Help me enjoy basketball.

The Game Room
1

As we approach the NCAA tournament, media coverage of basketball seems to be on the forefront of every sports report. I’ve watched a few games just to try to get myself to like it, but I simply can’t.

Now I love sports. Rabid NY Giants fan (way before they won the Super Bowl, thank you very much) and I really loved the Yankees until I realized how much of a quagmire of greed and cheating baseball really is. Played lacrosse in high school. But I just cannot get into basketball. It’s boring – there seems to be little to no strategy… just a bunch of guys running back and forth for a few hours. The game seems extremely simplistic… pass the ball around until you can throw a basket or jump and shove it in. The players seem to care more about showing off than supporting their team, and to be honest, their off-court personalities aren’t the most endearing. Finally, it feels like basketball runs year-round. Can we get a break from it at some point?

Of course, I mean absolutely no offense to basketball fans on the SDMB, but perhaps you can convince me of the merits of the sport that make it worth watching. If you also agree and can’t seem to find enjoyment in the sport, please also put in your two cents.

2

First, something about this sentence:

strikes me as cute or endearing or something. But, I had to smile at the phrasing.

I will take it to the mountaintops that of the team sports, the best athletes are basketball players. You have to be able to do just about anything on the court that anyone else can do. Sure, a 7 footer can’t dribble as quickly as a point guard, but they still have to have the skill to handle the ball. Each player has to be able to, at a moments notice, switch from an offensive mindset to defense. It’s a ton of running, constant thinking about changing parameters around you, and pretty much a non-stop physical, contact based battle.

That said, it can be a sport in which the subtle things that really make it work and fun to watch can be hard to explain or point out to a casual fan. Part of it is the speed at which the game is played. Football is awesome because after a play, the time tends to exist to revisit the play, see what worked and didn’t and have things explained by the color guy. In basketball, there can be numerous plays without a break leading to a rapid stream of shallow analysis and, once there’s a deadball, they might go back and revisit one portion of one play of a sequence.

I think the first thing you might want to understand is what part of the sport most interests you because that may determine what level to start watching.

NBA
The NBA obviously is the best of the best so the volume of amazing physical plays is highest here. However, you tend to lose out on team dynamics, have increased individual efforts, lower crowd passion, etc. If you want to watch an enjoyable NBA game, you really have to choose the correct teams/games to watch because (and especially right now near the end of the season), there can be some horrible matchups that even a huge NBA fan would probably skip over.

  1. If you want to see speed and rapid fire movement and shooting done by good teams, check out Golden State or Denver.
  2. If you tend to identify with guards and love a team oriented around ball movement and distribution, check out Phoenix, Toronto, Boston, Utah.
  3. If you like teams that really emphasize more of the old school “ball movement, pound it inside to create the outside” game, check Utah and San Antonio.
  4. Don’t watch the Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, or pretty much any other team below a .450 winning percentage at this point. They are proven to be crummy and are pretty much just playing out the string.
  5. The Knicks are awful, but if you can’t stand Isiah Thomas, it is almost comical to watch how they completely suck in new ways each and every game.
  6. Find a player you can really get into, and follow what they do during the game as opposed to where the ball is. You’ll start to see all of the movement, positioning, planning ahead, angles, etc that tend to get missed by just following the ball. Some of the more interesting players are Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Kevin Garnett, Brandon Roy, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Tayshaun Prince, Manu Ginobli among others. These guys tend to go places and do things most others at their positions don’t do.

College
Part of what makes college fun is the rabid nature of the fan base. Crowds are way more into it. A lot of the games have a more intense nature than the NBA because teams know they need to win and put forth a good game every time out to be able to reach the tournament. The caliber of play is lower (obviously, since most players are at the highest level they will ever play), but it’s definitely more a team dynamic and coaching driven game. If you pick a team, you can watch them over time and start to pick up on their specific offensive plays, defensive rotations, etc. When choosing someone to follow, it’s always good to have a vested interest (did you attend the school, live near it, have a family history there). That adds to the us versus them feeling. You can pick a major basketball factory school like Duke or Michigan State with a high level of talent and at the top of the rankings every year. You can pick a school like Clemson or Arizona State, teams in the biggest conferences but not consistent winners. You could get behind a Gonzaga or Southern Illinois, smaller schools somewhat off the major radar but a fun style of play that tends to work well against the heavyweights. You could pick small schools in small conferences like Davidson or George Mason where their entire post-season rides on winning their conference tourney so each and every game has huge implications for their future.
You also have to deal with the negatives of recruiting carousels, entitled “stars”, NCAA infractions, but the game on the court is pretty fun to watch.

