What is with these NBA players nowadays?

[Nike D'Antoni]

is the defense ass or the offensive talent too good?

You got 6 players averaging above 30. And Durant/Lebron soon enough will join too. You got some crazy numbers this year.

[Full Court]

is the defense ass or the offensive talent too good?

You got 6 players averaging above 30. And Durant/Lebron soon enough will join too. You got some crazy numbers this year.

Just by watching game you should be able to see that defense sucks across the board. A big part of the blame goes to the refs, as they do everything to discourage high pressure defense.

[Wardell Curry]

Rule changes over the years to favor perimeter players.

NBA allowing players to carry the ball more than ever before.

Teams figuring out the value of three point shooting and spreading the floor.

Players probably also think about the game more than ever before.

There's not just one thing.

[FultzNationRISE]

Rule changes over the years to favor perimeter players.

NBA allowing players to carry the ball more than ever before.

Teams figuring out the value of three point shooting and spreading the floor.

Players probably also think about the game more than ever before.

There's not just one thing.


Yeah it’s definitely cumulative.

Defense is pretty much a straightforward athletic endeavor. Move your feet quickly and the longer your arms, the better. Of course awareness is also important but the concepts themselves probably havent changed much in decades. Theres only so many ways to refine defensive positioning.

Offense however is about manipulating a ball, as an individual and as a team. Dribbling, passing, shooting… theres just much more opportunity for continued innovation and refinement. It was bound to get better as the game grew, particularly with the rules being relaxed in accordance to encourage such development.

Once a player does something new and great like MJ, it’s only a matter of time before multiple people end up able to do it (Booker, Mitchell, DeRozan).

You could argue the same with Lebron (Giannis, Luka, Zion) except those guys are nowhere close to him and never will be because he is an eternal perfect King.

But the point is, what was original and extraordinary in the past eventually becomes the standard. A single influence spawns multiple replicas. Thats the way life goes.

[Spurs m8]

The league is currently the worst it's ever been...legit boring garbage

Hopefully the playoffs continue to be okay.

I'm amazed anyone is watching the reg season at the moment

[Jasper]

Rule changes over the years to favor perimeter players.

NBA allowing players to carry the ball more than ever before.

Teams figuring out the value of three point shooting and spreading the floor.

Players probably also think about the game more than ever before.

There's not just one thing.

every time I watch James Harden eyeing up the defense in a half court set , he illegally cares the ball... I mean it is standard fair for him.

[Axe]

Casuals whining about inflated stats these days while not realizing it happened heavily also six decades ago. :ohwell:

[Baller789]

Casuals whining about inflated stats these days while not realizing it happened heavily also six decades ago. :ohwell:

Does that even invalidate their complaint?

[Full Court]

Does that even invalidate their complaint?

But you're using logic on a dingus. :confusedshrug:

[Axe]

:rolleyes: (https://i.ibb.co/hX34jLs/IMG-20221001-103220.jpg)


Does that even invalidate their complaint?
Never suggested anything like that. But nobody seemed to have whined about former star players averaging similar numbers anyway during the league's simple and jurassic days bt.

[ArbitraryWater]

Why woud the defense just magicay get worse?

Payers get better. Stronger, faster, start practicing earier, more rigorousy, more strategicay, etc.

Humanity evoves.

The sport aways gets better.

And since sports are score based and favor the offense / offensive payer, thats where the superiority wi be. With the payer who has the ba in his hand.

[AlternativeAcc.]

Defense has gotten immensely better since the 90s. There's just simply better talent in the league today and offense has evolved quicker.

90s is the worst era ever so it could only go up, buts its orders of magnitude better all around.

90s is the new 50s. Doesn't count.

[AlternativeAcc.]

The league is currently the worst it's ever been...legit boring garbage

Hopefully the playoffs continue to be okay.

I'm amazed anyone is watching the reg season at the moment

Aren't you the guy who lied about watching 90s ball from a cave?

Why do you cling to the lie of knowing anything about the NBA?

Sad existence. Your parents hate you

[Im Still Ballin]

- Increased spacing from three-point shooting
- Freedom of movement rule
- Increased pace
- More long rebounds
- Illegal screening
- Carrying the ball
- Travelling/zero step
- Take foul rule

[plowking]

the playoffs always bring back some level of defense and effort. thats why jokic, harden, booker, mitchell all come back to earth

so would lebron if he could actually make it


Jokic has always performed better in the playoffs…

[Kblaze8855]

Individual defensive effort has improved tremendously from the 80s and early 90s but they play in a league that has openly admitted they set out to open it up. The defensive effort is possibly at its peak in ways but they play with rules designed to put them at a disadvantage.

Let these athletes with this effort and ability to prep play 90s/early 2000s ball it would be a golden era of defense which is what it was right before they changed the game.

They had playoff games 39-52 in the fourth quarter in 03 and 04. They took several steps to do something about it.

So the defense was neutered even as scouting, effort, and athletic ability stayed the same or improved as the league kinda went to playing 4 wings and a big and mostly got rid of the slow bruisers.

The defensive personnel on a team like the Celtics isn’t that far off the 04 Pistons and they are better athletes but they simply aren’t allowed to play like that. Add to it 8 people on the floor who can shoot at most times and sometimes 10 it hurts them even more.

Defensive players are as good or better than ever….but they play in shackles for a league that doesn’t want them to succeed instead of just letting teams play to win the way they want. Too many teams chose to win ugly and the league didn’t like it.

They made it so easy to drive or get open off ball with freedom of movement rules, the “zero” step eliminating traveling, and stricter hand check enforcement that playing “ugly” just gets the other team a parade to the ft line as you lose. So everyone prettied up the play style, sped up, and bought into it.

The ability to play D is there. And the willingness for the most part. But the league doesn’t want the defense to be as good as it would be with todays resources, effort, and athletes so they manufactured a more visually appealing game for casual fans and children.

Long story short…they can play great D. The league won’t let them.

[Baller789]

:rolleyes: (https://i.ibb.co/hX34jLs/IMG-20221001-103220.jpg)


Never suggested anything like that. But nobody seemed to have whined about former star players averaging similar numbers anyway during the league's simple and jurassic days bt.

Why would they whine? Most posters here weren't even sperm cells during that era. And a lot of posters don't even give credit/ undervalue past greats.

[Baller789]

Why woud the defense just magicay get worse?

Payers get better. Stronger, faster, start practicing earier, more rigorousy, more strategicay, etc.

Humanity evoves.

The sport aways gets better.

And since sports are score based and favor the offense / offensive payer, thats where the superiority wi be. With the payer who has the ba in his hand.

So defense doesn't evolve at the same rate as offense?