Why is the current level of play so poor in the NBA?

I think it has to do with the lack of team play, which has been severely exposed during the World Championships. Until teams get rid of isolations and focusing on individual accomplishments, then nothing will change. International teams grow up learning the basics of passing and shooting, opposed to who can jump higher and dunk the best. Fundamentals are at a loss and will be until the NBA learns that wins and losses are more important than the highlight reel.

 

i think other player just got better, and the lack of passing has to do with it too. sad

 

One word: expansion.

 

I agree- expnansion diluted the available talent which is limited??? No that does not make sense- there are better players now than at any other time in history,

It is the lack of team play. The spotlight is on the individual-due to the media........

 

Bingo...we have a winner.

Argentina - the only unbeaten team at the Worlds - does NOT have a player in the top 10 in scoring. Not one player scoring more than 17.6 ppg. They have 2 in the Top 10 in assists.

Some might argue that the US has 3 players in the Top 10 in assists to which I'll quickly point out that the US has also taken 140 more shots (20/game) than Argentina.

What makes this even more impressive to me is that they are relatively mediocre from 3pt range (34% compared to 42.6% for Germany and 40.4% the US). And FIBA allows a college zone to pack a trapezoidal lane.

What an archaic concept - ball and player movement and mid-range jumpers.

 

There will be some noise coming this season

 

Transition period. The league is VERY young, and still adjusting from the post Jordan, and Bird, and Barkley, and Hakeem and Ewing, and Magic, and etc., era. It still doesn't have its own identity yet, so it'll take time.

 

That's a good point, IMHO. But what if the new era is all about Peja, Dirk, Gasol, and Ming? um, and maybe Vince Carter bricking all his 4th quarter shots and getting 0 assists. That could be the new NBA identity.

 

Besides the obvious lack of team play creating horrible shots (lose the iso Rudy), I think the main problem is the league wide inability to hit a contested jumpshot. Of course that is a difficult skill but damn, Kobe is like the only person in the NBA who can do it anywhere near consistently. If you ever catch a classic game on ESPN or NBA TV, from around 15 yrs ago, besides the lack of D being played, if someone did put a hand in a shooters face, he'd still knock it down pretty often. The jumper is fading away by the season but hopefully as the NBA gets youger and younger, the kids can develop jumpers as their careers go.

 

DEFINE POOR

Rocket River

 

off_welfare should chime in...

 

this is a VERY young league. After the mid eighties there just weren't a whole lot of stars drafted. There have been a couple, but if you look back I cant remember a star other than Shaq and Webber who have had any kind of MAJOR impact on the league. The guys that are in control now (Carter, Kobe, Steve, etc.) are all very young players. Also Mike was a highlight reel himself but was also a very sound technical player (maybe the best) so I dont think that it is just the dunking that is the problem. I think that everybody needs to give these guys a chance to learn how to play the game

 

The top 4 teams in the Western Conference would've absolutely destroyed every single national team at the tournament, and it wouldn't have even been close to close.