Ultimately, figure out what it is about a sport like football that you enjoy. Figure out how that is represented in basketball. Choose a team/player that represents those traits and start to focus on them, especially as tournament/playoff time comes around. Read a few books on the sport (check out John Wooden, Dean Smith, Phil Jackson, Terry Pluto among others) for good background and stories.

3

Basketball is about improvisation. It’s jazz music, but on hardwood floors.

Your criticism, on some nights, with poorly-coached teams, is correct. It usually ends up badly. Watching a good team, watching the defenses, watching the movement and the plays and the picks and cuts and isolation moves, now those are fun.

Concerning offense, there will be set plays. They’re dictated by the point guard as he comes down the floor. You’ll have a man in motion coming from the left side, a big man typically in the paint other people put into motion, a pick or two all to manufacture an open shot. When the play breaks down, either due to bad execution or good defense or because shit simply happens, it usually results in a turnover and a fast break in the other direction. Watch the player movement on offense to generate a mismatch or an easy bucket. On defense, there are different sets. There’s zone coverage and man coverage and they operate the same way they do in football. Most teams tend to play zone because individual defense is on the decline. Good team defense can easily mask one or even two bad individual defenders. When the bad individual defenders are identified, then you tend to see plays run through the opposing player that ends up on that defender and see that offensive person isolated out against everyone else, especially in the end of the game.

Basketball is a beautiful ballet and I hope you give it a chance.

…You’re complaining about the characters of the NBA when the NBA is now the second-cleanest league in the country? (NHL being the “cleanest”.) Baseball has drugs, football has drugs and criminals and flagrant brutality and you’re complaining about the NBA’s character?

4

And then there’s soccer, which is like this except that no one ever scores. :slight_smile:

5

I always hated basketball, and could only enjoy the last minute or two of a close game until last year, when my roommates were watching the Warriors’ run in the playoffs, and now I’ve been watching the Warriors regularly this season.

I still have some major issues with the game (what do you mean, you can draw a foul?!) but I am understanding the game a little better. It does help that it is indeed a very simple game and if you watch and pay attention to a handful of games, you can probably get the whole thing down pat. There’s no tuck rule or infield fly rule that’s going to jump up after a year and a half.

The Warriors themselves are fun to watch- they enjoy playing the game, and they really are the most personable group of athletes I’ve ever seen. It’s rare to watch a postgame interview without one of them cracking a joke or something. And some of the indiviuals are pretty exciting. Watching Monta Ellis float from what seems like half-court for a layup never ceases to amaze me.

6

Fully agree on all of that. Which makes the fact that I live in Atlanta where we get to see all of the games of a joyless, boring, ill-constructed team such a crummy chore.

7

Basketball isn’t a good “watch the whole floor” sport until you can see the subtleties. If you’re starting out, I’d advise more focused attention. For the repetitive nature of the game (one team dribbles down, makes some passes, tries to make a shot…the other team dribbles down, makes some passes, tries to make a shot) to make sense, you need to watch specific players trying to accomplish specific things.

Try educating yourself about the specific players, strengths, and weaknesses of one team, and then watch that team play with an eye towards those things.

For instance, I’m a Pistons fan. I know that Rip Hamilton, their shooting guard, likes to run around in circles, cutting around the big guys in the middle of the floor, to try and shake off the guy defending him so that he can get open for a shot. He never, ever, gets tired, and it’s fun to watch him run opposing players ragged.

So…when I watch a Pistons game on TV one of the things I try to watch is how well he’s doing at using that move to get open vs. the particular defender he’s facing that night. If it’s working well, the point guard tends to hit him with passes for open shots a lot. If it’s not, he just ends up running around a lot all night and they have to find different ways to score.

