Well, he did say it, but he was not the originator. It had been a joke used by comedians and newspapers for years.
wow---brazdeikis joining matthews & poole in the draft
- Thread starter mushroomgod_1
- Start date
Well, he did say it, but he was not the originator. It had been a joke used by comedians and newspapers for years.
It is like watching two different sports. Once I really got into the NBA, I found college almost unwatchable. College is playing the style that the NBA did almost 20 years ago. And doing it with limited talent.
I get the fact that with defenses the way they are structured today, offenses include options where a big man can step out and take a 3 Occasionally, particularly as the shot clock is winding down. However, if I had a son or if I were Coaching a Player 6'8" or taller in high school, I would have him working to develop an accurate jump shot in and around the lane from 8 to 17 feet out. This mid range shot is the one very few players develop today. With many players today it is a dunk, a circus shot on a drive, or a 3 point attempt. Very few players have a mid range pull up jumper, or can position themselves for a mid-range opportunity.
If you were coaching today you would pay attention to the analytics and know that mid range shots are the least efficient shots in basketball and that the post up is the least efficient play. It's not the players whims and inabilities driving the offenses, it's the percentages.
Yep. I think moving the 3pt line back to the international mark might increase the use of the mid-range game. It won't affect all shooters, but it will affect some. J Morgan seemed to struggle with that extra distance in the NIT.
Also, I was surprised by the number of mid-range attempts in the later rounds of the NCAAT. When you play against great defenses who body you up inside, a ton of shots get blocked by weakside help. For guards especially, that pull-up jumper is a real weapon against bigs who are going to sway anything you try to lay up.
To add to this, I’m surprised no college team has went full NBA analytics yet. Get 2-3 long, rimming running and protecting bigs and pair them with 4 shooters out. With a shorter 3 point line, you should be able to shot a high 30% and get layups and FTs. Shoot 50 3s a game. Space things out and run a ton of high picks. It’s not that hard.
That explains a lot. Did you complain to your parents and threaten to go find new ones a 1000 times a day.
I feel sorry for the anti-NBA fans who don't watch the game and did not see Dirk and will not see the Greek Freak. I am honored to have attended his final game last night in San antonio. Besides the 33% of us Mavs fans in the arena wearing Dirk jerseys and roaring everytime he scored, Spurs fans joined in as well in appreciation for what he has brought to basketball.
I think the college shooter that I saw that had the least conscience (okay charitably call it the shortest memory) was Billy Shepherd at Butler. I swear I saw him take a couple steps across half court and just let it fly-didn’t even close to the defense. His FG % was only 39% but never bothered him a bit. At that time that length of shot was unheard of but now you have guys like Curry and Harden that can shoot a decent percentage at that range and you have to be aware of them defensively for a shot at that range.
I guess Maravich was similar but didn’t see him play in college-just heard the stories.
Having been born and raised in Indiana I hate UK basketball and Patriots football. Having lived considerably in Houston I hate Mavs basketball and Cowboys football. I never could stand Dirk and it was like a dagger in my heart whenever he buried a clutch jumper. Having said that I understand your appreciation and glad you got to see the game.
I used to go to Rockets games when there would be like a couple thousand people there (no cheerleaders) and you could almost hear the fans on the other side of the court discussing something. Now ticket prices have increased astronomically and they average about 18,000/game (yes I know somewhat less than the Mavs) and you can barely hear the person sitting next to you.
Moving the line back is very problemmatic, because of the width of the court. There have been rumblings in the past couple of weeks about widening the official dimensions of the court so that the three point line could be lengthened but that would affect many arenas that were built to accommodate the size of the court under the current rules.
It seems the balanced solution may be to increase the three-point distance but let the three-point line intersect with the side line. That would eliminate Reggie Miller's corner shot and reduce the area in which three-point shots must be defended, but something would have to give to allow a longer shot.
The college player I remember who just let it fly was Dennis Scott out of Georgia Tech. There were some years where I kept up with Georgia Tech because Craig Neal from Washington Indiana went there. Dennis did not care the situation or where he was on the court. He's got to shoot. I haven't seen Shepherd, but it is true about Curry and Harden. You can't leave them open anywhere.
Inbreeding explains more ..
