5 ft 9.He is a 5 foot nuthin midget whom has been banned from his alma matre HS football games for being a turd.
I was decent at Baseball. I would never have been good enough to play at Elder, but I played AABC. My Uncle coached at UC for a few yrs, so I got more advanced coaching/training than a lot of kids at the time (this was pre specialization). I also played Football, but I sucked bc I was too small. However, I still showed up to practices to be a tackling dummy.Absolutely.
When people want to tout it is the most popular sport in the world it is because of a few reasons:
1. $$. All you need is a ball. Nothing else.
2. Any kid on any talent level can participate and have a little fun.
Watched many a niece hit the soccer fields over the years as kids. They go out, run around, and every once in awhile if the ball gets close they kick it and once that happens they enjoy themselves as they feel some sort of accomplishment and with 22 kids playing at any one given time in a game (and you can even do more) they all feel like a part of the game.
Other sports............you see much more failure with an error, striking out, missing shots, traveling, etc.
A kid with the lack of athletic ability like an Omar can go out and play soccer game and feel like they did something and enjoy it.
I only have so much bandwidth to consume basketball during the season, so when I do, I usually opt for college ball. And it's for the reasons that the NBA can't control. I like rivalries, student sections, upsets, rankings, 350+ teams, unique arenas, etc.The fact you don't bother with the regular season while holding the position that the game today is "close to perfecting what basketball can be" is hilariously lacking in self-awareness. It's part of the fad of crapping on the past to sound intelligent - it's not. Watching a well-played game end 87-85 is and always has been more entertaining on a night-to-night basis than a 115-105 scoring snoozefest. Scoring is only interesting if it's hard-faught.
If you say so.5 ft
I’m not exactly proud of it, but I have never not owned it. I’m fully aware, I deserve to get s**t for this forever. It was embarrassing behavior by an adult.If you say so.
... Elder have a 6 ft min to attend football games? Why don't ya ever address why ya are not allowed to attend....
5'9" that's tall compared to me.5 ft 9.
I identify as 6’2’’5'9" that's tall compared to me.
I've played soccer and enjoy it, I can't stand to watch the sport. IMO, I'd do two things to increase soccer's popularity.Well given the large increase in young LGBTQ people, I guess it’s no surprise that soccer’s popularity increased.
I'm a big Sixers fan and you are 100% correct. Iverson was a great talent and he was put on display by ESPN and the networks, partly because of how he played, but also how he looked. The cornrows and tats. There are very few NBA players today who aren't covered in tats. Now you can say it's the players being themselves, but also remember that corporate America, who largely supports these pro leagues and buy tickets to games has to have a say. Remember when David Stern, former NBA commish really came down on the players with the dress code and how they looked. Iverson balked at it and Stearn really kind of backed off after awhile. Stern knew the thuggish look wasn't longstanding for NBA fans.The NBA and ESPN killed basketball for people of a certain generation when they were so quick to find new stars after all of the talent from the 80's and mid 90's began to go away that they stuck all of their stock into guys like Allen Iverson.
Iverson was an incredible athlete and ESPN would always show all of his one-on-one amazing plays but they would never show the 65% of the shots he missed or his 6 turnovers. Iverson led the league in scoring one year while shooting .398 from the field. Kids started to play like this. Four guys stand around and watch one guy "do his thing." Jordan spent most of his career around .500 from the field. Even when he avg. 30+ points. And since the game is centered around the 3 point shot and dunks that is all we get anymore.
Things lost on today's game.
Give and go.
Pick and roll.
Someone who was solid from the elbow.
The unblockable bank shot from guys like Tim Duncan.
Team over "getting yours."
Team defense.
