NBA Message boards in the 80's

[TheGeneral99]

Pretty funny here.

Even 40 years ago, some folks were still complaining.

https://groups.google.com/g/net.sport.hoops/c/_i748SYWaf8

Dude complaining about 3 point shots. I winder if he is still alive to see what the game has become.

Also calling the league boring...nothing has changed, lmao.

>> Why is the NBA so boring? Except for maybe Boston, Philadelphia, and LA, I doubt whether most of the readers of this note can name 2 starters on any other team. The interest in the NBA is minimal. Most of the people I know (are they the wrong people?) have no idea who's in first, what the divisions are, or even what the team nicknames are. Is that because we don't have a team here in Columbus? or is prevalent throughout the country? So tell me...why isn't the NBA making it?

The guy you referenced also wanted to get rid of the 24 second shot clock.

I totally agree with 1,4,6-9 and 11. What the NBA is doing is catering to
the people that don't really appreciate strategy in the game, but come out
to watch a show. These people want action, but don't really care about the
planning behind the result.

This attitude, though it makes more money now, will eventually
destroy the sport. Players like Sid Moncrief should be the most valuable
in the sport, because he excels at both ends of the court. The defensive
part of his play is not being used, though, because of the rules. How can
you stop a guy who is allowed three steps to the hoop?
There is no good reason to disallow the zone defense. I also believe
that there should be a shot clock, but that it should be for at least 45 secs.
There should be a reward for holding the offense without a FG attempt for that
length of time.
This answers another question which appeared on the net. Why is Jordan
so great? He's quick, which is why he was good in college. Now he gets an
added step, which is why he is great in the pros.

The same trend is appearing in the NFL. The balance is gone, and
it won't be long until the real diehards won't watch anymore. If these leagues
don't wize up soon, they are going to lose the real sports fans, and in turn
will lose what were once great leagues.
Can you imagine a baseball league with thirty 40-HR hitters? I hope not.

[Sgt Major]

Did anyone find Phreak50's posts?

[Rishkar]

"Congratulations are due to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the finest
basketball player of our lifetimes, if not all lifetimes.
From Sports Illustrated's Gary Smith, where he was recently
honored as Sportsman of the Year:

His sky hook, of course, is eternal. Of all the
weapons in sports, none has ever been more dependable
or unstoppable, less vulnerable to time, than that
little stride, turn, hop and flick from far above his
head. Perhaps the greatest tribute to its complex
simplicity is that the sky hook never became a trend.
It will always be his." - DANIEL SCHNEIDER

It's amazing to see how accurate this statement was. Kareem is still regularly brought up as a Goat candidate and nobody has imitated the skyhook yet. Also, I love how the thread is titled "The Kareem Always Rises"

[GoldenAntlers]

Who tf was on the Internet in 1986?

[azcatz11]

Fake

What's fake?

[Nate505]

Where’s the Air Judden guy. All time generational internet hater

One of my favorite posters from the rec.sport.basketball.pro days.

Blazerz r00l d00d!!!

[Rishkar]

Someone suggested reducing the league to just a round robin between the 76ers, Celtics, and Lakers so that the season would be only a couple of weeks
https://groups.google.com/g/net.sport.hoops/c/r0fKgbOv8ZQ

[dhsilv2]

Who tf was on the Internet in 1986?

Engineers with money...

[Hair Jordan]

Fake

What's fake?

NBA message boards from the ‘80’s. I was there. I know what the water cooler chatter was at the time and this ain’t it.

[azcatz11]

Fake

What's fake?

NBA message boards from the ‘80’s. I was there. I know what the water cooler chatter was at the time and this ain’t it.

Honestly had a feeling it might be a fake...thanks for confirming. Can't trust anything you see as face value these days

[TheGeneral99]

What's fake?

NBA message boards from the ‘80’s. I was there. I know what the water cooler chatter was at the time and this ain’t it.

Honestly had a feeling it might be a fake...thanks for confirming. Can't trust anything you see as face value these days

It's real, lol.

[dhsilv2]

NBA message boards from the ‘80’s. I was there. I know what the water cooler chatter was at the time and this ain’t it.

Honestly had a feeling it might be a fake...thanks for confirming. Can't trust anything you see as face value these days

It's real, lol.

There's zero chance people went this deep to fake something. And it reads EXACTLY like you'd expect it to read. Anyone who thinks fans have changed has their head in the sand.

[Hair Jordan]

Honestly had a feeling it might be a fake...thanks for confirming. Can't trust anything you see as face value these days

It's real, lol.

There's zero chance people went this deep to fake something. And it reads EXACTLY like you'd expect it to read. Anyone who thinks fans have changed has their head in the sand.

It’s absolutely fake and yes, people will go balls deep to perpetrate a deception. Look at Trump for example.

[dhsilv2]

It's real, lol.

There's zero chance people went this deep to fake something. And it reads EXACTLY like you'd expect it to read. Anyone who thinks fans have changed has their head in the sand.

It’s absolutely fake and yes, people will go balls deep to perpetrate a deception. Look at Trump for example.

I don't even want to know what kinda dumb political stuff you're trying to get to. But there's nothing here to indicate this is faked. Especially given every generation is exactly the same as the last. Be it sports, politics, or anything else. Old people complain about young people and change. And to be fair, they're right. The all star game was always terrible. Fans have always been too dumb to grasp the value of 3's. And so on and so fourth.

