We are in the midst of the NBA playoffs, a fitting finale to one of the best NBA seasons in recent memory. This years lockout brought to surface a lot about the NBA and may help us to see what needs to be done to help bring the it back to prominence.
A strike shortened season would have made the NFL season and the years Superbowl champion a joke. Yet, this shortened season created a buzz around a league which had been suffering since the early 2000's (aka the rise of The Spurs). Why? What could we learn from this?
First thing we learn is there may be to many meaningless games in the regular season. This leaves you with two options. One would be to shorten the season "HAHAHAHA" that was the reaction from every team owner at that suggestion. Something which is more reasonable would be contraction. The NBA was said to be considering cutting ita number of teams just two years ago. The league lockout shortened season may be proof this could work. Fewer games added more emphasis on the games that were played and meaning to rivalry games.
Sports is better with meaningful rivalries. A rivalry becomes meaningful when teams know each other, their fans know each other, and animosity has a chance to develop. With 30 teams and an 82 game season you don't get a chance to build the type of competitive antagonism necessary for teams to want to end each other. It's not even that hard to cut teams. Any team which has called Charlot home should be gone (One was ownerless until recently the other is the worst team in league history). From there you get rid of Canadian teams (I still call the Grizzlies Canadian). Look 4 teams gone and divisional games are made more important because of it.
Also, many of your NBA Superstars will now have to condense, making the talent pool much deeper and the league more entertaining because of it. Face it, every team has "their guy" and most of those guys would be sitting on a bench if the league hadn't overextended itself.
Follow me on this, fewer teams means fewer playoff teams. This means more meaningful games which means more physical games. More physical games could mean, again, one of two things. One could be more flopping "AUUUUGGGGGGGHHHH!", that was the noise made by everyone who watches the NBA. Two could mean the league allows teams to once again play defense.
I'm not a person who says "NBA players don't play defense!" What I say is "NBA players aren't allowed to play defense". An offensive player can kick a defensive player while shooting the ball and the offensive player will be rewarded with free throws (full disclosure, one of my all time favorite players is Reggie Miller so I know all about this move). Just yesterday on a local sports radio program NBA.com writer Shaun Powell stated he thought taking a charge was cheap (download and listen here). WTF? Fire that man, the fact someone employed by the NBA can say something as indefensible as that shows the league has lost it's freaking mind.
Players currently have the option to dribble every 4 steps and there is a girl scout safety ring under the basket where charging can not be called. Oh and the defensive players are not allowed to touch offensive players whilst playing defense? That's all crap. Basketball is a contact sport, if you say differently it means your Allen Iverson or you have never grabbed a rebound. A foul should only be something which interferes with your shot. Hand is part of the ball, arm is not. Also, lets bring back hand checking by defense, Jordan would have averaged 60 a game with the current rules.
That's all I got, but hey what do I know? I only watch the league during it's most prosperous time in history. You know, back before it started hemorrhaging hundreds of millions of dollars a season.
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