Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Charles Barkley: “I’ve never seen the NBA as bad as it is”
NBC Sports ^ | May 24, 2016 | Kurt Helin

Posted on 05/26/2016 6:32:09 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

Charles Barkley is walking entertainment and the brilliant Inside the NBA would not be the same without him and his off-the-cuff opinions (which is a great thing in sports talk, not so much with national policy).

But he remains the leader of the annoying #getoffmylawn crew of older players who don’t like today’s game.

Barkley was on the Bickley and Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM last week and went off again on the state of the game.

“People think us old guys hate when we talk about it. It has nothing to do with the Warriors’ greatness, LeBron’s greatness. But I’ve never seen the NBA as bad as it is, and I’ve been saying it the last three or four years. We’ve got too many young players coming out of college that don’t know how to play. It’s frustrating for me because I want to see competitive basketball.

“We took a survey on our crew … How many actual NBA teams would you buy season tickets for?” he added. “Four in the west and Cleveland obviously in the east. That’s not good for our league.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nba.nbcsports.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: africanroundball; basketball; charlesbarkley; nba
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-42 next last

1 posted on 05/26/2016 6:32:09 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

...haven’t watched the NBA since da Bulls had their run...


2 posted on 05/26/2016 6:34:36 PM PDT by choctaw man (Good ole Andrew Jackson, or You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican
Barkley tries to have it both ways. He'll go out on a limb and make a politically-incorrect statement, but at the same time will try to "keep it real" to keep his day job.

A while ago he was a conservative who contemplated running for AL Governor. Now he's just another pro-BLM hack.

The NBA has went down the drain since Jordan retired and is even less prestigious than the NHL. The time has come for an alternative league to form that focuses on fielding teams from the heartland of America.

3 posted on 05/26/2016 6:38:54 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (MAGA! Make America Great Again)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

NBA,NFL, MLB - they can all disappear.


4 posted on 05/26/2016 6:41:04 PM PDT by Ken H (Best election ever!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

Some people work extremely hard to master their craft, and as a result, they achieve truly great things.

Other people, however, are born knowing that are already really, really great — so they “don’t need to work hard”.


5 posted on 05/26/2016 6:41:34 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Nation States seem to be ending. The follow-on should not be Globalism, but Localism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

Thug ball.

And they take 3-5 steps every time someone drives to the hoop.

We used to call that traveling.


6 posted on 05/26/2016 6:42:04 PM PDT by newfreep
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

Went to see a game two months ago. Spent a lot of time watching the antics of the mascot and the stuff on the jumbotron. The style of play in the league is not attention-grabbing.


7 posted on 05/26/2016 6:43:40 PM PDT by lurk (T)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

I would change the rules of a new professional basketball league. When you foul for the third time, you should be in a penalty box. I think it will improve the flow of the game. Too many fouls and timeouts is disturbing the flow of the game.


8 posted on 05/26/2016 6:44:39 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican
One of two things needs to happen-

1. Set up a true minor league. The NBA has their "developmental" league- it's nothing but a repository to pick a player or two for a 10-day contract.

2. Make the players stay in school 3 years, like they do in football and baseball. It'll give players the time to develop their skills.

9 posted on 05/26/2016 6:45:23 PM PDT by MuttTheHoople (Yes, Liberals, I question your patriotism)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

I just simply dont have time to watch any sports.


10 posted on 05/26/2016 6:48:17 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

Love the NBA playoffs.

Particularly as a Cavs fan from a city that hasn’t won a championship in my lifetime (last title was ‘64 Browns pre-Super Bowl).

I’m rather old, and while reasonably strong for my age I couldn’t even bear to watch HS basketball. Neither of my kids played (6’3 and 6’5). One was football/baseball the other pure baseball. Most days I can beat them and I’m only 6’0-1/2. I like to say 6’1 but that’s just in shoes. They are 19 and 21 and often could outplay peers who played basketball.

The problem is the emphasis on playing, playing, playing. It should be noted that Dell Curry kept Steph off of the AAU circuit which is one reason he was only recruited to a lower tier D1 school (Davidson). However I am guessing Mr. Curry had his son working on his ball handling. I don’t think it’s any mistake the two best players on the Warriors are sons of NBA players.

