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[sturt]

Can someone copy/paste this Mark Bradley article? Thanks in advance for the assistance.

http://blogs.ajcsportsplus.com/traction/pe.../Columnists3059

[TnDawg]

Here it is:

NBA has only itself to blame for waning appeal

The NBA is in retreat. It got big by promoting its stars, and now, handed an almost star-free Finals, it doesn't know where to turn. The NBA forgot about real basketball long ago, and a series between the Pistons and Spurs, who play something approximating real basketball, leaves the audience cold.

It's not our fault. We've been conditioned. We keep waiting for Shaq and Kobe and Michael to ride to the rescue, but none of them ever shows. We watch for stars because that's how the NBA has presented itself the last 25 years — as the realm of individuals. We see a starless team like the Pistons or an anti-star like Tim Duncan and we change the channel. It's no coincidence that these Finals are approaching an all-time ratings low.

As the NBA has sown, so must it reap. The game itself has become a succession of pick-and-rolls and isolations — in other words, star turns. The league has long ignored the simple reality that Magic Johnson and Larry Bird weren't captivating just because they were transcendent talents but because they were the engines in dynamic teams. But they came along in 1979, a time at which the NBA was at its most rickety and its salesmen were seizing on whatever they could find. And so it became Magic and Bird above all else and then, bang on cue, here came Michael.

In terms of exposure, Michael Jordan was the greatest thing ever to happen to the NBA. In terms of pure basketball, he was the worst. It wasn't that he played the game the wrong way — he played it better than anyone ever has or ever will — but the NBA misread his excellence. It billed him as the new paradigm, the supernova who delivered every single time, and now that Jordan has finally retired the league wants us to believe that other Michaels will rise to dazzle the masses. Except that there isn't another Michael. And there won't be.

The star system has gone bust. Kobe Bryant's team didn't make the playoffs. Kevin Garnett's team didn't make the playoffs. LeBron James hasn't played in a postseason game. Tracy McGrady's and Allen Iverson's teams lost in Round 1. Miami looked good until Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade got hurt, and then the Heat was toast. And that, sad to say, is what the NBA has become — one big name to a team, maybe two, and nothing beyond.

It's no accident that the Pistons and the Spurs are meeting for the title. In the post-Jordan era, these are the only two teams — OK, throw in Phoenix — to function as teams. (The splendid Duncan plays less like a star than anyone since Bill Russell.) Thirty years ago, we'd have viewed this matchup as a delicious collision. Today, gorged on Jordan's heroics and the never-ending buffet of "SportsCenter" dunks, we see it as thin gruel.

We want Dream Teamers taking and making the last shot. We don't want defense. We don't want Bruce Bowen and Chauncey Billups. We want what the NBA has wrongly led us to want. As Paul Hewitt famously said at the 2004 Final Four: "Shaq versus Yao — what's that? That's not basketball. It's tennis."

The NBA got lucky that Magic and Bird arrived when they did, luckier still that Michael was on their heels, but now its luck has flown. Needing competitive games to juice the ratings, these Finals have generated four blowouts. And, with another lockout looming, there's no guarantee interest has hit bottom.

It has become the custom to laugh at the NFL and its insistence on uniformity in all things, but it's worth noting that the NFL has never suffered such a slump. Pro football sells pro football. Brett Favre and Randy Moss and Michael Vick could retire tomorrow and the NFL would absorb the loss. In its zeal to go global, the NBA stopped selling basketball. So what are we to do when basketball is all that remains?

[sturt]

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I think it was interesting to read Bill Rhoden's column in the New York Times the other day, where he noted everyone he knew was watching the NBA Finals and wondered why the TV ratings were so microscopic for the games. Well, Bill, we live only a couple of area codes apart, and I can answer the question for you. None of my friends watch the NBA. I wish I could get into it, but I just can't. Bores the stuffing out of me.

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(And, need I say... that's A LOT of stuffing. )

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writ...mmqb.law/3.html

[Lascar78]

Only you could come in here a couple of days after a great game 7 that was tied going into the 4th, hours before one of the deepest drafts to date, trying to convince everyone that the NBA sucks.

I really feel sorry for you and wish you would start posting on "nba sucks" message boards instead of those for nba fans

[sturt]

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Only you could come in here a couple of days after a great game 7 that was tied going into the 4th, hours before one of the deepest drafts to date, trying to convince everyone that the NBA sucks.

