I guess where what i am getting at is this. Why was there such a jump from 70s to 80s that we haven't seen since? Was there as large of a jump as meets the eye, or are there other factors which make the game look more modern and the players look better after the 70s?

Knixkik wrote:As we are in the dog days of the off-season, i have watched a lot of random Hardwood Classics on NBA TV recently from all eras 70s thru 2000s. The interesting thing i noticed is how much the game jumped from the 70s to the 80s. As i'm watching various games in the 70s, i see guards primarily dribbling with their right hands, only switching to their lefts out of necessity, and frequently glancing at the ball while dribbling. Jump shots were just as consistent back then, much a majority of the shots taken are open shots from 10-18 feet, with a slower release. The game was more mechanical. Big man had the strength and touch back then, but lacked the modern athletic ability and length we are used to seeing. Many of the best rebounding big men were 6'6 or 6'7 PF's. This seemed to hold true up until the end of the 70s. As soon as we get a couple years into the 80s, and guys like Bird and Magic are dominating the league, the rest of the league seemed to follow suit. Players were taller, more athletic, and had a much more modern feel. You get the feeling that most stars in the 80s could still be good players in today's game, whereas that's not the case in the 70s, with some exceptions of course. Guys who put up crazy numbers in the 70s such as Kareem, put up more modern equivalent numbers in the 80s.

I guess where what i am getting at is this. Why was there such a jump from 70s to 80s that we haven't seen since? Was there as large of a jump as meets the eye, or are there other factors which make the game look more modern and the players look better after the 70s?

you should watch more games from then. immerse yourself. you're not seeing the game in the context of the era. consider how many of the rules have changed.

Great example was Pistol Pete. Dude was skinny and lanky with no explosion.
If the NBA had the 3pt shot his numbers would have been much higher. Saw him hang 63 pts on the knicks AFTER his knee problems started.
Clyde could not stop. He might have had 85 pts if the 3 was in place.

jrodmc wrote:I think almost everyone actually spent alot of time playing defense back then.

Defense may have been solid but ball movement was better. The guys got more open 10-15 foot jumpers back then than they get now. But ball movement was excellent.

Knixkik wrote:

dk7th wrote:

Knixkik wrote:As we are in the dog days of the off-season, i have watched a lot of random Hardwood Classics on NBA TV recently from all eras 70s thru 2000s. The interesting thing i noticed is how much the game jumped from the 70s to the 80s. As i'm watching various games in the 70s, i see guards primarily dribbling with their right hands, only switching to their lefts out of necessity, and frequently glancing at the ball while dribbling. Jump shots were just as consistent back then, much a majority of the shots taken are open shots from 10-18 feet, with a slower release. The game was more mechanical. Big man had the strength and touch back then, but lacked the modern athletic ability and length we are used to seeing. Many of the best rebounding big men were 6'6 or 6'7 PF's. This seemed to hold true up until the end of the 70s. As soon as we get a couple years into the 80s, and guys like Bird and Magic are dominating the league, the rest of the league seemed to follow suit. Players were taller, more athletic, and had a much more modern feel. You get the feeling that most stars in the 80s could still be good players in today's game, whereas that's not the case in the 70s, with some exceptions of course. Guys who put up crazy numbers in the 70s such as Kareem, put up more modern equivalent numbers in the 80s.

I guess where what i am getting at is this. Why was there such a jump from 70s to 80s that we haven't seen since? Was there as large of a jump as meets the eye, or are there other factors which make the game look more modern and the players look better after the 70s?

you should watch more games from then. immerse yourself. you're not seeing the game in the context of the era. consider how many of the rules have changed.

I have seen plenty of games from that era over the years. I understand the context of the era. I am comparing the skill levels to 10 years later and i see a significant gap, and significant growth in that timeframe which we haven't seen since. Rule changes aside, ball handling was a noticeable thing to me. Guys struggled to handle the ball when you compare to the following eras/decades.

the main difference is the arrival of magic johnson, and then michael jordan. what changed with johnson's arrival was a loosening of the palming rules-- if you notice from film, he would back down a shorter defender from the center circle and kept the ball on the opposite side of his body, with a high dribble and a blatant palming action. this allowed him to control the ball and see over hi defender. by allowing that palm, it was a short jump to jordan a few years later, who took palming to another level, this time not only palming in a backdown motion but palming on faceups and crossovers.

so with david stern as commissioner starting around the same time as bird and johnson, the game was forever altered.

this to me is the main difference, and although the players started to get bigger and taller, the skill level went down a bit, and plummeted further during the jordan era, who was also allowed to travel, and further still with ever more palming and traveling.

if you read walt frazier's great book "the game within the game" you can rediscover from an all-time great how many of the skills surrounding ball-handling have eroded, and to the detriment of the ultimate team game.

In Tennis John Isner at 6-10 is the highest ranked American (13) and others are coming.

Better athletes from better training and a larger sample of taller people. With the increase in wealth in China and a population ONE BILLION MORE than ours its just a matter of time before a superstar emerges in a sport. Yao Ming was fabricated from genetic altering and thus was not able to sustain his career.