Crazy thing is his brother is a better shooter than he is. Steph obviously the better basketball player though.

Defense, overall, in the NBA is incredible. If someone tries to tell you otherwise, simply ignore them as it's clear they don't actually watch/understand basketball.

They try but it's still way easier to score in today's game. No rim protectors with all the spacing

Oh no question.

But part of it is that these guys are just better than they used to be at shooting the ball.

Michael Jordan was the GOAT and for most of his career was a barely adequate outside shooter.

Go back even to 2000 and there had been 4 guys in league history who'd hit 10 3s in a game. It's happened 3 times in this season alone. And I'm betting you can't name ANY of the 3 guys who did it this year.

Steph Curry missed the first half of last season and did it 7 times on his own last year (6 other guys also managed it, including a few forwards).

Everyone can shoot now. And when everyone can shoot, you can't clog up the middle and slow things down. Defense isn't easier because defenders are worse - they're better than ever. It's just an offensively oriented game and defenders can't keep pace with the strides being made on offense.

You can't even really 'zag' anymore and try to run a twin towers setup worth a damn because their shots are worth 3 to your 2. You can send a couple big guys out there to dominate their defense if you want to, but they're just going to run circles around you when they have the ball and go hit a 3 of their own.

It's become more and more a 'one way to win' sport. I'd like to see them do something about that. Hell, I wouldn't mind getting rid of the 3-ball outright. There'd still be plenty of utility in outside shooters that can space the floor and make room for cutting and passes underneath.

It's just that right now all you really need are outside shooters. Especially when the playoffs are 7 game series so a game or two of your shots being off isn't likely to sink you outright.

It's funny you mention it because I just told someone the other day I wish they would do away with the damn 3 point line or extend it out so far it's becomes less valued than the 2. I have do doubt guys of yester year could have become great 3 point shooters but back then it just wasn't the way the game was played. I would whole heartily welcome 7 foot back to the basket shot blocking post guys over the shit product out there now. I miss the days of balanced physical basketball. **** the euro shit.

It is balanced. The last 3 MVP's were all big guys and so will this years MVP. I fundamentally disagree about moving back or removing the 3 pt line. I don't want the game to return to the 90's bully ball.

Yeah, I've mentioned it w/r/t college vs. nfl football.

There are just more ways to win in college but even that is closing up a bit. I don't have a preference for bigs vs. shooters really - I just want to see more variety.

And I want to see balance rewarded wherever possible.

If a team builds around a big I'd like to see the same degree of difficulty to win than the team that builds around a wing. Or a deep shooter. Or a distributor.

Most impressive thing about DeRozan's 8 game streak with 35+ pts is that it was mostly done with a variation of the same midrange jumper. He's hit 266 midranges on the season. Booker is 2nd with 159.

If you don't have 4 HOFers like the Warriors to throw on the court, you still generally need rim-protecting bigs to win at the highest level in the NBA. See the Raptors (Gasol, Ibaka), the Lakers (AD, Howard), and Bucks (Giannis, B. Lopez) the last three years.

Guys are not better defenders nowadays. In fact, you're not even allowed to play defense now. Every attempt at defense is a foul. They should allow more physicality and hand-checking. Since guys are better shooters now, you should play closer to them without being whistled for breathing on them. The game doesn't need to return to the Pistons/Spurs scores of 20 years ago. At the same time, defenders should be given more leeway than today's game. A better balance is needed.

Also, I miss rivalries in the NBA. Three point shootouts don't make rivalries. Rivalries are created with defense, battles for rebounds, and hard fouls. I also understand today's mercenary mindset of players makes it difficult for this, since few players feel any loyalty toward their teammates or organization.

One last thing. Do away with 90% of current uniforms. Each team has a dozen uniforms and maybe 20% of them are not hideous. Someone gets paid money to design current NBA jerseys. That's hard to believe.

Absolutely. In Jordan's days, shooting many threes was not part of the game. Even Reggie Miller wasn't expected to attempt 10 or 15 threes in one game. It would have been considered selfish. Jordan was a good (not great) three point shooter for his era. In today's era, he'd be a better outside shooter like current greats.

At the same time, he'd be softer mentally and physically, like most of today's superstars. He wouldn't be used to hard fouls like those received from the Bad Boys or Knicks. Even though he could attack the rim at will with no hand checking or shot blockers (or bruisers) in the paint, he'd likely settle for more threes. That's how I envision a young Jordan would look in today's NBA, assuming he's coming up in today's era and trained in today's style (as opposed to transporting prime Jordan via time machine to today's era). The time machine transported Jordan would indeed average 40 to 50 in today's game. No shot blockers, no hand checking allowed, equals him getting to the paint at will. Something he did even in a physical era where guys could tackle him at the rim. He was scoring 30 per game when most teams were lucky to hit 100 (and with less 3 point shots).

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Last year's Finals did have a bit of a throwback feel at least. Probably my favorite finals in a long long time. Hopefully we get something similar this year so there is a a silver lining inner league and not all is lost.

Morant just had the dunk of the year. Holy hell it was nasty.

And Morant just had one of the best buzzer beater shots. Damn he is so awesome.