I Wish the NBA Wasn’t So Soft
I’ve picked up a couple of new interests in my spare time recently: U2‘s new album (flat-out phenomenal), UFC (I still cover my eyes when it gets really gruesome), and hockey. Like any hockey newcomer, I tune in for the fights.
No matter the time period that you watch – whether it’s back when guys were allowed to swing on each other until someone hit the ice, or in today’s watered-down sissy era when refs break up fights if someone gets their jersey pulled over their head – hockey fights have always been strategic.
But unfortunately, we can’t say the same thing about basketball anymore. The tight-ass NBA’s restrictions have altered the way that hard fouls and physical play are viewed altogether.
It’s easy to blame the evolution of lightning-quick technical fouls, the proliferation of flagrant-two’s, and suspensions for everyone in the arena on what happened at the Palace back in ’04. And there’s no doubt that those events have changed the League forever. But that one instance was just that, one out-of-control episode that should be viewed as an aberration, not something that still needs to be so closely guarded against. No matter what Commissioner Stern’s office says, the League doesn’t trust its players today. That’s why refs sweep in and immediately T-up players who look at another guy the wrong way. It’s as though they’re afraid that a sideways look is an inevitable precursor to an all-out brawl.
It’s a shame, because in doing so, a great element of the game is lost. There are no more mind games. Watch this video of Dennis Rodman and Frank Brickowski – two absolute goons who were on the floor to intimidate the other team, clean the glass, dole out some hard fouls, and cuss.
If two guys tangled the way that Rodman and Brick did in this video today, they’d have both been T’d-up. Think about how that would affect the way they play. Their good, physical fight for a rebound (or sly, Worm-ish tactics as George Karl sees it) would ultimately cost their teams a point, cause their coach to yell at them, maybe result in a considerable fine, and give them a bad reputation.
It’s tough to imagine Brick playing in the League today. Odds are, he’d be a better version of Joel Przybilla type – a dude who puts up 14-18 points per night and 7-10 boards without being allowed to really get underneath someone else’s skin. That stat line is nowhere near as valuable as the psychological impact he had on the game playing for the Sonics in the ’90′s, when he was able to exchange un-pleasantries with another player without being reprimanded.
But at the same time, the League shouldn’t shoulder all of the blame for this development. For whatever reason, guys today seem to have quicker triggers than in years past to escalate, turning a stare-down into a shoving match into a full-on swinging fist fight in a matter of seconds. Zach Randolph‘s cold-cocking of Louis Amundson is an example this year. What would have happened if Amundson was more of a hot-head? That “incident” could have easily turned into a full-on brawl, and ended up plastered all over the news.
Unfortunately, these developments have impacted the game negatively. Maybe the image of the NBA is better off. But the enforcers – who had productive roles in the League fifteen years ago – aren’t around anymore.
The extracurricular activity after the Ariza-Fernandez incident last night was about as innocuous as it gets. In the heat of the moment, it looked like someone got decapitated – thus it’s understandable that players ran in and stood up for their teammate. No punches were thrown, no one got out of hand. It’s a shame that there might be suspensions for that. It doesn’t encourage the type of basketball that I want to watch.
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March 10th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
AY says:
There are tapes of Knicks v Heat circa 1997, those epic 74-69 contests; go ahead and savor the brick-fest.
March 10th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
E$ says:
Joey Crawford explains alot of why that call was trash. I like the old school NBA, but if you want to turn the NBA in a multi-million dollar company. You can’t have thugs fighting & no suspensions / fines. Deal with it, like other things in life that have changed. I remember a time when you didn’t wear a condom & the only worry was if she gets pregnant
March 10th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Big Sia says:
lol this guys a terrible writer
March 10th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
SoulOnIce says:
You read my mind on this one, Katz. The NBA has gotten so soft, it’s depressing. I remember a time when The X-Man and Jordan got into it, just a lil trash-talking, but if that happens now, I wouldn’t be surprised if they kicked ‘em out. It’s a shame too, because psychological warfare can be just as important as the game itself.
March 10th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Ric Hardwood says:
I think the reason players now have shorter tempers is that a majority of the players in the league only played college ball for maybe 1 or 2 years. The maturity level of the players have declined considerably… that’s the only valid reason I could give the age restriction on the league.
