Cowherd: The NBA needs a villain

[Lord_Chief_Rocka]

It's especially silly when folks are pining for shyt that has never really been a part of the league. This is what happens when entitled people aren't getting what they want out of the league so they try to prop their displeasure up like it's massive issue holding the league back. When in reality they just don't like basketball like that and the player/team that brought them in ain't poppin no more so something must be wrong with the league.

Basically this. There are so many people who say they used to "Love" basketball.

No you just loved MJ and Kobe. How could someone love basketball and not enjoy the increased ball movement over the last 5 years

 

[Lord_Chief_Rocka]

Im so tired of hearing people trying to find out "whats wrong with the NBA." Nothing is wrong with it. It's beyond fukking awesome right now.

There have been plenty of years of boring basketball. This aint one of those years. Give that shyt a break.

2000-2009 was more boring. The difference is that you had so many great individual players that masked the bad isolation heavy offense.

 

[larryshogunz]

I'm pretty sure it was the same in the 90s but even if it wasn't that was because of Michael Jordan and Michael Jordan only.

And I really don't get why you're comparing the 2? In America, the NFL is the only tv show in the last decade that keeps rising with ratings. Everything is "declining" because the rating system is dated. And people are dropping cable.

Which is interesting because, ratings for football keep going up. Yet...football participation for playing youth/high-school keep going down. What this shows me is that the reason why football ratings keep growing ? Fantasy Football.

There is nothing wrong with todays NBA.

 

[Lord_Chief_Rocka]

Which is interesting because, ratings for football keep going up. Yet...football participation for playing youth/high-school keep going down. What this shows me is that the reason why football ratings keep growing ? Fantasy Football.

There is nothing wrong with todays NBA.

Fantasy is a big part. As for the participation of youth football. Let's be honest the reduction is due to upper middle class white kids switching to sports where they actuall stand a chance like Lacrosse and Soccer

 

[FTBS]

Talent. Those teams in the 90s were deep. You can't say ATL, MIA, LAC, etc has the talent to take out the Warriors or the Cavs with a straight face. Those runner up teams in the 90s were just simply better and entertaining than the ones we have today

And you can't say that those 90s teams had the talent to take out the Bulls with a straight face. The talent in the league just caught up to the expansion that occurred in the late 80s and 90s.

 

[larryshogunz]

Fantasy is a big part. As for the participation of youth football. Let's be honest the reduction is due to upper middle class white kids switching to sports where they actuall stand a chance like Lacrosse and Soccer

That's part of it. I'm currently a varsity football coach down here in SD (aside from my day job). I go to weekend pop-warner games to scout incoming talent and im like "Damn...only 20 kids on each team ???" There is a huge decline nationwide in football participation. Majority of it is because all this concussion/safety shyt that has been going down. Mom's always feared their sons playing football from the get go. Now with all this stuff that has been coming out CTE and Consussions (concussion movie was good...but makes matters worse)...they don't let them play at all (which I think is bullshyt).

A closer look at high school football's declining numbers | The MMQB with Peter King

High school football coaches see fear of injuries draining talent pool

Even some of the most tradition west coast schools are struggling with numbers.

 

[FTBS]

Basically this. There are so many people who say they used to "Love" basketball.

No you just loved MJ and Kobe. How could someone love basketball and not enjoy the increased ball movement over the last 5 years

Who wants to watch teams with multiple stars playing at a high level, playing at a faster pace and putting up points over 85-81, 1 star per team slugfests?

 

[SchoolboyC]

Who wants to watch teams with multiple stars playing at a high level, playing at a faster pace and putting up points over 85-81, 1 star per team slugfests?

The crazy thing about is, older fans used to shyt on the early 2000's basketball. And now we have people who grew up on that era glorifying it and shytting on the next. shyt is all cyclical.

 

[FTBS]

The crazy thing about is, older fans used to shyt on the early 2000's basketball. And now we have people who grew up on that era glorifying it and shytting on the next. shyt is all cyclical.

I am so thankful that I am not bound to one era or player and that I can take a step back and objectively assess what I am seeing and compare it to what I have seen previously. I love the 80s, 90s, the 2000s, and this current era but I am not about to act like any of those periods are something that they are not.

 

[yseJ]

There was no parity when the bulls were dominating and the nba had it's highest ratings then.It was basically who are the bulls gonna face in the finals for 5 years the only years of legit parity were 94 and 95.

The nba in general has always lacked parity the 80's that everybody loves to overrate had the same 5 teams make the finals for a decade

true, but back when Bulls were winning, Jordan was bigger than the sport. people were tuning in to see Mike play, people who didnt know anyone else in the league

this is the first year in the league in a bit when its either Dubs, Spurs, Cavs... and maaaybe Thunder, with no one else not having the slightest of shot. now its true it was like that with the heat, so theres some truth to the villain thing, when everyone was on that 'anyone but heat' bandwagon, but still...

last year people thought it was wide open...people were saying Grizz might go all the way.

 

[SadimirPutin]

First of all the NFL wins because of the combo of gambling, Fantasy Football, scarcity(16 games) and the 1 and done playoff format

The NBA has a longer season and 7 game playoff series format....As such the better team pretty much is guaranteed to win the series and is not prone to the wild cinderella playoff stories that the NFL and March Madness produce

a 7 game series is the toughest gauntlet in sports.....ie you arent getting "lucky" four times plehboi

I can see why a Phoenix Suns fan would care about parity....they arent anywhere near getting to relevance..

When Westbrook and Durant leave OKC(and yes I think that is going to happen)...their fans will care about parity as well

A Kings fan probably just ready to cut his wrist at this point..

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

black men becoming too likable

 

[Collateral]

And you can't say that those 90s teams had the talent to take out the Bulls with a straight face. The talent in the league just caught up to the expansion that occurred in the late 80s and 90s.

The Magic beat the Bulls in the playoffs in 95 with Jordan. The year before that the Knicks beat them without Jordan. Even when the Bulls had Jordan there never really was a clear cut underdog because the teams back then were that good. Unlike today

 

[FTBS]

The Magic beat the Bulls in the playoffs in 95 with Jordan. The year before that the Knicks beat them without Jordan. Even when the Bulls had Jordan there never really was a clear cut underdog because the teams back then were that good. Unlike today

What was the point of posting the bolded .

All the teams at the top of the league today have been beaten in the playoffs recent years as well so what's your point? Not sure what the last part is supposed to mean.

 

[Collateral]

What was the point of posting the bolded .

All the teams at the top of the league today have been beaten in the playoffs recent years as well so what's your point? Not sure what the last part is supposed to mean.

I'm giving you examples of my original point
The list of contenders was deeper than it is today, the individual teams are deeper than they are today, and there was never an underdog. Today, again there are only about 2 or 3 teams besides the Cavs and Warriors that have a shot of beating them thus making the game predictable and with the decrease in talent makes the game boring to a degree