untimed free-agency (effectively), which means any player can go to any team they want, at any time, without regard to their contract (see: Anthony Davis, James Harden, Dame Lillard, Kawahi, etc. etc. etc.). This leads to:
a) lack of fan attachment to teams/stars (why invest when a guy will just be gone the next year? who is even gonna be on my team next year?)
b) lack of real rivalries in the league (why hate Harden - you might be teammates in 6 months)
c) lack of serious competition for 80% of the league year (a player is concerned about their own career moves 1st, their shoe deal 2nd, playing with their buddies 3rd, and maybe the team 4th if you're lucky...)
d) de-valuing of individual NBA games (the players and coaches are flat-out telling you with their actions that the regular season games do not matter - let me know when Mahomes or Hurts just sit a game out when they're perfectly healthy for no reason)
e) de-valuing of winning an NBA title (to some - many? - the perceived legitimacy of the "Superteam" era titles does not seem to be as hard-won as, say, the Pistons titles in '89/'90, or any team from that era. Leveraging your star power to team up with the Superfriends to win an insta-title seems a little less than Dostoyevsky-esque in its struggle/scope).
There's a whole lot else to say about this, but since this is the hockey thread I'll just stop myself now. It will be interesting to see how much money the NBA is able to pull for their next media rights deal, though - somehow, for reasons I can't comprehend, the value of sports media rights seems totally uncoupled from viewership. Hard to understand that business model.
Somewhat back on-topic, who's the first coach (not named David Quinn) to get canned this year?
11-09-2023, 03:53 PM
