# Why basketball is an inherently flawed game **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 24, 2000, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534 "2000-08-24T01:57:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/1 "2000-08-24T01:57:43Z")
First off, I’m not a sports fan. I understand the essential rules of baseball, football and basketball but I don’t watch them regularly and have no interest in any individual teams. Scoring in basketball is a common occurence. A basket is made every few seconds, unlike baseball or football where a run or goal is a big event. And constant scoring **is expected of both teams.** So, after two and a half hours of play, it comes down not to who scores most, **but who scores LAST!** So what is the friggin’ point?! If the Lakers score 101 but the Celtics score 102 that means that they’re the _better_ team? No, it means they’re the luckier. They happen to be one basket up when the buzzer sounds. Do you see my point? It’s like watching musical chairs. It’s a monotonous drone with an essentially random ending. ---
**Author:** ![Brood\_McEto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@Brood\_McEto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brood_McEto)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/2 "2000-08-24T02:18:05Z")
it’s more exciting than tennis. ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/3 "2000-08-24T02:25:21Z")
1. Tennis rocks 2. Watch the NBA finals. The rest of the season is pretty mcuh meaningless drivel in a overly long playing season. In the finals, you get to see one team build a decent lead, then try to hang on to it, then lose it…it’s really fun to watch…only NBA I watch all year long ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/4 "2000-08-24T02:31:05Z")
More people are realizing that you only need to watch the last 2 minutes of a NBA game. Once everybody gets it, than the scourge of basketball will be removed public domain. ---
**Author:** ![poohpah\_chalupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@poohpah\_chalupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poohpah_chalupa)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/5 "2000-08-24T02:31:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hail Ants \* > \*\*Do you see my point? It’s like watching musical chairs. It’s a monotonous drone with an essentially random ending. \*\* I’ll watch the last “one minute” of a playoff game (that usually takes about eight minutes anyway)…otherwise: Let’s watch a rousing game of **Pong**. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/6 "2000-08-24T02:32:57Z")
I don’t even watch the NBA, but watching the final 2 minutes of the games in the NCAA tournament, that is exciting. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/7 "2000-08-24T03:07:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hail Ants \* > **So, after two and a half hours of play, it comes down not to who scores most, but who scores LAST!** Well… yeah, assuming both teams kept the game close. I’ve seen the Clippers make the last basket of a game and still lose by 30. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/8 "2000-08-24T03:28:21Z")
Bad costumes. I’m sorry, but we’re talking tall, agile atheletes who dress in droopy clothes that sleepy toddlers would sneer at. This isn’t just lust…or at least not purely. Bassetball players are exceptional humans; morphological freaks if you will, but giraffe in full gallop, gazelles in leap. They _do_ things that most of us can’t do. They’re running, bounding, twisting humans in poetic action…and the ridiculous, flappy, _degrading_ knee-tangler drifts of cloth that distort their atheleticism. Bad, bad costumes. Wish they’d take a few functional and aesthetic hints from soccer players. Veb ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/9 "2000-08-24T03:37:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AudreyK \* > [Well… yeah, assuming both teams kept the game close. I’ve seen the Clippers make the last basket of a game and still lose by 30. > \*\* I believe the OP referred to PROFESSIONAL basketball… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/10 "2000-08-24T04:04:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ricepad \* > \*\*I believe the OP referred to PROFESSIONAL basketball… > > :D\*\* Ouch! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzel)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/11 "2000-08-24T04:22:50Z")
I always looked at it the other way. In a game such as soccer or hockey, where few points are scored, if the goalie makes a small mistake and a goal is scored by a fluke, that’s a great percentage of the total goals in the game. A game could be one with a score of 1-0, where with slightly different situations, it could have been the other way around. In basketball, the object is to score the most points in the 32 minutes of play, (that’s what it was in high school at least) and if one team has slightly superior skills, they can leverage those skills into scoring points more frequently. Sure, a 1 point win in basketball really is a dubious win. More of a tie really, at least in what it teaches you about the relative skills of the teams involved. I guess I’m using a statistical perspective. More points scored = large sample size. Large sample size = more reliable results. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/12 "2000-08-24T04:28:26Z")
“When it comes to basketball, I say, give 'em each a hundred points and three minutes to play.” ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/13 "2000-08-24T08:11:44Z")
Soccer … yecch! ---
**Author:** ![darkcool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@darkcool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darkcool)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/14 "2000-08-24T08:48:25Z")
I’ve always felt that way - And I played in HS! The other problem is the lack of options. Bounce the ball down the court, chunk it at the hoop. Again and again and… Worse, they are some of the highest paid jocks. Not that I’m a huge fan, but at least football players meet and come up with a secret plan.When the play starts they might do just anything. Slight hi-jack: What would make basketball more entertaining? ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/15 "2000-08-24T11:31:10Z")
Basketball is flawed for one single reason… **Big-Money**. It’s poisoned all of Pro sports, but since basketball was the last sport to be infected, I think, currently, that it’s the worst of them. But I love the sport of basketball(no, I’m not a fan, and maybe catch a few college finals), because of this: [First dream, First love, First gold](http://www.latimes.com/news/timesmag/20000819/t000078083.html) The man featured in this article is my great-uncle Frank. 😃 Apparently he’s like a household name in Lithuania still, and obviously not forgotten in the states either. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/16 "2000-08-24T12:06:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by darkcool \* > \*\* > Slight hi-jack: What would make basketball more entertaining? \*\* 1. Nudity 2. An exploding ball 3. Moving baskets 4. Hecklers on the court during play 5. Alcohol consumption by players and coaching staff prior to gametime 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/17 "2000-08-24T12:06:44Z")
Now if they played basketball while ice skating… ---
**Author:** ![Aglarond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@Aglarond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aglarond)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/18 "2000-08-24T14:17:34Z")
Hear hear Hail Ants. That is the exact reason that basketball is the only sport I don’t watch. When I watch Hockey, or football, or whatever, when they score it really means something. You can get excited about it. Oh well, just thought I’d let you know you’re not alone. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/19 "2000-08-24T15:22:20Z")
Oh dear me, must control spasms, must hold ire in check… Actually pro basketball is as akin to well played basketball as vienna sausages are akin to actual food. They are the same sort of thing, but when you get right down to it, they just don’t count. Therefore, I won’t get too up in arms about disparaging comments about pro ball. But, for the true game go to college (or below). You bring up issues with that, I may have to set both barrels blazing. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534/20 "2000-08-24T15:43:06Z")
I go along with the negative comments on the pro game. Isn’t there supposed to be a defensive component? College hoops, on the other hand, is a joy to watch. Living in the middle of ACC country I’ve been able to watch soem real barn burners. UVA (Go Hoos) in the early 80s was phenomenal (they also couldn’t win the big one even with Ralph Sampson, but don’t get me started), Dean Smith deserves every accolade he gets (I’ll agree that the 4 corners defense was a bit of a stretch), and NC State winning it all was a treat. At the college level it seems to be a more well rounded endeavor. For a slight hijack - I’ve always supported the idea of allowing as much fan participation in tennis as you get in other sports (and I play a fair bit of tennis). Let’s see someone at Wimbledon holding up the John 3:16 sign. Let’s have the fans raising a ruckus when Sampras is trying to serve for the match. Same with golf. It would add greatly to the game to have Tiger Woods standing over a 6 foot put, with the Master’s on the line, and some drunk screaming “Choke! You’re going to blow it Woods!” from the fringe. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-basketball-is-an-inherently-flawed-game/30534.md?page=2)