2009-10 NBA Basketball

[tomalak301]

I have a question. Why isn't the NBA as popular (Not just here but it seems like it's gone down a lot as a major sport in the US) as it was before? Granted, there is no Michael Jorden or the Dynasty of the Bulls, but it seems like the NBA has just gone down the tubes in terms of the attention it gets lately. Hell, the season starts tonight and does anyone really care? I know Football is King and the World Series (Which should have been over 2 weeks ago) will start soon, but the NBA has really become an after thought.

I admit, there is a part of me that still doesn't like what the NBA has become. It seems like they take a step foward, and something like the Brawl in Detroit takes a league 2 steps back. That, and there evidently was a big story this year that Lemar Odem married Khloe Kardashian and the only place I heard about that was on the BS Report with Bill Simmons. Also, it seems hearing all these previews, why play the season. We all know (At least the media tells it so it must be correct) who the 8 best teams in each conference is. Heaven forbid a team like the Warriors or Oklahoma City Thunder surprise people and actually get in.

Still, with that being said, I wonder if it's time for me to try to embrace the NBA again. There is some hot young talent out there, and the duo of LeBron and Shaq should be interesting this year. Also, I will follow the Warriors (As dysfunctional as they are) because they do have some good talent (No one talks about Anthony Morrow, but he lead the league in 3's last year).

So, I ask, if you've never turned away from the NBA, what do you want to see. And if you left the league because of troubles or stuff like that, will you return or what will it take for you to return?

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Re: 2009-10 NBA/College Basketball Season

A lot of people are of the opinion that the regular season of the NBA is increasingly irrelevant. More than half of the teams get to the play-offs and the play-offs are now so long that is where most of the attention gets focused.

 

[tomalak301]

Re: 2009-10 NBA/College Basketball Season

A lot of people are of the opinion that the regular season of the NBA is increasingly irrelevant. More than half of the teams get to the play-offs and the play-offs are now so long that is where most of the attention gets focused.

Is that the same feeling people have with Hockey? I ask because so far I'm liking the Hockey season and the unpredictability of it. Who would have though Pheonix, with all their problems would be in first in the pacific, or Colorado just being on fire. With Basketball, I just hope there is something to pay attention to, any surprise specifically, because the season really doesn't start until the playoffs.

 

[Xevious]

Re: 2009-10 NBA/College Basketball Season

I don't know the answer to your question. But it's a legitimate argument that the real basketball season doesn't begin until the playoffs. The NBA plays a LONG season, not even counting the months of playoffs.

Another problem is that the league has become the haves and have-nots. Which GMs are willing to go deep into the luxury tax (especially with the state of the economy) to get top talent for their teams? Right now it's the Lakers, Cavaliers, Celtics, Magic, and Spurs. Any other team sniffing the title would be a huge suprise. So the questions really is, which team(s) can stay healthy for the duration of a season.

 

[Michael Chris]

Re: 2009-10 NBA/College Basketball Season

I have no idea why the NBA is struggling. The point in watching isn't to see your team win the championship, it's to watch a really really fun game. That's what basketball is: really fun. Basketball is my favorite sport and the NBA my favorite league.

 

[Commander Vaughn]

Re: 2009-10 NBA/College Basketball Season

^I tend to agree. The NBA is my third favorite sport to watch after college and professional football. Basketball is a really fun game to watch.

I've never really been turned away from the league. The quality of the game has been up there for a few years now. Sometimes the superstars get a little bit too much love from the refs, but other than that professional basketball games are a whole lot of fun to watch.

 

[tomalak301]

Re: 2009-10 NBA/College Basketball Season

I was watching the end of the Laker/Thunder game last night, and that was a fun game to watch. The Thunder almost pulled it out and it would have been sweet if they had.

As for the Warriors, so far they look pretty much as expected. I'm hoping for a turnaround at some point, but I think it might require a shift in Philosophy before than happens. Until then, it's pretty much same ol' same ol'.

 

[Mallory]

Re: 2009-10 NBA/College Basketball Season

The Blazers are popular here in Oregon, but then they have no real competition. There's no MLB, NFL or other major league franchise located in the state.

 

[tomalak301]

Re: 2009-10 NBA/College Basketball Season

The Blazers are popular here in Oregon, but then they have no real competition. There's no MLB, NFL or other major league franchise located in the state.

So there aren't many Seahawk fans up there? I guess the hottest ticket now are the Ducks.