In a sense, Basketball is like very kinetic chess. Every team has a strategy and a style, and it’s interesting to see how those things match up between different teams.

8

The only one I’ve seen as good at running around without the ball was Reggie Miller. It was fun watching try to run each other into the ground in the playoffs.

9

Seconded.

  1. How does the player who takes the shot get into a position to take it? Look for plays like the pick-and-roll. Watch for head fakes (where he pretends to shoot but doesn’t.) These are important things because the defense is always trying to prevent the shot from being taken. If you concentrate on one single thing, focus on that — the struggle to shoot versus the struggle to stop the shot.

  2. How was the player who shoots assisted? More often than not, someone had to make a great pass or set a great pick for the shooter to get the ball at all. You can appreciate great beauty in thread-the-needle clothes-line passes that hit their mark at just the right time. Behind the back, over the shoulder, running for a layup and flipping the ball to the guy following you instead. All these are beautiful dances of athleticism.

  3. How does a team come into possession of a live ball? Steals and rebounds are exciting all by themselves. It takes a lot of skill and courage to grapple “in the paint” (the painted area near the basket) especially when it’s crowded with feet, knees, and elbows. Stealing is especially cool when it’s done by a short point guard (the guy who starts the ball handling and distribution) from a tall forward or center (the guys who fight it out under the basket for rebounds). I once saw Muggsy Bogues, about 5’4", steel the ball from Robert Parish, about 7’0", literally by running between his legs and catching it on the dribble.

Start out by looking for those things. It won’t be long before you’re hooked.

10

As far as the NCAA goes the very tip-top Basketball players in the Country have often put off making millions of dollars to play one more year of college. Some have stayed to improve their draft position - but some have stayed (sometimes not putting off the NBA but a low 6 figure journeyman basketball career in d-leagues or overseas) for the love of their U. Many, many more of the players you see out there have put off real life careers to play this fun game for room, tuition, board, applause and love of their U.

The NCAA Tourney in my mind is as fair as any sporting playoff series that you can possibly name. It is hard to make the case that a team that didn’t make the Tourney would have been the NCAA Champion and it is all decided on the court. Usually with plenty of drama as one team is arrogant and overconfident, on chokes under the weight of pressure and expectation, one comes from no-where to advance a few rounds - the schools and stories are constantly changing. It really is neat to watch.

The NBA is an athletic game played largely above the rim with swooping dunks and spectacular shots and swatted blocked shots. Really when you think about what you are actually seeing, it is hard not to be awed by the physical prowess that you see exhibited.

11

I enjoy watching lacrosse, but can’t it be described pretty much the same way?

12

A lot of what you guys are saying is pretty much reinforcing my point that basketball players are only in it for their personal glory, and not for the team as a whole. I will certainly grant you that these players are some of the best-conditioned athletes sports has to offer. And what is the point of watching a sport when only the last 60 seconds are the exciting part?

I swear I’m not trying to pick a fight here.

Not exactly. Lacrosse is more like a combination of football and soccer. :stuck_out_tongue:

13

Ultimately, you can say that about any pro sport. Obviously, there is a desire to win but a lot of what drives the pro athlete is the next contract. Winning can help that be a good contract. But, the number of dumb owners that get swayed by certain stats means that oftentimes it makes more sense to get what you can on the court/field and reap the benefits of a random 5 year/$50 million contract offer. Especially in a league with Isiah Thomas doling out money.

The number of players in any sport that truly care about self over team in a way that is detrimental to the team is tiny though, and I have no doubt you can find the same tiny percentage in any sport.

Basketball ultimately has some of the cleanest, most trouble free, interesting athletes in all of sport. They also have the blackest which I have no doubt contributes to an erroneous perception of the league. Not saying that to you or anyone here, but the vaguely casual fan only remembers the brawl at the Palace, stories on Allen Iverson’s cornrows and tattoos, and the idiocy of the Jail Blazers which are outliers.

