The State of Basketball
I've touched on this subject in many of my posts in the past when I have been talking about my nieces basketball team. I've also been having a lot of really good conversations with @mrsbozz about it as well.
The recent NBA all star game just shines even more light on how miserable the state of basketball has become. I was talking to a group of people the other day and they were saying how they felt it was just one team running down and shooting a three and then the other team doing the same all game. They were complaining that there was zero defense being played.
I commented that "isn't that pretty much every single NBA game these days?".
They tried to argue that there is defense played in the NBA, but from what I have seen it is Busch League at best.
Seriously, you take one of the players from the 80's or 90's and put them on the court with some of most of the players these days and they wouldn't know what to do. Refs wouldn't know what to do either. They would be blowing the whistle non stop for plays that thirty years ago were solid defensive plays.
As I said, my wife and I have talked about all of this at length. She feels that kids aren't learning the skills they need to play the game these days.
For example, one week in to the recreation (rec) season, kids shouldn't be playing games against other kids. They should be continuing to work on the fundamentals and the skills. In fact, I believe that kids shouldn't be playing full games until at least the middle school level. Everything up to that point is just drills and skills and scrimmages.
The problem is, parents want to watch their kids play ball, no matter how inept or unprepared they are to be doing it. Forget the fact that they don't know the ball from a hole in the ground, we want to get the cute photos of them out on the court in their uniform.
It's a disservice to the entire game.
It drives me nuts when I see players stand behind the three point line and toss a three up towards the basket. Then they just stand there and wait to see if it goes or not. Follow your shot! As soon as the ball leaves your hands you should be heading towards the hoop to get the rebound if it doesn't go in.
Far to many times I see zero offensive players in the paint and three defensive players just waiting around to easily grab the rebound. It's honestly amazing the difference because when you see a team that has worked on the fundamentals, it makes the other team look foolish.
As much as I enjoy Curry, he has really hurt the game of basketball. All kids want to do it seems is shoot threes. They go for these unbelievable shots when they could easily drive the lane and lay the ball in for two points. You keep doing that over and over again and you have a win.
Am I right?
I'm interested to know what those of you who have been around for a while like me think of the state of the game these days. What do you think Malone, Rodman, Pippen, Lambeer, Byrd, Ewing would think of the game that is being played today?
Let's talk about it in the comments!
Looked like Kola-nuts at first glance. It's a fruit popular in my area.🙂
Anyways you are talking serious stuff here. Well it's a beautiful game I once played as a 6-footer until tennis took me away. Well Curry brings the European flavour with his threes. I don't know much again to make a definitive stand on this issue.
Cheers man.
I do enjoy tennis. I am horrible at it, but I played on the team in High School. It was a fun experience!
Ok not so surprised though as I think I have interacted with you on tennis before here. At least you were good enough to be part of that team.
For me, I was exceptionally talented in basketball,eventhough I quit early. Only recently, having left basketball for at least 25yrs,I visited a family friend of mine and I noticed a basketball with one of their kids and he was bouncing. I just wasn't impressed and I motioned for the ball and bounced it about 3 times. The mother couldn't contain her delight and was willing to engage me to coach her young boys. Ofcourse,I no longer have time for such things.
I left basketball because of the allure of the training arrangement(not the game itself) available then. With tennis it was an organised school,with a vision to make us national players, but basketball was about boys coming together to improve and enjoy ourselves and sweat it out.
Cheers man
No, they needed the people. I really wasn't that good :) It's too bad that sometimes things we love we tend to let slip away like that. Life happens though. I think doing something because you enjoy it is super important. I want to give Pickleball a shot. That seems to be the new big thing over here.
Hehe,okay.
Though I was just highlighting the bright side of things. If you had no interest in the game whatsoever(that you even fall sick just being court),you would likely not have been picked. I wasn't negating what you said initially on your performance.
Yeah well,it can painful that one doesn't gain sufficient mastery of a sport he truly loves.
Yet for me, I still had to let go of some sports eventhough mastery was not a problem. For example like I said,eventhough I loved both tennis and basketball, tennis won the contest and today I enjoy coaching folks.
However,when you see me on the football(soccer) pitch or talking football,you would get confused because I seem so at home there, with a huge talent for it. Then give me a table-tennis bat and let's play table-tennis and you would ask if I almost turned pro or something in my younger years.
So that's it, some people are good with quite a few sports and love them all so well,but they just can't play all to the highest level at thesame time. So we see a Gareth Bale retire from football this year and has begun a golfing career already. For some folks, it's inevitable that they must allow some sport slip away.
I don't know Pickleball that much. I see it tickles your fancy. All the best as you intend giving it a shot. It nice how sports help us keep fit and mingle too.
Best regards man.
I was never that good at any sports. I enjoy watching them, but I am pretty horrible at playing them. Disc Golf I am decent at, but I wouldn't say I have mastered it.
Seems you need a shakeup in basketball.
The kids playing against each other too soon, now that is a very typical football problem here. Get the skills first!
Yeah, it doesn't surprise me. I think it is a variety of sports. They are doing it for the wrong reasons. It could lead to injuries I think.
I'm a fan of basketball but don't know how to play it. I don't understand the roles but I feel what you are sharing.
The game is meant to be beautiful through the skills, the great goals, and its defensive tactics which you aren't seeing these days. Maybe I think our coaches should be able to restore this to us. So that we can enjoy the game once more.
Thanks for sharing. I feel your passion for the game of Basketball.
I doubt it will change. There is so much protection for players now that I don't see the game changing that drastically. it's going to take a change at the most basic levels for us to see any difference.
Well, these are different times, from the Michael Jordan-style complete player to the Curry-style specialist.
And on the one hand, the players take far fewer risks, the coaches give them fewer playing minutes, and with so many millions of dollars in contracts, the maximum effort is made to look after them as if they were crystal cups.
All in all, we are left with an all-star game that is not as spectacular as it used to be, with no sparkle, no interest on the part of the players.
Yeah, I am glad I ended up not watching it. I likely would have been overly frustrated!