The NBA on NBC was once the jewel of network sports. It's ratings were through the roof and people waited all week to see the Sunday action.
That day is gone. Now, teams compete in sub-100 point games in which players are more likely to foul out than score 10 points.
This weekend was a prime example. For years, Super Bowl Sunday was reserved for the vaunted Boston Celtics, who won for umpteen consecutive years.
This year, the early game featured the Philadelphia 76ers and the Indiana Pacers, a defensive slugfest which ended in a score of 83-76.
What happened to scores of 110-105 that seemed to pop up all the time in the 1980's and early 1990's? They've given way to bad players and bad rules.
First, you have to attack expansion. The explosion of teams has led to the talent pool being thinned out.
Would Rick Brunson, Milt Palacio or Travis Knight have been playing 10-plus minutes a game12 years ago? Greg Kite, the late-80's " early 90's version of Knight, looks like Shaq in comparison.
Look at the point guards of the aforementioned era. Isaiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, John Stockton, Dennis Johnson, a young Mark Jackson and others were top quality point guards who knew how to distribute the ball to the right players.
Today's point guard crop has some tremendous athletes in Jayson Williams, Nick Van Exel, Steve Francis and Stephon Marbury but these players fall either into the category of show offs (Williams and Marbury) or score first and distribute second (Francis and Van Exel). All that's left for real point guards are the aging Stockton and Jason Kidd.
Without legitimate point guards, the game becomes about individuals before teams. Though this fits the styles of such ball hogs as Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant, it hurts teams without major superstars but perhaps with a superior team attitude.
Another reason for the downfall of scoring in the NBA is the proliferation of the three-point shot. In the good old days, the preferred shot of the NBA (outside of the breakaway lay-up of course) was the 12-15 foot jump shot.
Larry Bird made a living out of it it, as did James Worthy. Today, the shot happens only two or three times a game, whereas seeing 15-20 threes in a game is not out of the ordinary.
I fault the NBA All-Star Game. The dunk competition and three-point competition have for years been superior to the game itself and have been marketed better.
Youngsters watch the competition and figure that they are the keys to the game. Since threes are not that easy to hit, and they are taken such a ridiculous amount of times, you get teams scoring in the 50's and 60's.
Lastly, we have to consider the problems of the free throw. In the good old days, it was not uncommon to see teams shooting 80 percent from the line.
Nowadays, teams shoot low 70's or worse. Players like Shaq, who can't even shoot 60 percent, make a mockery of the entire point of the free throw. With the art of the free throw becoming more and more ancient, teams can resort more and more to the 'hack-a-Shaq' concept, which keeps scores down. If players knew how to shoot free throws, fouls would become less common, and play would open up.
Personally, I'd like to delete two or three teams, move the three-point line back a couple of feet and let things fly. Then start hurling players out of the game as quickly as possible to clean the game up and allow it to flow more like the old days.
Additionally, keep the kids in school so they learn how to play in a system, as opposed to the classic street style. Look at the vast strides that Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant made five years or so down the road -- imagine if they had absorbed the lessons of team play and unselfishness before coming to the NBA.
How good would the Timberwolves have been with a mature Marbury and a mature Garnett? How about a mature Tracy McGrady with Vince Carter?
In short, the NBA has been reduced from the darling of national sports, to the mangy mutt that no one wants to let into their homes. Clean up the game, and return to what made the game fun -- scoring, back-and-forth games where foul shots do not account for every point over the final five minutes and more scoring.
As a note, this article need not be heeded by the Sacramento Kings, who are by far the most enjoyable team to watch in the NBA. Also, Jason Kidd need not change his style, for he is simply amazing. For the rest of the lot, listen up.
