The Passionless Game Of Today

[Round Mound]

Unlike the era of Bird, Magic, Hakeem, MJ and ofcourse Sir Charles.

[colts19]

Unlike the era of Bird, Magic, Hakeem, MJ and ofcourse Sir Charles.

I think its because todays players don't really have to work for shots and floor position. The just shoot 3 pointers and if they miss they just do the same to next time.

[ShawkFactory]

I think its because todays players don't really have to work for shots and floor position. The just shoot 3 pointers and if they miss they just do the same to next time.

You also have guys who aren’t even all stars making 20+ million a year.

[SATAN]

Stop watching basketball.

[tontoz]

Stop watching basketball.


Or watch the Wizards. If you want passion Westbrook has that in spades

[StrongLurk]

It's become too run n gun, too hard to play defense, and too hard to play a full season at this pace.

The NBA needs to get back to how it was 2006-2016ish. In the early part of the decade, the average team still shot slightly more two point jumpshots compared to three points, and this variety made the average game more exciting. Nowadays the average team shoots WAY more three pointers than two point jumpshots. I know all the reasons why the NBA is like this now, but it doesn't mean those reasons make the game more enjoyable. Playoffs are always great, always. But the regular season has become ridiculous.

[Axe]

Does complaining about the existence of play-ins sound passionless too?

[HylianNightmare]

I hope I never get to be this old and bitter even though I am already old

[tontoz]

I hope I never get to be this old and bitter even though I am already old

I am old too but i quite like the game today. I do get annoyed about guys jumping into the defender and getting to the line but the overall skill level is impressive.

Young guys today can pull up youtube clips of older players and copy their moves. Guys today typically have more moves than they did 20 years ago.

[colts19]

Or watch the Wizards. If you want passion Westbrook has that in spades

I agree, I know Russ gets a lot of flack, but I have always been a fan because he plays had every minute on the court and I love that in a player.

[ralph_i_el]

Yeah, the Wizards are playing with a ton of passion right now. I was extremely hype for the entire last game against the Pacers. It felt like they had stretches where every single play was an athletic highlight.

[Indian guy]

Increase physicality, reduce 3's and voila, passion solved. The league is easily more talented today than it was during the period OP's getting nostalgic about, but the rules and analytics-driven style of play has marginalized the game's grittiness. But it can be remedied if the league had any brains.

[3ball]

Increase physicality, reduce 3's and voila, passion solved. The league is easily more talented today than it was during the period OP's getting nostalgic about, but the rules and analytics-driven style of play has marginalized the game's grittiness. But it can be remedied if the league had any brains.


Today's players aren't better at basketball (contested shot-making)

So when you say they're "more skilled", you're talking about ball-dominance, stand-still threes and in-stride layups

They're worse at making shots on defenders (basketball) because today's spacing allows threes and layups.. Contested shots are FEARED in today's game and avoided, while they were the EXPECTATION in the no-spacing eras..

So I'll take the better contested shot-makers all day over today's trash of open shots and over-dribbling

[Ainosterhaspie]

A contested shot means the offense didn't function properly. Creating an uncontested, high quality look is the goal of an offense. How is that not basketball? If you're taking contested shots, your offense failed in some way, and/or you are a ball hog.

One of the biggest problems in the high defense era from 99-04 was a bunch of iso-heros jacking up bad shots making defense real easy. I remember rewatching one of those games and guys stepping in from the three point line to take a long two instead of an open three was being praised. Stuff that some want to credit prior eras for existed because coaches were too stupid and blinded by history to play basketball the optimal way. They actively made defense better by playing atrocious offense.

[ArbitraryWater]

Today's players aren't better at basketball (contested shot-making)

So when you say they're "more skilled", you're talking about ball-dominance, stand-still threes and in-stride layups

They're worse at making shots on defenders (basketball) because today's spacing allows threes and layups.. Contested shots are FEARED in today's game and avoided, while they were the EXPECTATION in the no-spacing eras..

So I'll take the better contested shot-makers all day over today's trash of open shots and over-dribbling

why exactly would a shot be contested?

basketball is a scoring game, its a failure on the offensive player to get a contested shot

since he has the ball in his hands, he decides where the journey goes

if he performs optimally, only guesswork could lead to a contested shot

[tontoz]

If a contested 2 pt jumper is taken with plenty of time left on the clock it is a bad shot most likely.

Some contested shots are inevitable when the shot clock is running down.

[dankok8]

A contested shot means the offense didn't function properly. Creating an uncontested, high quality look is the goal of an offense. How is that not basketball? If you're taking contested shots, your offense failed in some way, and/or you are a ball hog.

One of the biggest problems in the high defense era from 99-04 was a bunch of iso-heros jacking up bad shots making defense real easy. I remember rewatching one of those games and guys stepping in from the three point line to take a long two instead of an open three was being praised. Stuff that some want to credit prior eras for existed because coaches were too stupid and blinded by history to play basketball the optimal way. They actively made defense better by playing atrocious offense.

You think the great basketball minds only realized that a 3pt shot is worth 3 points 5 years ago? Teams played like that in previous eras because you could hardly get foul calls on 3pt shots let alone by the offensive player initiating contact which has become common place in today's game. When defenders are allowed to be physical on the perimeter, those 3pt shots become much much less efficient. Guys who did shoot well from 3pt range in that era were lucky to get a few great looks in a game... These days it's hard to even close the air space. Almost every player can always get off a good shot today because defenders are afraid of fouling and conceding 3 free throws. 20 years ago, a shooter getting 3 foul shots was really really rare. Body contact was rarely given, contact on the arm/hand after the shot was rarely given. those flailing legs or leaning onto the defender was never given etc.

[Ainosterhaspie]

There's a lot of myth in what you are saying. Guys routinely passed on open threes and stepped inside the line for "a better shot". That was standard practice.

