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