Basketball, i just hate it

[rmered]

OK, I'm not North American, though I did live there for a few years.

I haven't grown up with North American sports, but I love hockey, football (your football as well as mine), and baseball is quite good.

Basketball I just cannot 'get'.

The players project themselves as self-promoting morons, the game appears to require one 'talent' , that is, to be born with the genetic mix that makes the individual 6 foot 9 inches or above.

So, what is it about this game that I should like?

What do you like about it?

[Stampman]

While I'm not a big fan of the game, I  can follow it.  The flow of the game can change quickly, (which is a good thing), and although it often can look like 10 guys chasing a ball--there is strategy to it.  Personally I prefer football (Candian/American) and hockey.

Some women like basketball because they like watching guys run around in shorts & tank tops.  Maybe that's why I'm not into more, I'm not into that.

[Saintsfan]

I think the flow of the NBA games is geat, and despiter the kind of repetetive scoring thing, when a player does something truly exciting it does kinda take your breath away. And the end of a close game can be the most exciting sports can get.

[jkrdevil]

Why I hate Basketball:

1: Too much scoring, they score like 50 baskets in the game. All basketball is, is 1 team scores then the other team gets the ball and scores. There's no defense, it's boring. The only part of the game that matters is the final 2 minutes. To me, that's not a good thing for a sport.

2: The players are crybabies. There all look at me and what I can do, but when someone touches them they cry foul. No one in the NBA could last 5 minutes in the NHL, and they couldn't even last 1 minute NFL. Shaq is the biggest crybaby.

3. I'm a fan of team sports and to me basketball isn't one. All you need is 1 great player and you can go to the championship. It's not that way in Hockey, Baseball, or football.

[JQK]

the NBA blows. Of that there is no doubt. However, the college game is very watchable.

[CC97]

I can get into basketball no problem, probably because it's fast... the end of games are usually the only part that's worth watching, but I'll sit through whole games.   I hate the multiple timeouts in the final minutes tho, just kills it.

I love hockey, lacrosse, and basketball, but not so much USA/Cdn Football... maybe because there's so much stoppages in football compared to the others, who knows?  (But then again I'm a huge baseball fan.)

[zer0dotcom]

I like it because the action is pretty constant. Sure there are play stoppages, but not after each play. It's exciting to watch some of these plays come together. It's true that one team scores, then the other comes down the floor, but hey, thats the game. That's when a team has to play D, and just as often as one team scores in that situation, the other blocks or steals and runs the floor for another basket.

But it's like anything, you just have to be able to get into it. In the right mood I'm up for anything (I love Sunday morning rugby broadcasts!) so to each their own

[IceCap]

the raptors are the only reason i watch the sport. even then i usally only watch the the last part of the second half (late 3rd quarter, all of 4th). i agree with jqk somwhat. the nba (besides the raptors ) blows.

[Phil]

I follow both the NBA and (to a lesser extent, with the exception of late-March) college hoops, and I can honestly say that it is my favourite sport, narrowly defeating Canadian and American football.

Why do I love basketball? Well, there's the athleticism. Sure you get some of that in other sports, but not quite as much in the same context. Basketball is all about running, jumping, and awareness. Apart from Oliver Miller and few others, you don't get many pot-bellied porkers on a basketball court.

The discouragement of contact (not the lack of it, because you watch guys like Brad Miller work the post, and you know there's contact) ensures that you're generally not going to get players out there whose only job is to physically intimidate the skilled players who make the game exciting.

The probability of seeing a big play every 5 minutes. In hockey they come (on average) once every 15-20 minutes. In football, probably more like 8-10 minutes. In baseball, including big defensive plays, one every two innings or so is average in my experience. Basketball's pace can change very quickly, and sure there's blowout games where you lose interest cause one team's up by 40, but there's those in every sport.

I like basketball because the defense and offense are evenly matched. The average shooting percentage is about 45% in the NBA. The times when teams don't get a shot off or when they get an off. rebound and get more than one shot pretty much even out. That means 55% of the time, the defense succeeds. That's extremely even compared to football, baseball, and hockey. And if you think the NBA's all offense, why haven't the Mavericks won a championship yet?

Basketball as a game is as fluid as the NHL and more fluid than either football or baseball. If you watch 5 minutes of football, chances are you'll see maybe 2.5 mins of game time, and only 30 seconds to a minute of action. Baseball's worse. Maybe 25 seconds of pure action in baseball. Hockey's much better, probably 4.5 mins of action. And in basketball it's pretty close if not that, with the two shorter quarter breaks and halftime all probably adding up to 2 intermissions in hockey.

Another reason... basketball players are in the action more for a longer time than most athletes. Baseball players are on the field more than half the time, but unless you're the pitcher or the catcher (or even the first baseman), you're not really involved all thaat much. Hockey players are really involved, but don't play that many minutes (unless you're the goalie, who's involved about 1/3 of the time). Football players are involved, but on the field around 1/2 the time. Basketball starters play probably 30 mins out of 48 and are involved most of the time.

Some of the "me first" attitude has brought some negative publicity on the NBA, but the winning teams (like the Spurs and Nets in last year's championship) are the teams that are made up of the people who know their role and are good teammates, making for good teams.