Like the NFL there can be at times an over-emphasis on athleticism. How often do we see the freak combine athlete, not pan-out in the NFL. However GMs are more likely to take the better athlete because they feel that player will be coached up, as opposed to taking the guy who was just a great college player.

Sometimes taking “athlete” over “college production” works out, sometimes it doesn’t. In the NBA you are seeing the same situation as the NFL. Athletes with a 41-inch vertical shooting up the draft charts despite zero evidence the guy can shoot the basketball, box out correctly, rotate on defense etc.


11 posted on 05/26/2016 6:52:32 PM PDT by techworker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

I haven’t watched much NBA for years. But it seems to me if the standard is what era could beat the other era, it depends on what era’s rules are going to be played under.

But I think the best shooting teams of that older era might be able to hang with the best teams of this era, because they would be shooting without being mauled for once. If the old era’s rules would be used, there isn’t a present era team that could hang with them.

But if the standard is entertainment, I don’t know. Uncontested dunks and shooting ups offense, and the casual fan has always thought scoring = entertainment. All the sports push to make it easier to score for this reason. Folks who actually love the game usually like the defensive side of things much more, and find entertainment from the skill of guarding someone, or keeping someone from scoring. Baseball is the best at that, because the defense has control of the ball. Most other ones look like some guys mauling the ones trying to be entertaining to more casual fans. And look how many times they changed baseball, and yet we are in a low run scoring era in MLB because of relief pitching and shifts.

Freegards


12 posted on 05/26/2016 6:53:39 PM PDT by Ransomed
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ransomed

I think the three-point shot ruined the game.


13 posted on 05/26/2016 6:56:43 PM PDT by dfwgator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: newfreep

One of the first things id do raise the basket 18 inches


14 posted on 05/26/2016 7:02:48 PM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom yes I know)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican
I stopped following the NBA when Bird,Parrish,McHale and DJ were broken up.
15 posted on 05/26/2016 7:04:36 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Obamanomics:Trickle Up Poverty)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

Lots of flash. Not so much basketball. The question of flash vs standard basketball was never so obvious than when the Jazz trounced the Lakers again and again. Apparently the NBA decided they want all flash. Now they got it.

But I’ve never seen worse officiating than the NBA in the last few years.


16 posted on 05/26/2016 7:04:39 PM PDT by Seruzawa (If you agree with the French raise your hand. If you are French raise both hands)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

A lot of people say that, what are your reasons? I never watched NBA without it.

Freegards


17 posted on 05/26/2016 7:05:40 PM PDT by Ransomed
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: al baby
Coach Wooden suggested that years ago. I still think it is a great idea. Better yet, take the median height of NBA Players and raise the basket by some factor of that median so we don't have to keep raising it.

Basketball is the only sport which gets less exciting as the level of competition goes up. High school is best. College is OK. NBA is ho-hum.

18 posted on 05/26/2016 7:07:03 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (ObaMao: Fake America, Fake Messiah, Fake Black man. How many fakes can you fit into one Zer0?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Gay State Conservative

I would go to several of their games a year back in ‘85-87.

They were not broken up. They were just plain ole broken.

‘86 was a great year in Boston Sports. I recall one day going to Fenway and watch Clemons in the afternoon in April, then going to the Celtics that night.

Those were special days in Boston.


19 posted on 05/26/2016 7:14:22 PM PDT by Vermont Lt (Ask Bernie supporters two questions: Who is rich. Who decides. In the past, that meant who dies)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman

They turned a perfectly good game into a circus.

You can build an all star team and you still aren’t beating the 71 Lakers or 96 Bulls. If any of today’s players went into the paint back in the 70’s-80’s they would be destroyed. I think it was Bill Russell who said if Jordan ever tried to do what he does against him, Russell would level him.


20 posted on 05/26/2016 7:22:22 PM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Her name is no longer is Hillary. It's Hilarity. Try it on for size, it's fun to say)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-42 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson