NBA Thread

[Walking Boot of Doom 18,170]

I think the NBA has become more and more about a business and less about the game of basketball.  It's been trending that way for years and it's frustrating to watch a good thing turn to what it has become because of $$$.

 

How many players have actually been injured in these events?  I know, one risk is far too great for the entertainment of the fans who spend all that money... greed.  Agreed, it's an opportunity for "specialists" to showcase their talents i.e. the guys who can jump really high but are afraid to compete against guys who do it all year. 

The money season ticket holders pay and fans pay to watch an entire season of a healthy player is way more than an All-Star weekend ticket. No point in even risking it - there’s no value. Plus, the dunk contest has had a revitalization in recent years. It’s been extremely entertaining.

 

I think you’re forgiving/glorifying the past while being overly pessimistic about the present. Availability bias. This game has never been about the game of basketball - it’s always been a business to make money.

 

That said, the NBA is in a golden era currently. That certainly doesn’t mean there aren’t minor flaws, flopping, that need to be addressed. We’re watching an era of the NBA where you have the Warriors and Rockets changing the way the game is played, dominating the West, any team LeBron is on becomes a Title contender in the East, young exciting teams like Philly, Boston, blossoming Minnesota, a large number of prolific players all playing at once and many competing in the playoffs, and young wizard coaches like Brad Stevens developing. The NBA also seems to have one of the best community oriented relationships between the commissioner, owners, players, and fans of any of the professional sports leagues.

 

My choice is to look at the overwhelming tide of positives - it’s more fun that way!

 

 

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[HoosierAloha 30,058]

I enjoy certain teams and style of play.  I think a large portion of it is also a joke.  That's the only way I can grasp some of the calls/no calls that take place in every.single.game. 

Back to the question though.  How many players have been hurt in the dunk contest or 3-point contest?  Wouldn't there be a greater chance they would be hurt in the actual All-Star game?  They shouldn't play in that game if they have the chance of getting hurt and not fulfilling their promise to the season ticket holders and other fans. 

[Walking Boot of Doom 18,170]

26 minutes ago, HoosierAloha said:

I enjoy certain teams and style of play.  I think a large portion of it is also a joke.  That's the only way I can grasp some of the calls/no calls that take place in every.single.game. 

Back to the question though.  How many players have been hurt in the dunk contest or 3-point contest?  Wouldn't there be a greater chance they would be hurt in the actual All-Star game?  They shouldn't play in that game if they have the chance of getting hurt and not fulfilling their promise to the season ticket holders and other fans. 

We're not going to get anywhere with that.

 

Why do you want to change the dunk contest? What about it don't you like? This year you had DSJ, Vic, and Mitchell, all young stars with awesome dunking ability, participate. 

[mdn82 25,510]

I didn't think his dunks in the mcdonalds dunk contest were all that wild, personally. He jumps high and dunks them hard, but watching them now it's just kinda mehh. At least in the context of a dunk contest. He's more of a power dunker than a flashy one. 

[/url] Excuse the awful quality lol.

 

Oh you are fine man. Part of it was him showing his athleticism vs his peers. Those power dunks were insane. Look at how much height he got on them. He is one of maybe 2 or 3 that was physically ready out of high school. You could see it then and in the game. He had no business being in college and I am glad they didn’t have the one and done rule when he came out. He was better than 70% of the pros coming out.

 

 

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[HoosierAloha 30,058]

4 hours ago, Walking Boot of Doom said:

We're not going to get anywhere with that.

 

Why do you want to change the dunk contest? What about it don't you like? This year you had DSJ, Vic, and Mitchell, all young stars with awesome dunking ability, participate. 

So is there an example of someone getting injured during the dunk contest or 3-pt contest?  (trying not to complain but it seems like some don't want to answer straightforward questions)  I honestly have no idea.  I believe Drew Brees got injured during the Pro Bowl but that was the actual game, not a specialist event. 

This year was fine and I like the idea, as mentioned before, of young stars participating.  It would have been cool to see some of the previous stars do it when they were young as well.  It's kind of cool to add that to your list of personal accomplishments, at least for competitors.

