Posted on 08/18/2004 2:05:55 PM PDT by gopwinsin04
Once the black game moved indoors and became more organized, the pressure to establish bona fides increases.
If you're not scoring beaucoup points, if your picture isn't in the papers, if you don't have a trophy (right away) then you ain't the man, and you ain't nothing.
Being second best in the black community is just as bad as being last. And if a teammate hits nine shots in a row, the black attitude is...'Screw him, Now it's my turn to get it on.'
If young black players usually cherish untrammeled creativity, white hooplings mostly value team oriented concepts. 'White basketball means passing the heck out of the ball,' says Dawkins.
White guys are willing to do something when someone else has the ball--setting picks, boxing out, cutting in to clear a space for a teammate, making the pass that leads to an assist pass.
In white basketball, there is more a sense of dicipline, of running set plays, and only taking wide open shots. If a guy gets hot, he will get the ball until he cools off.
Why is white basketball so structured and team oriented?
'Because the white culture places more of a premium on winning,' Dawkins believes, 'and less on self-indulgent preening and cheast beating.'
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
Add Paul Pierce to that list and subtract the mailman and we would be winning by 30-40 pts a game, they guys we have now are all the second stringers..
Yep. I can't lie and say I didn't cheer for PR when they won... just a little *lol*
Sadly this trend is ending as white kids in the burbs are succubing to the ESPN Sports Center style of play. In NYC most of the coaches, save Jack Curran of Molloy, have compromised their styles and gone for the street ball described by Dawkins. 20 years ago many in Catholic league hoops ridiculed the Public school play as ' first team to 150 wins'. Sadly We see the results in Athens. I will not be disappointed by a medal less USA performance. Maybe it will be a wake up for those who ridicule the Bobby Knights of the sport.
Those 'predominantly white' teams are playing for national pride whereas our team members are playing for their own ego.
The Sixers lost that series because they didn't play worth a darn as a team. Every starter on that team from Dr. J to Dawkins to Cheeks became at one point in that year a prima donna to one extent or another. At the time, Dawkins was immature both as a person and player and he and the Sixers got outclassed (basketball wise, not character wise) more than they got outplayed. Billy Cunningham did a poor job of coaching in that final series, but by then, I doubt he had any control.
But make no mistake: Walton and the Blazers were the benefactors of the Sixer's problems, not the cause of them. I think that team was the most overrated in NBA history.
The Knicks were selective with their shots! Great passing game and great 'D'! Monroe gave them the drive-to-the-hoop angle. Frazier had ice-water in his veins and Bradley was called 'Dollar Bill'!
All the good teams back then played the intelligent game... not the 'in-your-face' circus you see today.
Very good replies from many of you.
>>Cheeks<<
Make that Lloyd Free. For some reason, I get those two confused.
And the rise of the 'super regional' high school teams like Niketown in Virgina, where all the potential NBA draftees to is play ball all year round in AAU leagues..
More like our C+/B- team..lol!
The quotes are from a black man.
I used to be a big basketball lover, back in the days of Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Rusell and early Larry Bird. Back in the good ol' days when guys actually hung around the outside and dribbled for awhile and did some nice ball-handling. I hate this inner-city run back and forth and dunk it game.
I actually might consider watching again, though, if they would at least toss the sloppy shorts with crotches at the knees and go back to the really cute, short, tight-around the-thighs shorts.
Yum.
I made another mistake: Gene Shue and not Billy Cunningham coached that team. When I wrote that, something didn't seem right about Cunningham not doing a good coaching job in the finals. Now I remember why.
Basketball in the inner city isn't just a game. It is the forum where men show their prowess before the girls. Like football in a southern town. Since it is about male prowess victory is individual, not team. It is about the flashy moves of black basketball (the slam dunk, the three point shot, the behind the back dribble).
It is about warriors vs soldiers.
"Because the white culture places more of a premium on winning," Dawkins believes, "and less on self-indulgent preening and chest-beating. That's because there are so many other situations in the white culture where a young kid can express himself."
In other words, it's societies fault that Iverson won't pass the damn ball.
I would love to see the NCAA go to Olympic rules.
Wasn't Dawkins the first guy to ever shatter a backboard in an NBA game?
I was trying to be charitable. You know, national pride and all.. I can beat on 'em after they lose the gold.. =)
We were spoiled in the salad days of the 76'ers, Magic, Bird and Pistons.
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.