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Teh Grimace
New Metal Member
it'll be the most popular sport on earth in 10 years, easily eclipsing soccer. just the fact that the U.S. didn't finish first again at FIBA this year is proof enough. this year the NBA features a record number of international players, about 90 i think, a huge number considering each team only has a max 15 man roster.
Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming are two of the biggest (literally) stars in the league now, Steve Nash (who's canadian which is foreign i don't care what anyone says) just won back to back league MVPs, there's been several foreign #1 picks in recent years, including Yao and Andrew Bogut from Australia, the number one pick in this year's draft was Andrea Bargnani from Italy who's modeled in the Dirk-ish "monster 7-foot, 300 pound forward/center who can shoot 3's like a guard" style. Mike D'Antoni and the Phoenix Suns' "run-n-gun" super high speed European style is completely changing how the game is played for every other team.
my beloved San Antonio Spurs (ftw) are starting 4 foreign born players, and the lone American (Bruce Bowen) started his career in Europe, plus there's a few more Europeans coming off the bench.
it's not just giant black dudes crashing into each other anymore. now it's becoming more like some ballet of high speed transitions, dangerous passing, and extreme athleticism, and really really really high scores. with the current pace of the game, the average teams should be putting up 115-125 points per within a few years, with offense-oriented teams like the Suns upping it to 130-140+.
even the Spurs, who have for years been recognized as the most cohesive defensive team in the league, normally holding opponents to under 90 points per game, have upped their tempo and scoring averages, due in no small part to 24-year old French point guard Tony Parker's newly acquired status as an All Star and probably the most potent offensive point guard in the league, as well as being one of the, if not the, fastest players in the world.
GODDAMMIT I LOVE FUCKING BASKETBALL!!!!
Hubster
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I would love to agree with you, as much as I love basketball, but I'm sorry to say I can't. I simply cannot see it eclipsing football, and definitely not in a decade.
However, I can see it get much bigger internationally, and I would love to see that happen. It's long overdue.
The state of the (NBA) game right now imo, is simply awful. The morals and honour of the league in the 70's, 80's and 90's is gone.
The players' goal now is money and fame, the passion for the game has become secondary. Until this is reversed, I cannot see the NBA becoming the league of its glory days.
However, I can see it get much bigger internationally, and I would love to see that happen. It's long overdue.
The state of the (NBA) game right now imo, is simply awful. The morals and honour of the league in the 70's, 80's and 90's is gone.
The players' goal now is money and fame, the passion for the game has become secondary. Until this is reversed, I cannot see the NBA becoming the league of its glory days.
Teh Grimace
New Metal Member
maybe 15 years. as big in 10.
...
actually, the "in it for the money" thing was really a happening of the late-90s to about 02/03, after the breakup of the "4th dynasty" Lakers with Shaq and Kobe and their 100 million dollar contracts. now, it seems, all the teams are really switching to a more role-player involved, group style of play, with more team coordinated defense as well as multi-pass ball moving offense.
last year when the Suns spent the season without probably their best scorer in Amare Stoudemire after knee surgery and had lost their second best scorer in Joe Johnson to another team in free agency, coach D'Antoni and point guard Steve Nash developed a fast running style in which every player on the floor has an equal opportunity to touch the ball, and everyone is basically free to take the first open shot they see, turning a lot of mediocre players into high potency scorers.
then there's the Spurs, who rely mostly on slow, half court team defense and running set plays to get the highest percentage shots they can. they're almost like a College team, where coach Popovich is God and he's not afraid to sit any player on the bench if they're not working in the system.
this year i've seen a lot of commercials and promotional stuff for the NBA with a common theme of "it takes 5" or how the best players make their whole team better. the Spurs tagline this season is "team is everything".
it's pretty sweet.
at least it's on the way to being sweet. New York will probably still suck for years to come and Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis will still take every single shot, but it seems the rest of the league is following.
