Are today's scorers that explosive, or does the rules prevent anyone from locking up?
Outside of Kobe's 81 point performance in 06' & Steph Curry's 54 @ MSG last season-these are some of the numbers that have been put up prior to the All-Star break this NBA season. Let me just put this out there. These are professional players and they are capable of going off on any given night. They put an insane amount of work into developing their craft and by no means am I trying to discredit them. But in my opinion, guys just score way too easily nowadays. Not superstar players, but your mid-level guys are putting up buckets at will. I have this debate with myself all the time about players today and their ability to be successful in the 80's and 90's. Upper echelon players of today like Kobe, Lebron, KD, Melo, CP, D Wade (in his prime) would still be able to get off-but I do believe that their numbers would drop a little. Conversely, yesterday's superstars would see their numbers increase. MJ would average more points today-his ability to get to the free throw line alone would be an extra 5 to 10 points. Magic & Bird would average more points and assists and have numbers comparable to Lebrons. How would you stop Magic from posting up Russell Westbrook with the rules being what they are. It's impossible.
As a player, you can't control the rules being what they are. Your job as a player is to take advantage of them. We have never seen a physical specimen like Kevin Durant. The way that he scored the ball in the month of January was ridiculous & a beautiful thing to watch. At 6'11, Kevin Durant shoots the ball like a shooting guard. His basketball IQ and ball-handling are equivalent to a point guard. The way he attacks in transition with that hesitation blow by is deadly! However, two factors would negatively effect KD's scoring output. Hand-checking & physical play/intimidation. The NBA defines hand-checking as: "a defender may not place and keep his hands on an opponent unless he is in the area near the basket with his back to the basket. A defender may momentarily touch an opponent with his hand anywhere on the court as long as it does not affect the opponent’s movement (speed, quickness, balance, rhythm)." Without this advantage, the game becomes wide open. Imagine if Lebron was able to hand check KD. Lebron would instantly have the advantage because of his upper body strength & strong base. KD would figure out how to combat these elements, but his numbers would come down.
Melo dropped 62, but he could of easily went for 70 if Mike Woodson left him in. Terrence Ross scored 51 this season against the Clippers. Exactly, a novice fan has no idea who he is. He's a two guard for the Toronto Raptors. Isiah Thomas 38 against the Pacers. Marcus Thornton 40 against the Pacers. I'm still waiting for one of these guys to taste the paint and get fouled hard going to the basket. It won't happen in today's European league. "It's more of a finesse game," Kobe Bryant said. "It's more small ball, which, personally, I don't really care much for. I like kind of smash-mouth, old-school basketball because that's what I grew up watching. I also think it's much, much less physical. Some of the flagrant fouls that I see called nowadays, it makes me nauseous. You can't touch a guy without it being a flagrant foul." Offensive players don't fear defenders anymore because they know the officials will give them the benefit of the doubt.
The "Battle of the league MVP's" took place last week and it was a much anticipated matchup. Would the scorching hot KD continue his torrid scoring pace. Or would the all-around game and defensive tenacity of Lebron be too much. KD and the Thunder weathered an early storm (no pun intended) and blew out the Heat. They're just playing with a great rhythm right now without Westbrook. The Heat needed Lebron to get 60 last night. That's my beef with Lebron sometime- I would just like him to dominate offensively on certain occasions. No one can stop him when he puts his mind to it. I guess that's not who he is. At the end of the day, you just have to appreciate the NBA and today's players for what it is. It's a global, entertaining brand of basketball-just not what I grew up loving.
"You have to look at the progression. We have worked hard to remove violence, fisticuffs from the game."
-Former NBA Commissioner David Stern
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