I believe that times when it was difficult for African Americans to play ball were weak...see George Mikan
LAKERS VS. GLOBETROTTERS
February 19, 1948 at Chicago Stadium: Globetrotters 61, Lakers 59
February 28, 1949 at Chicago Stadium: Globetrotters 49, Lakers 45
March 14, 1949 at Minneapolis Auditorium: Lakers 68, Globetrotters 53
February 21, 1950 at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 76, Globetrotters 60
March 20, 1950 at St. Paul Auditorium: Lakers 69, Globetrotters 54
February 23, 1951 at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 72, Globetrotters 68
January 2, 1952 at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 84, Globetrotters 60
January 3, 1958 at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 111, Globetrotters 100
As you can see, the scores were very close between the all African American Globetrotters vs. the all white Lakers. The first game was won by the Globetrotters on a buzzer beater. Looks like the Lakers were pretty competitive to me. So now what's your excuse?
But this isn't even close to enough knowledge to say what Dave Cowens was and wasn't as a basketball player. I absolutely GUARANTEE that if someone had this bare-bones knowledge on Arenas and attempted to try and form an opinion on him, you would be all over him.
Do you see what I'm getting at here?
I see what you're getting at here.
Are there any Cowens scholars out there who want to talk about him? I'm curious now.
People, just face it. Your human evolution theories are bull, and 50 years from now, players won't be able to jump much higher, or run much faster. Even if they are able to, the margin of difference won't be anything close to what it is from the 60's to today's game.
The game before the 80's was WEAK. Why? Because players who wouldn't see anything over 5 mpg in today's game were putting up 21/16 back then. All it shows is that it required no athleticism at all to play back then. I've watched more games from the 60's-70's than any of you here combined, and let me tell you that to the average fan who grew up back then, they didn't seem unathletic. Why? Because they never knew what today's NBA standards for freakish athleticism would be.
Well Duncan is nit really athletic and dominates, so is their an exception?
Agreed. There are eras weaker than other eras, but there's no such thing as an era that was just plain weak. As the OP said, the game is always evolving. Players will always get better. Rules will always be altered. New skills and gameplay moves will always be introduced. 30 years ago, they didn't consider competition easy at all. Right now they don't consider it easy. 20 years in the future they won't consider it easy. Because first of all, it's disrespectful to the game itself to say that a particular era was filled with a bunch of unathletic average joes that could put a ball in a basket; that's an ignorant statement. Back in the 60's, people would definitely say it was tough. Just because we're looking back on it now, doesn't mean it was weak. It just might not have been as tough as it is now, but it was still tough back then to the people that lived and played in those eras.
Last edited by Richie2k6 : 08-10-2007 at 11:17 PM.
I hate the argument that AI or someone like that would dominate in the 60's. Let's see how quick, tall, even how good of a shooter AI would be with the diet medicine and technology of yesterday. he would probably only be like 5'8". Hell if you can argue that AI would dominate in the 60's I can argue that he would have been stricken with Polio before picking up a basketball. So case closed how could AI play in the 60's if he had polio.
I agree that some eras were weaker than others but to say an era was completely weak with no great players is not right. The game changes all the time so eras will get stronger and weaker depending on all the variables. (training techniques, better health care procedures, change of certain rules ect.)
For instance... You cant call the 60's a weak era because it really is a different game. Same for the 70s
But you can certainly do it in the current. I mean the players are probably more athletic now than they were in the 80s and 90s but the game is weaker. Perhaps it's a de-evolution? The games going backwards, it isnt half as fun to watch, the stars arent as good.
This right now is a "weak era" because it isnt as good as the previous 2. It is vastly inferior in fact. You cant say it's because the game changed because some of the stars of the past are still effective(Jordan, Miller, Shaq, Zo, Mutombo, Stockton and Malone for example) despite all being well past their primes. Guys like Grant Hill can still be the best player on their team despite not even being a shadow of his former shadow. This is how you can tell you are in a seriously weak era.
