Quote:
Originally posted by: superheadcat
then, i started wondering: why did the league allow such degeneration of defense? as i mentioned in my previous post, do people prefer fat guys "pushing, shoving, and banging" (nowadays people called that "tough" defense, "physical" play, and have "inside presence") over fundamentally sound players making shots? that doesn't make sense to me.
is this the reason nba is not as popular a sport as it once was?
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The NBA is a series of cycles. Right now we are still in the cycle caused by the Pistons. Detriot didn't have enough talent to beat the Celtics or Lakers in straight up basketball so the team resorted to thuggery and called it defense. Once Detriot got away with it enough to win a championship, then EVERYONE started copying it. It is FAR easier to find thugs to push people around than it is to find skilled basketball players.
It is also why I believe the center position is so pitiful. There used to be a dozen skilled centers in the league but they slowly vanished under a wave of thuggery. Sure there were a few centers who came out since then but largely the position has died. Shaq is the poster boy for the new center. He commits a half dozen fouls on every offensive and defensive series but the refs let him get away with it because it is "physical play".
Bah.