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(I can always depend on you, Lascar, to notice my posts. Thank you from the bottom of my heart... )

"Only" me?

Well, I think Bradley wrote this in the midst of your beloved finals... he doesn't count?

And, I know Peter King wrote this just yesterday... neither does he count?

Geez... for that matter, maybe all of Sports Illustrated doesn't count -- re: last week's front page story titled, "End Game: The Spurs and Pistons Made It a Fight to the Finish (But America Didn't Tune In: Did the NBA Learn Anything?)."

(The writer of the article is like a lot of people -- they know it's ugly, but still are all over the place with the reasons.)

If you pay attention, it seems a lot of people are talking. But it's true, I'm certainly not discouraging it.

[sturt]

...

[Lascar78]

there are plenty of paid sportswriters on both sides of the issue getting paid to present their opinions and be critical.

You are the only one re-posting only the negative articles to an nba team's fan website. I hate MLB as do plenty of people and sportswriters, and Bud Selig is arguably the worst commissioner in american sports' history, but I don't waste my time going to the braves' board to convince braves fans that the MLB sucks.

But do whatever you want, keep being pissed off. I don't care. I just don't understand why you have to bring that sh!t here.

I'm excited about a great night tonight

[sturt]

In terms of its appeal at home anyway, the NBA game is in trouble.

I bet in the mid-80s you couldn't keep Peter King away from a single Lakers/Celtics final.

Well, there's a lot of Peter Kings out there... people who aren't like you... people who just quietly have remarked to themselves "This bores the stuffing out of me... think I'd rather go shopping with my wife."

But others of us care too much to just go away. We'll be watching the draft tonight too, full of optimism that "just maybe" fortunes will change both for our team and the league.

At least the Peter Kings of the world aren't oblivious. Same can't be said for you, unfortunately.

[Lascar78]

why are you currently posting on an nba fan message board if you are not an nba fan? Just to spoil nba fans' day?

Peter King is doing his job.

He is not posting at hawksquawk.

There is no comparison.

Stop putting yourself on the same level as him.

The only possible impact you could have is getting a few nba fans to no longer like the nba. Is that your goal? That's a sad goal. Otherwise, you're just a thorn in the side of those who want to talk about being hawks' fans and how to fix this franchise.

You keep harping on why you're pissed off. I'm not telling you not to be pissed off. I don't care. I'm saying stop posting on an nba fan message board if all you're going to do is try to convince people that the nba sucks

[sturt]

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why are you currently posting on an nba fan message board if you are not an nba fan?

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Answer that you obviously didn't get:

"...But others of us care too much to just go away. We'll be watching the draft tonight too, full of optimism that "just maybe" fortunes will change both for our team and the league."

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Peter King is doing his job.

He is not posting at hawksquawk.

There is no comparison.

Stop putting yourself on the same level as him.

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Question: Are you not the person who suggested that it is "only" me who is raising the issue?

How, then, can you sit there and demagogue like I have no right to bring up Peter King et al???

You just take the proverbial cake, my friend.

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The only possible impact you could have is getting a few nba fans to no longer like the nba.

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You mean I have that kind of power?

No, actually, I don't.

Rather, "the only possible impact" I could have is to persuade some NBA fans who feel the same as I do to look more deeply into what's going on, and to begin raising the volume.

And if I say so myself, judging from responses I've gotten publicly and via e-mail, I *am* having *that* kind of impact.

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You keep harping on why you're pissed off. I'm not telling you not to be pissed off.

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I don't see any "harping" of my own in this thread, anyway.

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I don't care.

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Liar liar pants on fire.

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I'm saying stop posting on an nba fan message board if all you're going to do is try to convince people that the nba sucks

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Oblivous as you are... I don't have to convince people that the NBA game sucks. It is all-too-apparent that they already know that.

But constraining those same people to think about it and, as I say, "raise the volume" of protest to The Tyrant's ears is certainly a worthy goal.

Thanks, again, Lascar, for bumping this thread to the top on a day when so many will be visiting...

[drzachary]

Hm, I don't think the NBA sucks, but I do think that defense has made it much more boring than it needs to be.

I'd certainly rather watch LMU 1990-1991 (or the Sura-led end of the season Hawks!) than the recent NBA Finals any day.

[Diesel]

Lascar to Sturt:

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why are you currently posting on an nba fan message board if you are not an nba fan? Just to spoil nba fans' day?

