A basketball comedy

[SWC75]

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400829482

139 three point attempts, (80 by the winners). Guys were giving up lay-ups to pass it back out for 25 footers.

2 blocked shots

16 fouls called

196-173. Almost a 200 point game. The loser would have won every other NBA All-Star game ever played by at least 10 points with that total.

At least Paul George didn't break Wilt's record.

Nothing new about "Oley!" defense in all-star games but even by that standard, that game was a travesty of the sport.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_All-Star_Game#All-Star_Game_results

 

[rrlbees]

I watched for 15 mins. Couldn't take it anymore.

 

[MSOrange]

I understand you don't want the stars of the game going crazy and tearing ACLs in an all star game. But that was pathetic. Basketball is one game that would be really entertaining if the best of the best at least somewhat tried on both ends when they are competing against each other. Like bees, I watched a few minutes and was done.

 

[OrangeDW]

I understand you don't want the stars of the game going crazy and tearing ACLs in an all star game. But that was pathetic. Basketball is one game that would be really entertaining if the best of the best at least somewhat tried on both ends when they are competing against each other. Like bees, I watched a few minutes and was done.

Yeah, they used to somewhat try. It used to be a basketball game, with a lot of showmanship.

It's completely different now, and completely unwatchable.

 

[MSOrange]

I think there was more defense in the skills competition on Saturday night! That was actually awesome with that dunk contest and 3 point shootout. It was much better than the game last night.

 

[donniesyracuse]

Baseball has the only watchable all star game

 

[Marsh01]

I watched for 15 mins. Couldn't take it anymore.

Thats 15 more minutes than I watched.

 

[SWC75]

I started watching it and just looked at the screen and asked "What is it?"

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Winning conference gets home court advantage in the NBA Finals.

 

[MikeSU02]

Who cares?

NBA fans see competitive basketball all year.

The skills competition night had the best dunk contest of all time, maybe.

This is for fun. Dunks, alley oops, long threes. What I don't want is for Steph to get hurt because he's getting picked up 3/4 court and bangs a knee.

If you want to watch a competitive game, watch Spurs/Clips on Thursday.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Who cares?

NBA fans see competitive basketball all year.

The skills competition night had the best dunk contest of all time, maybe.

This is for fun. Dunks, alley oops, long threes. What I don't want is for Steph to get hurt because he's getting picked up 3/4 court and bangs a knee.

If you want to watch a competitive game, watch Spurs/Clips on Thursday.

I second that emotion, and then some. There's a lotta season left -- four months for teams going deep into the post-season -- with beaucoup great hoops and highly competitive match-ups to be played along the way (Cavs/Bulls and Spurs/Clips Thursday night for second-half-of-the-season starters).

All-Star weekend's a party, a grand celebration of the greatest game and greatest league on Earth. Saturday night was great: best dunk contest ever, great 3-point showdown between the Splash Brothers, and a brief skills competition with a spectacular young big man, Karl-Anthony Towns, showing why he's gonna be rookie of the year.

The All-Star Game itself is just a glorified scrimmage, an exhibition. As MikeSU02 points out, nobody wants to see Steph or Russell or LeBron or anyone to get hurt in a meaningless game.

 

[SWC75]

I second that emotion, and then some. There's a lotta season left -- four months for teams going deep into the post-season -- with beaucoup great hoops and highly competitive match-ups to be played along the way (Cavs/Bulls and Spurs/Clips Thursday night for second-half-of-the-season starters).

All-Star weekend's a party, a grand celebration of the greatest game and greatest league on Earth. Saturday night was great: best dunk contest ever, great 3-point showdown between the Splash Brothers, and a brief skills competition with a spectacular young big man, Karl-Anthony Towns, showing why he's gonna be rookie of the year.

The All-Star Game itself is just a glorified scrimmage, an exhibition. As MikeSU02 points out, nobody wants to see Steph or Russell or LeBron or anyone to get hurt in a meaningless game.

How many players have been hurt in the mildly competitive all-star games of the past?

 

[MikeSU02]

How many players have been hurt in the mildly competitive all-star games of the past?

Mildly competitive?

I guess you can call some of the games mildly competitive, but look at the scores going back decades, there was barely any defense. If the games happened to be close, the players tried a little harder at the end. Games were consistently in the 130s/140s/150s and even 160s recently.

