NBA vs NFL

[RamsOfCastamere]

Totally false
80's ball had big men shooting mid range jumpers, nobody hits that shot or even takes it any more.
Today's game is all 3 pointers

Today's game is more positionless and less people are taking the midrange, but that doesn't mean they can't hit the midrange and you know the big guys then can't hit 3 threes like that, especially with the extended 3 pt line.

Joel Embiid, Nikolai Jokic, Victor Wembanyana, Chet Holmgren, Karl Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, Michael Porter Jr are examples of guys that are 6'10+, that can shoot the three well, and make 79%+ of their free throws.

Edit: I forgot Kevin Durant!

 

[RamsOfCastamere]

Garbage, bro. 80's basketball was much more physical. Kareem's skyhook was automatic and unstoppable. Larry Bird was almost unstoppable with his 3 pointers and he made good players look silly, but both got down and dirty inside. I think an 80's team would rough up the pretty boy's who throw up 3 pointers without opposition.

They were allowed to be physical but they weren't actually stronger than players today. Guys like Ewing, Robinson, Malone, Shaq lifted and were strong in the 90s, but in the 80s they weren't doing that. If you go back and look, they had no muscle tone in the 80s. Bird did not lift and was often injured. He could talk shit though.

Also, Kareem and Bird are HOFers and I respect their game. Bird was great at the three but he avg <2 threes per game. The top shooters today may avg 5-7.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Todays NBA is unwatchable. No low post games. Power forwards and centers do not play the low post game with their backs to the hoop, taking a pass and putting a move on some fool. Mchale, Worthy, Malone, Bird, Hakeem, Kareem........ all those great post players have gone the way of some stupid 3 pointer that is not a bomb at all.
You have "isolation" bull shit where the 2 "stars" go one on one and 8 guys watch, LAME.
And the "star" HAS TO TAKE THE LAST SHOT ! Its terrible. Gone is team play and passing. The guy who has the best shot should get it no matter who it is (almost)
Kobe was great and all, but I did not like him having to take the last shot no matter what in the end.
You young guys do not know how great the 1980s NBA was.
Oh, Lebron, I can not stand that POS. Will watch the Lakers some when he is gone.
Find out what his pre game rituals mean ! Fuck that guy.
He will get what is coming to him.

Today's game is more positionless and less people are taking the midrange, but that doesn't mean they can't hit the midrange and you know the big guys then can't hit 3 threes like that, especially with the extended 3 pt line.

Joel Embiid, Nikolai Jokic, Victor Wembanyana, Chet Holmgren, Karl Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, Michael Porter Jr are examples of guys that are 6'10+, that can shoot the three well, and make 79%+ of their free throws.

I have often thought about the evolution of the game and how many of the old-school purists, me included don't love the 3 and D, long rebounds, no back to the basket etc etc.
I have thought that if the 3 was only available at the end of quarters and maybe for an extended period at the end of the half and game you would be forced to have a more diverse lineup and likely revert back to pick & roll and traditional post play until the 3 point line became available.

This to me would be the best of both worlds, the youth don't identify with the game as it was when I grew up and find it better now, and to an extent the old school finds the opposite to be a problem.

I say let's incorporate both.

 

[gogoat1]

I say play like MEN. Hand checks, long 3s and ass hook someone aside and put the ball in the hoop.
Todays game sucks.

 

[Boston Ram]

Agree with many here on the state of the NBA. Its unwatchable for me. I have been a Celtics fan for as long as I can remember and while its cool to see your favorite team win a championship, I would compare it to the excitement of watching a mid December Bowl game...

There was no excitement, cause Boston just simply dominated the entire playoffs! 16-3 is not a lot of stress

 

[Corbin]

Jordan is still the GOAT and
if you think otherwise.....

 

[ArkyRamsFan]

And don't forget Flynn Robinson

And Keith Erickson and Pat Riley! Loved the Lakers and especially that team.

~ArkyRamsFan~

 

[Allen2McVay]

And Keith Erickson and Pat Riley! Loved the Lakers and especially that team.

~ArkyRamsFan~

Erickson had an injury that season and only played 15 games … none in the playoffs.

The starters played a ton of minutes; and the top reserves were Flynn Robinson, Pat Riley and LeRoy Ellis.

 

[Tano]

And Keith Erickson and Pat Riley! Loved the Lakers and especially that team.

~ArkyRamsFan~

It was an awesome team to watch.

And Elgin Baylor retired after 9 games. And then they went on a 33-0 run which I believe is still the longest streak in the NBA. I do not pay enough attention to the NBA to know if it has been broken or not in the last few years.

Thing I heard about Elgin is that he barely played any defense at all. He could have been one of the greatest players of all time if he had.

I wonder if his defense was a big downfall of all those losses against the Celtics in the 60s. Plus the Lakers didn't have a center to counter Bill Russell and Chamberlain was up there in age when he joined the Lakers.

 

[Allen2McVay]

...

Thing I heard about Elgin is that he barely played any defense at all. He could have been one of the greatest players of all time if he had.

I wonder if his defense was a big downfall of all those losses against the Celtics in the 60s.

I Have to respectfully Push-Back a little bit here. Elgin Baylor WAS an All-Time NBA Great in my opinion.