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That's like Steven Hunter trying to disrespect George Mikan about his knowledge of the game.

Maybe Chillz might be the only one who truly understands!

[Lascar78]

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Question: Are you not the person who suggested that it is "only" me who is raising the issue?

How, then, can you sit there and demagogue like I have no right to bring up Peter King et al???

You just take the proverbial cake, my friend.

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No that is not what I said, I said: "You are the only one re-posting only the negative articles to an nba team's fan website. " Perhaps I missed Peter King's postings here. What is his username?

I'm not responding to all the rest because this won't go anywhere good

[CHORO44]

I think that Sturt has every right to post his thoughts on this messageboard. He is one of the founders of this site, correct me if I'm wrong. I truly enjoy his writing style and insights and much rather read other topics than us self-proclaimed experts debating Williams versus Paul/Deron.

The fact is I, like Sturt, love the Hawks and I live on the other freaking coast. I, like Sturt, dislike the NBA as a whole and keep waiting for some kind of turnaround in it's structure. I long for the days of team play with skilled players. As much as I like Josh Smith he should be in the NBDL as a Hawks player much like the new CBA will help. I enjoyed Jordan's quote that the young guys should go to college so that skilled, veteran players can stick around in this league. I'm tired of the marketing of stars and would much rather have teams marketed. As much as I enjoyed this past Finals it did not have near the luster as the finals of the 80's and early 90's.

It makes me sick that we have to gamble a number 2 pick on a guy with 1 year of college experience and whose game and abilities are in question. The NBA to me is standing on its last legs with true basketball fans. What I mean by true is guys who go out and play pickup games and know how important and fun team play is. How annoying is it when you play a game of pickup and one guy dribbles down and shoots it everytime often unbalanced because he is more athletic than others. Bring back the midrange jumpers and the motion offense. Move the shotclock back to 35 seconds and get guys off the freaking 3 point line.

Done Ranting...

[sturt]

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I'm not responding to all the rest...

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Darn... I love softball practice.

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because this won't go anywhere good.

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And, where you're concerned Lascar, Choro just made sure of it.

[Lascar78]

what are you talking about? I never said there was nothing wrong with the NBA and I never said you had no right to post here. I said I wish you didn't only post negativity here, and didn't understand why you would. At the very least I think it belongs in around the league.

I have plenty more to say but I have nothing to gain by posting it all. Most here know there are problems with the NBA but that you're off your rocker when it comes to your Stern theories. Sorry I mean *the tyrant*. Chroro's biggest issues seem to be raw players coming in, which is what Stern is also trying to fight with an age limit. I must have missed him agreeing on your pseudo-conspiracy theory. Feel free to resume kissing your own @ss, you missed a spot

[Plainview1981]

I watch the NFL, but it's an overrated game. The

athletes in it are alittle overrated. In the NFL,

the players sit on the bench as much or more than

they actually play.... They only play ONE game a

week, steriod users, 16-20 games for an entire

season.... But what I hear Rugby is alot tougher

in than the NFL. The players over there don't wear

helmets and so much padding do they?

[Plainview1981]

I want somebody to explain to me how scoring 69

points and losing is playing the right way. Did

this really happen often 30 years ago before "The

stars" were marketed?

[Lascar78]

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But what I hear Rugby is alot tougher

in than the NFL. The players over there don't wear

helmets and so much padding do they?

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Yeah it is. The hits aren't quite as big, but they don't have any padding. Just a shirt, a pair of shorts, and some have this little leather helmet thing that is basically there so their ears don't get ripped off in a scrum. Basically it's football without all the pauses and without the forward passes. It's a pretty cool game, with more continuity. Australian football is even crazier apparently but I don't know too much about it.

[Buzzard]

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I said I wish you didn't only post negativity here, and didn't understand why you would.

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Its the only thing he can post about that has the impact that he desires and needs. One of those types who has a need to be spectacular and all knowing.

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At the very least I think it belongs in around the league.

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It does belong in the around the league. But do you think he would captivate a audience over there? Here is a challenge. Old Sturt can post his thoughts every Monday on around the league. You know build up the board with all his (and a lot of others) great thoughts.

He could create a cult following of people who enjoy all this doom and gloom. While all of us ignorant ones can keep posting here about useless stuff like the play, drafts, trades, and free agents for our favorite team