NBA players are the most exposed and a single NBA player getting hurt can do more damage to a single team than any other sport.

If you don't like it, don't watch it. But Steph isn't going to lay out on the deck in an ASG when he is going for back to back titles.

Do you think our players should go as hard as possible during 'Midnight Madness' scrimmages? It doesn't seem like JB thinks so. It's for the fans. Same with the ASG.

Again, you want competition, watch the double header on Thursday.

 

[rrlbees]

Play it at the end of the season like the pro bowl.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Play it at the end of the season like the pro bowl.

It's played mid-season because the players want an extended break to rest. It's why games don't re-start until the end of the weak.

Honestly the NBA All-Star weekend is the best of the bunch. The 3pt shooting contest, dunk, and skills competition were all great.

 

[OrangeDW]

I second that emotion, and then some. There's a lotta season left -- four months for teams going deep into the post-season -- with beaucoup great hoops and highly competitive match-ups to be played along the way (Cavs/Bulls and Spurs/Clips Thursday night for second-half-of-the-season starters).

All-Star weekend's a party, a grand celebration of the greatest game and greatest league on Earth. Saturday night was great: best dunk contest ever, great 3-point showdown between the Splash Brothers, and a brief skills competition with a spectacular young big man, Karl-Anthony Towns, showing why he's gonna be rookie of the year.

The All-Star Game itself is just a glorified scrimmage, an exhibition. As MikeSU02 points out, nobody wants to see Steph or Russell or LeBron or anyone to get hurt in a meaningless game.

I don't say this lightly because I think Davis is a top 4 player in the league and Cousins is really good too, but it wouldn't shock me if Towns becomes the best Kentucky player in the league at some point.

 

[MikeSU02]

I don't say this lightly because I think Davis is a top 4 player in the league and Cousins is really good too, but it wouldn't shock me if Towns becomes the best Kentucky player in the league at some point.

You can argue Towns is putting up the best rookie season since Duncan.

He's going to be very, very good.

 

[MSOrange]

You can argue Towns is putting up the best rookie season since Duncan.

He's going to be very, very good.

I'll come clean. One of my draft night predictions was that I thought Towns would have a good career but not what you would expect from the #1 pick. I'm already putting myself in the penalty box for that one.

 

[MikeSU02]

I'll come clean. One of my draft night predictions was that I thought Towns would have a good career but not what you would expect from the #1 pick. I'm already putting myself in the penalty box for that one.

You weren't the only one. What he is doing is surpassing what almost everyone said.

The Wolves need to fire Sam Mitchell, though.

 

[Knicks411]

I thought Towns was going to be so great; I was devastated when the Knicks didn't get the first pick. Porzingis has been great and he's made it not quite as bad, but Towns I think is going to be a really great player. Before the draft I wouldn't have said he'd be better than Davis, but that's probably in play now.

I was messing around with the play index on basketball reference, more to get a feel on how rare a rookie year Porzingis is having, but I did come away pretty stunned with the year Towns is having. 18-48 on 3's as well.

Here's a fun one: http://bkref.com/tiny/TYI85

 

[MikeSU02]

SWC75

Wanted to support your assertion (even though I disagreed above).

There is a fantastic site, nyloncalculus.com that does some great work with NBA analysis.

I think you will appreciate their all star game analysis: https://nyloncalculus.com/2016/02/17/what-once-was-the-nba-all-star-game/

It's not a long article, but it definitely supports your commentary above.

 

[SWC75]

SWC75

Wanted to support your assertion (even though I disagreed above).

There is a fantastic site, nyloncalculus.com that does some great work with NBA analysis.

I think you will appreciate their all star game analysis: https://nyloncalculus.com/2016/02/17/what-once-was-the-nba-all-star-game/

It's not a long article, but it definitely supports your commentary above.

Great article. This sums it up:

"The NBA used to hang their hat on the fact it was the All-Star game that most closely resembled an actual regular season game (save each loaded roster) relative to the other three major sports. But until the players put forth a more effort on the defensive end and if current trends continue, the NBA All-Star Game could end being as irrelevant as the NFL Pro Bowl. And trust me, no one wants that."