Spot on. Also, it's almost impossible to be a superstar as a big now, because zones can shut down anyone who can't dribble himself into scoring position.
The Warriors are just amazing. Had they not been so amazing then my guess is that Kawhi Leonard would have won MVP.
There is NEVER more than around 10 superstars in the league at any given time, that is the nature of the term. Dumb argument imo
According to some here, the 1980s and 1990s NBA was populated by nothing but superstars. From that perspective, this is, indeed, a very disappointing era of basketball. Of course, for people who actually enjoy watching basketball played at its highest level, the higher overall talent level and more sophisticated offensive and defensive schemes make this a great era. Also, for the OP, "watered down" means diluting the talent pool with a bunch of sub-par talent. Where is all this dilution coming from? The last wave of expansion (necessitating more players) happened in 1995...the year the Bulls won 72. So the league did get watered down then...since then, the US population has expanded (getting the number of NBA talents back in proportion with the number of teams and more) and mining talent from overseas has increased. So this is the least watered-down year since 1995.
Except the game has gotten faster and that nineties basketball was unattractive. The argument about hard men is amusing considering they played long stretches at a pedestrian pace compaed to the current game. This is a logical result of advances in training, drugs and the growth of profesionalism in sports.
The notion that defense used to be better is completely made up! Go back and watch whole games on YouTube or something. Guys just walked into the paint with hardly any resistance! For some reason people think just because players got away with more physical play that it was tougher. It wasn't!
if anyone truly understood the game and what defense really is then something like this would never be posted.
Kawhi Leonard (not really a franchise player) [/QUOTE] I disagree with you on Kawhi. He's the best two-way player in the game. He doesn't really have any weaknesses.
in a few years, the current rising stars will become superstars. Towns, Porzingis, not to mention the future top picks that are yet to come. There will always be superstars, you can count on that.
I think there are 2 different types of fans. The first is fans such as yourself, that just want to see fancy dunks & high scoring games with little to no defense whatsoever. They don't care about X's & O's just Steph Curry highlights or Westbrook fastbreak slams. Anything else is "unattractive" The second fan is me and other 80's-90's fans. We don't mind highscoring games as long as there is some structure to it. We watch game strategies & game match ups. We like physical play mainly because physicality is a part of basketball. Physical defense is what makes the game competitive and MORE attractive.
I prefer fast paced, high scoring game that is also structured and super physical. Meaning, injuries every week.
"BACK IN MY DAY . . . As great as I am . . . . .the league was so strong *I* could not even get out of the first round . . . . " - TMac Rocket River
I don't think the league is watered down. There is plenty of talent in the league. I think the league is in an adjustment phase, which takes time. Teams like the Warriors have changed the game. However, I do think that a lot of NBA teams are poorly coached.
Antisonic received so much hate and criticism for his position on T-Mac from the masses of blind homers, but in the end he was 100% right about the guy.
Watching games today feels like a 3 point contest now. Warriors are changing the game for the worse, because no other team is going to have the greatest shooter ever and another top 5 greatest shooter ever on the same team. This is like if Reggie Miller and Ray Allen were on the same team taking 8-11 3's a game at 40% and surrounded by super role players. That team would probably set records today too. But, no one else can replicate it. I agree that it is a copy cat league and it isn't the Warriors fault, but inevitably after a few bad years of NBA teams trying and failing to be the next Warriors, a team completely different in style and structure will knock off and break up the Warriors and then that will be the next copy cat team. It more than likely will be a big man inside-out team IMO. I think it is inevitable skilled big men will return. Not neccarily post up dominance like the 90s, but face up big men with handles will be the dominant piece to build around soon.
