Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84; site godot.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!godot!bruce
From: bruce@godot.UUCP (Bruce Nemnich)
Newsgroups: net.sport.hoops
Subject: Re: What's wrong with the NBA?
Message-ID: <930@godot.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 11-Feb-85 04:26:31 EST
Article-I.D.: godot.930
Posted: Mon Feb 11 04:26:31 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 12-Feb-85 03:55:22 EST
References: <804@godot.UUCP> <808@CS-Arthur> <5046@tekecs.UUCP> <4715@cbscc.UUCP> <126@ihlpg.UUCP> <4976@fortune.UUCP>
Reply-To: bruce@godot.UUCP (Bruce Nemnich)
Organization: Thinking Machines, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 47
Summary: 

Interesting someone should ask why the NBA is so boring now; I find it
considerably less boring now than I did a few years ago.  I can't be the
only one, since TV audiences are up by something like 7% leaguewide at a
time when other sports (e.g., pro football) are losing viewers in
significant numbers.  The excellent rookie crop this year helps.

This is inherently a boring time of the season.  The first third of the
season is interesting because it's a time for evaluation.  The last
third is interesting to the extent that it sets up the playoffs, though
it only really matters the division winners (for the bye) and those who
may or may not make it.

There's also the question of whether one considers basketball itself to
be a boring sport.  I don't think so, but neither do I find baseball
boring, and I know many do.  One thing about basketball which is untrue
in the other major sports: there are very few really big plays.  Since
teams score an average of about 50 times each, and even the best plays
can contribute maybe 3% of the score.  Basketball is a game of momentum
and runs, not of the BIG PLAY.  Until the last few minutes of the game,
it simply doesn't ride on making a given shot.

There are a few things I would change.  I hate the "illegal defense"
rule; what on earth is wrong with zone defense?  Everyone effectively
plays a zone much of the time anyway (frequent switches), so why this
silly restriction?  I *like* good defense.

The all-inclusive playoffs contribute greatly to the boredom of the
regular season.  That goes for hockey, too.  Any playoff system which
includes sub-.500 teams is braindamaged.

I do like the 3-point field goal, though.  It introduces another bit of
strategy without complicating the game too much.

Finally, a response to Carol's statement about Bill Fitch:

I disagree.  Fitch took them from 29-53 to 60-22 in one year (of course
that was also Larry Bird's rookie year).  The next three years they won
61, 62, and 56 games, as I recall.  That last year ('83) was not so much
a breakdown in team play as in attitude.  Fitch is a disciplinarian, and
from all accounts he becomes a pain to deal with after a while.  I
consider Bill Fitch to be an excellent coach of fundamentals and team
play, and he is probably ideally suited to the young talent in Houston.
I am also really glad he left Boston; the chemistry just wasn't there
anymore, and no one was having fun.  They are much looser under KC.
-- 
--Bruce Nemnich, Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge, MA
  ihnp4!godot!bruce, bjn@mit-mc.arpa ... soon to be bruce@tm.arpa