[GMS1122]

^^^^couldnt have put it any better myself, i love basketball, college more so than the pros, but it's easily my favorite sport

[Saintsfan]

I like syphis point about how the players are in the game most of the time. Thats  quite rare for American sports, where players have a very set role to an extent in each of the other games. The best centres for instnace are good both offensively and defensively. Hockey players play offense and defense, but defense men tend to be picked primarily to defend. In basketball you have to do a bit of both.

[paynomind]

the NBA blows. Of that there is no doubt. However, the college game is very watchable.

Amen.

[Hardman 1]

I like basketball because my dad used to play it and that is the way I was brought up.  I watched basketball as a little kid and loved it because he did and I still love it.

[NJTank]

The last 5 minutes of a Basketball game is good especially when its a playoff game and its close.

However, the early part of teh game can e really borring especailly a regular seaosn game with tow teams taht are not shooting well and the final score is not going to reach the 80s.

[Phil]

However, the early part of teh game can e really borring especailly a regular seaosn game with tow teams taht are not shooting well and the final score is not going to reach the 80s.

No sport is always fun to watch, especially early in games, when it's two bad teams.

Take your pick, the Predators vs. the Hurricanes, the Cardinals vs. the Chargers, the Devil Rays vs. the Tigers, the Tiger-Cats vs. the Stampeders... more often than not, you'll be dozing before the game's reached the second intermission/halftime/the seventh inning stretch.

[zer0dotcom]

The last 5 minutes of a Basketball game is good especially when its a playoff game and its close.

Soemtimes, the last 5 minutes can take as long to play as the rest of the game. (wow that sounds wierd when you're tired) But thats when the strategy and defence come into play. You have literals only seconds to inbound, set up and shoot in some cases. You really see who's up for the challenge and who cracks under pressure

[slapshot]

As a basketball referee, I would much rather watch college than the pro version. The HS rulebook we use is much more identical to the college game than the pro game.

In the pros, no fouls are called, and everyone palms the ball and travels. Remember when teams regularly scored above 100 points in a game? Neither do I. Pro basketball has too many players out there who CAN'T PLAY. They can't shoot, can't defend, and get arrested for drugs when they get suspended by the coacheds for complaining about lack of playing time. There are too many primadonnas who complain about lack of respect form other players and officials. Yes, there are a few exceptions of players whose fundamentals are present when they're on the court (Pierce and Kobe for example), and LeBron will eventually become the superior all-around player he has been hyped up to be. And yes, I do think there's a conspiracy in the NBA with the refs trying to keep the "better" players and their teams alive longer in the playoffs. MJ anyone?

But for all around team-playing basketball, it's college or nothing. You watch the teams work the ball around the perimeter, setting up screens, moving around to get open, getting back on defense. I think the three-point shooting needs to come down a little though. Get the ball in to the key more. And there's no Hack-A-Shaq going on in the NCAA either. You elbow someone? Violation if no contact, Technical foul if there is (in HS it's a T).

It's great to watch a very good college team play ball (Duke, UConn, UNC, etc.). It's different than one pro team becoming a magnet for aging guys, stacking the deck against the other teams. In college, anything can happen and it's very exciting. In the NBA, it's one team from the West that will win it all, not even Indiana in the weak East will do anything in the end.

[Saintsfan]

The HS rulebook we use is much more identical to the college game than the pro game.

'much more identical' *shakes head at appalling grammar!!* Its either identical or not, like being more pregnant.

Opps sorry forgetting I wasn't marking school books for a second there!!

[nitroseed]

I actually played basketball at a rec league on the military base near here for many years and played in high school for one year (I was a point guard!). I loved and still love playing basketball (though I'm terribly out of shape now), but I have always hated watching the NBA. Nowadays, I hate it even more. I don't like all the showboating, how the focus isn't on the team anymore--it's now the individual, how there's no such thing as defense, how they never call travelling, how all the players seem to whine and complain because they can't make that extra 3 million and if they don't get it they throw tantrums like Shaq did in fron of his own team's owner a few months back... it's disgusting.

It's a sport where some no-talent 7 foot tall neanderthal (Shaq) does NOTHING for his team except post under the basket, gets fed the ball, and jumps a foot or two and dunks it... and yet somehow, he's heralded as the greatest thing going in basketball. Oh, and he can sometimes shoot free throws. I could train a freakin' orangutan to do what he does. In fact, I think there are bears in the circus who *can* do what he does. And I bet they play better defense.

[epper]

I, for one, love watching the NBA. going to raptors games is one of my favourite things to do. a few years ago i made the trip down to detroit to see my raptors in Game5 of the Best -of-5 1st round playoff series. the atmosphere in the Palace was unbelieveable! even though i was rooting for the team the 80% of the arena was against, and even though my Raps lost, it was one of the greatest sporting event ive ever been to.

the whole reason the raps were there was because they were playing as a team. Vinsanity had been out for the last 1/2 of the year, and the raps pulled themsleves together to almost shock the no.2 seeded pistons.

I highly disagree that it is an indivudual sport. just look at this years Orlando Magic. they have one of the best players in the league in Tracy McGrady, but they can't win if their lives depended on it. they opened the season 1-18.

NBA players are incredible athletes, no matter what anyone says, and even though they seem like spoiled, showboating trouble makers, that doesnt take away from my love of the game.