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604 Posts
The players are making millions of dollars, moreso than in the 1980's. the offset of this is that the standard of the NBA has fallen. The salaries have risen and are going to keep rising, while the level of play has fallen. Larry Bird has often said that the level of shooting nowadays is very bad. bad shooting is bad basketball in my opinion. I wonder if some players are just practicing their dunks in practice, instead of their free throws and their shooting.
How many games have we seen that have been decided by less than 2 points. The surprising thing is that this often comes down to a missed free throw or two. Shooting free throws at 50% is pathetic, regardless of whether you are a center or a shooting guard. If you are making millions per year, every year, than you can at least make a shot without any defence or other pressures on you. You can relax, take your time and do what you have practiced.
Also the amount of assistant coaches is too many. players are getting too many different messages from too many people. In my brief college career, we had 4 assistant coaches and some of them gave contradicting messages to some of the players. This is a great concern, particularly if this happens in the NBA today. all the coaches need to be on the same page and have the same team orientated goal.
Secondly, the level of defence is pathetic. You do not need to have the ball to be a good player and contribute. you do not need to have the ball to set good picks, block out, block shots, run through screens, cover the passing lanes, defend the low post, cut to the basket, set good position. This is why the Bulls and Lakers are so successful. They have or had role players who never demanded or needed the basketball to have an influence on basketball games. They always defend and do the intangibles.
The lack of motivation is also a concern Guys like Shawn Kemp and Vin Baker are prime examples. Once they have got their money, what else do they need to prove? It is the coaches responsibility to get them to perform. their are so many psychologists and analysts on the team, that these players need to get their head right. If I was Cheeks, or McMillan, i would berate them in front of their teammates, blast them in the press, in order to light the fire of passion into these guys. getting paid 20 million per season to perform like a bum is plain pathetic and these guys should be ashsmed of themselves. they should give other players a chance, if these guys cannot even get up to perform like they should in the games.
Thirdly, I hate it when coaches shackle up their players. For example, Pat Riley did this to Jamal Mashburn. When Mashburn left the Heat to the Hornets, his averages in points went from 17 to 21, His assists went from 3 to 6. Funny, now Riley says he needs a small forward who can score? Then why trade Monster Mash??? He never got the best out of him, because the Heat offence was so stagnant and Mashburn could not do what he does best, create and score.
The shooting from the small forward and shooting guard position is poor. Guys like Ricky Davis, Darius Miles,Jason Williams, Doug Christie, to name a few, need to work on their perimeter shooting. If I was defending them i would lay off them and prove to me that they can hit that outside shot. Sure they are going to make some, but more than likely it will be brick after brick. Miles, will be a superstar in my opinion though in the future, this is one weakness that he has.
Stop also asking for the max, after only putting up good numbers for one season, or two. We have seen examples like Vin Baker, Shawn Kemp, etc. you need to prove not only in the season, but in the playoffs. The key issue with getting a max contract is whether, you can lift and improve a team. For example, if Rashard Lewis or Kandi, going to the Warriors enables the Warriors to make the playoffs or improve their wins by 15 games, than perhaps they are worth the max, if they cannot improve a struggling team, they do not deserve a max contract.
Also paying guys millions, such as Todd Maccullough, Jim McIlvaine, Calvin Booth,Jahidi White, Jerome James, just because they have great size is bad as well. if they can not play well, why not sign up some guys from the development leagues, for low money and get them to have a go. They will have desire and want to prove that they can make it. Never get pressured into signing a player, just because of his physical attributes, because in the end you will pay the price, more often than not.
Bad trading is also bad basketball, so is poor drafting. Some teams have fixations on one player and forget to look around and analyse many others. This has happened time after time. The Warriors have been paying for poor drating and poor trading for years and are trying to recover and pick up the pieces.
We also need more guys who have played the game at the highest level taking more head roles within a NBA organisation. Chris Mullin neees to be given a shot, so does Clyde Drexler. These guys know what it takes to win in the NBA. They will not get doublecrossed and cheated. If anyone can predict talent it is these guys. No-one had the guts to stick it up Dan Issel, when he reduced the Nuggets to dust. Guys like Mullin and Drexler will demand the respect of the players and also the players will not be able to be play softly and weak in front of these guy. these guys know how to win and will demand performance. They will also not be able to be taken advantage of in terms of trades, should they become team managers or presidents. No-one will have the guts to try and railroad these guys in a trade, just through the respect that they have throughout the league.
