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  1. #1
    NBA Legend CavaliersFTW's Avatar
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    Default I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    ESPN, NBAtv, TNT. All of it.

    NBA analysis today is all about hero-name dropping. "Can Kobe/Lebron/Durant pull out this win" Did "Kobe/Lebron/Durant" do something athletic tonight.

    Nobody talks about actual basketball on tv. Nobody talks about great on-the-floor teamball and playmaking. It's literally all about creating stories about _____ star player willing their team to victory against ______ star player on the opposing team and above the rim highlights. It's all smoke and mirrors and no meat and potatoes. I love watching older Lakers games with Chick Hearn or games where Bill Russell is doing color commentating because they actually add insight to plays that are developing and they didn't just glorify the stars. I do not like the way the game is presented today, it is presented for casual mainstream fans who just want a hero not actual sport/basketball fans who want to see and understand a good game.

  2. #2
    Top 1 Bball Mind.
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    Agreed.

  3. #3
    Dunking on everybody in the park chosen_wun's Avatar
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    Its been that way since those stations started covering baksetball, sooo..forever. Stop being a hipster, save that stuff for music and art.

  4. #4
    WayOfWade
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    Yeah, I especially notice this for the Heat. Even though they have star players, it's the system that helps them thrive with their "hockey-assists," their back door cuts (Wade's gotten terrific at it). Even when the stars sit, the team usually wins because they know how to swing the ball and play good defense whether they're stars are in or not.

  5. #5
    NBA Legend CavaliersFTW's Avatar
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    Quote Originally Posted by chosen_wun
    Its been that way since those stations started covering baksetball, sooo..forever. Stop being a hipster, save that stuff for music and art.
    No it hasn't, and being a basketball fan makes me a hipster?

  6. #6
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today


  7. #7
    NBA sixth man of the year NugzFan's Avatar
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    i agree and its awful. get used to it.

    espn is to sports now as mtv is to music.

  8. #8
    Good High School Starter
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    The recycled, tired cliches, counter-arguments, and arbitrary stats are what get me most. I blame ESPN primarily for lowering the intelligence of basketball followers by pushing their TV "analysts", bias web content, and contrived first take debates.

    Examples of eye-rolling commentary:
    "makes players around him better"
    "replace player x with player y and the team is better/worse"
    "team is better without star player x"

    Too many variables to make simple-minded statements and pass them off as credible.

  9. #9
    NBA Legend CavaliersFTW's Avatar
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    Quote Originally Posted by WayOfWade
    Yeah, I especially notice this for the Heat. Even though they have star players, it's the system that helps them thrive with their "hockey-assists," their back door cuts (Wade's gotten terrific at it). Even when the stars sit, the team usually wins because they know how to swing the ball and play good defense whether they're stars are in or not.
    Youd think it was all about Lebron/Wade's killer instinct/athleticism/will-to-win that is entirely behind the Heat's success the way the game is presented too us. Backdoor cut probably isn't even a vernacular they're allowed to use on sports networks anymore

  10. #10
    7-time NBA All-Star
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    Yeah, it's why people call a team like the Spurs boring despite the fact they're the most unselfish and well-coached team in the league. In general, people don't seem to understand the value of coaching which is why they wonder when a team like the Lakers struggles so much.

    But basketball has been going in this direction for years. It started with the fascination of the Magic/Bird rivalry, then went to another level with Jordan and it's just been ingrained more and more into the casual fan and media in the 2000s/2010s with Shaq, Kobe, T-Mac, Iverson, Lebron, Wade, Durant ect.

    Quote Originally Posted by CavaliersFTW
    Youd think it was all about Lebron/Wade's killer instinct/athleticism/will-to-win that is entirely behind the Heat's success the way the game is presented too us. Backdoor cut probably isn't even a vernacular they're allowed to use on sports networks anymore
    It's similar to how people view Phil Jackson's Lakers and Bulls. People talk about the triangle, but many seem to consider it irrelevant because of the great players, when it was an essential part of those team's success.

    No matter how great your stars are, or how much talent you have, you need the entire team to know what they're doing at both ends, and play together. If someone gets beat and there's consistently no help defensively, you're not going to win anything, and if you're not moving the ball, and players aren't moving without the ball, you're going to be very easy to defend.
    Last edited by ShaqAttack3234; 04-16-2013 at 12:03 PM.