March 10th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Ric Hardwood says:
I agree with comment #4. Not allowing psychological warfare is the reason the stars (kobe, Lebron, Wade, etc…) have it much easier… I remember how mad I used to get when Jordan would get physically abused by the Bad Boy Pistons and the Knicks… now I only get mad at the refs…
March 10th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
that's whats up says:
looks like Rodman has titties in that picture.
That dude is a straight up freak.
He probably fucked that bird after the photo shoot
March 10th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
kevin k says:
knicks vs heat back in the 90s were a classic…. so were every other playoff series. For people that remembered Zo back in his pre-kidney days. I used to hate him with passion. But it was because of Zo’s flamboyance, and his act that made all the playoff series so interesting and fun.
#5. It doesn’t matter if they have gone to college for 1 year or 2 years. Look at Derrick Rose. Dude is a stud and a man and he only went to college for a year. Zach Randolph is a veteran who’s been around the league for a long time. He’s a fat pussy who would have gotten his ass handed to him if he tried that back in the days.
March 10th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
mosduff says:
Is that really the best video example you could find of the NBA’s physical past?
please.
March 10th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
doc says:
They got the same tempers they had forever.Aint none of them no fucking thugs.Stern just turned the league into a pussy fest.Im suprised when some of these dudes get fouled hard a tampon dont fall out they ass.
March 10th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
U2 is garbage.
March 10th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Gunner J. Matthews says:
That Rodman pic still bothers me
March 10th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
AY says:
actually doc, i think a tampon does fall out.
March 10th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Dime Magazine says:
@ #2 – E$
I’m not suggesting that the League takes away fines or suspensions. Honestly, I don’t know what the best way is to address this problem. If there were a clear-cut solution, I’m sure we would have arrived there already.
Maybe this is hopelessly optimistic, but I wish there was some way for the League to get refs and players on the same page so that they would call the game in a way that players like to play, instead of in a corporate way that protects the League’s image.
The NBA was much more popular in the US when tensions could rise higher without T’s immediately being levied or fists immediately flying.
- AK
March 10th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Ian says:
u2s new cd sucks andrew
the problem is the maturity level today i dont think u can have a jordan pistons moment without it becoming the palace brawl again. many players today think they are thugs but are really pussies im looking at you melo (i wished that melo did his yappin to that crazy looking douche on argentinas team).
March 10th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Billy Hoyle says:
No offense , Katz ..
but you can’t complain about softness and then say how good the U2 album is , haha . that just doesn’t fly .
March 10th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
blah says:
Is this supposed to be an example of hard play back in the day that wouldn’t be tolerated today? ummm, it wasn’t tolerated in the clip- dude got t’d up and ejected. I understand what you’re saying, but terrible video example. worm was a smart ass player though. anyone wanting to be a good interior defender could learn from his on the court strategies, and they could even be applied in today’s NBA.
Read the first line, saw the U2 comment. Scrolled up thinking, “Andrew Katz musta wrote this article”. Yep.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
blah says:
Oh yeah. “i still cover my eyes when it gets really gruesome” and “i wish the NBA wasn’t so soft” shouldn’t be in the same article.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
1SKILLZ says:
I wrote the following in the MADDSKILLZ Update (March 07) two years ago, I think it’s still relevant now:
I was watching the hockey fight that broke out between the Washington Capitals and the Buffalo Sabres. This brawl involved just about everybody on the ice it seemed like. Yet the only sanction was that one of the coaches got fined. Yet in the NBA, if you SWING at someone, you are suspended. Why? Well, in the NHL, they hit each other so hard on LEGAL plays that it’s irrational to think that cool heads will prevail for an entire game. But the NBA, compared to the NHL, is a lukewarm contact sport. I’m not going to lie, basketball players are soft, and I can say that as a basketball player with a reputation for sticky and physical defense. Hockey is recognized for these fights, basketball is recognized by offensive output more than anything else. People who play tough defense on the streets risk getting into fights on the ball court. And any fight in the hood can take nasty spills, which is why fighting is prohibited in the NBA. NBA players would end each other’s careers if they were allowed to fight like NHL players do, trust me.
(check out http://www.myspace.com/1skills for more MADDSKILLZ Updates, released every first of the month since August 2003)
March 10th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
1SKILLZ says:
…oh, and Frank Brickowski was never that good.
March 10th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
SteveNash says:
college basketball back then… now, yea right… basically college years when they’re in their 5th year in the league… that is the problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 10th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Big Island says:
It’s a $$$ decision on Stern’s part. The smooth, athletic high scoring stuff brings in money. In the UFC everyone wants to see knockouts and guys standing and banging and hate the ground and pound/BJJ stuff. People who appreciate the skill will get it. Same thing in basketball, it’s not the prettiest, but you know how hard it is to win a hard, physical game as opposed to who can score quickest.
