UConn in the NBA: Dec 24/25

[JohnFSilver]

Steph Curry, as legendary as he is, ruined basketball by being so good at what he does. Now every idiot is a 3-point shooter with unlimited range.

Even before Curry math started to work.

A few of points.

1. Lakers are mediocre. Maybe 18th best team in nba. They are in tv so much we think they are what nba is.

2. I remember when the Dunk ruined basketball, no one had skill. All athleticism.

3. I remember when ISO ball rules and there was illegal defense. That made 1-on-1 critical, which we call boring.

Now, the league is playing at a higher pace and the game is a passing and shooting league. We hate shooting now?

Celtics put up 50 3s, but they have 3-point shooters for miles.

Starting 5 all shoot 3s, Horford, Hauser, Pritchard shoot 3s. Only Queta and Kornet are non 2-point shooters on the roster.

Hell, Baylor Scheirman and Drew Peterson are 3-point shooters waiting in the wings.

Team is last in nba in points in the paint and clearly beat team in nba.

 

[husky429]

Even before Curry math started to work.

A few of points.

1. Lakers are mediocre. Maybe 18th best team in nba. They are in tv so much we think they are what nba is.

2. I remember when the Dunk ruined basketball, no one had skill. All athleticism.

3. I remember when ISO ball rules and there was illegal defense. That made 1-on-1 critical, which we call boring.

Now, the league is playing at a higher pace and the game is a passing and shooting league. We hate shooting now?

Celtics put up 50 3s, but they have 3-point shooters for miles.

Starting 5 all shoot 3s, Horford, Hauser, Pritchard shoot 3s. Only Queta and Kornet are non 2-point shooters on the roster.

Hell, Baylor Scheirman and Drew Peterson are 3-point shooters waiting in the wings.

Team is last in nba in points in the paint and clearly beat team in nba.

I'm with you. It's just the zeitgeist right now, as was iso in the 2000s. Defenses will adapt and the rules will change, and the NBA product will change as well. IMO the most fun times to watch are in the transition eras. The league learning to adjust to Curry circa 2014-2016 was a lot of fun for me.

We're also blessed with a league that has a higher skill level than ever before. There are also stars who are staying in their prime years and years past what you would expect. Lebron is the obvious example, but guys like Steph and Durant would have been washed by now if they were drafted in the 90s.

 

[superjohn]

Even before Curry math started to work.

A few of points.

1. Lakers are mediocre. Maybe 18th best team in nba. They are in tv so much we think they are what nba is.

2. I remember when the Dunk ruined basketball, no one had skill. All athleticism.

3. I remember when ISO ball rules and there was illegal defense. That made 1-on-1 critical, which we call boring.

Now, the league is playing at a higher pace and the game is a passing and shooting league. We hate shooting now?

Celtics put up 50 3s, but they have 3-point shooters for miles.

Starting 5 all shoot 3s, Horford, Hauser, Pritchard shoot 3s. Only Queta and Kornet are non 2-point shooters on the roster.

Hell, Baylor Scheirman and Drew Peterson are 3-point shooters waiting in the wings.

Team is last in nba in points in the paint and clearly beat team in nba.

Yes, I hate watching teams shoot 50 threes in a game. There's no balance in today's NBA. It's become a three point shooting contest and it's no longer much fun to watch.

 

[aceboon]

nobody wants to watch 6'6" and up athletic freaks shoot 3 pointers all game long, don't even understand how people complaining about the number of 3s being shot in today's game is even controversial at this point

 

[Palatine]

I would love to see the corner three eliminated. It is the easiest three point shot.

Extend the three point line to the sideline by slightly flattening the curve. The arc itself could be moved to 24' or 24'-6" in the center and a bit longer at the sideline. This would still reward great three point shooters while discouraging the current barrage.

 

[ctbro1999]

nobody wants to watch 6'6" and up athletic freaks shoot 3 pointers all game long, don't even understand how people complaining about the number of 3s being shot in today's game is even controversial at this point

Even ANTman (one of the most electric players in the game and most explosive dunkers) has decided to launch more 3s than ever this year. Averaged roughly 7 3PA's a game coming into this year, but he's currently at nearly 11 3PA's this season to date.

 

[Waquoit]

The real question is what took so long for all these to start getting jacked up? It comes with a 50% scoring premium without being 50% more difficult. In fact, give me an open 3 over a guarded 2 anyday.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Dilemma is run and gun is all fun and games to watch until they can't gun. Watching a game of rebounding, outlets, players sprinting to spots and spreading the floor and making shots is a blast to watch. When the shots don't fall? Well, it looks like that. Bad basketball in any era looks atrocious. The mid to late 90's when no one could make a shot and scores were 83-78 was horrible basketball too.

Bottom line is teams will continue to jack 3's until someone can figure out a better way to score points.

Now, you want to talk about players sitting out and "load management"? I'm all ears for that.

 

[Kenny11]

Even ANTman (one of the most electric players in the game and most explosive dunkers) has decided to launch more 3s than ever this year. Averaged roughly 7 3PA's a game coming into this year, but he's currently at nearly 11 3PA's this season to date.

Wemby is a 7’4” athletic freak and is averaging 9.2 3PA per game. I like open threes more than contested 18 foot jump shots of the early 2000’s but now some teams are shooting more 3’s than 2’s and it can be annoying to watch

 

[REB1094]

I think it’s fun watching threes get launched left and right. One of the best basketball moments this year was Steph Curry almost single handedly winning us gold by nailing three after three in the fourth quarter

I don’t think extending the line is a good idea because then people will train to just launch 28 footers instead of 25 footers. Someone mentioned changing it to 2.5 points instead of 3, that’s actually a pretty interesting idea

 

[JohnFSilver]

Yes, I hate watching teams shoot 50 threes in a game. There's no balance in today's NBA. It's become a three point shooting contest and it's no longer much fun to watch.

