Don’t blame the players for load management, blame NBA teams

[mbewane]

I mean, I've been more anti-modern NBA than pro on here. My original post was more a criticism of the current NBA than a support of it.

I think with how much offense is favored (they can initiate contact and draw a foul 90% of the time), load management, the emphasis on 3 point shooting, etc. kind of give the game a very YMCA feel to it that have turned many away.

That's all what I'm trying to understand. Because on one hand brehs (not meaning you) keep telling us that this is the best era of the NBA, best parity, best talent ever from top to bottom on every roster, best offenses being played, best defensive schemes etc...but if that were true then there's no way a team could feel that they don't need to compete for 82 games in order to be in the playoffs.

I feel the same about the bolded anyway. There's still great games being played (just yesterday Boston-Philly) but overall all those elements aren't it.

 

[mastermind]

So you're saying that teams don't have to "go all out" in the RS in order to be a championship contender in today's NBA. OK.

The graph that was posted before shows that you had more players, and more STAR players, playing more games 20 years ago. Why were they playing more games back then? Is it because :

A. You needed to "go all out" in the RS back then in order to secure a (good) playoff spot, meaning competition was tighter than it is now?
B. Players wanted to play more, meaning...they loved the game more?
C. They were in better physical shape/received better treatment?
D. ?

They went all out because sports medicine wasn’t as advanced then and teams ran players into the ground.

As we evolve we are supposed to work smarter, not harder.

 

[nieman]

Everything has already been said but I'll point out once again that NHL players do not load manage and they play the same schedule at the same time. Their careers are not being cut short either.

I said it before, but NHL players are more passionate than basketball players.

We watched Ben Simmons sit out a season, just because his feelings were hurt. It asinine to think the players don't have as much power.

 

[IIVI]

Imagine if the 90's Bulls were load managed the same way from 1991 on

 

[nieman]

And saying blame the Spurs, but Tim Duncan was still playing 75+ games. His minutes were just going down.

 

[CrimsonTider]

They went all out because sports medicine wasn’t as advanced then and teams ran players into the ground.

As we evolve we are supposed to work smarter, not harder.

how is not playing games smarter?

 

[mastermind]

how is not playing games smarter?

You are not a sports scientist. You don’t like reading anything that isn’t related to bird R&B music and Alabama sports, or black people being incarcerated. And you aren’t an nba fan.

Nothing will convince you otherwise.

 

[CrimsonTider]

You are not a sports scientist. You don’t like reading anything that isn’t related to bird R&B music and Alabama sports, or black people being incarcerated. And you aren’t an nba fan.

Nothing will convince you otherwise.

You didn’t answer my question. Where is the data to supports healthy player sitting out games makes a difference

 

[mastermind]

You didn’t answer my question. Where is the data to supports healthy player sitting out games makes a difference

You aren’t looking for an answer. You never are looking for an answer. You blatantly don’t care and enjoy being a troll.

You aren’t even an nba fan.

 

[concise]

And saying blame the Spurs, but Tim Duncan was still playing 75+ games. His minutes were just going down.

If you can understand guys sitting for a whole 4th quarter of a game when they're not hurt, you can understand sitting them out for a whole game also.

 

[mbewane]

They went all out because sports medicine wasn’t as advanced then and teams ran players into the ground.

As we evolve we are supposed to work smarter, not harder.

So you're saying the stars in this graph were forced to play 82 games and were "ran into the ground". I don't remember these players having their careers cut short because of injuries as opposed to battling Father Time (except Baron Davis, who was injury prone since college) but ok.

Anyway the point still stands : in today's NBA management feels they can afford to pick and choose which games their star players are needed. That's either an indication of the level of competition ( I don't need my best guys on the court) or an argument against an 82 game season (since it's "smarter" to not have your star players play all the games).

 

[mastermind]

o you're saying the stars in this graph were forced to play 82 games and were "ran into the ground". I don't remember these players having their careers cut short because of injuries as opposed to battling Father Time (except Baron Davis, who was injury prone since college) but ok.

I would think playoff numbers that year are a better thing to compare.

 

[mbewane]

I would think playoff numbers that year are a better thing to compare.

I mean mathematically half of the players are sent home after 5 or 6 games every year, so not sure why. Even more so that we're talking about load management in the regular season, load management isn't a thing in the playoffs. Yet.

 

[mastermind]

I mean mathematically half of the players are sent home after 5 or 6 games every year, so not sure why. Even more so that we're talking about load management in the regular season, load management isn't a thing in the playoffs. Yet.

No breh, I said I would look at playoff numbers to see if there was a drop off from the regular season.

 

[mbewane]

No breh, I said I would look at playoff numbers to see if there was a drop off from the regular season.

All right then, let us know what they look like. I don't remember those players having significant drop-offs but maybe they did. Or if they did maybe it had something to do with opposing defences and matchups, who knows.