  11. #11
    GIVEN NOT EARNED ripthekik's Avatar
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    It's always been this way. Basketball is always about "that dude" and not the entire team.

    Also, basic marketing. Hero-ball creates stories. That brings jersey sales, merchandising, viewership. Money.

  12. #12
    Dunking on everybody in the park chosen_wun's Avatar
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    Quote Originally Posted by CavaliersFTW
    No it hasn't, and being a basketball fan makes me a hipster?
    Basketball fans watch games and couldn't care less about the dweebs who broadcast them.

    I do agree that they need to start giving lesser players storylines, like when say Earl Clark or Chris Anderson etc. is tearing it up.

  13. #13
    NBA Legend CavaliersFTW's Avatar
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    Quote Originally Posted by ShaqAttack3234
    Yeah, it's why people call a team like the Spurs boring despite the fact they're the most unselfish and well-coached team in the league. In general, people don't seem to understand the value of coaching which is why they wonder when a team like the Lakers struggles so much.

    But basketball has been going in this direction for years. It started with the fascination of the Magic/Bird rivalry, then went to another level with Jordan and it's just been ingrained more and more into the casual fan and media in the 2000s/2010s with Shaq, Kobe, T-Mac, Iverson, Lebron, Wade, Durant ect.



    It's similar to how people view Phil Jackson's Lakers and Bulls. People talk about the triangle, but many seem to consider it irrelevant because of the great players, when it was an essential part of those team's success.

    No matter how great your stars are, or how much talent you have, you need the entire team to know what they're doing at both ends, and play together. If someone gets beat and there's consistently no help defensively, you're not going to win anything, and if you're not moving the ball, and players aren't moving without the ball, you're going to be very easy to defend.
    I love catching Spurs games, that teams offense keeps everyone moving well without the ball - which is totally opposite of say, when Lebron played with the Cavs. In the Lebron-Cavs era Lebron's "teammates" weren't the problem, our (lack) of a moving team-offense was. Basketball involves all 5 players working together with or without the ball. Not 1 man dribbling at the top of the key "imposing his will" onto another team while 4 others stand around waiting which is often what happened with my team in the Lebron-Cavs era. The ESPN coverage loved presenting that too, even thought it was TERRIBLE basketball. They thrive off heroball. The National media always covered Lebron, and almost never "teams" like the dominant Spurs unless the Spurs forced the media to give them attention by winning a title. But even then it was presented like it was all about Ginobli, Duncan or Parker - saving the day/series whoever did better on a given night was given credit for winning the game.

    Now like someone said, the Heat have a great moving offense where (similar to with the Spurs) there's always people rotating and there's a lot of off the ball movement. Yet ESPN still presents the sport as if it's just hero-ball like in Lebrons Cavs days and they just want to talk about Lebron. Exept now they talk about one other guy (Wade) if their stats go lopsided. Then it's "Lebron disappeared" and "Wade stepped up". It's frustrating because if I miss a game I've got no hope of knowing what actually happened, the TV networks will just talk about some weak narrative. And it seems to be brainwashing future generations of fans into being just hero-stans, without actually presenting the truth about how/why some teams and players are winning and others aren't.
    Last edited by CavaliersFTW; 04-16-2013 at 12:27 PM.

  14. #14
    Learning to shoot layups MtMutombo's Avatar
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    Good comment that if you miss a game, youll never know the story of it.

    and **** off whoever says modern coverage = MTV and its everywhere so deal with it. That is a shamefully dumb opinion to have.
    Milwad was trying to start an account for people to watch Rockets games so ppl could actually chat about what was going on in the games. If you go to the games, you get a different story than you do if you lsiten. There are less conventional ways to have a deeper basketball experience. Dont just deal with it.

    It's not basic marketing, either. What in "basic marketing" says that people are drawn to hero-ball over anything else? There's no book that tells you what people are going to eat up. Its ALOT more complicated than that. Basic Marketing LOL. Didnt know harvard was so well represented on ISH

  15. #15
    Local High School Star Akhenaten's Avatar
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    Default Re: I can't stand the "dumbing down" of mainstream basketball today

    Quote Originally Posted by Take Your Lumps

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