Are games unwatchable compared to the past?

[Walk on Water]

It

[Rudeboy3]

yes, literally a bunch of dudes chucking 3s

[Marchesk]

yes, literally a bunch of dudes chucking 3s

I like Curry or a hot Klay spamming threes, but when the entire league does it, it gets boring. Remember what 2016 Curry was like and how exciting that was?

[Spurs m8]

For sure.

The style as well as the lack of true competition makes it kind of boring...I defs watch less at the moment...heaps of aussie league...just less nba

[SpaceJam]

So don't watch? :confusedshrug:

[kennethgriffen]

who watches non playoff basketball lol


i might tune into a raptor game once every week or 2 for the last quarter or so...


i don't even watch highlights anymore


i watched about 10 or so laker games this season and got tons of laughs out of it. but that wasn't for the beauty of basketball. it was just to see lebron fail


the regular season died when kobe retired

[keep-itreal]

early 00s and 90s ball are pretty cringe as well. All these random scrubs taking one step inside the 3 pt line just to shoot a long inefficient 2.

Feels so primitive, like why the hell wouldn't you just take a step back and shoot a 3 damn:biggums:

big lumbering centers standing below the rim clogging up the paint and being absolutely useless on offense

[Mr.GOAT2408]

Early-mid 90s and mid-late 2000s were probably the most exciting era for basketball. Wasn't alive for 80s and before but I've seen enough footage to know that the 80s was as much bad defense as it was exciting offense and the league pre 3 ball was just straight up ugly imo

Early 2010s was also pretty exciting to watch, league still has its moments but it's definitely not as exciting as it once was. It's definitely gotten bigger in support in recent years but people that started following missed out on better times

[fourkicks44]

[QUOTE=Walk on Water]It

[jstern]

early 00s and 90s ball are pretty cringe as well. All these random scrubs taking one step inside the 3 pt line just to shoot a long inefficient 2.

Feels so primitive, like why the hell wouldn't you just take a step back and shoot a 3 damn:biggums:

big lumbering centers standing below the rim clogging up the paint and being absolutely useless on offense

Are you a troll?

[SpaceJam2]

It’s getting to the point where a 2 pointer might as well be worth 3 and a 2 might as well be worth 2. The math is not set up correctly for 2s and 3s. You should not be rewarded an extra point just because your foot was past the line. I think that 3s should be farther now. Or they can make it like baseball where the home team and owner design their own 3 point line. In baseball every park has different dimensions. Some right field fences are 310 and some are 340. So how come there’s no set rule? But all courts have the same 3 point dimensions.

https://i.postimg.cc/QM6PjYG7/tenor.gif

[SpaceJam2]

early 00s and 90s ball are pretty cringe as well. All these random scrubs taking one step inside the 3 pt line just to shoot a long inefficient 2.

Feels so primitive, like why the hell wouldn't you just take a step back and shoot a 3 damn:biggums:

big lumbering centers standing below the rim clogging up the paint and being absolutely useless on offense

https://i.postimg.cc/sx3wSprz/tenor.gif

Old era spacing is the funniest shit you will ever see. Just 10 guys playing kumbaya while one guy gets pushed making a layup. It's like YMCA ball and that makes me smile/laugh.

https://i.postimg.cc/nz43C3NT/90s-spacing.png

[r0drig0lac]

It’s all about the 3 point shot now. There isn’t as much specialization anymore. You don’t have then Shaqs, the Hakeem’s, the Duncan’s or the Garnett’s. Even Gianis isn’t a center.

It’s crazy how much Curry changed the game. You really only see a bunch of 3 point shots now. Everyone shoots the 3s. But there’s less of everything else. You don’t see consistent defense or post ups.

The 3 point shot has become the go2 shot. It’s getting to the point where a 2 pointer might as well be worth 3 and a 2 might as well be worth 2. The math is not set up correctly for 2s and 3s. You should not be rewarded an extra point just because your foot was past the line. I think that 3s should be farther now. Or they can make it like baseball where the home team and owner design their own 3 point line. In baseball every park has different dimensions. Some right field fences are 310 and some are 340. So how come there’s no set rule? But all courts have the same 3 point dimensions.

I would say that what changed the game was:
- spurs ball movement (12-14)
- illegal screens
- insane Curry shot
- difference between officiant in perimeter in relation to the game inside

It was not all about Curry (even because without Klay, Warriors would never have been as powerful as it was)

[Prometheus]

Curry is the culmination of this trend, not its forerunner. That would be Mike D'Antoni.

[paksat]

this is the euro league now, not the nba

no post players, constant jacking up of the 3 point shot

[FKAri]

It's always been unwatchable. We were just dumber.

[And1AllDay]

It's always been unwatchable. We were just dumber.

Big facts

[Hey Yo]

I like Curry or a hot Klay spamming threes, but when the entire league does it, it gets boring. Remember what 2016 Curry was like and how exciting that was?
https://media.giphy.com/media/3o6gEfoHWs202X8nio/giphy.gif


https://media.giphy.com/media/TRcclcu2fKcgM/giphy.gif


https://thumbs.gfycat.com/BleakBlushingHalibut-small.gif

[StrongLurk]

Coaches/commentators were stating the mid-range was a lost art in the early 2000's...but things have gone nuclear over the last couple seasons.

I think the best era was actually mid 2000's to maybe 2014ish as far as pure blend/mix of styles.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Coaches/commentators were stating the mid-range was a lost art in the early 2000's...but things have gone nuclear over the last couple seasons.

