I've seen many people say they don't watch the NBA at all or have only recently watched a few minutes for the first time this season.

Is it really that bad to most people?

For me personally, it is that bad. The ball (with the exception of a few teams) doesn't move well. It seems to be all about stars and inflated scoring. Many offensive "highlight" moves are violations. Fundamentals are outshined by athleticism. There is way too much whining about officiating. The bigggest reason I don't watch the NBA is that is a lousy model for young people. Sportsmanship is awful. Those are just my personal gripes. I used to watch a lot of NBA, but as I get older, it just doesn't look like the kind of basketball I enjoy. I can't be an old foggy yet can I?

Only if you live in London.

Now there are lots of Ol' Fogey gentlemen in the US!

You're right, I'm multi-tasking and writing a reading quiz while I'm checking the board. I should pay more attention. I must be a little foggy myself.

I watch the NBA now more than I ever have, but I don't watch for the game and the players, I watch it for the officials. I try to learn how they manage the game what attributes they use to do so. I try not to watch their mechanics just yet (although I love them) because I am just getting started and that is bad for NFHS and I would totally get ripped.

NBA officials are the best of the best. Why? Because the game in the NBA is about the players and not about the coaches and this and that it is about the players and getting the call right and not about petty high school politics or so I believe. I think if it wasn't about the players then the NBA officials wouldn't catch as much crap because they wouldn't call fouls according to rules they would call it according to how they thought the fans and the coaches would react.

Two words...
 

Steve Nash.

'Nuff said.

During the Spurs-Sonics game last night, Danny Crawford was wired for TV. During several situations, ESPN played remarks that the officials, which included Joe Crawford and Greg Willard, made during the game.

In the 3rd quarter, the Sonics got a little testy. Antonio Daniels drove the lane, and had his shot swatted before he could release it. He screams at D. Crawford, who promptly lights his a$$ up. But nothing ugly, just Tweet!, ":Technical foul, right here," pointing to Daniels.

But a better exchange occurred a few minutes later when the Sonics had 4 shots cleanly blocked on on offensive series. As J. Crawford transitioned to L, Nate McMillan started chewing his butt. Boom!

Later, they discussed both situations druing a TO. It sounded no different than the conversation that three HS officials would have. "Great job down here, guys. There was no foul on that play." Kinda fun to listen to.

I get a kick out of the officials too, I like to hear their chatter. There oughta be a new ref channel! But the game? I don't like watching the play, but I do anyways. What I hate most is all the intentional fouling that goes on under the auspices of defense.

I liked it too...including their conversation in the last minute during a timeout, with them talking about scenarios for last shot. "Referee 'em HARD, was the phrase I remember D.C. using" - way cool.

Since we are on the topic of NBA officiating,can someone tell me why is that a flagrant foul in The NBA is different than that of NFHS?

Wouldn't it be a lot easier if all the rules are the same since the game in all level is played with 10 people,head coaches,10 feet rim,about same size court and the points system is the same.

Because the NBA wants the rule to be different than the other levels of basketball, it is that simple.

No it would not make since to have all rules the same. As players get older and more experienced, you need to change rules that apply to their talent level and experience level. Unless you can name a sport, all pro levels are different to the amateur levels.

Peace

The NBA simply has two different types of flagrant fouls. One is the same as an intentional foul for excessive contact, and the other is for the same actions that would be considered a flagrant foul in HS or college.

No, it wouldn't be. All sports have different rules for different levels of play. High school kids don't play under NFL or MLB rules. Further what does "easier" have to do with it? "Easier" for who?

Well, I still love the NBA, especially during the playoffs. The best players and refs in the world. I wish they wouldn't allow so much talk though. All it would take is one half season to make players quit. If they make that Technical also count as a personal, things would change.

There would have to be some incentive for the league to stop the talking. We've got to coddle our stars, though!

For me.....it is that bad. I don't enjoy it. Partly because I don't think it's a very pure game but mostly because I think they are way way way over-paid cry babies. Not necessarily on the court but with their off the court antics.

I watched more NBA this year than ever before. I usually watch for the officials, but I like to watch two good teams play. That is why the playoffs are usually good. I especially liked the Dallas-Phoenix series. Very little defense, but it was exciting and entertaining.

I heard an interview with Luke Ridenour during the season on the radio and they asked him what he felt was the major difference between the play in college, and the play in the NBA, and he said that he felt the biggest thing was the length of the season. It was an interesting point. He went on to say that it is one reason why offenses are played differentl-- more isolation, less overall movement, etc. I just found it interesting because I had never thought about how conditioning and scheduling factor into the game play differences between college and the NBA.

I don't enjoy it as much as I used to but I still think there are some great players out there. I really enjoy watching Steve Nash. You used to be able to learn the game by watching these guys but that went out the window when ESPN started only showing dunks and nothing more. I learned to play by watching Bird and McHale when I was a teenager and I think it's really tragic that we see guys given superstar status just for being able to make a 15 footer(Rip Hamilton). I always don't agree with the special treatment these so called superstars get. No foul, he's been in the league 10 yrs or that's a foul on the rookie. A foul is a foul and a travel is a travel. That's also one of the main reasons the NBA players struggle so much in international competition. The majority of these guys only care about stats and nothing more. Anybody can 20 when you shoot the ball 30 times.

I was thinking some more about this topic. I used to live in Houston and a few years ago, the Rockets used a very high draft pick to get a kid named John Konkac. His name was later changed to John Contract. I used to check his stats and think, if I could get his same minutes, I know I could get more rebounds if I could just catch the ones that bounced my way. That guy was worthless and I would have done it for a fraction of his pay. That era was the beginning of my declining interest in the NBA.