 

[Mallory]

Re: 2009-10 NBA/College Basketball Season

The Ducks consistently sell out. When it comes to MLB and the NFL, fans seem to be divided between SF and Seattle, although the Seattle franchises have gained ground over the past 15 years or so.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Re: 2009-10 NBA/College Basketball Season

My only concern about Basketball at the moment is there seems to be a lack of parity (which I guess is better than a little while ago where every team seemed to be mediocre).

This year is a bit better, which is evident by the number of teams that started off undefeated for a little while. But, still the gap between the top of the league and the middle of the league is huge. The Sixers, for example, are second in their division, but they lost by a good 30 points to the number one team in the division. There are too many teams in basketball purgatory who are too bad to win, but too good to get better. The actual game is interesting, but the weak draft and insane salary cap rules hurts the league.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

Re: 2009-10 NBA/College Basketball Season

I'm going put my mod hat on and make this an NBA thread, edit the title appropriately and open an NCAA basektball thread. I think over the long seasons there will be enough traffic/ interest to sustain both, just like we've got an NFL and NCAA football thread.

 

[Gaseous Anomaly]

I do not watch the Spurs play but I do follow how they are doing throughout the season. I just can't sit and watch that much sports on TV no matter what sport it is.

 

[nealish116]

The Pacers started out looking like the worst team in the league but have won two straight and looked halfway decent defensively doing so. Hopefully they can be the .500 team I hope for and keep improving through the year. They're so young I don't expect much more than that.

 

[Michael Chris]

I definitely am enjoying Granger's huge improvement. Of course I wish that other Pacers would get better!

The Suns have apparently decided to be a good team. So.. that's cool.

 

[Mallory]

The Blazers are off to their best start since 1999. Life is good.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

Related to the Bulls-Nuggets game a couple of nights ago where it took more than 10 minutes reviewing the replay to determine that that shot did not count.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

The Suns have apparently decided to be a good team. So.. that's cool.

The Suns have been a great team ever since Steve Nash joined. Last year was an aberration caused by boneheaded moves by management to try to force the team into being something it's not. Thank you, Cleveland, for taking Shaq off our hands. Under any other circumstances, he's a valuable, unstoppable center. On the Suns, he was just dead weight.

I think the Suns have a chance to go all the way this year. Like I said, they've been a great team ever since they first added Steve Nash, one of the greatest point guards in NBA history. The problem has been a lack of bench depth to back up Nash. By the end of the season, he would run out of gas and opposing teams would figure out the Suns' game plan and pick it apart. This year, the Suns have a lot more depth and a lot more options. Even if you shut Nash down, the other players can pick up the slack. I'm hoping that, in 5 months time, I can still say that about the Suns.

But at least, for right now, we're totally dominating!

 

[gblews]

The Suns have apparently decided to be a good team. So.. that's cool.

The Suns have been a great team ever since Steve Nash joined.

They've been a good team since Nash joined them, but far from great, witness their record in the playoffs every year since he has been their floor leader.

Thank you, Cleveland, for taking Shaq off our hands. Under any other circumstances, he's a valuable, unstoppable center.

You nee to hop into that time machine and come back to 2009. Shaq hasn't been "unstoppable" since his days with the Lakers.

I think the Suns have a chance to go all the way this year. Like I said, they've been a great team ever since they first added Steve Nash, one of the greatest point guards in NBA history.

Well, I suppose you'd have to say they have a "chance", but realistically, this years Suns team is the same as the teams the Suns put on the floor a few years ago -- entertaining, but built strictly for the regular season. In the playoffs, the best teams in the west will get back on defense, force the Suns to play half court offense which will make them MUCH less effective. Combine that with the Suns' inability to guard the paint, defensive rebound (against the teams with strong inside games), and you have the blue print for a second round elimination.

BTW, Nash is one of the NBA's best point guards from a statistical standpoint only, which is another way of saying, "technically". But realistcally, if I'm choosing a point guard to go to war with in one series, you can take Nash, I'll take Magic or Johnny Stockton. Nash isn't anywhere close to these two players' in terms of effectiveness.

Really, a mutiple MVP winner who not only never won a championship, but never even played in the Finals. O-v-e-r-r-a-t-e-d.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Shaq is still capable of scoring on single coverage. I'd argue it's his floor-running abilities and defensive liabilities that are at issue, not his low post play.