Curry deserves all the recognition and rewards he has earned within the confines of the new NBA. But there is no doubt that the NBA has made it easier for guards to shine. Just imagine Maravich, West, Big O, Zeke, AI (the original) going to the rim at will or shooting with space without hand checking or the 3 seconds rule. None of the these guys may be the shooter that Curry is currently, but they were much better scorers. They are all time greats even with the physicality and rules favoring bigs during their respective eras.
Lol, have you ever seen highlights from the 60's...Harden would have loved it back then because he's Tony Allen compared to that ****show of skinny pale arm flailing.
And they employ much more complex schemes thar maximize the value of their positioning...something that nobody did back then, which is why most of the 90s defenses were worse.
I'm sure somebody here wil try to convince me that the Rockrts actually have a good defense... It's just pace and elite shooting as to why they seem to suck every game. All these teams are running complex defensive schemes (that apparently yield lay ups and ride open 3's). The NBA better change the rules again for fear that these complex defenses are never going to be figured out!!!
Reality says, they'd trade every single "complex scheme" to handcheck. Conversely, offenses would rather face the terrifying "complex schemes" than handchecking. You've played basketball before. Stop being silly.
Reality says they'd rather play against the more effective defenses of today than the dangerous hand job defenses of the mid 90s that surrendered more PPP? What reality is that - leap day anti logic? High on Rik Smits jockstrap fume?
I like the logic of the previous poster that suggested players of a different era would find it hard to adjust to today's flopping. I presume the flopping is also a part of the complex defenses that apparently every team runs (as I'm watching games where both teams are scoring more than 110 points, with several minutes to go).
There could be many factors if I thought about it more in depth.. but off the top of my head........ Mid-90's had better post offense (an offense I've already argued several times as being better than perimeter), so its efficiency, or PPP, had potential to be better than today just based off that. What good did big, bad, scary defensive schemes do against Curry's game winner vs OKC? You seriously believe attempting to push (handcheck) him while he was dribbling for that shot wouldn't have been a 100x better option Please tell if you do...
Your post is an indecipherable mess that I couldn't get to the bottom of with a coked up Alan Turing so let's just skip to your last query. Curry is objectively the best shooter who has walked the face of the planet.....ever. No I don't believe the mid 90s teams would have gone for a dumb reach in foul 40 feet away while in the penalty in a tie game time expired. Not that stupid. Guys who took and made 25+ foot closely guarded 3's did not exist back then. They barely even exist now. Obviously - way better than guys like Kenny Smith who passed for great shooters back then.
This was a regular occurrence back in the 90s when it was considered a miracle to hold a team under 100. Seriously how old are you? Have you ever watched hardwood classics? Not a lot of 89-84 games.
I'm old enough to know it was a regular occurrence in the 80's and the earliest of the 90's (which was really a holdover from the 80's)... And this was with the physical play that the NBA was forced to abolish to get scoring back. Also old enough to recognize that there's not a lot of quality defense being played by most teams today... Despite all the complex schemes being purported here. But keep chugging out those defensive efficiency and points-per-possession stats... The same ones that suggested the Rockets were an elite defensive team as of one year ago. That alone should make you question the validity of what a good defensive team is or isn't... And really start to watch for games where you suggest complex schemes are being thrown out with regularity. (Meanwhile, I just saw another touch foul committed that neutered the defense).
In a conversation about handchecking, an Olajuwon-level poster refutes with reaching Samantha is clearly not qualified to speak on this subject.
Wrong, so very wrong. By about 10 years. Read the thread. As I posted earlier today, defenses in the 80s and 90s were garbage compare to today, which is why they are statistically worse.. That is fact not opinion. Defense was most effective in the horrible early 2000s era of Shaq and Jason Kidd and Iverson....because they had zone and contact.. ...and the results were the most forgettable post 80s era in NBA history. Does anybody really give a f-k if Eric Snow could do a better job on Curry than Chris Paul? If you do, I pity you. It's not "quality" it's just better at holding the opponent to fewer points. Just a flesh wound keep fighting bro
You got that damn right..... "defense" today pales in comparison to what was considered quality as of 15-20 years ago.... and its not exactly trending upwards despite more and more complex schemes. But yes, it was too good back then... and it stifled offenses enough that the NBA had to make a change... nobody is denying this, including yourself. The point still stands that today's offensive players couldn't find a way to score again until they eliminated perimeter contact.... and we continue to see playoff games harken back to those mid 90's-2000's era once the refs swallow their whistles.
Must be, since you stopped talking basketball. In 2000, the NBA eliminates........ reaching. #hakeemstatus
...by paunchy old men who have not bothered to check the facts and who have a vested interest in constructing this fantasy. My question to you is why you buy into this garbage? Im old but im hip enough to get it. That's why I asked. Basketball analysis has evolved past a bunch of bored jocks wearing makeup repeating cliches. I guess not for you....but has for the rest of us young and old.
White flag accepted. I plant it on the grounds of your beloved Market Square arena. What say you to your liege lord? Seriously though, why do you even care that human athletic performance progresses upward over time? Basketball being no exception to this? I know it's hard getting older but it goes easier if you just learn to deal with it. Trust me you will be happier. Maybe even get to Chuck Person status one-day.
Not sure why you've resorted to name-calling and hyperbole, but that typically means one has nowhere left to go in the discussion. I just can't fathom why anybody would actively defend some of the garbage defense that is out there today. There's certainly teams that do it right... And the Spurs do it better than any of them, which is why they can have such a great record with a team composed of mostly 30 and older regulars. The Warriors also do it right... Despite them still giving up a good number of points per game (which goes to show you that it's not simply points allowed that is the marker of a great defense). There's a helluva lot of teams that would win more if they committed to your complex schemes and gave more effort on that end of the court... The Rockets included.