Before Michael Jordan did what he did, Julius Erving did it. Before Erving did it, Elgin Baylor did it.
Before Baylor did it ... No One did it.

In all but the 1969 Lakers/Celtics' Finals of the 1960's (there were six in all), the Lakers were out-manned.
L.A. had 2 future Hall of Famers (West & Baylor). Some of those years, Boston had EIGHT future Hall of Famers.

 

[Gandalf]

Yep - I have given up on the NBA since Kobe retired.

Now it is just high scoring games with hardly any defense.

The games almost remind me of All Star games where no one plays defense. It gets boring after just 10 minutes.

I never could watch all star games so how can I watch it now.

I don't watch until the playoffs when the defense comes out to play.

 

[Tano]

I don't watch until the playoffs when the defense comes out to play.

That's possible. I don't watch it at all anymore so I have no idea if they play differently during the playoffs.

 

[Tano]

I Have to respectfully Push-Back a little bit here. Elgin Baylor WAS an All-Time NBA Great in my opinion.

Before Michael Jordan did what he did, Julius Erving did it. Before Erving did it, Elgin Baylor did it.
Before Baylor did it ... No One did it.

In all but the 1969 Lakers/Celtics' Finals of the 1960's (there were six in all), the Lakers were out-manned.
L.A. had 2 future Hall of Famers (West & Baylor). Some of those years, Boston had EIGHT future Hall of Famers.

And LA usually fought to the last minute in each of those games from what I have read. I think the majority of the series went 7 games too. That must have been heart breaking to everyone on the Lakers.

And yeah - Elgin was a great offensive machine. But I have read his defense was subpar.

 

[jrry32]

The NBA is great. But the draft dynamics are fundamentally unlike the NFL. Teams are smaller, and there are less positions and star players. That devalues the picks outside of the top 5-10. And this was a weak draft.

 

[jrry32]

Totally false
80's ball had big men shooting mid range jumpers, nobody hits that shot or even takes it any more.
Today's game is all 3 pointers

That's not correct. Teams and players care much more about efficiency today. So guys aren't jacking up a million mid-range jumpers (because it's inefficient). But there are definitely guys who rely on the mid-range game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one example.

 

[Ellard80]

NBA threads are always interresting to me.

People who do not really watch the NBA say the same cookie cutter falsehoods about it.

Sure analytics prefers 3 pt shots.

But there are a ton of players who's most common shot is the mid range.

Gigleous Alexander, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant,..if you look at the top 20 scorers in the nba - lots of mid range shots in there.

The big man in today's game offensively is much more versatile than in the 80s and 90s.

The idea that the NBA doesn't care about defense is the most obnoxious of all the word of mouth fallacies.

The Bucs coach got fired mid season when they were like 32 and 11 because their defense was bad.

NBA coaches get fired just as fast as nfl coaches if they don't win . You going to lose a lot in any pro sport if you don't play defense.

 

[Gandalf]

Magic > Larry Legend...ha!

Bird never gets the respect that he deserves except for the stars who played against back in the day.
I have seen and read article where both Magic and Jordan said Larry was the best.

"He was way above the game, way above everybody else" - Michael Jordan on what made Larry Bird special.​

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/michael-jordan-on-what-made-larry-bird-special

When I played, Larry Bird was the only one I feared. A lot of black guys always ask me, “Did Larry Bird really play that good?” I said, “Larry Bird is so good it’s frightening.”

Magic Johnson

5 Stories On Why Larry Bird Was the Greatest - Rambling Ever On

The greatest basketball player ever? What if it really isn't Michael Jordan?

ramblingeveron.com

 

[Loyal]

Bird never gets the respect that he deserves except for the stars who played against back in the day.
I have seen and read article where both Magic and Jordan said Larry was the best.

"He was way above the game, way above everybody else" - Michael Jordan on what made Larry Bird special.​

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/michael-jordan-on-what-made-larry-bird-special

When I played, Larry Bird was the only one I feared. A lot of black guys always ask me, “Did Larry Bird really play that good?” I said, “Larry Bird is so good it’s frightening.”

Magic Johnson

5 Stories On Why Larry Bird Was the Greatest - Rambling Ever On

The greatest basketball player ever? What if it really isn't Michael Jordan?

ramblingeveron.com

Yeah he does....so much that I am getting a little tired of it. There are so many videos about how great he was and what a trash talker that he was. Would I take Bird over Magic on the Showtime Lakers? Not only no, but hell no!

 

[Gandalf]

Yeah he does....so much that I am getting a little tired of it. There are so many videos about how great he was and what a trash talker that he was. Would I take Bird over Magic on the Showtime Lakers? Not only no, but hell no!

I would imagine you're a Laker fan and I've been a Celtics fan for 60 years. We both have our point of view and our favorites and that's alright. It's all part of being a fan and in that way we're both right.

 

[Tano]

I would imagine you're a Laker fan and I've been a Celtics fan for 60 years. We both have our point of view and our favorites and that's alright. It's all part of being a fan and in that way we're both right.

Magic was perfect for the Lakers and Bird was perfect for the Celtics. Both teams were built perfectly for both of them, respectively.

Switch them and I think both teams suffer just a smidge - at least at first.