Barkley: Top to Bottom, today's league is the strongest its ever been

[mehyaM24]

on ITN a few nights back.. echoing what i've been saying for a while now. the west has never been better and the east is looking stronger than its been in years.

i believe the greatest era per superteams was in the 80s, while the weakest era of all time was the 90s - in today's game though you actually have ALL teams who share the ball and play defense, making most games competitive and fun. a lot more easy on the eyes than watching the dreadful 90s knicks, who's offense was garbage.

[sportjames23]

The status of the Eastern Conference disproves that. This is the weakest the league has ever been since I've been watching (since the mid 80s).

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

One thing I will agree with is that today's league is a lot more fun to watch than the mid 2000s. What a shit fest that "era" was.

[mehyaM24]

The status of the Eastern Conference disproves that. This is the weakest the league has ever been since I've been watching (since the mid 80s).
charles has been watching since the 70s and has actually played the game. i think im going to take his opinion over yours.

the west is a crap shoot. hell even the sacramento kings are competing :applause:

[Warfan]

I think Greg Anthony said something similar the other day too, not sure if I agree though...

[MMM]

I think there is more parity in both conferences. There aren't many teams guaranteed of winning a round much less being penciled into the CF/finals like the last few seasons.

[ArbitraryWater]

The West is definitely the strongest conference of all-time IMO... For the 2nd consecutive year now.

Then you add in another 3-4 impressive teams from the East, the league is in a good position right now.

[DonDadda59]

charles has been watching since the 70s and has actually played the game.

Jerry West has been watching/playing basketball since the 40s and is one of the best basketball minds ever, in a completely different league than Chuck. He says the league is at its weakest point that he's ever seen. All a matter of personal opinion.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327238

[j3lademaster]

charles has been watching since the 70s and has actually played the game. i think im going to take his opinion over yours.he also kissed a donkey's ass because he didn't think Yao could ever score 19 points... Good players aren't necessarily the best evaluators of talent. Who do you want drafting for you, Sam Presti or Charles Barkley? Oh, the guy who never played? Okay.

[VengefulAngel]

Barkley says a lot of crap.

[sekachu]

on ITN a few nights back.. echoing what i've been saying for a while now. the west has never been better and the east is looking stronger than its been in years.

i believe the greatest era per superteams was in the 80s, while the weakest era of all time was the 90s - in today's game though you actually have ALL teams who share the ball and play defense, making most games competitive and fun. a lot more easy on the eyes than watching the dreadful 90s knicks, who's offense was garbage.


What make you think the 90s knicks terrible? Because they couldn't overcome the 90 bulls? Top team like bulls, pacer, heat, magic, sonic, jazz, spurs, houstan and some others good team like piston, cleveland, hawks, hornets, lakers, phoenix make you think 90s suck?

[Dragic4Life]

We have Lebron today, so yeah I agree.

[Shih508]

I like Charles a lot. I hate to say it that he has an agenda here. He's currently working for TNT. If he says NBA is the weakest ever that would kill the TV rating.

[Bosnian Sajo]

The status of the Eastern Conference disproves that. This is the weakest the league has ever been since I've been watching (since the mid 80s).

How do you even type this out without feeling retarded? Have you not been keeping up with this season? Some of yall need league pass in your lives, enjoy the competitiveness that is flowing through the league right now.

[Bosnian Sajo]

The West is definitely the strongest conference of all-time IMO... For the 2nd consecutive year now.

Then you add in another 3-4 impressive teams from the East, the league is in a good position right now.

More than just 3-4 in the East, cmon now. The Cavs, Hawks, Heat, Wizards, Raptors, Hornets, Bulls, Nets...all good teams.

[ImKobe]

Jerry West has been watching/playing basketball since the 40s and is one of the best basketball minds ever, in a completely different league than Chuck. He says the league is at its weakest point that he's ever seen. All a matter of personal opinion.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327238

pwned

[ballinhun8]

charles has been watching since the 70s and has actually played the game. i think im going to take his opinion over yours.

the west is a crap shoot. hell even the sacramento kings are competing :applause:



Except when he criticizes LBJ. Then you won't say anything......

[sportjames23]

Except when he criticizes LBJ. Then you won't say anything......


BOOM!

[mehyaM24]

Jerry West has been watching/playing basketball since the 40s and is one of the best basketball minds ever, in a completely different league than Chuck. He says the league is at its weakest point that he's ever seen. All a matter of personal opinion.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327238


eh, that came earlier last year when the league was depleted with injuries (see: westbrook, rose and kobe). this year, however, is drastically different. there is parody in each conference.. top to bottom.

Except when he criticizes LBJ. Then you won't say anything......
"bigger, stronger, faster version of michael jordan." - charles barkley

:applause:

[Sarcastic]

Sixers might be the worst team in the history of sports.

[AnaheimLakers24]

barkley still mad at the fact he has zero rings

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

More than just 3-4 in the East, cmon now. The Cavs, Hawks, Heat, Wizards, Raptors, Hornets, Bulls, Nets...all good teams.
Charlotte, Nets and Hawks are average teams lol @ good

[stephanieg]

There's a difference between strong and competitive. It's hard to have both parity and super loaded teams. I'm not sure there's any all time juggernaut type teams right now. Even the "stacked" Heat had glaring weaknesses. Healthy playoff Spurs maybe.

Probably depends on what you prefer. Would you rather there be a bunch of pretty good teams who you can't predict what will happen, or a few awesome teams that will clash in the later rounds of the playoffs?

