Posted by sidsanders:

busts occur all over... how do you know a guy is ready at any level. you can look at most drafts and see that gems were missed all the time be it hs kids or 3/4 yr college kids. as you noted, its all about the $$$ for ncaa and players/owners at the pro lev.

otjt is good when you can get it and on bad teams its easier to get. its an interesting prob. outside of moses malone and lebron, who was dominating as a rookie out of hs, asking cuz i just cant think of others. both (owners and union) need to work with each other or they will end up ruining it for all involved.

king david is getting his bargaining position ready. it makes sense to try to protect the teams from themselves in his book, as it does for the union to protect itself.

Posted by sidsanders:

busts occur all over... how do you know a guy is ready at any level. you can look at most drafts and see that gems were missed all the time be it hs kids or 3/4 yr college kids. as you noted, its all about the $$$ for ncaa and players/owners at the pro lev.

otjt is good when you can get it and on bad teams its easier to get. its an interesting prob. outside of moses malone and lebron, who was dominating as a rookie out of hs, asking cuz i just cant think of others. both (owners and union) need to work with each other or they will end up ruining it for all involved.

king david is getting his bargaining position ready. it makes sense to try to protect the teams from themselves in his book, as it does for the union to protect itself.

Posted by OffDaMeterzzzz:

I posted this on the Gamepicker thread and felt the topic should be posted on it's own thread. I am curious of the board's thoughts, concerns, and commnents about professional basketball's current era and regime. I feel sympathetic towards todays children who are NBA fans.


Some of my comments and solutions:

1- Bring back the old rules, hand checking, physical defense- it is mandatory that they allow the player's to play again and stop being sissies. The new rules have totally destroyed the league.
Lebron James drives to the hoop and if someone sneezes on him, he looks as if he might cry. This is because the NBA has turned into a gonads coddling phoney valued capitalistic corporate entertainment organization instead of a professional entity focused on team/fan base harmony and winning.

2- I agree with contraction- There are not enough star/good players to match the number of teams. Contraction is a good thing. Subtract 2 to 4 teams.

3- Mandatory age 21 or 4 year post high school limit- That way we can only hope for a Jordan, Bird, Magic, Barkley, Ewing type league again. A mandatory age limit of 21 or 4 year post high school wait might help college basketball develop more stars and will definitely help the NBA go back to it's roots. The Derek Harper (my favorite all time player) interview broke down the current state of the NBA real well. There are way too many kids and babies in the league who are not ready mentally, emotionally, psychologically and developmentally to handle the daily rigor of professional basketball.

4- Bring back the NBA on NBC. Nothing was better or will ever be better. The openining monologues and theme music really set the tone. Marv Albert, Matt Goukas, Fratello were all great. It is not acceptable for the Knicks vs. Bulls games to just be a thing of the past along with the quality of the NBA post Jordan.

I am only 26 and have been watching the NBA since 1987 since the age of 5 (I remember all the players really well and learned the rules on my own over the years) with the Pistons vs. Lakers/Celtics rivalries. In the 80's and 90's and during previous decades, the athletes played because it was their career and they loved it and worked thier a--ses off to win. Now it's all about bling bling, cars, tattoos, $$$, looking cool, dances.

To get the point across- watch the 1990 All Star Game and then watch any All Star game from 2000- on.

The NBA is a joke now and it's unacceptable. All the old school players from 50's to 90's ALL KNOW IT. Bill Russell, Clyde, Ewing, Jordan- probably can't stand what they are watching.

What happened to playing basketball at the schoolyard or park in the day time, going home to watch the NBA on NBC and then coming back outside to play more b-ball and discuss the games with your homies.

Where is Isles?

Posted by OffDaMeterzzzz:

They really do need to put an age limit. I say age 21, or 4 years post high school. That way player's are given the appropriate instruction and time to participate in a professional league. The NFL has a minimum 3 year post high school limit I believe. I know the NBA is not the NFL, but there are very few Lebron's and Kobe's compared to the ridiculous amount of unprepared athletes who have ruined the NBA. Even Kobe and KG struggled mightily their rookie years largely due to their youth and lack of preparation.

There are no more legends in today's game in contrast to the abundance of legends in the past.

Look at the previous stars in the NBA:


Ewing, Jordan, Barkely, Isiah, Malone, Stockton, Bird, Magic, Olajuwon, Drexler, Pippen, Kemp, Payton, Shaq, David Robinson, Miller, Dominique, KJ, Mourning, Worthy, Jabbar, Parish, Mchale, Mutombo, Dumars, Aguire and probably much more that dont come to mind right now.

Today's stars:

Kobe, Lebron, Wade and Duncan- that's it. Noone else to me is that impressive. Stoudemire, Howard and Nowitzki are good player's but not special in my eyes. They don't have any moves or leadership qualities.

The same concept goes for yester year's role player's compared to the current role player's in the NBA.

I agree the game has completely gone soft and the officiating and rules has completely destroyed and taken over the game. It's all the same crap.

Player's now just trade baskets, have no post game, no mid range game, play no defense, no go to moves, no arsenal and reportoire of moves, no hook shot. It's all about looking cool, dunking and spotting up for 3's. When the 3 point line came out in 1979, players avoided it like a disease. Now the players run to the 3 point line more agressive than subway commuters trying to obtain a seat on the train.

Every play is the same. The offensive player dribbles the ball down the court without any pressure or token defense ever; the defender greets him at the 3 point line and always food petals all the way down because they are unwilling to play defense to go along with assimilating to this style to avoid being called for a foul. What happened to working hard to keep your man in front of you? What happened to help/team defense, full court pressure, press, good man to man defense?

Why can't teams (especially the Knicks) play defense when you have college teams that play their hearts out on D and don't even get paid for it.

Why can't teams (especially the Knicks) play defense when you have college teams that play their hearts out on D and don't even get paid for it.

Now you hit it. Why to work hard if you alredy paid? Is'n it why all corporate America went bust?
College players are playing for ther future, NBA players just having fun with their money.

Posted by djsunyc:

let's not forget how UNFAIR the nba is in terms of officiating.

the miami heat should not have won the title in 2006.
the lakers should not have beaten the kings in 2001.
the knicks should not have been suspended in 1997 to avoid the matchup with potentially mj's last season with the bulls.

Posted by tkf:


Just take a look at the amount of FT's wade took in the finals a few years ago.. I think over a 3 game stretch he took over 60 FT's I think.. just disgusting..