I believe it would do a few things; showcase professional dunkers and push young stars to invent/try new dunks.  What would be the downside to it?  You would have your normal dunk contest, a separate "professional dunkers" contest which could be held outside or at a different time, and the winners face off for the fans.  Would one more dunk for one player be too much of an injury risk?

[Hoosierfan2017 21,160]

2 hours ago, mdn82 said:

Oh you are fine man. Part of it was him showing his athleticism vs his peers. Those power dunks were insane. Look at how much height he got on them. He is one of maybe 2 or 3 that was physically ready out of high school. You could see it then and in the game. He had no business being in college and I am glad they didn’t have the one and done rule when he came out. He was better than 70% of the pros coming out.

 

 

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If/when they get rid of the one and done rule I hope they set it up to where kids can then go to college if they don't get drafted. I think a lot of kids would try it, but few of them are physically ready for the NBA.

Take someone like Romeo for example. I think he'd probably try to jump to the NBA out of high school, but he's not ready imo. He needs that year of college. A guy like LeBron though? Yeah, he was definitely ready. He had a grown man body coming out of high school. 6'8 240 pounds, and he looks little in pictures from back then compared to now haha. 

[mdn82 25,510]

If/when they get rid of the one and done rule I hope they set it up to where kids can then go to college if they don't get drafted. I think a lot of kids would try it, but few of them are physically ready for the NBA.
Take someone like Romeo for example. I think he'd probably try to jump to the NBA out of high school, but he's not ready imo. He needs that year of college. A guy like LeBron though? Yeah, he was definitely ready. He had a grown man body coming out of high school. 6'8 240 pounds, and he looks little in pictures from back then compared to now haha. 

The crazy part was how he looked back then vs the other high schoolers. He looked 30 back then.


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[Hoosierfan2017 21,160]

This is a really interesting article. 

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23456720/is-lebron-james-michael-jordan-greatest-nba-player-all

 

[HoosierAloha 30,058]

If I'm drafting a team to win a championship I'm taking Jordan one.  If I am picking a player on a 1v1 tourney I'll take James. 

James:  physical presence that can do a bit of everything

Jordan:  scoring, elevating teammates, mental and heart

(This isn't complaining is it?)

[mdn82 25,510]

This is a really interesting article. 
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23456720/is-lebron-james-michael-jordan-greatest-nba-player-all
 

Yep, I like at the end where he said Jordan was better at his best while Lebron will have the better statistical career. That goes back to what I was saying its preference. It’s not as cut and dry as it was two years ago due to that Golden St series. I can see why people would pick Lebron. I wouldn’t, and part of that was seeing Jordan at his best. Jordan’s best got the Bulls more titles whereas Lebron will have longevity in numbers. I thought it was a good article too.


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[Hoosierfan2017 21,160]

22 minutes ago, mdn82 said:

Yep, I like at the end where he said Jordan was better at his best while Lebron will have the better statistical career. That goes back to what I was saying its preference. It’s not as cut and dry as it was two years ago due to that Golden St series. I can see why people would pick Lebron. I wouldn’t, and part of that was seeing Jordan at his best. Jordan’s best got the Bulls more titles whereas Lebron will have longevity in numbers. I thought it was a good article too.


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I thought the end was really good too. Sums it up pretty well. What do you think Jordan's peak years were? At least statistically the few years before the titles seem to have been his best ones. 

[Hoosierfan2017 21,160]

1 hour ago, HoosierAloha said:

If I'm drafting a team to win a championship I'm taking Jordan one.  If I am picking a player on a 1v1 tourney I'll take James. 

James:  physical presence that can do a bit of everything

Jordan:  scoring, elevating teammates, mental and heart

(This isn't complaining is it?)

I'd say "do a bit of everything" is quite the understatement... LeBron has been his team's outright leader in points, assists and rebounds in a playoff series 20 times. No one else in NBA history has come close to that level of production. The next closest is Tim Duncan... Who has done it 6 times.

