Feb
19, 2001
NBA
BASKETBALLNews Article - - - - -
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The
State of the NBA (and Other Ramblings) By
MARSHON L. ROBINSON
*
As ratings and attendence rates fall, David Stern and the rest of the NBA
powers that be are all scratching their heads as to what can be done to
make sure the league continues to make them lots and lots of money.
Everything from the three point shots to the players themselves have been
blamed for the leagues tumble from grace. But those things aren't
the problem. The league itself is where the fault lies. The
NBA's first mistake has been in its marketing. They aren't doing
a good job of pumpin up their lesser known stars like Michael Finley, Shareef
Abdur-Rahim, Tracy McGrady, etc. Their second marketing mistake has
been putting all their eggs into a handful of baskets, namely Vince, Kobe,
Shaq, the Lakers and the Knicks. By limiting the hype to this small
trio of players instead of pumping TEAMS they've got a league filled with
exciting teams that no one cares about. The Nuggets, Mavericks, Kings,
Sixers, Blazers, Suns, Wolves, etc, all deserve top billing for their performances
this year, but no one outside of their respective cities and the basketball
elite even care about them. Stern shifted his interest by trying
to turn the league on to a global market, but forgot about keeping the
interest up here in the states. Despite all the gloom and doom being
portrayed in the media, the league isn't in that big of a predicament.
By changing around a few of their strategies and pointing thier hype machine
in the right direction, the league will once again prosper.
*
It's raged on for months and as soon as we think its on the back burner,
here comes some reporter with a quote. The situation I'm referring
to is the whole Kobe-Shaq mess that's been pumped up for months.
Everyone seems intent on blaming that for the Lakers performance this year
(which hasn't been that bad). Even though it does hurt, their are other
causes for their slide are quite obvious.
1. No third scorer - No one has stepped up and filled the scoring void
left by Rice's departure. Either Rider or Grant (or both) will have
to step up their respective games to get this team back to a title.
2. Defense - the Lakers backcourt misses Fisher more than anyone could
have imagined. They're getting burned by younger quicker backcourts.
Also, Shaq hasn't been the force on the inside that he was last year so
opponents aren't afraid to go inside.
3. Shaq/Kobe - Oh what short memories everyone out there seem to have.
"Shaq led them to the title last year!" they all scream. "Kobe's
selfish!" others chant. What happened to all the seasons before that?
You remember, when the Lakers/Magic had their hopes only to get swept out
of the playoffs. Yeah, those were Shaq's teams too. Truth is,
Shaq had a phenomenal year last year, but no way would they have won without
Kobe. When the Lakers were facing another playoff disappoinment,
it was Kobe who stepped up and led the charge back against the Blazers.
Last year was Bryant's first as a prominent member of the offense and they
won the title. When the games get critical it's Bryant who has to
carry the team, not Shaq. Not just because of his lack of a free
throw shot, but also his tendency to get swept. Year after year,
swept, swept, swept. Kobe stepped up. Champions. So go ahead,
trade Kobe. Blazers take them down in 4.
*
Allen Iverson for MVP. Wouldn't that be wonderful. The player the
NBA and the media hate the most as the league's scoring champ and MVP.
Go Allen....
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