the big problem with the finals RATINGS is just with the two markets involved...Cleveland + SA don't really have huge markets to add to people who would watch the finals anyway. entertaining basketball, to me, is basketball without the following: -long isolated dribbling -coaches who don't even try to make adjustments (mainly for playoff series) -a ton of mistakes -a ton of missed shots -a ton of tacky fouls/free throws so theres a wide open game, a ton of skill involved, and nothing kills the momentum asides from timeouts. also, i wish there was a way to make the end of games less anti-climatic. the foul/free throw/timeout cycle is a bit boring.
rocket river knows nothing about the nuances of basketball...you may be a junkie but you know little about the game as revealed by your unknowing posts...you reveal yourself to be a biased name calling type of ranter, with very little basketball substance
I love ugly, dirty, sloppy, nasty games. The old Knicks/Heat games that used to end with the score in the mid-70s. I really enjoy those types of games. But for some reason the only team that I often change the channel on is the Pistons. They're the most boring team I've ever watched. I don't know what it is about them, I just can't stand to see them play. The only time I would watch them is if they played us, and that's because it's the Rockets.
Entertaining basketball? depends probably how much you know/understand the game; I've been watching for (gulp) decades now so I can appreciate a finely tuned machine like the Spurs; do I think they are 'exciting?' no way but doesn't mean I don't appreciate how good they are and how bad they make everyone else look Entertaining bball would definitely be uptempo Suns/Warriors style. During the Warriors/Dallas series, I took some gal friends who didn't know squat about hoops to the local sportsbars so they could watch our underdog home team defy all odds; the 'entertainment' didn't necessarily come from the games but the drama, the story behind the scenes, and of course screaming your brains out pulling for an underdog who hasn't reached the playoffs in 13 years while watching Dallas fans sulk in the corner By the end of the games, the gals were jumpin' all over high-fivin' and really into it; it was simple to understand who the 'heroes/villians' were and the pace didn't give you time to ask, "now what are they doing?" Spurs are a terrific team no doubt; but they are like a novel you've read a thousand times; you know the story, you know what you're getting; with no surprises, you either find yourself appreciating the finer details or going off to do something else
I would say the most entertaining type of ball would be the ferocious competition and rivalry between two teams, players and coaches. Stuff like MJ getting in Ewing's face to stick up for a teammate, dunking on Deke and giving him the finger wag, coaches sweating as much as the players and leaving their hearts on the floor, stuff like that. It just doesn't happen any more. There was maybe some of it on Golden State's part against the Mavs this season, but I mean I saw Lebron hugging and joking around with Duncan and other Spurs players before tipoff in the finals, and right there I missed the old days, where you left the hugs out until after the game is over. The NBA used to be all-out war - now it's just war games...