Maybe start by actually enforcing the rules of the game, like traveling? How could guys like West, Maravich, Dr J, Elgin Baylor, etc., be so creative, yet couldn’t palm the ball, carry, take a few extra steps, etc.? It was a free flowing game way back in the day and pretty much continued to be until the era of the Bad Boy Pistons, the Pat Riley Knicks and others (even the Mike Fratello Cavs) made it a half court slugfest. We’ve come out of that era and scoring is up, which makes it fun…but a lot is just sloppy AAU.About 20 years ago a young me and some friends would run the local YMCA pick-up scene. One day walked in theses roughly 35-45 year olds who wore those old generic knee braces and had too much weight around the mid section. They even rubbed Icy Hot on their backs and knees before playing. They looked like Billy Hoyle warming up. They proceeded to kick our arse. The old PG had every trick in the book. Little head-bobs, he knew how to lean into you for leverage and use it against you, and he had this bunny-hop tear drop shot that was unblockable. Their "shooter" shot what was one of the ugliest shots I've ever seen. It looked like a knuckle ball and he shot it (very quickly) from about his waist. The problem was it damn near always went in. He did not learn his shot from some camp, he learned from playing against bigger kids when he was younger and it worked. You only get a shot like that from playing the game all the time. Their post man (6'6" 250 and built like absolute $chit) had a turn around Tim Duncan bank shot that you could not block and it almost always went in. They picked and rolled. They would give and go. They knocked down shots from the elbow (ask a kid today where the elbow is.). I found out after the fact they all played some college (and some pro) ball from back in the 70's but they were very legit and well rounded basketball players who did not give two F's how they looked but played the game extremely well. They did every little thing right.
I think Jordan is the best of all time but kids and young players started to really try to emulate him to a fault (Kobe). Then with guys like Iverson and the rise of AAU which is glorified open-gym all of that stuff I described above was lost. This is why roughly 15 years ago the European teams started kicking our butts in international play. They played a great game of team basketball and we had a bunch of uber talented yet selfish guys who only knew how to play one on one type ball.
The league today as you stated is very talented but it is an awful product. Unsure how you change that?
That is hilarious, and it's 100% true. I'm in my mid 50's and I still run with the young guys and they are amazed I can get shots off. I can't run and jump anywhere near how I used to, but when you get older, experience is the key. The game slows down in your mind so much. I can watch a kid play a few times, pick up his favorite moves and do a decent job defending them. Now if it's in the open court they can just blow by me now problem, but if you position correctly, you can guard just about anyone. Offensively, scoop shots, tear drops are huge and the head fake gets kids every time. If you can teach a kid to not try to block shots, you've done something. The blocked shot is one of the most overrated statistics in basketball. Most of the time the blocked shot goes out of bounds and the offensive team retains possession. Other times if you get a guy to change his shot, you're out of position for the rebound anyway and they get the put back.About 20 years ago a young me and some friends would run the local YMCA pick-up scene. One day walked in theses roughly 35-45 year olds who wore those old generic knee braces and had too much weight around the mid section. They even rubbed Icy Hot on their backs and knees before playing. They looked like Billy Hoyle warming up. They proceeded to kick our arse. The old PG had every trick in the book. Little head-bobs, he knew how to lean into you for leverage and use it against you, and he had this bunny-hop tear drop shot that was unblockable. Their "shooter" shot what was one of the ugliest shots I've ever seen. It looked like a knuckle ball and he shot it (very quickly) from about his waist. The problem was it damn near always went in. He did not learn his shot from some camp, he learned from playing against bigger kids when he was younger and it worked. You only get a shot like that from playing the game all the time. Their post man (6'6" 250 and built like absolute $chit) had a turn around Tim Duncan bank shot that you could not block and it almost always went in. They picked and rolled. They would give and go. They knocked down shots from the elbow (ask a kid today where the elbow is.). I found out after the fact they all played some college (and some pro) ball from back in the 70's but they were very legit and well rounded basketball players who did not give two F's how they looked but played the game extremely well. They did every little thing right.
I think Jordan is the best of all time but kids and young players started to really try to emulate him to a fault (Kobe). Then with guys like Iverson and the rise of AAU which is glorified open-gym all of that stuff I described above was lost. This is why roughly 15 years ago the European teams started kicking our butts in international play. They played a great game of team basketball and we had a bunch of uber talented yet selfish guys who only knew how to play one on one type ball.
The league today as you stated is very talented but it is an awful product. Unsure how you change that?
You should identify as someone who is not banned from their alma mater...I identify as 6’2’’
That to. I identify as that, so legally it’s valid.You should identify as someone who is not banned from their alma mater...
There used to be a difference. I just do not see much of one anymore.I like playing too, just not watching the nba. I love college basketball.
