- The NBA in 2006 is a conservative Republican league - just as John Sally said on Fox Sports the other day. I guess they didn't get the news that Republicans aren't popular any more. There was the whole NBA Dress code last year, which requires players to wear nice clothes even in their off hours. And this year there's this new draconian rule that you can't even look at the ref funny after a call or you've got a technical foul. All of which serve to make the black players more palatable to the white, upper-middle class, Republicans audience that the league so wants to attract. Eff this league.
- Speaking of the rule changes to the game in the last few years - they have all clearly been designed to stop the Detroit Defensive style of basketball. (By the way, this is why it's good that the Pistons let Ben Wallace go - Joe Dumars, in his genius, saw the writing on the wall that defense is out.) The NBA's theory is that basketball fans want dunks and offense, not the X's and O's of basketball strategy. So, there's an arc around the goal where defensive players aren't allowed to touch the offensive player. As of last year, you can't swat at the ball when attempting to steal. (I guess you're just supposed to magnetically attract the ball away.) They changed the ball so that it's more friendly to offense (harder to lose possession, easier to control your shot, etc.). While zone defense is OK, stopping anyone in the paint from driving to the basket is completely not OK (especially if the player stopped is D Wade, Kobe, or LeBron). Anyone who watched the playoffs last year knows that the superstars were allowed to do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. Terrible. The results of the new rules were clear - last year, scores went up, foul calls went up, phantom fouls went up, and complaining from the players went up. The two best defensive teams - the Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs - both dropped out early in the playoffs. And this year, the NBA saw an easy way to make their new anti-defense rules more invisible and palatable - shut the players up after they face a phantom foul call.
- Yeah, that new "no complaining rule" makes watching the NBA an even worse experience than it was before.
- This sucks. And the new rule is so obviously anti-Pistons that it's called the "'Sheed rule" after Detroit forward Rasheed Wallace. Now, there's no denying that Rasheed and many other NBA players whine too much after foul calls.
- But there's also no denying that the NBA refs are pathetic. The NBA in 2006 is a sham - not real basketball. Plus, now these BS refs will have a valid way to take out personal beefs on players they don't like - like Rasheed Wallace. They'll just get T'd up and ejected.
Ever since 2004 when the Pistons' slow and defensive style of basketball from the #10 media market beat the fast-paced, star-studded, offensive juggernaut style of basketball from LA, the #2 media market, the NBA has pulled out all the stops to make sure that no defensive team ever again can "ruin" their product.
Eff you, NBA. Joe Dumars built a basketball team that could compete if the NBA were actually playing basketball. Now that the NBA is the XFL of basketball, we're screwed. The new rules are bad for the NBA in the long run, and bad for basketball, bad for the fans, and bad for America. That's why NBA-trained American players can't play in international competition. Eff this league.
Labels: Sports
Erik, I'd love to agree with you on just about ANYTHING in your post because you pose you positions as pro-Detroit. However, I think that you've missed the mark a bit.
When you get right down to it, there's no real harm in the NBA dress code. It doesn't harm anyone to wear a suit once in awhile.
The zero-tolerance policy in the NBA regarding player complaining wouldn't be a problem if the players hadn't been doing an inordinate amount of complaining in years previous. The only problem with this will be if the referees are highly selective in doling out the techs. Otherwise, I don't see a problem. Should the refs have to put up with a bunch of millionaire crybabies after every whistle?
Also, I don't see why this automatically becomes racialized on both counts. Chauncey Billups used to dress up all the time while Manu dressed like a scrub. I haven't heard Mr. Big Shot say a word about the dress code.
Further, by even suggesting that the complaint rule is about race, you're implying that the black players are complaining more than others and more than they should be.
Dumars didn't let Ben Wallace go, and stop calling Joe a genius. Joe wanted Ben (and Rasheed) so badly that he let Mehmet Okur leave for Utah and let Darko leave for Orlando just to make room to sign Ben. Ben still bailed on Detroit. In the meantime, Memo and Darko are blowing up. Dumars looks like an idiot.
