I don't want to hear boomers complain about the lack of physicality in the NBA anymore

[Swindle]

I’m not old enough to of watched 80s bball but old enough to know what hand-checking is and how removing it freed up perimeter play and made the game less physical

Jordan didn't really shoot 3s so Blazers tried just giving it to him to force him into a low % shot but the gimmick defense back fired. That’s why you see him wide open in that finals game

[ItsDanger]

A hard foul years ago would be a flagrant 2 + ejection today. Some online full games or highlights isn't some kind of great evidence. Its just lazy analysis.

[jkvonny]

TBF, not all of the teams played great defense during the '80s. Especially out west, where lots of teams played the run and run type of offense. Like the Showtime Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Suns, etc. They emphasized on quick fast paced, fast break offense. Outscoring the opponent. Lakers did play decent defense tho.

But there were some terrible teams that played terrible defense: Esp the teams in the West: Clippers, Suns, Kings, Warriors, Nuggets, Spurs, SuperSonics, etc.
Nuggets were the exception, they had some good teams in the '80s but they were all offense/no defense. That is why many say that the West was weak back then. It was pretty much the Showtime Lakers.......followed by the Nuggets and Rockets (they had a good defense) ......occasionally the Mavs, Warriors.
Portland and Utah came around later that decade to being good. Utah had a great defense.... Portland, not so much.
Kind of carried over into the '90s/early '00s. But many of the West teams started to improve on defense during the '90s (Spurs, Lakers, Kings, Jazz, TWolves, etc). But some of the West was still very bad on defense during the '90s, early '00s (Warriors, Clippers, Mavs, etc) or mediocre ( Suns, Nuggets, etc).
There were some bad defense teams in the East too (Nets, Bullets/Wizards ('90s) etc) but not a lot.

The East is where a lot of good defense was being played during the '80s: Milwaukee Bucks, Hawks, Sixers, Knicks, Celtics, Pistons, Bulls, Bullets (Wizards), Cavs, Pacers, etc. This also carried into the '90s/early '00s, Magic and Hornets later on during the '90s. This is one of the reasons why many say that the East was the stronger conference during the ''80s/'90s as well.
Then the shift happened around the '00s (West the stronger conference past majority of the past 2 decades).

[Lunartic]

OP exposing himself as a Zoomer if he actually thinks these playoffs have been "physical AF"

You have to actually watch 80/90s era fans before having opinions on what's physical and what's not.

And no - a 12 second robotic voice, narrated Tiktok highlight reel doesn't count as watching games.

[ChiTownHero1992]

That's about the biggest loud of crap ive smelled/heard in a while....and i have a kid recently out of diapers....playoff games are always "more physical" but this is nowhere near the level of play in the 80s, 90's or even the 00s...

[ScrantonBulls]

OP exposing himself as a Zoomer if he actually thinks these playoffs have been "physical AF"

You have to actually watch 80/90s era fans before having opinions on what's physical and what's not.

And no - a 12 second robotic voice, narrated Tiktok highlight reel doet count as warning games.

Millennial checking in. This is pure malarkey. The myth of tough 80s defense is laughable. Watch some of the game below and say with a straight face that it was more physical. These playoffs you have Brunson and Doncic getting handchecked and bodychecked right when they cross halfcourt. Guys are getting smacked left and right in the paint. In the 80s they were literally untouched until they got a couple feet inside the 3 point line. Even then, the physicality is so freaking exaggerated.

People need to rewatch the 80s games before they describe them as a Mad Max installment.

Watch on YouTube

[og15]

Turning into one of these threads again, where we lump the 80’s, 90’s and early 00’s all into one same category as if things were the same. The 80’s as a whole, in general was not really “physical basketball” in the sense of hard nosed tough defense. A team like the Pistons was the massive exception, and what the NBA was doing with rules in the late 90’s and early 00’s was trying to go BACK to 80’s type basketball, faster pace, more free flowing, more ball movement. It’s just not logical for us to say look at how physical the 80’s was, then say, well don’t watch any other teams, just watch the Pistons to see it.

Let’s stop lumping all of this together. Now 80’s had allowance for more rougher play if that’s what we mean by physicality, but if you’re talking about possessions by possessions physical defense, that was not what represents the 80’s at all, and it doesn’t help any discussion like this when we suggest that. The average pace in the 80’s was higher than the 2020’s have been so far. Teams did foul more as the mentality of earning it at the line was still there. Data has made teams far less willing to foul now if they can avoid it.

The mid to late 90’s did move to a more slower paced, physical style with teams adding goons and enforcers to their rosters and with a lot of isolation ball and abuse of things like illegal defense rules. The late 90’s and early 00’s was the peak of physicality, and the NBA did not like that. The 80’s and earlier 90’s fans complained about the lack of fundamentals, too many high school guys, too much and 1 and street-ball type stuff. The NBA considered it less aesthetically pleasing basketball.

Considering how most fans complained about iso ball and still do now, most of you probably didn’t truly like it either. I doubt any of you enjoyed Stackhouse averaging 29.8 ppg on a 100 Ortg team (25th/29 teams) in 00-01.

Balance of course is always the goal. You don’t want the game to just be guys pushing each other around, but you also don’t want the game to be minimal resistance. The utilization of the three did throw a wrench into things, and it took years after the changes for it to really become a factor, though video game players and some other leagues were already on to the 3PT idea.