I remember DS in the surprising 95 NBA finals against the Rockets. He played in the NBA a long time.
On your point about how changing the dimensions of a Court that was designed for college basketball, might be difficult to accomplish, let me ask this. When Indiana got into the NIT this year and play 3 Home Games, how were they able to convert the court in Assembly Hall to accommodate the longer three point line and wider free throw line within a period of 3 or 4 days ?
If your point is that moving back the three point line leads to problems of players taking shots while sitting on the laps of fans in the first row, i get that. However, I have noticed in the past few years increased violation calls of players in the Offensive Court called for receiving a pass along the sideline
with one foot on the sideline. this tells me that the width of the Court is already a problem.
WTF I am talking about is, what makes anybody think the NBA is stronger today then it was in the 80s and 90s? That was the OP's comment. Would the NBA be better if guys coming into the league were seasoned like Larry Bird? He was 22 when he came into the league. Jordan was 21.
My question had absolutely nothing to do with foreigners like Doncic coming into the league... and everything to do with kids getting a lot of playing time based off of potential. Watching kids develop at the top level is not my idea of a stronger league.
Not where I was going with it... my comment was that I do not believe the NBA is stronger today then it was 20-30 years a go. In the 80s and 90s, seasoned 21-23 year olds were infused into the league. Now it is all about potential. You are watching seasoned veterans going against 19 year old kids who are trying to develop at the top level. I don't think that makes the league stronger. Maybe I misunderstood where your comment was heading.
Hate to break it to you, but teams in the 80’s and 90’s that weren’t competitive gave their young guys more run too. Wtf the **** does Doncic being European have to do with anything? Are ages different in Europe?
This doesn’t happen nearly as much as you think it does and not at all on good teams. Most non lottery picks now spend at least some time in the G League. That is where they are developing.
You’re argument fails to take into account the prevalence of AAU. Today’s 19 year old has thousands more court minutes than the 19 year old in the 80s. Further, these kids play across the the country and against the top players all the time. Today’s kids are much more NBA ready and it shows. The star power in the league is off the charts currently. You should watch some of the playoffs. It’s a very solid product.
Not really. You think players "in the old days" weren't in the gym or on the court almost every waking minute honing their game? That's court time and they were working on skills, not sitting on the sidelines between games texting, traveling all over the country or playing games. If you think anyone today gets up significantly more shots or dribbles than the Pistol, Rick Barry, Rick Mount, Oscar, Larry Bird or any of yesteryear's stars, I hate to tell you, but you are sorely, sorely, mistaken. They were getting up shots while today's AAU "stars" are traveling all over the country, sitting on the sidelines texting and watching games, etc.... There are exceptions like Steph Curry, but if you know anything about him, his skillset is honed from his gym workout time, for which he's legendary, not AAU ball. I'd agree today's players are bigger and more athletic, benefitting from better diet and training techniques, but worse on skills like shooting and ball-handling. It's you who should watch some (old) video or read some books.
AAU is the scourge or American basketball, not the savior. JMHO.
Last edited:
The talent level is better today than it’s ever been. In every sport. That’s how it’s always worked.
More kids playing, better weight training, more playing time, etc. That’s just the reality.
When I was growing up 50+ years ago we played for our school team and that’s it. Then we were on to the next sport. Now kids are specializing from a young age. And we didn’t have these high dollar practice facilities that are everywhere today. We played outside in the park or on a single goal in the neighborhood. It’s a reasonable argument to debate which of these was “better”, but you can’t debate the talent level today vs the past. It’s night and day.
I thought Ryan Taylor would tear it up at NW after leading UE and the MVC in scoring. He scored 9.8 pts per game (12 pts per game less than he did at UE). I wanted him at IU because of his shooting and length. He wasn't bad, just not the player he had been at UE.
I attended the D2 Elite 8 tournament and one team started 4 guards and a big. One guard was 6'-8 and really could play every position and defend the post. There were 70 free throws taken in the game. Their offense was mostly driving and drawing fouls then shooting the 3 when players went under screens. They lost, but cut a big deficit in the second half. They allowed a seldom used post player to score a lot early before foul trouble took him out. I can't say I would like to see that used in the B1G. Officials and how they called the game would determine the success. It would change from game to game and not something I would rely on.