I think the best era was actually mid 2000's to maybe 2014ish as far as pure blend/mix of styles.
2006 - 2014 ish and 1987 - 1994

[FKAri]

Coaches/commentators were stating the mid-range was a lost art in the early 2000's...but things have gone nuclear over the last couple seasons.

I think the best era was actually mid 2000's to maybe 2014ish as far as pure blend/mix of styles.
Up to the league office. The teams and players will optimize their approach to the rules. This is the better way to play even if it's not as much fun to watch.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

2006 - 2014 ish and 1987 - 1994

Good call.

87-94ish saw a myriad of play styles.

Showtime
Bad Boy Pistons led by Isiah
Larry Bird and those great passing Celtic teams
Jordan and Pippen's duo
Ewing and Oakley's ferocious knicks
Run TMC
Hakeem with 3PT specialists

Every single one of those teams played different. And more importantly? All fun to watch.

[sportjames23]

Good call.

87-94ish saw a myriad of play styles.

Showtime
Bad Boy Pistons led by Isiah
Larry Bird and those great passing Celtic teams
Jordan and Pippen's duo
Ewing and Oakley's ferocious knicks
Run TMC
Hakeem with 3PT specialists

Every single one of those teams played different. And more importantly? All fun to watch.

This. :cheers:

[SouBeachTalents]

Good call.

87-94ish saw a myriad of play styles.

Showtime
Bad Boy Pistons led by Isiah
Larry Bird and those great passing Celtic teams
Jordan and Pippen's duo
Ewing and Oakley's ferocious knicks
Run TMC
Hakeem with 3PT specialists

Every single one of those teams played different. And more importantly? All fun to watch.
Very good point, even through the 2000's/early 2010's you still had variances on play styles and strategy. But today, every single team plays nearly the same

[Indian guy]

GS' 2016 season changed everything. Everybody from 2017 onward tried to emulate their 3pt-heavy, small-ball style of play, which naturally improved offenses (spacing) and weakened defenses (going small). And that trend has only gotten worse with time.

Even up until 2016, the league attempted 24 3pters per game. Not that bad a number. 27 in 2017. 29 in 2018. 32 in 2019. An 8 shot increase in a span of 3 seasons :eek:. To put that in perspective, it took the prior 11 seasons (2006-2016) to see an 8 shot jump in 3PA (from 16 to 24).

Given the extra worth of the 3pt shot, the post-up and mid-range game have become a nonentity. It's all about layups and 3pters now, leading to a distinct lack of variety to offenses. And since it's a copy cat league, everybody tries to play the same way. The product on the floor has clearly become too homogenized. And it's only going to get worse with each passing season. Within 5 years 40+ 3pt attempts will become the norm for every team.

I've never been less interested in watching an NBA game if my favorite player/team isn't involved. While the league is more talented than ever, the product on the floor is boring. Something absolutely needs to change and it needs to start with the 3pt shot. I'm a strong advocate for putting a cap on 3pters to 30 per game (until last 2 mins). This way the 2pt shot begins to take more precedence again, which brings variety back to offenses (and curtails scoring). Loosening the defensive rules a little would also bring balance back to the game. Points have lost so much value this season. 40 points mean nothing today and that should never be the case.

[game3524]

Very good point, even through the 2000's/early 2010's you still had variances on play styles and strategy. But today, every single team plays nearly the same

Bingo.

What makes basketball fun to watch is the different styles. It is amazing how much things have gone downhill in the last couple of years. The other day I was watching some highlights of Spurs vs Thunder from 2014 and it was fun to see to teams with two completely different styles play one another. That rarely happens in today's game.

[Mr.GOAT2408]

Curry is the culmination of this trend, not its forerunner. That would be Mike D'Antoni.
Maybe there was a little known guy before hand that inspired him but Don Nelson probably had the biggest hand in this current league. He was seen as very gimmicky in his day but still wound up winning several COTY titles.

Also was Curry's first head coach in the pros, for whatever that's worth. Seems like a lot of what's been going on this decade (small ball, 3 ball, point forwards) were experiments done beforehand to varying success by Nelson.

[Jasper]

It’s all about the 3 point shot now. There isn’t as much specialization anymore. You don’t have then Shaqs, the Hakeem’s, the Duncan’s or the Garnett’s. Even Gianis isn’t a center.

It’s crazy how much Curry changed the game. You really only see a bunch of 3 point shots now. Everyone shoots the 3s. But there’s less of everything else. You don’t see consistent defense or post ups.

The 3 point shot has become the go2 shot. It’s getting to the point where a 2 pointer might as well be worth 3 and a 2 might as well be worth 2. The math is not set up correctly for 2s and 3s. You should not be rewarded an extra point just because your foot was past the line. I think that 3s should be farther now. Or they can make it like baseball where the home team and owner design their own 3 point line. In baseball every park has different dimensions. Some right field fences are 310 and some are 340. So how come there’s no set rule? But all courts have the same 3 point dimensions.

The three point line changed the game , Curry did not.
Back in the early 2000's teams had bad shooters , and a hand full of SG's could actually shoot.
Many teams used their SG as primary defender... etc.
Then a bunch of college players as well as Euro's came on the scene and started splashing the league. Warriors thought Thompson, Ellis and Curry were the ultimate splash of the league.... Guys like that became coveted.
Last nights Bucks and 6er's game had everything.
Can't find that any more entertaining then that game.
When you see Ebmid and Giannis working the paint , and guys making layups, dunks, and jumpers the game has it all... There were steals and blocks and the game changed all the time.
Stagnant teams try to use the three and some of those bad teams have nothing else , but bad shooters even today.
Warriors are a team that shoots tons of threes , but when the opportunity allows it they will drive to the hoop.. it works for them.