Do you think the old Suns would fly getting hit? Fack no. Yet everyone hates that they slowed down. And everyone bitched when Horry hit Nash, but now it’s too soft. Now I’m just pissed, I need to get laid more often.
March 10th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
1SKILLZ says:
And another thing is that the “hard” team has usually won the championships, especially in the later half of the decade. Teams that you won’t find in the following list include “soft”/scoring teams of the decade such as the 2006-2007 Mavericks, 7 Seconds or less Suns, 2007-2008 Warriors, “Allen Iverson” Nuggets:
2008: Celtics (enforcer KG)
2007: Spurs (who literally knocked the Suns out the playoffs that year)
2006: Heat (who beat the soft Mavs in 6)
2005: Spurs (toughest series of the decade, 7 games with the Pistons)
2004: Pistons (over the “superfriends” Lakers)
2003: Spurs (the first year of the team you’ve come to hate)
March 10th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Big Island says:
They gave Wade the chip against the Mavs. Those calls were such BS.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
bakedbeing says:
I agree with several posts above. Article fail.
March 11th, 2009 at 2:09 am
Pioneer says:
I stopped reading at “U2′s new album is phenomenal”.
March 11th, 2009 at 4:35 am
Raj S says:
It’s about what sells. People want to see a lot of points in basketball. If you allow physical play, you are limiting offensive production AND putting star players at a higher risk for injury. That isn’t going to bring in the dollars.
Hockey is an inherently low scoring game, and the players wear padding all over their bodies. Fights aren’t that bad either because there is only one target (the head) and they are broken up as soon as it is safe to do so.
That said, the NBA refs are really sensitive about calling technical fouls. Let them talk trash, stare each other down, etc. Just control the physicality of the game, and punish those who decide to start a fight. (However, admittingly, I firmly believe that the no-name from Italy should have been punished in addition to Zidane regarding the headbutting incident at the 2006 World Cup final).
Also, did anyone notice the potential race issue? Hockey is played by people of European descent, and fighting is accepted and expected. Basketball is a sport dominated by African-Americans, and fighting is looked down upon and punished.
March 11th, 2009 at 5:44 am
inspiredworlds says:
there is no way the brick would have averaged those stats.
you can’t play mind games with Rodman or try to intimidate or be physical with him. he’s the master! he frustrated everyone in that series, shawn kemp as well.
March 11th, 2009 at 10:38 am
sweetv0mit says:
haha of course its bleeping joe crawford that made the call
March 11th, 2009 at 11:42 am
hucklebuck says:
I agree with the article, the NBA and its players have gotten a little soft for various reasons.
The most obvious thing about it is-in the 90s, you could watch almost ANY game and get into it because every guy on the floor was working hard, holding, throwin elbows, trash talking, taunting, good basketball.
NOWADAYS there only a handful of teams you can watch because watching the rest of them feels like a high school game with quick Ts, no taunting, no talking, no elbows, no handchecking, nothin!
Larry Bird and Bill Laimbeer would get into a fight and throw a punch. they would get thrown out, but would play the next game without a fine or suspension.
The Lakers/Celtics series last spring was silly putty compared to the Lakers/Celtics of the 80s.
I agree with those that say its because of immature younger players who don’t even have the fundamentals down yet being high draft picks. The majority of them are babysat on the bench for a couple years and don’t even live up to the hype with the exception of a few. Put that together with the softy rules and you get a game geared toward ENTERTAINING ANY FAN as opposed to SATISFYING PEOPLE WHO APPRECIATE GOOD BASKETBALL.
Players should be playing for the love of the game and competition rather than making lots of money for doing more on the bench and the clubs and endorsements than on the floor.
March 11th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
JayTea says:
Funny how last year everyone says LA lost because they were too soft. This year, they play a little harder, let cats know (at when AB was playin) that it’s dangerous in the paint and you might want to think twice before you go for that lay in and suddenly they are dirty and deserve to be kicked out of the league?
Wow.I think today’s rules are fine, just need to evaluate the foul and not the crash landing afterward. Rudy had no business puttin himself in that position in the first place. He’s delicate, whats the boy thinkin?
U2′s new album is phenomenal. First time I can say that since Boy.