So there is such a thing as a weak era. We are in one right now. I'm not old enough to speak for the past but do know the game has changed considerably over the last 50 years. It has not however done so in the last 15 in which time the league has gone from being great to mediocre.
This right now is a "weak era" because it isnt as good as the previous 2. It is vastly inferior in fact. You cant say it's because the game changed because some of the stars of the past are still effective(Jordan, Miller, Shaq, Zo, Mutombo, Stockton and Malone for example) despite all being well past their primes. Guys like Grant Hill can still be the best player on their team despite not even being a shadow of his former shadow. This is how you can tell you are in a seriously weak era.
So there is such a thing as a weak era. We are in one right now. I'm not old enough to speak for the past but do know the game has changed considerably over the last 50 years. It has not however done so in the last 15 n which time the league has gone from being great to mediocre.
it was weak before african americans were allowed to play...
LAKERS VS. GLOBETROTTERS
February 19, 1948 at Chicago Stadium: Globetrotters 61, Lakers 59
February 28, 1949 at Chicago Stadium: Globetrotters 49, Lakers 45
March 14, 1949 at Minneapolis Auditorium: Lakers 68, Globetrotters 53
February 21, 1950 at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 76, Globetrotters 60
March 20, 1950 at St. Paul Auditorium: Lakers 69, Globetrotters 54
February 23, 1951 at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 72, Globetrotters 68
January 2, 1952 at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 84, Globetrotters 60
January 3, 1958 at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 111, Globetrotters 100
As you can see once again, the scores were very close between the all African American Globetrotters vs. the all white Lakers. The first game was won by the Globetrotters on a buzzer beater. Looks like the Lakers were pretty competitive to me. Am I wrong here? Is there proof to the contrary that shows that these teams were not evenly matched, despite one team being white and one team being black?
Weak eras do exist, dude. You see, we've been experiencing the weakest era of the NBA history since Shaq left Lakers. The Spurs? They're unable to clinch the second round in 1990s.
February 19, 1948 at Chicago Stadium: Globetrotters 61, Lakers 59
February 28, 1949 at Chicago Stadium: Globetrotters 49, Lakers 45
March 14, 1949 at Minneapolis Auditorium: Lakers 68, Globetrotters 53
February 21, 1950 at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 76, Globetrotters 60
March 20, 1950 at St. Paul Auditorium: Lakers 69, Globetrotters 54
February 23, 1951 at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 72, Globetrotters 68
January 2, 1952 at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 84, Globetrotters 60
January 3, 1958 at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 111, Globetrotters 100
As you can see once again, the scores were very close between the all African American Globetrotters vs. the all white Lakers. The first game was won by the Globetrotters on a buzzer beater. Looks like the Lakers were pretty competitive to me. Am I wrong here? Is there proof to the contrary that shows that these teams were not evenly matched, despite one team being white and one team being black?
The Globetrotters were initially a serious competitive team, and despite a flair for entertainment, they would only clown for the audience after establishing a safe lead in the game. In 1937, they accepted an invitation to participate in the World Professional Basketball Tournament, where they met the New York Rens in the semi-finals in the first big clash of the two greatest all-black professional basketball teams. The Rens defeated the Globetrotters and went on to win the Tournament, but in 1940 they avenged their loss by defeating the Rens in the quarterfinals and advancing to the championship game, where they beat the Chicago Bruins in overtime by a score of 37-36.
The Globetrotters beat the premier professional team, the Minneapolis Lakers (led by George Mikan), for two years in a row in 1948 and 1949, with the Lakers winning later contests. The February 1948 win (by a score of 61-59, on a buzzer beater) was a hallmark in professional basketball history, as the all-black Globetrotters proved they were on an equal footing with the all-white Lakers. Momentum for ending the NBA's color line grew, and in 1950, Chuck Cooper became the first black player drafted by an NBA team. From that time on the Globetrotters had increasing difficulty attracting and retaining top talent.Tony Peyton was the last living member of the original Globetrotters. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1996. He died in Midland, Texas, on July 23, 2007, at the age of eighty-five.
Re: Ok. Weak Eras do not exist.
