WHATEVER THEY ARE PLAYING IN THE NBA, IT ISN'T 'REAL' HOOPS, IS IT?
We stopped watching the NBA several years ago when, frankly, it became unwatchable.
And, truth is, it was hard to break an old habit,
dating back to the memory man’s childhood in the
late 40s and 50s when he lived on New York’s lower,
Lower East Side and was a devoted fan of the
Knickerbockers … of Harry “The Horse” Gallatin,
Nathaniel “Sweet Water” Clifton, Max “The
Touch” Zaslofsky and a bunch of other guys simply
named Carl Braun, the brothers McGuire (Dick and
Al) … come to think of it, he was known as “Tricky
Dick” … when they actually played the game, and
we couldn’t wait for the next round with Al Cervi
and the Syracuse Nationals or watch Al McGuire
and the Boston Celtics’ Bill Sharmanwage their
personal war within a war.
In those good, old days of long ago you could shoot
from any distance, and it would only count for two
points. Imagine that! Now teams combine for as
many as 100 three-point field goal attempts in ONE
GAME. Get serious!
Anyhow, the man kept hearing (and reading) there
was something special about the latest
Knickerbockers … that the city was agog over the
possibility they might play for a championship for
the first time in 52 years … and, because the NHL
playoffs were taking a break, we decided to look in
on the Knicks (as they are now known) and Indiana
semifinals Game 6 Saturday night.
What it was wasn’t basketball. Somewhere out there,
in the great beyond, Harry, the Horse; Max, the
Touch, and Sweet Water are shaking their heads.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? That is, if they
even bothered to watch. Or care.
The visiting Knicks pretty much stood around and
watched Jalen Brunson, said to be their best player,
dribble around and either force a field goal or have
the ball stolen for an easy two. The stocky lefthander
missed 10 of 18 shots and, along the way, head-
butted an opponent … that wasn’t called, like anyone
should be surprised.
The officials can’t call everything, not when there is
contact on just about every play … but driving with
the ball to the basket almost always was met by
heavy-handed resistance … that seldom drew a
whistle.
Oh, and what about taking as many as six steps
without a call for traveling. It doesn’t happen
occasionally … but ALL THE TIME. They haven’t
changed the rule book, have they?
The more we watched the less we liked what we saw.
Some of these players are making $50 million a year,
for what? To miss far more treys than they make or
dunk a ball into a basket that long since was much
too short (and way over-matched) at 10 feet?
Takeaways are all the rage these days, so here are
three we took for Indiana’s rout of the … ahh,
Knicks.
1-- Every NBA game should come with a warning
for young players not to think this is real hoops …
kind of like WWE is not real wrestling.
2 – The players have gotten so used to game officials
letting everything go that they seldom complain …
and, better yet, don’t get too angry … at least not
enough to start swinging at each other … not very
often anyway.
3 – The NBA has become … and will continue to be
… a turnoff here, but it would be unfair not to
concede how much some fans, like those in New
York and Indianapolis, are turned on … As former
UVA guard now Pacers’ coach Rick Carlisle put it,
“In 49 states, it is just basketball … but this is
Indiana.”
Fortunately, the TNT network couldn’t filter out the
noise generated by the Pacers’ crowd, so we couldn’t
hear much of what Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller
were saying. Not that we missed everything … like
Harlan, after a couple of giveaways, saying, “Boy,
this is tough to watch.”
Right on, Kevin, Right on.
Until next time ...
Great points which I’ve thought of often with the way the NBA has traveled over the years, Jerry. The brilliance of Mr, Naismith’s rules allowing for the reality of short, tall, wide, small, etc., types was basketball in its purest form. The carnage of these rules is a reflection of the world today where rules are flexed, broken or ignored to accommodate those who find it hard to conform to them to achieve their goal. Unfortunately the repetition of this movement now makes it the norm for the game. Add to this those running the league who believe they know better than anyone what is needed for the sport to include their infusion of symbolic gestures and words on social issues they feel their program should promote rather than let the fans enjoy a moment away from the hue and cry of such issues they’re saturated with on the media.
ReplyDeleteThe other irony about allowing the players to dislodge, bump, drive into, slash, hit, whatever term applies, with such a flagrant disregard, puts the multimillion products the teams have paid for in jeopardy of injury and lessen the opportunity for future team wins to say nothing of the reduced gate while that star player is recuperating,
I’ll get off my soap box with one last view that my displeasure with the way sports are run carries over to baseball and the extra innings man on second, as well as the bondage to the pitch count at the expense of potentially losing the game by removing a pitcher who is clearly in the zone. Add to this thought, the volume of pitchers teams now carry with some only in for a player or two to one to two innings. Does anyone remember the infamous 16 inning game between Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn in 63’ where Marichal won 1-0. Now that was baseball! Yes, I guess I am an old timer and proud of it. Thanks for a great blog, Jerry. My Dad is no doubt smiling from on high at the talent and good nature behind all of your postings. P. S. Using my wife’s email for this posting.