...
actually, the "in it for the money" thing was really a happening of the late-90s to about 02/03, after the breakup of the "4th dynasty" Lakers with Shaq and Kobe and their 100 million dollar contracts. now, it seems, all the teams are really switching to a more role-player involved, group style of play, with more team coordinated defense as well as multi-pass ball moving offense.
last year when the Suns spent the season without probably their best scorer in Amare Stoudemire after knee surgery and had lost their second best scorer in Joe Johnson to another team in free agency, coach D'Antoni and point guard Steve Nash developed a fast running style in which every player on the floor has an equal opportunity to touch the ball, and everyone is basically free to take the first open shot they see, turning a lot of mediocre players into high potency scorers.
then there's the Spurs, who rely mostly on slow, half court team defense and running set plays to get the highest percentage shots they can. they're almost like a College team, where coach Popovich is God and he's not afraid to sit any player on the bench if they're not working in the system.
this year i've seen a lot of commercials and promotional stuff for the NBA with a common theme of "it takes 5" or how the best players make their whole team better. the Spurs tagline this season is "team is everything".
it's pretty sweet.
at least it's on the way to being sweet. New York will probably still suck for years to come and Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis will still take every single shot, but it seems the rest of the league is following.
Teh Grimace
New Metal Member
also soccer (football meh 
) doesn't seem to be growing in any way, shape, or form. it's just becoming kind of traditional, and therefore, not hip, and therefore, on the way out, just like american football is becoming the game for old white guys to watch and guys who weren't athletic enough for the NBA to play, as the NBA gradually sucks away it's audience.
...
i honestly have some faith in the idea i've heard proposed quite a bit lately, that in less than two decades the NBA will expand to include European and South American teams (there's already one "foreign" team in the Toronto Raptors), and it will become more of a World Basketball Leauge, if just because there's so much money to be made out there that David Stern and co. can't resist.
Yao Ming has turned China into a huge basketball market. that's a billion fucking people already.
Nowitzki, Nash, Andrei Kirilenko, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili are all the biggest sports stars in their respective countries, and if Bargnani turns out to be any good he'll probably be the hottest thing in Italy since Mussolini.
) doesn't seem to be growing in any way, shape, or form. it's just becoming kind of traditional, and therefore, not hip, and therefore, on the way out, just like american football is becoming the game for old white guys to watch and guys who weren't athletic enough for the NBA to play, as the NBA gradually sucks away it's audience....
i honestly have some faith in the idea i've heard proposed quite a bit lately, that in less than two decades the NBA will expand to include European and South American teams (there's already one "foreign" team in the Toronto Raptors), and it will become more of a World Basketball Leauge, if just because there's so much money to be made out there that David Stern and co. can't resist.
Yao Ming has turned China into a huge basketball market. that's a billion fucking people already.
Nowitzki, Nash, Andrei Kirilenko, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili are all the biggest sports stars in their respective countries, and if Bargnani turns out to be any good he'll probably be the hottest thing in Italy since Mussolini.
hibernal_dream
A Mind Forever Voyaging
I'm not American but I find baseball and hockey to be way more exciting than NFL or NBA. Why are they less popular?
Teh Grimace
New Metal Member
MasterOLightning
Optimator
Baseball is still more popular than basketball. MLB set leaguewide attendance records this year. The NHL has a really poor TV contract, plus it sucks to watch on TV. Things move way too fast to tell what's going on much of the time.
Hubster
...
Baseball is okay to play (I played for my school in high school), but its boring as fuck to watch imo.
Teh Grimace
New Metal Member
which part of basically the whole of both teams spending 95% (real time) of the game either sitting, standing, or walking represents "fast" in your eyes?
hibernal_dream
A Mind Forever Voyaging
I think he was talking about hockey. And if you think baseball is slow you really must watch cricket.
Teh Grimace
New Metal Member
i forgot what "NHL" meant for a second. i'm was thinking of AHL or ABL or VHS or BBC or something.
Zephyrus
Tyrants and Slaves
Teh Grimace
New Metal Member
it's strange that you find it that funny, it's kind of an in-joke to myself, and whoever lives in south texas. we've got a grocery chain called HEB which is basically the all-powerful god of food here, there's no major competition whatsoever besides Wal Mart. all of the popular Spurs do commercials for them...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nefEj2knuX0
...it's in reference to this commercial.
oh and
one more time
and
more tall tales with tim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nefEj2knuX0
...it's in reference to this commercial.
oh and
one more time
and
more tall tales with tim
The Heartbreak Kid
Afterimage
cookiecutter
Proceed to Ultraslamming
Baseball is fun to watch for the strategy suspense and drama that is inherent within each at bat.
unknown
fuck ftagn
whoa whoa whoa. you guys have forgotten the grimmest, fastest, most exciting sport on the planet:
CURLING
CURLING
Carcassian
Utopian Blaster
also soccer (football meh
...
.
LOL@YOU
Zephyrus
Tyrants and Slaves
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