Basically handchecking limits the offensive player for sure. Just wondering for defence, does it actually make defending easier, in the sense that lateral movement is not as stressed. During this whole MJ week thing and watching a lot of old footage, Scoring back in the day was so much harder.
Zone "flood" defenses as pioneered by Master Thibodeau make it much harder these days. There are fewer 20+ point scorers than ever before.
The fewer 20+ scorers has nothing to do with the defensive system. It has to do with pace. The current rockets play at the same pace as the championship teams who were middle of the pack. I blame Riley, JVG, and Thibs for the bad trend.
There's pro's and con's for each era with individual scoring. Like rockbox said, one element is pace which was faster in the 80's and 90's compared to now, and then there's the element of handchecking which you mentioned. There are different rule changes, many different arguments. I don't even bother with it, both sides have good arguments.
Handchecking was offset by removing the illegal defense rule. One gives perimeter defense more options and the other gives interior defense more options. note also, the pace of the 80s was before Chuck Daly invented and popularized modern rotation defense. Detroit had to do it to stop Boston and LA.
The league's pace really isn't that much slower than it was 15 years ago, probably a little faster actually. The fact that there are fewer big time scorers is probably just the kind of thing that fluctuates every couple years.
I think the creating of superteams is also a factor. Bosh was a 20 ppg scorer before moving to the Heat. Dwight Howard was a 20 ppg scorer in Orlando. Amar'e was a 20 ppg scorer before Melo came (though that also has to do with injuries and playing time). Even Kevin Martin used to be a 20 ppg scorer. Now that Gay is on Toronto, I think he'll averaging around 20 ppg (he's averaged 20 so far in his short stint, but with increased playing time and shots, I think that'll be the norm). The players who are talented enough to score those kind of points don't have to score that much when there is talent around them to help with the scoring burden.
People tend to say that scoring during the 80s and 90s were much more difficult than today because of the handchecking rule. What they fail to realise is that nowadays defenders are allowed to stay put in the paint, daring the attacker to come while guarding nothing but thin air. Zone defence has contributed a lot to increasing the importance of perimeter shooting as teams are now able to pack the paint and decrease high percentage inside scoring. IMO, Jordan, who was a streaky shooter, would not necessarily dominate outrageously as suggested by some here.
Scoring efficiency wise is down from the mid 90s as well. Defensive schemes are more complicated and advanced now.
best thing about the golden years of NBA bball,,, LESS foul calls when offensive player initiates contact
