March madness is so much better then NBA playoffs | Page 2 | The Boneyard

March madness is so much better then NBA playoffs

Deepster said:
What do you find incredibly entertaining in games where one team shoots 15 for 60 and 10 for 40 from 3 pt in back to back games?
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The fact that wasn’t every game and there are other aspects to basketball in general.
 
HuskyHawk said:
The season is way too long. Cut about 20 games and the playoffs should be wrapping up right now. The load management issues would go away, the regular season would be meaningful and the playoffs might actually feature teams with healthy players.
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Game 7 of the 1970 playoffs was played on May 8th, 1970,
 
Move the 3 point line back a foot or two and the product will improve.
 
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superjohn said:
I hate watching the Celtics. They're really successful in this version of the NBA but all they do is shoot threes and it's awful to watch.

The league in general is far too three point focused but the Celtics take it to a comical level. I wouldn't judge the whole league based on them.
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Wait until they create the 4 point shot. You know it's coming...
 
Waquoit said:
Season ticket holders care.
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Would you rather see the starters play 40 minutes of a late January game, or have a healthy, fresh team heading into the playoffs? The late season injuries in the NBA have gotten completely out of hand, and most of these injuries are fatigue-type injuries. Just as bad are the spent teams at the end of the season. Read any interview of any player, and they will talk about the fatigue and being tired at the end of the season. Either teams need to load manage or play fewer games.

The NBA is part of the problem, but these old school coaches like Doc Rivers are a bigger part of the problem. Budenholzer was a lousy game coach, but he had the Bucks fresh heading into the playoffs, and he stretched out Middleton's, Lopez's and George Hill's careers. Rivers, Riddick and Thibodeau are burning players out like they are 1980's Billy Martin or Tommy Lasorda managing their pitching rotation. I expect to see a big dip by KAT next season because Thibodeau is just overplaying him.

Kerr, Spoelstra and Popovich are good at stretching out careers. Atkinson did everything right, and it still didn't work out, but I expect that team to be back. I can't believe more GMs are not making their HC's to manage playing time better given the investment these teams make into stars and the damage an injury can do to a franchise.

These players are getting massive contracts, and the salary cap means that an achilles or ACL not only wipes out a player's season, but makes it impossible for the franchise to replace the injured player, effectively burning the prime of any other star on the roster. Lillard's injury didn't just end his career as anything more than a role player, but also effectively ended the Giannis era in Milwaukee. I would have fired Doc in mid-game when Lillard went down if I was the Bucks' GM. Doc didn't just screw up one player, he dumped the Bucks into a long-term purgatory. It may be 5 or more years before the Bucks return to the playoffs if they trade Giannis this offseason, and it could be decades before a northern, small city franchise like the Bucks challenges for even a conference title. The Bucks went 17 years (2001 through 2018) without getting out of the first round. Hiring Rivers was dumb enough, but letting him burn the franchise to the ground with his 1990's coaching is unforgiveable.
 
CardiacAndre7 said:
Way better defense, great shotmaking, more physical play, beautiful ball movement, more strategy from Coaches, great players stepping up or wilting, etc.
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I don't know. Those are pretty generic cliches you could apply to any Tuesday night WNBA game too.

I see a complete lack of defense, off balance and ill-advised 3 pointers most possessions, less actual halfcourt X/O strategy and lots of whining and flopping.

But if you like it? Enjoy.
 
Deepster said:
But if you like it? Enjoy.
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If only that were true. The anti-NBA crowd is the loudest faction on any of these threads.

Incidentally, with respect to Xs and Os, if you can't see that a lot of these teams are running versions of the offense that everyone was so in love with here 2 years ago but they're doing it faster, with bigger bodies, better athletes and better shotmaking I don't know what to tell you.
 
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Deepster said:
I don't know. Those are pretty generic cliches you could apply to any Tuesday night WNBA game too.

I see a complete lack of defense, off balance and ill-advised 3 pointers most possessions, less actual halfcourt X/O strategy and lots of whining and flopping.