Also Reggie Miller was famous for getting bogus foul calls by kicking out his legs, so not sure why you think foul baiting on threes is a new phenomenon.

[hold this L]

Increase physicality, reduce 3's and voila, passion solved. The league is easily more talented today than it was during the period OP's getting nostalgic about, but the rules and analytics-driven style of play has marginalized the game's grittiness. But it can be remedied if the league had any brains.

How do you reduce 3s? Players aren't going to stop shooting the better % shot.

[Spurs m8]

Passionless is such an accurate way to describe it.

People who like real sport and real basketball cannot find this entertaining...unless you have nothing else to compare it to...and even then, it'd be a stretch

[PP34Deuce]

If I can play 20 minutes a game, know defensive rotations, and make my 3's at respectable clips making 7 million a year, I would too.

All the older players complaining are jealous financially. They wish they could have stayed around to be a Vince Carter/Udonis Haslem vet. Vince Carter was a mid-range guy and dunker. Once he got older he lived on the 3 and instead of retiring when he should have, he kept getting checks on bad teams as a "mentor"

The worst thing that's impacted the game has been the blurring lines of superstar player and GM. Lebron is an ATG along with Kevin Durant but they really blurred the lines and created the mess right now. But it's capitalism.

Passion is there but it's for money and opening lanes for entertainment. These guys are more entertainers and people should realize that. Only in the playoffs( 2nd round on) you get to see the potential and ability of all these guys.

[dankok8]

There's a lot of myth in what you are saying. Guys routinely passed on open threes and stepped inside the line for "a better shot". That was standard practice.

Also Reggie Miller was famous for getting bogus foul calls by kicking out his legs, so not sure why you think foul baiting on threes is a new phenomenon.

None of what I said is myth. I watched it.

Go pull up some games from 20 years ago and tell me how many times shooters got sent to the line for 3 free throws. It was rare to the point where you'd say "Wow. That guy is gonna shoot 3 foul shots." Shooters just didn't have the kind of airspace they have now because defenders weren't afraid to close. Again... body contact, tap on the arm after the shot and flailing or leaning on the part of the shooter simply weren't called as fouls most of the time.

I'm not denying that the 3pt shot is more efficient than a midrange one by the way. It obviously is but today's rules made it more of a game breaker. I don't think a guy like Curry comes close to his current efficiency in the 2001 NBA.

[Spurs m8]

None of what I said is myth. I watched it.

Go pull up some games from 20 years ago and tell me how many times shooters got sent to the line for 3 free throws. It was rare to the point where you'd say "Wow. That guy is gonna shoot 3 foul shots." Shooters just didn't have the kind of airspace they have now because defenders weren't afraid to close. Again... body contact, tap on the arm after the shot and flailing or leaning on the part of the shooter simply weren't called as fouls most of the time.

I'm not denying that the 3pt shot is more efficient than a midrange one by the way. It obviously is but today's rules made it more of a game breaker. I don't think a guy like Curry comes close to his current efficiency in the 2001 NBA.

Backed

[DABIGSALSISHA]

none of what i said is myth. I watched it.

Go pull up some games from 20 years ago and tell me how many times shooters got sent to the line for 3 free throws. It was rare to the point where you'd say "wow. That guy is gonna shoot 3 foul shots." shooters just didn't have the kind of airspace they have now because defenders weren't afraid to close. Again... Body contact, tap on the arm after the shot and flailing or leaning on the part of the shooter simply weren't called as fouls most of the time.

I'm not denying that the 3pt shot is more efficient than a midrange one by the way. It obviously is but today's rules made it more of a game breaker. I don't think a guy like curry comes close to his current efficiency in the 2001 nba.

backed x2.

[Ainosterhaspie]

I have watched many old games, and it's not what you remember. I'm specifically making this point because I watched a game the last few months where a guy passed on an open three to step inside the line and was praised by the announcers for it. It was accepted conventional wisdom at the time that that was a good basketball play. It wasn't, but they thought it was.

Guys weren't not shooting threes because of smothering defense at the three point line, they weren't doing it because they thought it was better to shoot an open, long two rather than an open three. It was a fundamental misunderstanding of the game.

Go look at highlights of Jordan's shrug game. Wide open three after wide open three by the best player in the game, who was on fire in the finals. Defenders couldn't be bothered to get in his space and try to make him uncomfortable.

They may have grasped that 3>2, but it took a long time to grasp that 40% can be better than 55%. Once people figured that out, three point point shooting accelerated, but until then, they thought shooting 43% on long twos was preferable to 30% on threes and that held offense back for no reason.

[DABIGSALSISHA]

Today's game has no soul.

Too much money, too easy for these players.

ROBOTS launching 3s non stop, the only thing missing are the red eyes on them.

Game is being stopped all the time for non-existent or NORMAL contact plays are called fouls. The monitor thing being challenged all the time makes the game boring and slower to watch than a funeral in other words, the game doesn't flow because they don't ALLOW it to.

Guys shooting A TON. of unecessry free throws every game and having like 20 points or so out of them. That's one of the reasons why they score 30, 40 , 50 so easy today.

Games that you watch every night HAVE ARTIFICIAL final scoring of 140-150 points. None of that is real.

Lots of blowouts every night, super teams with 3, 4, 5 stars vs regular teams, disparity of talent, eliminated competition. Most games are won in the 3rd quarter, even in the 2nd. People change channels or move on to their favourite netflix series or youtube videos or video games or they fall asleep with the game on (me) lol :oldlol:

[Mr. Woke]

The NBA of previous eras was wack and had no soul.

Players nowadays are more skilled and have higher IQs.

No one wants to see midrange chuckfests or endless post ups.

The modern era has the most passion ever.