Celtics move the ball and are fun to watch. Who knows.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I think it’s fun watching threes get launched left and right. One of the best basketball moments this year was Steph Curry almost single handedly winning us gold by nailing three after three in the fourth quarter

I don’t think extending the line is a good idea because then people will train to just launch 28 footers instead of 25 footers. Someone mentioned changing it to 2.5 points instead of 3, that’s actually a pretty interesting idea

Becoming a competent 3 pt shooter also extends a player’s career significantly. Brook Lopez is a shining example.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Andre Jackson is on the perfect team for his skills. The Bucks are still a playoff team, so they are not going into a full rebuild, but not really competing for a title anymore, so minutes are available. There are enough scorers so the Bucks don't need Jackson to do much offensively, but Lillard doesn't like playing defense, so he needs someone on the court with him that does. It is a great set up for AJax.

 

[REB1094]

NBA -

• Castle: 16 points, 3 assists, 5-14 (1-6 3P)
• Andre: 8 points on 3-6 (2-4 3P)
• Clingan and Drummond injured, Newton DNP
• Newton, Tyrese, Andre, Drummond (if healthy) play today

G League -
Polley DNP, Bouk plays today

 

[UConnSwag11]

I'm with you. It's just the zeitgeist right now, as was iso in the 2000s. Defenses will adapt and the rules will change, and the NBA product will change as well. IMO the most fun times to watch are in the transition eras. The league learning to adjust to Curry circa 2014-2016 was a lot of fun for me.

We're also blessed with a league that has a higher skill level than ever before. There are also stars who are staying in their prime years and years past what you would expect. Lebron is the obvious example, but guys like Steph and Durant would have been washed by now if they were drafted in the 90s.

The skill level is not higher than ever before. It’s a terrible product for many reasons.

Half the league plays a majority of the games during a season so you’d hope their career lasts

 

[UConnSwag11]

Yes, I hate watching teams shoot 50 threes in a game. There's no balance in today's NBA. It's become a three point shooting contest and it's no longer much fun to watch.

 

[borninansonia]

A potential solution with whole numbers only: foul shots worth 1, 3 shots for common foul
2 point shot changes to 3 points
beyond the line, present 3 point shot, changes to 4 points.

 

[Waquoit]

Becoming a competent 3 pt shooter also extends a player’s career significantly. Brook Lopez is a shining example.

And Al Horford never made a 3 in college. 0-4.

 

[Waquoit]

A potential solution with whole numbers only: foul shots worth 1, 3 shots for common foul
2 point shot changes to 3 points
beyond the line, present 3 point shot, changes to 4 points.

Maybe they can put big circles on the court for 5 and 10 point shots like they used to do on MTV basketball?

 

[husky429]

The skill level is not higher than ever before. It’s a terrible product for many reasons.

Half the league plays a majority of the games during a season so you’d hope their career lasts

The skill level is absolutely and unequivocally higher. I don't think that's a bold statement at all, frankly. Euros and other international are elevating skill every year. The problems with the league aren't because of skill. It's playstyle and attitude.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Even ANTman (one of the most electric players in the game and most explosive dunkers) has decided to launch more 3s than ever this year. Averaged roughly 7 3PA's a game coming into this year, but he's currently at nearly 11 3PA's this season to date.

This is something to watch out for. His PPG is up but his FG% has dropped and he’s going to the line less (6.4 last year to 4.7 this year).

The Timberwolves are also not as good of a team as they were last year. Feel like the same thing happened with De’Aron Fox when he made the switch to starting shooting more 3s too.

All Star the year prior, All-NBA, clutch player of the year, and the kings made the playoffs as the third seed. Next year he gets none of those awards, the Kings miss the playoffs, and only his PPG went up while his FG% and FTAs dropped.

He became a better 3 point shooter on more attempts though.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

The skill level is absolutely and unequivocally higher. I don't think that's a bold statement at all, frankly. Euros and other international are elevating skill every year. The problems with the league aren't because of skill. It's playstyle and attitude.

I keep saying this.

 

[Gurleyman]

2.5 is actually interesting. For years I’ve thought that changing inside the arc to 3 points and outside the arc 4 would be a better proportionality (33 percent more points instead of 50 percent). But that would make historical archives (scoring records, etc) obsolete … and free throws would take all day.

I also feel like the one and one has to go in college - there’s too much of a reward for fouling to have the team come away with zero in exchange for 3-point attempts. Yeah, yeah - make your free throws and all that, sure. But athletes aren’t robots and a fouling team can make up a lot of ground with rules transgressions.

 

[temery]

2.5 is actually interesting. For years I’ve thought that changing inside the arc to 3 points and outside the arc 4 would be a better proportionality (33 percent more points instead of 50 percent). But that would make historical archives (scoring records, etc) obsolete … and free throws would take all day.

I also feel like the one and one has to go in college - there’s too much of a reward for fouling to have the team come away with zero in exchange for 3-point attempts. Yeah, yeah - make your free throws and all that, sure. But athletes aren’t robots and a fouling team can make up a lot of ground with rules transgressions.

Put a team in a negative bonus after x missed threes: Two points beyond the line until the 1/2 is over. Or something like that.

 

[RuffRuff]

Todays athlete. God I miss Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason right about now.