Great article, Tom. Particularly how you got to the ending.
However, I want less scoring. Actually, a lot less scoring. 0-0 sounds like a good time.
Who says all-star weekends have to include a game between the all-stars? That’s the core issue. Somebody did and now we are stuck with watching (or not watching) a game that barely resembles the games we watch all season long.
I still like All-Star Saturday night. It's the only part of All-Star weekend I care about. Last year, I made it through 5 mins of the first quarter. Last night I half-way watched the first half, then turned it off at the 8:00 of the 3rd.
The Steph-Sabrina shoot-out was great. I'd love to see that be a recurring thing with last year's 3-pt winner from each league going head to head.
To fix the dunk contest, maybe no more props, no jumping over people or things. Just a guy with a ball dunking. Maybe a passer to set him up, but the passer has to be outside the lane and in-bounds.
Lose the All-Star game all together if one one wants to play. You can't offer them enough money to care and I understand no one wants to get hurt. Turn it into a team skills game, team HORSE or something to get the competitiveness going.
I don’t blame the players for not playing hard; if you told me everyone else was going on vacation but I had to stay back to work on a group project you’d get maybe half of a half-assed effort.
I think this is pretty much right, Tom. You want good defense and competitive games? Watch the playoffs. Want to see the best players in the world on one court act like the globetrotters in an exhibition game? Watch the All-Star game. Or don't if you don't like that. But I think it's silly trying to force these guys who care about competitions (and money) that actually matters to risk something at this game every year when they'd really rather be resting for the back half to go win a chip. The trends you're mapping are as much about the rise of the player empowerment era as the 3 point era. I happen to think both of those are improvements over the "shut up and dribble" eras.
Sam Amick took great umbrage with the point totals, tweeting his disapproval, then turning them into a column. He actually seemed *affronted" by the game, a response that runs past the border of ridiculous straight into bizarre.
I liked the Elam ending and all that, and would like to see some defense, and while it may not have been competitive, it sure as hell was entertaining. Watching Lillard pop in half-court shots is never going to get old, especially since he can do that reliably any damned time he feels like it. Towns was fun to watch, and no one can say that he wasn't engaged. Haliburton lobbing in shot after shot without touching iron is majestic.
As with most all-star games, it's stupid, largely pointless, and has the added bonus of impacting what a player earns based on what a largely-ignorant fanbase and biased insiders feel like doing. I'm not suggesting that it should go away, though I'd not be bothered if it it did.
That said, to take hyperbolic offense at how the game is played is a very dopey hill to die on.
I just feel like thr point of the game these days is to see all the stars on the court. I absolutely want the game to be competitive, but I gotta be realistic. It's just not happening.
Not enough being made of Dame and Giannis spitefully conspiring to freeze Hali out and steal the MVP in front of his fans.
Great article, Tom. Particularly how you got to the ending.
However, I want less scoring. Actually, a lot less scoring. 0-0 sounds like a good time.
Who says all-star weekends have to include a game between the all-stars? That’s the core issue. Somebody did and now we are stuck with watching (or not watching) a game that barely resembles the games we watch all season long.
I still like All-Star Saturday night. It's the only part of All-Star weekend I care about. Last year, I made it through 5 mins of the first quarter. Last night I half-way watched the first half, then turned it off at the 8:00 of the 3rd.
The Steph-Sabrina shoot-out was great. I'd love to see that be a recurring thing with last year's 3-pt winner from each league going head to head.
To fix the dunk contest, maybe no more props, no jumping over people or things. Just a guy with a ball dunking. Maybe a passer to set him up, but the passer has to be outside the lane and in-bounds.
Lose the All-Star game all together if one one wants to play. You can't offer them enough money to care and I understand no one wants to get hurt. Turn it into a team skills game, team HORSE or something to get the competitiveness going.
I don’t blame the players for not playing hard; if you told me everyone else was going on vacation but I had to stay back to work on a group project you’d get maybe half of a half-assed effort.
Would the NBA be "fixed" by switching from 2s and 3s to 3s and 4s to devalue the 3pt shot a little?
I think this is pretty much right, Tom. You want good defense and competitive games? Watch the playoffs. Want to see the best players in the world on one court act like the globetrotters in an exhibition game? Watch the All-Star game. Or don't if you don't like that. But I think it's silly trying to force these guys who care about competitions (and money) that actually matters to risk something at this game every year when they'd really rather be resting for the back half to go win a chip. The trends you're mapping are as much about the rise of the player empowerment era as the 3 point era. I happen to think both of those are improvements over the "shut up and dribble" eras.
Sam Amick took great umbrage with the point totals, tweeting his disapproval, then turning them into a column. He actually seemed *affronted" by the game, a response that runs past the border of ridiculous straight into bizarre.
I liked the Elam ending and all that, and would like to see some defense, and while it may not have been competitive, it sure as hell was entertaining. Watching Lillard pop in half-court shots is never going to get old, especially since he can do that reliably any damned time he feels like it. Towns was fun to watch, and no one can say that he wasn't engaged. Haliburton lobbing in shot after shot without touching iron is majestic.
As with most all-star games, it's stupid, largely pointless, and has the added bonus of impacting what a player earns based on what a largely-ignorant fanbase and biased insiders feel like doing. I'm not suggesting that it should go away, though I'd not be bothered if it it did.
That said, to take hyperbolic offense at how the game is played is a very dopey hill to die on.
Why not USA vs. World? That would be a great game
Curious- what’s the alternative to tie breakers for the skills challenge? Just award the points to both/all?
Let’s invite circus performers into the dunk contest next year.
I just feel like thr point of the game these days is to see all the stars on the court. I absolutely want the game to be competitive, but I gotta be realistic. It's just not happening.