But if you like it? Enjoy.
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Cool so you’re “watching” the playoffs with your eyes closed. All good.
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
If only that were true. The anti-NBA crowd is the loudest faction on any of these threads.

Incidentally, with respect to Xs and Os, if you can't see that a lot of these teams are running versions of the offense that everyone was so in love with here 2 years ago but they're doing it faster, with bigger bodies, better athletes and better shotmaking I don't know what to tell you.
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It’s so hard for them to just not watch if they hate it that much. I cannot fathom the insanity.
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
If only that were true. The anti-NBA crowd is the loudest faction on any of these threads.

Incidentally, with respect to Xs and Os, if you can't see that a lot of these teams are running versions of the offense that everyone was so in love with here 2 years ago but they're doing it faster, with bigger bodies, better athletes and better shotmaking I don't know what to tell you.
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I don't get it. Is it too many 3s at times? Sure. But the Pacers and Celtics, when clicking, move the ball a ton. Also, saying there is no defense? 15 years ago the league was allergic to defense, now it is an absolute priority and teams punish any weakness relentlessly. Castle can't shoot much and won rookie of the year. Defense matters.

The worst era was the late ISO/illegal defense era. That was awful, boring one on one basketball.
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
If only that were true. The anti-NBA crowd is the loudest faction on any of these threads.

Incidentally, with respect to Xs and Os, if you can't see that a lot of these teams are running versions of the offense that everyone was so in love with here 2 years ago but they're doing it faster, with bigger bodies, better athletes and better shotmaking I don't know what to tell you.
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Hey, I respect your ability to have an opinion on it and if that's what you see? Great.

The offense everyone fell in love with here resulted in alley oops, wide open layups, slip screen back door cuts, etc. When I watch the Celtics take an off balance three 7 seconds into a possession, get the rebound, immediately kick it out for another three that bricks even worse than the 1st one? I don't think that's "beautiful".
 
CardiacAndre7 said:
It’s so hard for them to just not watch if they hate it that much. I cannot fathom the insanity.
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Calm down for chrissakes. There's baseball on. Playoff hockey and playoff basketball. Flicking around during intermissions, halftimes or lulls in a baseball game isn't "insanity". Some people, contrary to your beliefs, just click off the basketball and back onto the other sports because they're a better product.
 
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Deepster said:
I don't know. Those are pretty generic cliches you could apply to any Tuesday night WNBA game too.

I see a complete lack of defense, off balance and ill-advised 3 pointers most possessions, less actual halfcourt X/O strategy and lots of whining and flopping.

But if you like it? Enjoy.
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Detroit kept lighting themselves on fire at the end of the games in the Knicks series because they are young and inexperienced, but how can any basketball fan not enjoy the way that team plays? It is like a team of prime career Rudy Gays flying up and down the court. That is a fun team to watch.
 
Deepster said:
Such a weird position.

If you don't agree with me, you're stupid! Okaaay.
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You described seeing the caricature that you think of modern basketball. Sure, there’s still a ton of 3s in the playoffs, I will cede that. Everything else in that post is categorically wrong though. Defense has been great, offense is even more intricate, it’s more physical and refs are letting them play.

It’s not me saying you’re stupid for your view, it’s just you have an idea of how the game is and nothing could really change your mind.
 
HuskyHawk said:
I believe that the only fix to the three pointer situation is to make it worth 2.5 points. No distance is going to matter as these guys have the range dialed in. The other factor would be to allow more post shot contact, which would impact the close out ability. Until then, hoisting 3s is mostly smart.

As for physical play, some of it is good, some bad. There's a lot of shoving on the boards that should be called. Basketball has a problem like the NHL has a problem. Do we want to showcase skills or do we want to showcase toughness and physicality? The regular season shouldn't be a different game than the playoffs.
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I'm not sure what the best fix to the three pointer thing is but there's certainly options like making it 2.5, changing dimensions of the line and not letting guys camp out in the corners and or completely getting rid of the corner three.
 
