OT(ish): The Mount Rushmore of Sports...

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by Baron Blubba

The skill is higher than ever, but the game is (usually) more boring than ever. I only watch the 9 minute DTMTS.com (Don't Tell Me The Score) highlights, and even those are sometimes a chore. This about a game I love perhaps even as much as cycling, although I can't really play anymore.
Teams are regularly launching 40+ 3-pointers a night. That's just not enjoyable. They need to move the line back a solid three feet in order to make the 3 the challenging risk/reward shot it once was. Even 3 feet might not be enough, but that would be a start to incentivize the reintroduction of the post and mid-range game.

Now Josh, before you start telling me how awful the 90's were for the NBA, I'm not advocating a return to the glory days of Oakley and Ewing vs PJ Brown and Alonzo Mourning. I don't think the floor would shrink by nearly that much. If anything the square footage used would be increased, as there would be more happening in the 10 - 20 foot range than there is right now, while the three would still be shot more than in the 90's. But also not as much as it is being shot in 2024, which makes for fast and high scoring ball, but not compelling to watch ball.

We’re in complete agreement, actually.

Steph changed the game because he’s the best shooter in history, not because his volume of three-pointers. He also played alongside one of other greatest shooters in NBA history: Prime Klay. (Has the ever been a more aesthetically appealing jump shot than PK?) The Warriors also revolutionized the game with spacing and ball movement.

If you want exhibit “A” in how the current game has run amok with volume threes, I give you Luka Doncic.

[Baron Blubba]

To which I would add, it was extremely entertaining when a couple of players or a couple of teams were doing it. When *everyone* is doing it all the time, not so much.

[nmrt]

Hah! Pele should not even be next to Messi. But if you must, Pele's head should be microscopic.

Originally Posted by Elefantino

If there were five people on Rushmore I'd add Beckenbauer. But absent that, these are the correct four.

Pele's head should be twice as big as the others, though.

[Elefantino]

Originally Posted by nmrt

Hah! Pele should not even be next to Messi. But if you must, Pele's head should be microscopic.

Messi is the greatest player of this generation.

Pele changed football forever.

[Spaghetti Legs]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

We’re in complete agreement, actually.

Steph changed the game because he’s the best shooter in history, not because his volume of three-pointers. He also played alongside one of other greatest shooters in NBA history: Prime Klay. (Has the ever been a more aesthetically appealing jump shot than PK?) The Warriors also revolutionized the game with spacing and ball movement.

If you want exhibit “A” in how the current game has run amok with volume threes, I give you Luka Doncic.

And yet, other than the sniping at the refs, Luka is one of the players I enjoy watching the most. So far this season he’s taken 99 3’s and 134 non 3 FG’s, so not exactly one dimensional. 3’s are just long jump shots and more jump shots introduce more motion to the game and reveal defensive weakness. There’s a reason Dame Lilliard hasn’t played in a conference final. (Did I see something about him going to the Lakers?) I really enjoy NBA ball now, as opposed to college BB, which other than my alma mater, I pretty much don’t follow any more.

[nmrt]

Messi is the great footballer of all time. Period.
Let's agree to disagree.

Originally Posted by Elefantino

Messi is the greatest player of this generation.

Pele changed football forever.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs

And yet, other than the sniping at the refs, Luka is one of the players I enjoy watching the most. So far this season he’s taken 99 3’s and 134 non 3 FG’s, so not exactly one dimensional. 3’s are just long jump shots and more jump shots introduce more motion to the game and reveal defensive weakness. There’s a reason Dame Lilliard hasn’t played in a conference final. (Did I see something about him going to the Lakers?) I really enjoy NBA ball now, as opposed to college BB, which other than my alma mater, I pretty much don’t follow any more.

FWIW, Doncic is a career 34% three point shooter. Dame is a career 37% three point shooter.