What is with this attitude

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by Oz Referee


1. Funny, I would have said that the NBA is moving just as much towards FIBA as FIBA is to the NBA. Have a look at the "illegal defence" rule which is the most obvious (but not only) example.

Now you're talking out of both sides of your mouth. You made the following statement earlier in this discussion.

Originally posted by Oz Referee
Seems to me, that NCAA is fairly similar to the FIBA rules that I started refereeing with (some 15 years ago). While the current FIBA rules are moving more closely towards NBA (or vice versa).

So which is it? Is the NBA moving to FIBA rules or is FIBA moving towards NBA rules? Make up your mind.

2. Do the math. Say the percentage of Americans that play organised basketball (not counting pickup games) is 10% that is approximately 30 million people. Which is less that 1% of the total population of the world. Just look at countries like China, Brazil, Germany, Nigeria, Australia, Canada, etc where basketball is already very popular, and growing exponentially.

Quite honestly, I'm not really concerned with how many people outside the US are playing basketball. It's growing and that's wonderful. But since we're discussing it, I just simply asked you to back it up with facts. It seems you can't.

Secondly, now you're putting put conditions on it, such as not counting pickup games. Sorry but millions of Americans play basketball each week, in leagues, at lunch at the YMCA, etc. You just can't discount those people. I believe that soccer enthusiasts will still tell you that soccer is the most popular sport internationally.

Lastly, do you really think that 10% of the world, outside the US plays basketball. I guess if you want to make the assumption that there are more people in the world playing basketball than there are in the USA, you possibly can. It's only based on the population of each. But I would still venture to guess that there are a higher percentage of Americans that participate in sports that play basketball than there is in the world or any other country.

Face it Oz, basketball is an American sport. The rest of the world is still catching up. Until they do, many will continue to refer to FIBA as FEEBLE.