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There's guys in the G league who are not given a fair opportunity and this did go on in the CBA days. I'll go on a UConn homer take here, all Sanogo does is average double doubles and he was doing it in NBA games yet isn't given a fair opportunity. I do believe Khalid should've been a 10 year vet also got screwed by the NBA IMO.
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
If only that were true. The anti-NBA crowd is the loudest faction on any of these threads.

Incidentally, with respect to Xs and Os, if you can't see that a lot of these teams are running versions of the offense that everyone was so in love with here 2 years ago but they're doing it faster, with bigger bodies, better athletes and better shotmaking I don't know what to tell you.
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UConn 2023-24 took 23.8 threes per game for the season and shot only 30% from three in the tournament while blowing everyone out. That was the best college team I've seen because they could beat you every which way, they had great balance. They didn't depend on the three. Celtics have shot 48.2 threes per game this season.
 
Scoe said:
There's guys in the G league who are not given a fair opportunity and this did go on in the CBA days. I'll go on a UConn homer take here, all Sanogo does is average double doubles and he was doing it in NBA games yet isn't given a fair opportunity. I do believe Khalid should've been a 10 year vet also got screwed by the NBA IMO.
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No other sport leans on its top players the way the NBA does, and that is why the league keeps having so many injuries to top players. The NBA is where baseball was 40 years ago. I think NBA teams should be going 10-12 deep through the regular season, at least.
 
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nelsonmuntz said:
Would you rather see the starters play 40 minutes of a late January game, or have a healthy, fresh team heading into the playoffs?
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Enough of your strawman false choices. How about a schedule that doesn't require "load management"? I had pro season tickets for a year. I'm so glad the stars didn't consider it a perk to skip games back then because I'm sure Hartford would have been on the top of their list. Instead I saw players like Jagr and Gretzky put on a show.
 
CardiacAndre7 said:
You described seeing the caricature that you think of modern basketball. Sure, there’s still a ton of 3s in the playoffs, I will cede that. Everything else in that post is categorically wrong though. Defense has been great, offense is even more intricate, it’s more physical and refs are letting them play.

It’s not me saying you’re stupid for your view, it’s just you have an idea of how the game is and nothing could really change your mind.
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Well, I feel like nothing could really change your mind either so this isn't going anywhere.

You call it great defense? I think it's simple to defend shots 28 ft from the hoop when the people taking them aren't at all selective. Compare that to a Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper, Scottie Pippen and oh yeah, Michael Jordan defense?
 
Deepster said:
Well, I feel like nothing could really change your mind either so this isn't going anywhere.

You call it great defense? I think it's simple to defend shots 28 ft from the hoop when the people taking them aren't at all selective. Compare that to a Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper, Scottie Pippen and oh yeah, Michael Jordan defense?
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You guys are so predictable lmao
 
It's all about how much does each game matter. People don't sit out games in the NFL because every game is critical. In NCAA basketball each game is really important, and in the Conference tournament and NCAA tournament each game is life or death. That's why game 7s are so cherished in pro sports, it's win or go home. That's what we want to watch.
 
jake14mw said:
It's all about how much does each game matter. People don't sit out games in the NFL because every game is critical. In NCAA basketball each game is really important, and in the Conference tournament and NCAA tournament each game is life or death. That's why game 7s are so cherished in pro sports, it's win or go home. That's what we want to watch.
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The NFL has cut way down on the number of plays even stars are on the field, and there are frequent substitutions. And "each game matters" doesn't apply once a team has locked in a playoff spot or been eliminated.
 
please watch an entire game from a previous generation and tell me it's worse today. everyone who has this opinion admits they don't watch much today, and also hasn't seen a game from their precious 80s and 90s since the 80s and 90s. middle age men are the biggest babies on the planet.

sometimes you shoot yourself out of a game. it happens. if you think today's game isn't physical, you're delusional. scroll thru your phone with the brightness and font turned all the way up until you find that same 2 minute clip of dudes from the 80s chop blocking guys in mid-air and go to bed
 
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