[Tottery]

Nah. Ticky tack fouls have been called a lot. One game you watched doesn't change that. Game 3 of the Wolves/Nuggets is a prime example.

[stuporman]

Get off my interlawn...

[jkvonny]

Turning into one of these threads again, where we lump the 80’s, 90’s and early 00’s all into one same category as if things were the same. The 80’s as a whole, in general was not really “physical basketball” in the sense of hard nosed tough defense. A team like the Pistons was the massive exception, and what the NBA was doing with rules in the late 90’s and early 00’s was trying to go BACK to 80’s type basketball, faster pace, more free flowing, more ball movement. It’s just not logical for us to say look at how physical the 80’s was, then say, well don’t watch any other teams, just watch the Pistons to see it.

Let’s stop lumping all of this together. Now 80’s had allowance for more rougher play if that’s what we mean by physicality, but if you’re talking about possessions by possessions physical defense, that was not what represents the 80’s at all, and it doesn’t help any discussion like this when we suggest that. The average pace in the 80’s was higher than the 2020’s have been so far. Teams did foul more as the mentality of earning it at the line was still there. Data has made teams far less willing to foul now if they can avoid it.

The mid to late 90’s did move to a more slower paced, physical style with teams adding goons and enforcers to their rosters and with a lot of isolation ball and abuse of things like illegal defense rules. The late 90’s and early 00’s was the peak of physicality, and the NBA did not like that. The 80’s and earlier 90’s fans complained about the lack of fundamentals, too many high school guys, too much and 1 and street-ball type stuff. The NBA considered it less aesthetically pleasing basketball.

Considering how most fans complained about iso ball and still do now, most of you probably didn’t truly like it either. I doubt any of you enjoyed Stackhouse averaging 29.8 ppg on a 100 Ortg team (25th/29 teams) in 00-01.

Balance of course is always the goal. You don’t want the game to just be guys pushing each other around, but you also don’t want the game to be minimal resistance. The utilization of the three did throw a wrench into things, and it took years after the changes for it to really become a factor, though video game players and some other leagues were already on to the 3PT idea.

This is a good post and true.

[ChipotleWest]

What good is physicality if some teams can use it and others get called for fouls for every little thing? There is absolutely no consistency in these playoffs. Lu Dort gets to play football for OKC on Luka while his opponent Mavs get called for ticky tack regular season calls on SGA, a lot of times SGA is throwing elbows and getting the fouls called in his favor. And I say this as the Mavs lead 2-1 so there's no sour grapes here it's just what my eyeballs see.

[mcmurphy]

I want to see the toughest guy against Rick Mahorn

[Slacktard]

Having watched basketball in the 80s, but wasn't really old enough to pay attention until the late 80s. I think it was certainly more physical, but the biggest difference between 80s basketball or 90s (or at least most of the 90s) and today's basketball for me is the change in officiating between regular season and playoffs.

In the 80s and much or most of the 90s the fouls in the regular and playoffs were pretty consistent. What was let-go, was usually let-go in both... What was a foul, was usually a foul in both.

I think over the last 20 to 25 years that's changed a whole lot. The officiating in the playoffs becomes a lot different than the regular season calls.

[CIN-C-STAR]

The league literally admitted that they changed the rules mid-season because the game had gotten too soft in terms of handicapping defense lol
But sure, all those years of critiques that the league admitted were right are negated because you watched two or three competitive playoff games AFTER the rules were changed to make it less soft
Just take the L man, the league was obviously becoming a joke under modern rules. Silver even said part of the reason they reinstated defense was so America's international teams could compete with FIBA players who are used to having to play with defense. It was getting absurd.

[svart]

The league literally admitted that they changed the rules mid-season because the game had gotten too soft in terms of handicapping defense lol
But sure, all those years of critiques that the league admitted were right are negated because you watched two or three competitive playoff games AFTER the rules were changed to make it less soft
Just take the L man, the league was obviously becoming a joke under modern rules. Silver even said part of the reason they reinstated defense was so America's international teams could compete with FIBA players who are used to having to play with defense. It was getting absurd.

This^

If only people bother to check facts before insulting a whole generation....

And no, not a boomer, just trying to be honest.

[CROBulls]

5 games of normal basketball dont change decade of atrocity product which my eyes saw on basketball floor. So stfup and keep dribbling somewhere else OP

Telling posters to stfu is not allowed. Disagree with the post as strongly as you'd like but don't attack the poster. -b

[Kingdibs19]

We, GenXers, will stay out of yall's battles (Boomers vs Millineals, Gen Z)

FWIW, I loved the '80s. '90s, '00s and todays era.

The milkmen, plumbers, TikTokers, etc you name it!

.....Lot of evolution took place over the years as well.

I thought the GenXers were leading the F plumbers crusade

[jc23]

My advice is to eat right, exercise, get adequate sun and surround yourself with people that care about you so that you too can become old and yell at clouds. Its something we all can look forward to.

[LakerLegend]

You constantly hear it on here and other places. People always complaining how soft the NBA is, how these players wouldn't survive in other eras. Old NBA players say it all the time too.

The games this postseason have been physical AF. It's like a freaking rugby match out there. I get that a lot of people are insecure about modern players being better than their favorite players of the past, but enough is enough. These guys are taking absolute beatings and playing physical as hell.

Watch on YouTube

[nomansland]

This whole generational stereotyping is so tiresome.