14

Allen Iverson would be a great guy to watch to learn more about how the game is played. Non-basketball fans constantly point him out as an example of what is wrong with the game, but if you watch him on the court, you’ll see a guy who does everything on both ends of the court, helps his teammates, and fears no one despite usually being the smallest guy on the court.

He’s been a model citizen since coming to Denver.

15

I’m not sure how that follows from the responses above. Yep, a large percentage of basketball players are selfish egomaniacs, just like you’ll find in any elite activity, sport or otherwise. But that doesn’t affect the viewing experience or the dynamics of the game unless you have a truly dysfunctional team on the floor. When you’ve only got 5 players on each team active, pretty much everyone is a star, even if they aren’t the center of the team’s offence. Look at the San Antonio Spurs. One of their biggest stars is Bruce Bowen, 90% of whose job it is to be a pest on defence.

The “last 60 seconds” criticism is a fair one, but only because deliberate fouling can extend the last minute of a game for 8-10 minutes of actual time, mostly populated with overly-influential foul shots. Personally, I’m hopeful for a rules change someday to cut down on strategic fouling.

But that doesn’t undermine the fact that, in order to be within striking distance of winning in the last minute, you need to play hard and execute a successful strategy for the rest of the game. Blowouts don’t feature exciting last minutes.

16

Forget the pros. The NCAA is the only basketball worth watching. It is without the hometown refs and home court advantage to a great degree. The one game knockout adds to the sense of urgency. They play hard for the whole game .

17

You are partially a mutant and therefore have a skewed outlook on all things basketball.

It’s fun to watch the Final Four, but all of the NBA playoffs are good to watch.

18

A lot of people feel that way, and I have no beef with your preference even though I prefer the NBA (fewer teams to keep track of, mostly).

But what you’re saying about home court advantage just isn’t true. A lot of college arenas have entire sections of courtside seating reserved for the loudest, most obnoxious student fans just so they can scream and yell at, and hopefully intimidate, opposing players, and I read a story on SI.com a couple of weeks ago (I just searched but couldn’t find it) about how out of control the hostility towards visiting players and thier families has gotten at NCAA games. One anecdote in it was about the father of an opposing-team player and his mother (the opposing player’s grandmother) getting taunted and having things thrown at them to the point where they had to leave the game.

Also, and I could be wrong on this, I think NBA refs are full-time and they travel, so they aren’t tied to any team or home town.

Refs’ bias toward star players…well, that’s another thing :wink:

19

Right. A bunch of guys running around for a few hours.

20

I’ll submit there was a time in NBA history when more than a few players had Bob McAdoo Syndrome, caring about their personal statistics more than the success of their teams; however, I think Michael Jordan and his 6 championship rings changed the way most players interpret success. The guys who are the best players in the league now (Bryant, LeBron, Tim Duncan, et. al.) want those championship rings, and a lot of them.

There are a handful of players left who care more for Number One than they do about their team becoming number one, but 90% of them have been signed by the Knicks to long-term contracts, so all the rotten eggs are pretty much in one basket. :slight_smile:

Having said that, I want to repeat what has been said earlier about watching the motion of players away from the ball. Rather than focusing on the ball handler, keep an eye on what’s going on in the lane. You should be seeing players setting up for low post shots or moving through a variety of screens to set up an open shot. In an ideal situation, the ball handler (be he/she outside or in the post) will see how the defense adjusts to player movement and pass to hit an open man. I like teams with big men that have good passing skills, but that’s just me.

Even though its old-school, I recommend checking out the old Red on Roundball segments from the 70’s, available on nba.com. I think the one focusing on the corner play (featuring Julius Erving and Pete Maravich) is particularly informative for a new fan because this play is a fundamental part of any offensive set-up. Red Auerbach was a poor sport, an obnoxious asshole, and based his ethics on convenience. He was also one of the finest teachers of the game ever created.

So, watch a few games. It don’t cost nothing but time. Before you know it, you’ll see a player make a move toward the basket from the weak side, and you’ll know before it happens that you’re about to see a rim-rattling alley-oop pass, set up by good offensive patterns. And you’ll say to yourself, “Damn! That was cool! And I saw it coming all the way.” Enjoy.