Is it just me or has the NBA just gotten horrible lately?

[Hanmudog]

I have always been an NBA fan but I can honestly say that I have never been as disinterested as this year. The basketball is just plain bad with only 4 teams in the entire Eastern Conference above .500. There is no suspense because Indiana and Miami are going to be in the Eastern Finals and everyone knows it already.

Injuries have played a huge role in it too with Rondo, Rose, Kobe, Westbrook, and Marc Gasol all being out for long periods of time. It just looks like there is a serious lack of really good young stars once you get beyond LeBron and Durant. Guys like Garnett, Pierce, Pau, Dirk, Nash, and Duncan just don't seem to be being replaced by any young up and comers.

 

[seshomoru]

Gasol's injury and a just now back to .500 Griz hurts the interest around here.

Plus there are some stars out west that we don't get to see here that often like Lillard and Curry. It's also kind of proof that the league suffers when the Lakers aren't relevant. Still, though, you've got what we all hope is a Lebron vs Durant clash in the Finals looming right? Assuming the Grizz don't go on a tear of course.

 

[klong-dog]

Hawks were playing great ball & then Horford goes down killing their season. Only a game over .500 & will keep slipping, unless they make a trade for a big man.

 

[Cow College]

NBA is good as it has been in a while. The pelicans can't keep anyone healthy with Holliday, Anderson, and Davis all being out extended amounts of time. All the close teams kind of barely staying a float in the southeast

 

[johnson86-1]

I have always been an NBA fan but I can honestly say that I have never been as disinterested as this year. The basketball is just plain bad with only 4 teams in the entire Eastern Conference above .500. There is no suspense because Indiana and Miami are going to be in the Eastern Finals and everyone knows it already.

Injuries have played a huge role in it too with Rondo, Rose, Kobe, Westbrook, and Marc Gasol all being out for long periods of time. It just looks like there is a serious lack of really good young stars once you get beyond LeBron and Durant. Guys like Garnett, Pierce, Pau, Dirk, Nash, and Duncan just don't seem to be being replaced by any young up and comers.

The NBA was enjoying somewhat of a golden age because you had players like Kobe, Garnett, Duncan, Nash, etc. that were playing at a high level later than you'd expect, combined with next generation players like Lebron and Durant hitting their peak. I would say the talent level overall is still good, even if it's down some from a couple of years ago. And the league is much deeper. I don't know if it was just part of a natural cycle or if allowing zone defenses titled the game more towards skill and away from raw athleticism, but the role players seem much better now than they did ten years ago.

 

[Hanmudog]

I think the NBA is also being hurt by its big market teams absolutely sucking for various reasons. The Knicks, Bulls, Lakers, and Celtics are brutal to watch.

What I don't get is why there are not other teams stepping in to fill their void, especially in the Eastern Conference. One would think that with New York, Chicago, and Boston out of the mix that Brooklyn, Atlanta, Philadelphia, or some of the other teams would not be struggling so badly.

 

[bonedaddy401]

I think your points about the classic teams not being relevant may be why it seems like it's down hits the nail on the head. The eastern conference is abismal. I think the western conference itself is a lot of fun to watch.

 

[EurekaDog]

NBA ties its advertisements to the superstars. If they are injured or ...

not playing well, casual fans/viewers often don't recognize the other players' names.

Then, when the media talk/write (90% of he time) about the superstars, it makes the situation worse.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

The West is entertaining but the East is Miami and Indiana and a bunch of horrible teams. Last time I checked the Grizzlies were 10th in the west, if they were in the east they would be 4th. That's pathetic. It's garbage.

 

[Hanmudog]

The West is entertaining but the East is Miami and Indiana and a bunch of horrible teams. Last time I checked the Grizzlies were 10th in the west, if they were in the east they would be 4th. That's pathetic. It's garbage.

Even the third best team in the East would not even make the playoffs in the West. Never seen it so out of balance. If things don't turn around this will be the worst opening rounds of the playoffs to watch in NBA history.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

They should just get rid of the conferences. Top 16 go to playoffs.

 

[esplanade91]

There's always more excitement when teams like New York, Boston, LA (not the clippers), and Chicago are doing well. None of them are.

The best teams in both conferences are middle-market teams and aside from LeBron and Durant, none of them get the exposure (by this I mean they're not immortalized on ESPN) they would would in any of the traditional big city powers. It just makes the whole thing boring in my eyes.

Garnett and those fellas have replacements in line... you just haven't seen them. Anthony Davis has blown KG's rookie/sophomore stats out of the water. By a mile. He plays for a young talented team without 3 of the 5 starters because of injuries that no one already cared about.

I started the season really excited. I went to several of the Nets' first games... it's just flat-lined from there. NOLA has lost 7 straight. Everyone's hurt. My childhood heroes are gone. I want LeBron to win... I really do want him to get 10000 rings... but I want ESPN to showcase some other teams too. They don't.

 

[cheewgumm]

Well, right now half the teams are trying to lose....

for draft picks, so theres that.

 

[DAWG61]

Playing fantasy bball helps. I only watch the games on ESPN/TNT/NBATV too. You're almost guaranteed a good matchup there. I never watch the Hawks or Grizz on FSN/FSS. Horribly boring especially the Hawks. Actually this is the first year ever that I enjoy the NBA more than college because of the atrocious new foul rules and well MSU is 17ing terrible right now and half the games I find myself just pissed at what I'm watching. Sorry just being honest.

 

[beachbumdawg]

What's this NBA of which you speak?

 

[esplanade91]

Steph Curry now vs Ray Allen at this point in his career with the Bucks is world apart, yet they are the same player. Kevin Love is a different kind of player than KG but might be an even bigger FA than KG leaving the Wolves. It is arguable that this is the best guard play in the West ever. Anthony Davis (when healthy) is one of the freakiest players I can remember at PF. Like young Pau crazy (only guy I can think of that can post up like that and then shoot a long range jumper on the next possession), but 10x his defense capabilities.

Kobe was the last great SG we're going to be talking about for a while. No one builds their team around a 2 like Kobe anymore, they build it around a 4. If not a 4 a 1. The 5 is a dead position. When I was a child the NBA was defined by great 2's....... now it's 4's. They're just not as exciting. LeBron IS a top 10 player if not the best player of all time regardless of championships but he's not as fun as watching MJ. On a good night he only scores 20-something but he registers high single digit rebounds and assist and MAYBE a couple blocks. People would rather see someone drop 60.

Nature of the game. With the nature of college basketball right now I don't expect many scorers in the next 4 years. Just like anything else though everything works in cycles. In 5-10 years no one will play D and a 2 will be dropping 80 in a game.

As far as a golden age, you can say that about any segment of 20 years since the NBA was founded. You call the last 25 years the golden age, but I'm sure Russell and Wilt probably disagree with you. There wasn't an NBA Network or Adidas/Nike/Reebok/everyone else back then.

People try to say this is the golden age of QB's but 20 years ago looked pretty good too. At the time of the NFL/AFL merger things also looked pretty great. Exposure. Manning/Favre/Brady get a lot of it.

 

[expireddog]

I advise turning to espn now! Durant vs curry and both in double figures in first quarter. Most exciting 2 scorers in the game

 

[cdog.sixpack]

I was just thinking the same thing. This game has been awesome. Came on here to post it and you beat me to it.

 

[ClaytonBigsby]

College bball is terrible IMO, just too few great players and its spread too thin

nba is where it's at now

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

I used to like college way better than NBA but I have switched. College is just so blah right now.