How many games have we seen that have been decided by less than 2 points. The surprising thing is that this often comes down to a missed free throw or two. Shooting free throws at 50% is pathetic, regardless of whether you are a center or a shooting guard. If you are making millions per year, every year, than you can at least make a shot without any defence or other pressures on you. You can relax, take your time and do what you have practiced.
Also the amount of assistant coaches is too many. players are getting too many different messages from too many people. In my brief college career, we had 4 assistant coaches and some of them gave contradicting messages to some of the players. This is a great concern, particularly if this happens in the NBA today. all the coaches need to be on the same page and have the same team orientated goal.
Secondly, the level of defence is pathetic. You do not need to have the ball to be a good player and contribute. you do not need to have the ball to set good picks, block out, block shots, run through screens, cover the passing lanes, defend the low post, cut to the basket, set good position. This is why the Bulls and Lakers are so successful. They have or had role players who never demanded or needed the basketball to have an influence on basketball games. They always defend and do the intangibles.
The lack of motivation is also a concern Guys like Shawn Kemp and Vin Baker are prime examples. Once they have got their money, what else do they need to prove? It is the coaches responsibility to get them to perform. their are so many psychologists and analysts on the team, that these players need to get their head right. If I was Cheeks, or McMillan, i would berate them in front of their teammates, blast them in the press, in order to light the fire of passion into these guys. getting paid 20 million per season to perform like a bum is plain pathetic and these guys should be ashsmed of themselves. they should give other players a chance, if these guys cannot even get up to perform like they should in the games.
Thirdly, I hate it when coaches shackle up their players. For example, Pat Riley did this to Jamal Mashburn. When Mashburn left the Heat to the Hornets, his averages in points went from 17 to 21, His assists went from 3 to 6. Funny, now Riley says he needs a small forward who can score? Then why trade Monster Mash??? He never got the best out of him, because the Heat offence was so stagnant and Mashburn could not do what he does best, create and score.
The shooting from the small forward and shooting guard position is poor. Guys like Ricky Davis, Darius Miles,Jason Williams, Doug Christie, to name a few, need to work on their perimeter shooting. If I was defending them i would lay off them and prove to me that they can hit that outside shot. Sure they are going to make some, but more than likely it will be brick after brick. Miles, will be a superstar in my opinion though in the future, this is one weakness that he has.
Stop also asking for the max, after only putting up good numbers for one season, or two. We have seen examples like Vin Baker, Shawn Kemp, etc. you need to prove not only in the season, but in the playoffs. The key issue with getting a max contract is whether, you can lift and improve a team. For example, if Rashard Lewis or Kandi, going to the Warriors enables the Warriors to make the playoffs or improve their wins by 15 games, than perhaps they are worth the max, if they cannot improve a struggling team, they do not deserve a max contract.
Also paying guys millions, such as Todd Maccullough, Jim McIlvaine, Calvin Booth,Jahidi White, Jerome James, just because they have great size is bad as well. if they can not play well, why not sign up some guys from the development leagues, for low money and get them to have a go. They will have desire and want to prove that they can make it. Never get pressured into signing a player, just because of his physical attributes, because in the end you will pay the price, more often than not.
Bad trading is also bad basketball, so is poor drafting. Some teams have fixations on one player and forget to look around and analyse many others. This has happened time after time. The Warriors have been paying for poor drating and poor trading for years and are trying to recover and pick up the pieces.
We also need more guys who have played the game at the highest level taking more head roles within a NBA organisation. Chris Mullin neees to be given a shot, so does Clyde Drexler. These guys know what it takes to win in the NBA. They will not get doublecrossed and cheated. If anyone can predict talent it is these guys. No-one had the guts to stick it up Dan Issel, when he reduced the Nuggets to dust. Guys like Mullin and Drexler will demand the respect of the players and also the players will not be able to be play softly and weak in front of these guy. these guys know how to win and will demand performance. They will also not be able to be taken advantage of in terms of trades, should they become team managers or presidents. No-one will have the guts to try and railroad these guys in a trade, just through the respect that they have throughout the league.
