Demise of the NBA....

[Clarkmeister]

None of the 3 NBA Finals games were able to draw a higher TV rating than the Belmont Stakes. This is while the Belmont was on a network with essentially no sports (hence, no marketing ability), and the NBA Finals are on the ABC/ESPN marketing giant in prime time.

That's pretty sad. I can't wait to hear Stern spin this one.

[KJS]

The prominent style in the NBA is just ugly nowadays. Drive the lane, draw the defense, leave your feet and either throw a 20 foot overhead pass or put up a crappy shot. Hardly any movement without the ball, little crisp passing, good cuts, etc.. Zzzzzz.

I play a lot of hoops in Thailand, a place where NBA was probably not televised until recently. These guys all want to be Iverson, meaning they drive the lane and throw up the wackiest sh** you can imagine. Or throw an overhead pass to their buddy at the 3 line if they get stuck in mid-air. Zzzzzz again. At least I get to play center, often being the tallest guy on the court at only a hair above 6'.

KJS

[Rick Nebiolo]

Dave,

The Sunday Los Angeles Times has a columnists named Mark Heisler who covers the NBA with an edge that Stern wouldn't like. Here is a link to a few recent columns:

http://tinyurl.com/dya5

You will probably have to register with the LA Times though

~ Rick

[Dr Wogga]

.....remember when Dr J, Magic, and Larry basically saved the game. Then there was Michael.

Who now? There is Kobe and Shaq, but without the Lakers in the finals, there is bound to be a lack of interest form the major west coast market. Who else thrills you in the NBA finals from a star perspective? Tim Duncan, wonderful player, probably a better man - lacks pizzazz, way too low-key. Jason Kidd?? He struts his wife and kids around on post-game interviews.

From the teams that were deposed: Iversen?? McGrady?? Not for my tastes.

As for the lack of game - one of the previous posters was right on the mark - there is almost no movement. It is just 1 on 1 garbage street ball - hoisting 3's, ridiculous drives into traffic. Further, because there is an overall lack of movement, by allowing zones (not that they weren't played in the good ole days), the NBA has further diluted its product IMO. It seems that the teams that can play D, can't play O and vics-versa. Sad times in the NBA for sure. Lets hope its a cyclical thing and not a death knell.

[Jimbo]

From the column of The Answer Man:

"Q: Major league umpires are angry over the QuesTec monitoring system, which compares their ball-strike calls to camera images. The umpires are graded. ; What punishment is given to an ump whose judgement is considered seriously flawed and whose calls are wildly arbitrary?


A: He is shipped out to the NBA."

[Simon Diamond]

It has been painful to watch so far, and I can't really see it improving. 63 points in the first half the other night summed it up - and Bill Walton was convinced it was because of great defensive play.

A pundit in the studio of our UK coverage had a better grasp of the situation - it was average defence and terrible offense.

Still, as a Spurs fan I'll take any victories that come /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

Simon

[JTG51]

There's a sports talk show on 660 AM in New York called Mike and The Mad Dog. They love Stern and have him on as a guest all the time. They have been absolutely killing him about the ratings and the NBA's move off off the networks. Stern has been saying for two months now that ratings don't matter, they aren't an accurate measure of the sports popularity, the market has changed, etc. I guess he was ready for this.

[Dr Wogga]

...on the YES network. Both A-holes IMO. Mike is a fat arrogant, S.O.B. and Parcells suck-up. The other skinny idiot from Connecticut with the ridiculously-grating voice is a NY-hating jerk of the highest order, who cannot annuciate any owrd with more than 2 syllables. They desrve each other

[JTG51]

I agree that Mike is arrogant and Mad Dog hates NY teams, I'm not sure why that makes them an SOB and a jerk of the highest order though.

I'm as big a Yankee fan as you'll find, and I just love listening to Mad Dog rant about them. I think the two of them are great together, definitely the best sports talk show I've ever listened to. Dan Patrick and Rob Dibble on ESPN radio are close but not as good, in my opinion.

[David Steele]

I think the defence was excellent, the offence
was not so bad and I don't really care how marketable
the product is to non-fans.


D.

[Dr Wogga]

....and although Mike is a Yankee fan too, he is the most arrogant, condescending, jerk who ever broadcast as far as I'm concerned. He talks down to just about anyone and everyone who dares disagree with him. He has no football thoughts that aren't the para-phrased words of Tuna. The mad dog is just a dick. I once heard him go into a diatribe with an obviously race-baiting caller and allowed the caller to call Buck Showalter a "redneck" for not playing Strawberry in left field (perhaps during a '95 playoff game against Seattle) - despite the fact the left-fielder was a black guy too! (Can't remember his name - Dion James maybe?). Any sports host worth his salt has got to step in and cut the caller off with baseless charges regardless of his rooting biases. Would he have taken the caller to task if it were a Giant skipper being called a "redneck"?? Damn right he would - so, he allowed an idiotic racist slant to be applied against Showalter simplybecause it was an anti-Yankee point - not because of the merit (or ds-merit) of the point trying to be made.

Also, the way both of these jerks cut off callers - disconnect them - shows a smugmess, a superiority attitude that I think makes them SOB's. As such, I don't listen to them anymore because I find them both way too annoying.