I remember the 99 Knicks-Spurs finals where a team scored over 90 points just once the entire series the games felt more intense because of the contact that was allowed and because nobody could score so each possession felt bigger if that makes any sense, but games were often a chore to watch
Only players I thoroughly enjoy watching are Giannis and Jokic. Giannis and Jokic are very throwback. Steph ruined pick up basketball and made it infinitely more easy to win games. Now all you have to do is run kids off the three point line and they can’t hit midrange J’s.
Enforce traveling and carrying and scores will come down players will adjust if they have any skills.
FWiW - 25 point leads are much less safe than they used to be - your switch would probably make comebacks less likely. If you think today's boring, i beg you to watch 1990s full games. Some of those slogs don't hold up well on rewatch despite their place in lore. 90s clang fests are just not aesthetically pleasing to modern eyes. And It wasn't just defense, it was crappy shot selection and lack of shooting ability. Watch Vernon Maxwell shoot in most games when he wasn't on fire - he makes KPJ look like Jordan Your real enemy is that all teams play within a relatively narrow band as part of a relentless drive for optimization. I get that, the problem is, no matter what the rule set is, the availability of analytics data is going to cause this kind of convergence. If you get rid of the corner 3, the relative value of FTs goes up so you'd maybe see a lot more players hunting fouls, e.g., and teams would select for that. Homogeneous playing style is inevitable probably unless you change rules within games, like allow the 4 point shot in the 4th period only. Then you'll see more weirdo styles.
The one change I would like to see is to do away with the charge calls where a player just runs and stands in front of the restricted area when the offensive player is going full tilt. Charges should be like the 90s when it was really damn obvious when one player just ran over another. Hate stopping play and watching replays of: was his feet set before the ball carrier crashed into him? So captivating! The only way you could get rid of ISO ball is you would have to create a rule that any offensive player must either pass or shoot within so many seconds of their first dribble. That would force more ball movement.
I would love to see them for giggles do this in a pre-season or something. Just call a travel a travel and watch the comedy ensue. If y'all don't follow @devinthelab on Twitter, his tweets where he tears down NBA players and the traveling they do is hysterical. On Jaylen Brown : On Lebron ("Milwalkie ... Jabbawalkie... 2013 Griddy... 2021 Griddy ...")
Stockton did it alot as well, Jordan etc, they just used AI as the poster child because he embarrassed those players and wasn't media darling like the ones who did it before him No different than how Jordan use to get phantom fouls calls in his favor when not even being touched at all, right in front of the refs
Or you know just take away the 3 point line and go back old skool? Make each basket 1 point like they do in the soccer, hockey, and da baseball. I bet you viewership goes up
The reason that a player runs and stands is because . .. trying to actually play defense there is an automatic foul Giannis is almost a walking automatic foul. Zion is becoming that way. Even if you don't think its foul baiting . .. its a foul none the less. I hear things like the hand is part of the ball . .when some fouls are not called. The calls are just too arbitrary. If Kevon Looney rammed into people like Giannis he'd be out of the game by half time. Even you don't think Looney is that great . . .the same hand swipes down and pushes or whatever would be there but because of his status they would more than likely be offensive fouls or turn overs.. THE ONLY Rule that REALLY needs to be changed is the Tiered Rule System Where top tiered played get one set of the rules. . .and the rest get another set "No one wants to see Kevon Looney versus Robin Lopez!! We Paid to see Giannis!!!" - Fans Rocket River
at this point, if u can't drop 50 in a game and u call yourself a scorer, there's something wrong with u
The intensity of the low scoring games was nuts start to finish. I have bowel movement issues today because of how hard and how long i had to clinch cheeks in those games. Sure, there were lots of really ugly games too, but too many wild swings in todays game and except a few playoff previews, there's barely any intensity and it mostly just feels like a rec league now. Those few games with intensity are a breath of fresh air for sure as they actually do play physical at times and physicality=endurance test and those 3s aren't so easy when you're getting roughed up all game long.. There's no way to compare stats anymore. Assists of old were in flow, through traffic, on the break, set plays. Now just iso and pop it on over for an open 3 or layup/lob and you got yourself 10 assists without breaking a sweat. Uncontested rebounds where little guys are getting double digits on a regular basis and are going to have higher career averages than PF's and SF's and SG's of yesteryear. You get a triple double, you get a triple double, EVERYONE gets a triple double!!1 It's gotten out of hand. It's unwatchable because the excitement and entertainment draw of giving the offense the open lanes and benefits that the NBA wanted to market wore off quickly, even worse so when your team sucks and your team is always a star leaving for greener pastures or demanding a trade away from sucking. Who would want to watch Soccer scores in the teens and 20's? Redundant skill sets. Not enough variety. Everyone plays the same. It's not the players fault. They should absolutely take advantage of their era's benefits, stats are definitely getting too inflated to compare to what was the modern era of post merger to probably 2010? We should divide eras into: 50s to NBA/ABA merger. Post merger to 2010. 2010 to present. I hope Wemby breaks the NBA(for the Rockets) like Wilt and the NBA has to change the rules, but from the looks of it if Wilt played today, the NBA would love it and make it even easier for him. Money Money Money monaaay.
I think they should try closing the arc in an exhibition game like the g league or all star game, but the real problem lies in that a shot that is currently worth 50% more is not 50% more difficult to make. Based on degree of difficulty the "3" point shot is actually more like 2. something
Competitive videogames regularly patch the game rules to enable new strategies. This is because after a new set of rules, some team typically figures out a gimmicky strategy that everyone copies, and then the game becomes boring. New patches are built around the idea of encouraging creativity. The NBA has been too rigid with rules and now everybody plays the same way. The rules should be tweaked to encourage teams to come up with new ways to succeed, like the 90s Rockets, 2000s Suns, and 2010s Warriors all developed new play styles.
I agree that we need a change, and I don't even think it has to be strictly pro-defense, just pro-space. The court has been the same size since the '40s even though players have gotten much bigger and faster. There really isn't room to credibly operate inside with three 6'8+ guys roaming around so the long bomb becomes more valuable. Since shooters are so good, open up the court to stretch the defense and make the paint spacious again. Why not go something like 56x100 instead of 50x94, then just have a uniform 24' three-point line and have some actual space in the corners so we stop with the constant line-stepping on drives from the corner? If you wanted to go even further and say 60' court and 26' arc, I wouldn't be mad.
