Why the three pointer is ruining basketball

[clonetrooper264]

Not gonna quote the post because it's too long (lol) but where my mind has settled on between that post and trying to distill internet sentiment (which, who can even really try to that meaningfully anyway) is that it is indeed really about 3s vs dunks, but actually more about a rise in animosity.

You mention rivalries of time past and I'm sure everyone here can name their favorite rivalry growing up and put forth equal complaint about how that doesn't exist today. Rivalries require a certain amount of animosity, dislike, even hatred if need be (warranted or not). Animosity towards another player, another team, another city, will give reason for another jab, another elbow, an extra push here, extra contact there.

Physicality is something that NBA fans, casual or hardcore, want more of in today's NBA. And to bring back another point I made at some point before, there are pockets of fans that equate defense to basically physical violence (pushing, shoving, tripping, grabbing, etc, basically wrestling and boxing as described above, but to the extreme). The physical element is particularly exciting for those people and one can argue they're not there to see anything related to basketball, they're wanting to see something as close to an MMA fight as possible. Bring it back to the normal fan now, they will say they want more defense, but what do they really mean by that? I'm actually willing to bet it's not schemes like the old Thibs ice the screen and force sideline, but actually they just want to see players make contact with each other without fouls.

And if all this is true, it is actually nothing to do with 3s at all, except that 3s don't allow for much physical contact. Fans want the inside game, so they can get that wrestling and boxing action in. If we're honest with ourselves, there is some degree of contact on the perimeter, but of course it's nothing compared to the interior...and you're not allowed to knock a player out the air at the 3pt line the same way you might be able to around the basket. If so, say the rules changed to allow defenders to undercut jump shooters...perhaps suddenly fan interest is reinvigorated. Of course, that's unsustainable as that will naturally lead to injuries, but perhaps in the back of everyone's mind...that is the level of physicality they desire. And what could motivate players today to even want to put forth that level of physicality? Animosity, a genuine dislike of the players on the other side.

 

[Crystallas]

Adam Silver said Tuesday night the league is studying the trend [of increased 3 point shooting]

.....He also said criticisms of offenses becoming "cookie cutter" in approach and that teams are copying each other is something he thinks the league should take seriously.

Smartest thing Silver has said in his whole tenure.

 

[clonetrooper264]

An interesting discussion by Sue Bird and Cam Johnson on this very topic. Valid points raised on both sides of the argument.

I find what Cam says about needing to shoot 3s to win games in the NBA probably the most telling of the reality of things. We see even right now with the Bulls, they shoot 3s at such a better clip than they did the last 2 years and shoot a much higher volume, and they're in so many more games and probably won a lot of games because of their shooting alone. Conversely, what was a great complaint about the team before? Lack of shooting. It's true as well in the pickup games, especially those played with 1s and 2s, obviously then 3s are then worth twice as many points, so if you can shoot them well enough why would you not?

Conversely, Sue's point about it being predictable holds weight as well