Under the NBA's new rules, the Pistons reeled off more wins than any other group in the history of the franchise, had the best record in the league, and flirted with 70 wins for awhile. That doesn't sound like a team that was hurt too badly by rule changes. The problem in the playoffs was that they sucked. Plain and simple. The Pistons weren't beaten by Wade and Shaq. They were beaten by everybody else on the Heat. That's why they lost.
The rule is called the Rasheed rule because Rasheed is the biggest technical foul magnet in NBA history. He was like that in Portland, and he's still the worst in the league despite actually getting better. You just happen to think it sucks because Rasheed plays for Detroit. Anti-Rasheed is not anti-Piston.
Enough of the balogna. The NBA's biggest problem on the horizon stems from the fact that the European league teams were consistently competitive with the NBA teams this summer in head-to-head play. They even won a few. As soon as the Utah Jazz realize they can dominate the league with a group of European players that won't complain to officials, won't play selfishly, and won't be a distraction off the court, watch the league adjust, and watch the cries of racism emerge when even fewer black players than ever are drafted into the league.
You heard it here first.
honestly erik, i was prepared to back you up on the new policy about the refs and the technical fouls, but after reading your ridiculous post, all i can say in response is if you hate the nba so much, then quit fucking watching. basically, all you are saying is, if the rules are set up so that the detroit pistons can't win, then the whole thing sucks. seriously erik, you're like the bill o'reilly of the pistons. it's tiresome...it really is. you know what erik, they used to outlaw the slam dunk because of defensive reasons, why don't you lobby for outlawing that again. better yet, why don't we get rid of the three point line. or instead of baskets, why don't we award points for blocked shots and steals. that'd be real fucking entertaining.
as of right now, i am no longer entertaining any cry baby talk from you about the NBA. from now on, if we're watching basketball and you start complaining, then i'm just going to change the channel.
I couldn't have said it any better, Bob... and I tried.
Look, forget all of my pro-Detroit conspiracy theories, and you still can't deny that the new technical foul rule sucks. And you have to agree that the manipulation of the rules of basketball is bad for the sport. I'm not talking about killing offense or allowing goaltending or anything stupid like that, but why did they have to change the effing ball?
And Bob, you of all people should accept that the refs have gone way, way too far in allowing superstars like Wade and James to do whatever they want. The foul calls on Dallas in the Finals were utterly ridiculous. This shit has to stop. It's transparent, it degrades the game, and it tarnishes the legacy of genuinely great players like Wade and James.
The dress code and technical foul rules are clearly designed to make the majority of NBA players fit in to the conservative Republican standard that the NBA office wants to extol. Period. There's no need for either a dress code or a "zero-tolerance policy."
And Bob, don't worry, I don't plan on watching any NBA games because this league can lick my smooth-as-eggs balls.
Once again -- the NBA sucks. The new ball is so terrible it's apparently cutting players' hands. Even David Stern has admitted that the NBA effed this one up.
The NBA is a bunch of Overpaid street thug niggas, Watch a real Sport NHL Hockey you scums
Thanks to the anonymous commenter for elevating the discussion and helping the NHL to lose its racialized image as a "white man's only" sport. Well done.
As I said in the post, the NBA sucks because of the people in charge of making the rules. The players are not at all why the NBA sucks. They deserve a better league to play in, particularly the amazing guys who play for the hardest working team in sports, the Detroit Pistons.
Kindly refrain from using racial slurs and offensive epithets on this blog. Thank you.
The League is horrible. The refs sucks. You can see who they want to win by watching the horrible refs. Is this boxing? It looks rigged. Techs for just talking? This is stupid. Who cares if they whine! Wearing a sport jacket has nothing to do with basketball. Basketball is a street game. I don't see sports jackets at the park..lol. C'mon. If you say anything bad about the league your fined..lol...that is a joke. I love basketball and feel like the NBA is robbing me of my sport. Please add more training to the refs. I think a tech for complaining is just plain stupid.
I don't think the black players have anything to worry about..I think the white player will have more. The European will not replace the black player, but the white player. Not looking for anyone to agree just stating my thoughts.