[LAZERUSS]

How many teams have as many as FIVE HOF players..ala the '86 Celtics? Or the talent, top-to-bottom, that the Lakers of the 80's had? Or the overwhelming talent of the early 80's Sixers, or the top-to-bottom rosters of the late 80's Pistons?

Hell, the Heat were considered a "super team" with a Bosh who couldn't make a shot in one Finals' game, and with Wade playing like a 60 year old.

And that was a "super team."

How many HOFers are on Minnesota, Sacramento, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Denver, and probably several more teams that I won't bother looking up. Other than the old Spurs, and this year's Cavs, the best teams today have maybe TWO great players...and that is it. Most only have one, and some don't have any.

[Blue&Orange]

charles has been watching since the 70s and has actually played the game. i think im going to take his opinion over yours.

the west is a crap shoot. hell even the sacramento kings are competing :applause:
Jeff Van Gundy, a former NBA coach said live tv that Tony PArker and Ginobili were having bad games due to Lebron. In his mind Lebron was performing top notch defense on two players at the same time.

There's this disease called Lebronitis that turns people into retards.


There's a team of seniors citizens that aren't two times champions by mere chance, so yeah... weak era.

[Dr.J4ever]

on ITN a few nights back.. echoing what i've been saying for a while now. the west has never been better and the east is looking stronger than its been in years.

i believe the greatest era per superteams was in the 80s, while the weakest era of all time was the 90s - in today's game though you actually have ALL teams who share the ball and play defense, making most games competitive and fun. a lot more easy on the eyes than watching the dreadful 90s knicks, who's offense was garbage.

I think it's a matter of taste, and what specific parts of the game you are looking for. For people who are objective, and with truly no agenda, most watchers might agree with this:

1. decade with most legendary super teams: 1980s.. you will have problems looking for other decades with 4 teams(LA, PHI, Bos,Det) that truly were great teams with multiple HOFers. I will qualify that certain 1980s super teams will have problems adjusting to rules differences and higher shooting efficiencies today from the perimeter(3s).

2. 1990s had better overall defense than the 1980s. The top teams from that decade tried to play the Pistons style and the NY Knicks took it to another level(some say dirty) . If you like post ups, and big men and iso ball, this was your decade. However, the league was diluted. The concentration of talent during the 1980s on certain teams was higher than the expansionist 1990s NBA.

3. I used to believe the 1980s was the all time best during the 1990s. I had trouble reconciling Jordan's greatness to what I considered the best era of the 80s which was the era when I grew up and witnessed the magic of the 1983 76ers season. Fo fo fo was the greatest of all time in my book, but after a while I came to accept Jordan and the Bulls.

Later on, I had to accept the 2000s as well. Today, I can say that in my opinion, today's NBA is the most entertaining ever. The new rules, international flavor in both players and schemes make today's NBA the best from top to bottom, as Charles says.

But that's just me. I could be wrong.:cheers:

[Goldrush25]

Jerry West has been watching/playing basketball since the 40s and is one of the best basketball minds ever, in a completely different league than Chuck. He says the league is at its weakest point that he's ever seen. All a matter of personal opinion.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327238

There will always be a group of "back in my day" type of people who think the current product is shite, no matter what the product looks like.

It does mean something when a past era guy actually gives props to the current league.

[SpanishACB]

I like Charles a lot. I hate to say it that he has an agenda here. He's currently working for TNT. If he says NBA is the weakest ever that would kill the TV rating.

Charles words don't affect TV ratings are you stupid?

Unless of course he says he'll kiss a donkey's ass live and makes a prediction, in which case I can see them going up once he's proven wrong.

[lilteapot]

Charles words don't affect TV ratings are you stupid?

Unless of course he says he'll kiss a donkey's ass live and makes a prediction, in which case I can see them going up once he's proven wrong.
lmao the all-powerful charles barkley

[west_tip]

Agree with Charles.

The Lakers are irrelevant and the Heat superteam has been broken up = parity. The league is much, much more interesting this season.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Gotta love how objective Barkley is. Dude isn't butthurt like most of these old players often are.

[PHILA]

April 4, 2011 (http://www.sportsgrid.com/ncaa-basketball/charles-barkley-nba-sucks/)

Charles Barkley To Dan Patrick: “The NBA Sucks Right Now”

“The draft is designed for bad teams to get better, not to draft somebody who might be good in five years…Look at the NBA. We have a lot of bad teams, a lot of bad teams. They’re supposed to get someone who can help them, not a project. And that’s why the NBA sucks right now.”


February 1, 2012 (http://deadspin.com/5881447/charles-barkley-is-embarrassed-by-the-state-of-the-nba)

Charles Barkley Is "Embarrassed" By The State Of The NBA

"As a NBA fan I want to apologize to the fans, I cannot believe how bad the NBA is right now, I'm a fan first and foremost, watching the NBA right now I'm embarrassed about the product we're putting out there right now. It's no fun for me to watch these games, I feel bad for the fans. There are probably ten teams worth watching on a nightly basis. They have all these built in excuse about it's the lockout. Let me tell you something if these teams played once a week they would still suck. You watch one of these teams and they rested for a week they would still suck."


March 24, 2014 (http://sports-kings.com/passthepill/charles-barkley-says-the-nba-sucks/)

Charles Barkley says the NBA “sucks”

"Clearly, the NBA sucks right now," Barkley said at a Tuesday event prior to his on-air comments. "The NBA is the worst it's ever been. I feel bad for the fans because they are not getting a quality product. All the players are making a lot of money but these fans are not getting quality basketball."