There used to be a difference. I just do not see much of one anymore.
I always call that the Kwame Brown era. I don’t know why, other than he was a high profile draft bust from that time. One of many. That era, as you pointed out, was an amalgamation of awful, brutal play, the transitioning of stars and soooooo many straight from HS drafts busts who came into the league totally underdeveloped mentally and physically. Sort of a lost era of the NBA with the Nets in the finals twice and those crappy Iverson Sixers or the Ron Artest/Antonio Davis Pacers. If it wasn’t for Shaq and Kobe leading that Lakers dynasty that era would have been a total bust. Today’s NBA, as bad as it can be at times, is better than that awful era.I prefer college to the NBA and don't watch a whole lot besides the playoffs and the occasional Cavs game, but it's important to remember that the present pro game has been shaped dramatically by the early 2000s as the stars of the 80s and 90s exited the league. The product was brutal to watch at times and a ton of games lacked flow, excitement or scoring.
There were numerous very low scoring playoff games in that time period, especially with teams like the Pacers and Pistons, that were pretty much blood sport in the paint defensively by what was allowable at that time and without the current emphasis on floor spacing and the three ball. In 2002 the Celtics beat the Pistons in the lowest scoring playoff game ever in a conference semifinal game by a score of 66-64. Tweaks to the rules followed by an increasing influx of star talents beginning in 2003 began to shift the game to the often more higher scoring and flowing product of today.
Many HS draft busts and underwhelming stars in that era, especially in the Eastern conference. Iverson was the most marketable player at that time after Shaq and Kobe.I always call that the Kwame Brown era. I don’t know why, other than he was a high profile draft bust from that time. One of many. That era, as you pointed out, was an amalgamation of awful, brutal play, the transitioning of stars and soooooo many straight from HS drafts busts who came into the league totally underdeveloped mentally and physically. Sort of a lost era of the NBA with the Nets in the finals twice and those crappy Iverson Sixers or the Ron Artest/Antonio Davis Pacers. If it wasn’t for Shaq and Kobe leading that Lakers dynasty that era would have been a total bust. Today’s NBA, as bad as it can be at times, is better than that awful era.
The 2002 Western Conference Finals still piss me off. I’ve never seen a team get screwed like the Kings, that was bulls***. And I didn’t give a damn about the Kings, but as a sports fan, seeing the fairness of the game just trampled on made me angry.Many HS draft busts and underwhelming stars in that era, especially in the Eastern conference. Iverson was the most marketable player at that time after Shaq and Kobe.
That period from around 1999-2004 was by far the crappiest the NBA has been in what I'd call the modern era beginning with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird entering the league. I know many hate the way the game is played currently, but the talent level the last 5-6 years is the best it's been since the 80s/90s era ended.
I don't remember that series all that well, but I do remember it seemingly being implicated in the Donaghy scandal as an example of "fixing". The Kings led the series 3-2 going into game 6 in L.A., and in the 4th quarter of game 6 the Lakers out shot the Kings 27-9 from the free throw line en route to a 4 point win and extending the series to game 7.The 2002 Western Conference Finals still piss me off. I’ve never seen a team get screwed like the Kings, that was bulls***. And I didn’t give a damn about the Kings, but as a sports fan, seeing the fairness of the game just trampled on made me angry.
Agreed entirely. The rules and rule interpretations have been bent by the league to maximize scoring.For the people who don't like how the game is officiated..... That's on the NBA, not on the officials.
The officials are calling the games exactly how the league wants them called.
That was a good Kings team. I was a huge fan of Rick Adelman as a coach. His teams in Portland and Sac could ball.I don't remember that series all that well, but I do remember it seemingly being implicated in the Donaghy scandal as an example of "fixing". The Kings led the series 3-2 going into game 6 in L.A., and in the 4th quarter of game 6 the Lakers out shot the Kings 27-9 from the free throw line en route to a 4 point win and extending the series to game 7.
I have little doubt that in that era David Stern and the other league executives were terrified of the thought of Shaq and Kobe getting bounced from the playoffs giving them a Sacramento/New Jersey NBA Finals starring Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic against Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin and Keith Van Horn.