If you'd rather pick Jordan in a draft then that's fine, but everything else Jordan had in his favor wouldn't come with it. No Scottie Pippen, no Phil Jackson, no expansion teams. That's why I would pick LeBron #1 if I was drafting a team to win a championship in a vacuum. We've seen LeBron go deep into the playoffs with pretty bad rosters. We've never seen it from Jordan. That's not to say that he couldn't have done it, or that it's his fault that it didn't happen. I understand he faced some very tough teams early on. Just that if I'm picking a team in a vacuum I'm taking LeBron #1 because I know what he's capable of doing with a bad supporting cast. 

[mdn82 25,510]

I thought the end was really good too. Sums it up pretty well. What do you think Jordan's peak years were? At least statistically the few years before the titles seem to have been his best ones. 

Honestly from 87-98 minus the year he retired and year he came back at the end and lost in playoffs wearing 45. He was most dominant right before and during the first run. You could tell he was running down at the end of the first and then his dad got killed. When he came back the athleticism wasn’t the same but he got that consistent turnaround. It wasn’t just attacking the rim.

 

 

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[HoosierAloha 30,058]

Serious question here:

How do you see the conference finals going?  How would you like to see the conference finals going?

[Hoosierfan2017 21,160]

46 minutes ago, HoosierAloha said:

Serious question here:

How do you see the conference finals going?  How would you like to see the conference finals going?

I see Cleveland and Golden State both winning pretty easily.. I think Boston and Houston might get a game each.

I would like Cleveland to lose, though. I think there's no way for Houston to beat Golden State, and the only way Cleveland beats Golden State is if they suffer injuries. So, I see no point in LeBron putting together another all-time Finals performance just to lose and hear the "3-6 in the finals, he sucks" stuff. He averaged 33.6/12/10 last year but still gets crap for losing. The same talking heads that were gassing him up in the eastern conference playoffs last year went straight to "oh this is a black mark on his legacy, losing this series means he'll never be better than Jordan", etc. I would rather him not even make the finals, honestly. It would be a wasted effort. 

[mdn82 25,510]

Serious question here:
How do you see the conference finals going?  How would you like to see the conference finals going?

Honestly I know you weren’t asking but it’s interesting. Cleveland talent > Boston. Brad Stevens way > Lue. Lebron is having his best playoffs ever. I have no rooting interest either way so I don’t care. I am curious however to see how BS sets up his defense. Curious to see if Tatum can get Love in foul trouble. Intriguing series for sure. I think Cleveland in 6.


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[VO5 8,272]

46 minutes ago, HoosierAloha said:

Serious question here:

How do you see the conference finals going?  How would you like to see the conference finals going?

I’d prefer the Celtics to sweep and the Golden State-Houston series go to 7. That series is the real finals anyway, and everyone knows it. Whoever comes out of the east has pretty much no chance against the Rockets or Warriors, so I want to see that series live up to the hype.

[KingPG21 6,583]

3 hours ago, HoosierAloha said:

Serious question here:

How do you see the conference finals going?  How would you like to see the conference finals going?

GSW in 5. Boston in 6

[HoosierAloha 30,058]

3 hours ago, mdn82 said:

Honestly I know you weren’t asking but it’s interesting. Cleveland talent > Boston. Brad Stevens way > Lue. Lebron is having his best playoffs ever. I have no rooting interest either way so I don’t care. I am curious however to see how BS sets up his defense. Curious to see if Tatum can get Love in foul trouble. Intriguing series for sure. I think Cleveland in 6.


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It was an open ended question to see how things shake out.  I'll be interested to see what the gameplan coach Stevens comes up with.  Do you try and shutdown LeBron and risk some of your better players getting in foul trouble early or let LeBron get his and take away everyone else?  Could you possibly create tension by doing the latter?

[HoosierAloha 30,058]

3 hours ago, VO5 said:

I’d prefer the Celtics to sweep and the Golden State-Houston series go to 7. That series is the real finals anyway, and everyone knows it. Whoever comes out of the east has pretty much no chance against the Rockets or Warriors, so I want to see that series live up to the hype.

Agreed, I've heard that the best team typically wins the playoffs but I think the two best teams are in the West.  I could see Cleveland getting the sweep or Boston only taking a game while the West goes to a game 7.  It might make the Finals a bit closer by I still expect Houston or Golden State to win it.