[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by temporaryscars

Of course they're playing professionally, they've lowered their standards. That's not to say that ALL suck. The majority of them do though. If not, then explain why the NBA has some of the lowest attendance rates of all time and why their TV ratings are the lowest they've been in decades?

It could be because the game isn't as fun to watch as it used to be. That doesn't mean the players suck or that they are less talented. It's just that the dominant teams of the last 3 or 4 years have been all about defensive superiority. The San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons, etc. Both of those teams are awesome, but they aren't any fun to watch. Teams like the Dallas Mavericks of 2002-2003 or the Phoenix Suns of 2004-2005 were extremely fun teams to watch because they played a run and gun high offense game that will NEVER win them a championship, but it would let them humiliate opponents by huge blowout wins on any given night.

So, what it comes down to is, people want to see winners. They want to see teams that can win it all. And all of the teams in the NBA that have a legit chance of winning it all are BORING to watch. Tim Duncan is arguably the best player in the NBA overall, but he's boring to watch. Again, that doesn't mean he's not a fantastic player. He's just not a FUN player with flashy moves and soaring dunks from the free throw line.

Another thing that hurts the NBA is the officiating. The NBA has the worst officiating of ANY of the major, professional sports. Once during the playoffs I saw a referee actually knocked flat on his face because he was looking in the opposite direction of the play, staring at cheerleaders. Lastly, the Indiana Pacers attacking fans last year didn't help, but I think that's less of a problem with the ratings than the other two issues.

^^^

**** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans. **** Detroit and their bandwagoning fans.

[lakerz]

Go Lakers!!!

Celtic fans <----

[Melanie68]

Originally Posted by lakerz

Go Lakers!!!

Celtic fans <----

I pay next to no attention to basketball (I have hard time following it because I don't understand all the rules) but how is Vlade doing down in LA?

[Once A Villain]

Vlade retired as a player I'm afraid. He's now a scout looking into European talent for the Lakers.

[Melanie68]

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

Vlade retired as a player I'm afraid. He's now a scout looking into European talent for the Lakers.

See how behind the times I am!!! When did that happen?

[Kolzig]

Dennis Rodman just visited Finland during Saturday and Sunday and played one game in the ranks of ToPo, Torpan Pojat.

He scored 17 points and still ToPo managed to lose, apparently they have lost a lot lately, but this "one game Rodman"-deal was great because now it seems that they have a pile of extra money to hire new staff when spring comes. There was a record attendance in the game, about 7500 people, I think usually in Finnish basketball games there are about 500 people watching.

Originally Posted by lakerz

Go Lakers!!!

Celtic fans <----

Ah, yes. That rivalry has never really died down, has it? Lakers suck, by the way.

[Kolzig]

Originally Posted by Kolzig

Dennis Rodman just visited Finland during Saturday and Sunday and played one game in the ranks of ToPo, Torpan Pojat.

He scored 17 points and still ToPo managed to lose, apparently they have lost a lot lately, but this "one game Rodman"-deal was great because now it seems that they have a pile of extra money to hire new staff when spring comes. There was a record attendance in the game, about 7500 people, I think usually in Finnish basketball games there are about 500 people watching.

Oh yeah and the night before the game he partied all night in Helsinki and arrived to the arena just before the match started, made a quick stretching session and then the game began.

Dennis doesn't get enough credit. So what if he's rough around the edges? He's a phenominal defensive player.

[Kolzig]

He said to the press that he wants to make a comeback to NBA. Even though he is 44 years old, he seems to be in a pretty good shape. (He also said that he hasn't even touched a basketball in 4 months, so this game was the first in a long time.)

He actually threw his own personal three point record, five 3 point throws and one 2 point throw.

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by Kolzig

He said to the press that he wants to make a comeback to NBA. Even though he is 44 years old, he seems to be in a pretty good shape. (He also said that he hasn't even touched a basketball in 4 months, so this game was the first in a long time.)

He actually threw his own personal three point record, five 3 point throws and one 2 point throw.

No one would take him. 40 was an old age even for Michael Jordan to play, and he is the best player ever to play the game. Plus his attitude off the court turns off any team that might think to pick him up.

[lakerz]

Sorry I didn't respond earlier Melanie, but Vlade was basically done as a player before last season even got started. Just too much wear and tear physically for him. Shame...I really liked him as a player and felt bad that the Lakers had to sacrifice him to Charlotte in order to get the right's to Kobe.

It's funny SamNMax, the Lakers/Celtic rivalry is pretty much dead. I never hear hear mention of the Celtics anymore. All the guys I used to love to hate (like that bastard Ainge) have moved on.

Dennis Rodman will not get a sniff of the NBA again. Physically can't compete at an NBA level anymore. I know the Lakers gave him a shot last year I think as kind of a courtesy to him. He played part of the season with their "minor league" ABA team but never really had a chance to get a Laker roster spot.

Kobe's looked good so far...scoring at will. Smush Parker has been a very nice surprise too. Hope he can keep it up the rest of the year.