[Sgt Major]

It's real, lol.

There's zero chance people went this deep to fake something. And it reads EXACTLY like you'd expect it to read. Anyone who thinks fans have changed has their head in the sand.

It’s absolutely fake and yes, people will go balls deep to perpetrate a deception. Look at Trump for example.

We're a bunch of middle-aged or old farts here and we won't fall for your trolling. What made you open an account here and start spouting nonsense everywhere?

Go to Reddit.

[jkvonny]

Who tf was on the Internet in 1986?

Computer nerds, engineers, programmers, developers, bookkeepers, rich/wealthy, Ivy League student types, military Intelligence, , first responders, FBI/CIA, NASA, , yuppies/stockbrokers, etc.

The good ole early days of PC, laptops, beepers/pagers, giant mobile phones, etc
Usenet, newsgroups, bulletin board systems, etc

Watch on YouTube

;t=2s

Watch on YouTube

[TheGeneral99]

Who tf was on the Internet in 1986?

Computer nerds, engineers, programmers, developers, bookkeepers, rich/wealthy, Ivy League student types, military Intelligence, , first responders, FBI/CIA, NASA, , yuppies/stockbrokers, etc.

The good ole early days of PC, laptops, beepers/pagers, giant mobile phones, etc
Usenet, newsgroups, bulletin board systems, etc

Watch on YouTube

;t=2s

Watch on YouTube

Yep.

Email technically was first created in the early 1960s.

Since the early 1980s email has been commonly used by companies, the government, military, universities etc. So it wasn't the majority using email at the time but still a sizeable chunk.

By the mid-1990s virtually every business and majority of the general public was using email in some capacity.

I was a kid but I created my first hotmail account in 1996 when it opened and still use hotmail to this day for my non-work email.

[jkvonny]

Who tf was on the Internet in 1986?

Computer nerds, engineers, programmers, developers, bookkeepers, rich/wealthy, Ivy League student types, military Intelligence, , first responders, FBI/CIA, NASA, , yuppies/stockbrokers, etc.

The good ole early days of PC, laptops, beepers/pagers, giant mobile phones, etc
Usenet, newsgroups, bulletin board systems, etc

Watch on YouTube

;t=2s

Watch on YouTube

Yep.

Email technically was first created in the early 1960s.

Since the early 1980s email has been commonly used by companies, the government, military, universities etc. So it wasn't the majority using email at the time but still a sizeable chunk.

By the mid-1990s virtually every business and majority of the general public was using email in some capacity.

I was a kid but I created my first hotmail account in 1996 when it opened and still use hotmail to this day for my non-work email.

You got it! I rememeber those days ('80s/'90s). I was a kid, teenager, and young adult.
Gen X! lol

I had a compuserve email account during the late '90s, early '00s
And my brother and I would go on those AOL chatrooms during the '90s, early '00s. Best way to buy and sell CDs back then. lol And chat it up with strangers all over the country.

Wow! You still have your hotmail account from back then?? That's impressive!

[jkvonny]

Someone suggested reducing the league to just a round robin between the 76ers, Celtics, and Lakers so that the season would be only a couple of weeks
https://groups.google.com/g/net.sport.hoops/c/r0fKgbOv8ZQ

Back then the East were the better conference, stronger conference than the West.
The elite teams in the East during the '80s were Boston, Milwaukee, Philly, Atlanta. Knicks some years. Detroit and Chicago came along during the late '80s.
The West it was LA Showtime Lakers........ Denver Nuggets/Houston Rockets.....(Portland/Jazz/Suns in the later '80s).....everyone else. lol

Majority of the elite teams back then were mainly the bigger markets squads (LA Lakers, Philly, Boston, Houston, NY Knicks (some years), Chicago (later years), etc).
Milwaukee was the oddball small market elite team, Detroit later on. Denver as well (could never get over the hump back then thanks to LAL and lack of defense). Poor Milwaukee Bucks (great defensive team) always ran into Philly/Boston in the playoffs. The '80s Bucks were like the Randolph/Gasol Grizz teams of the 2010s/George/Hibbert Pacers 2010s teams. Great defense, not enough offense.

[jkvonny]

Pretty funny here.

Even 40 years ago, some folks were still complaining.

https://groups.google.com/g/net.sport.hoops/c/_i748SYWaf8

Alright, this is gold so allow me to post it as a quote for all to see. This is what people were complaining about in 1985:

Why is the NBA so boring? Except for maybe Boston, Philadelphia, and LA, I
>> doubt whether most of the readers of this note can name 2 starters on any
>> other team. The interest in the NBA is minimal. Most of the people I know
>> (are they the wrong people?) have no idea who's in first, what the divisions
>> are, or even what the team nicknames are. Is that because we don't have a team
>> here in Columbus? or is prevalent throughout the country? So tell me...why
>> isn't the NBA making it?
>> ...bob garmise...at&t bell labs, columbus...
>
>I'll tell you why the NBA is so boring!
>
> 1. Zone defenses are not allowed --> detracts from defense
> 2. 3-to-make-2 free throws --> thwarts comebacks
> 3. Bad shot selection
> 4. One-on-one play
> 5. 3-point shots --> further encourages bad shot selection
> 6. 24-second clock --> encourages bad shot selection and one-on-one play
> 7. No necessity for coaching, therefore there is none -- it's sandlot bball
> 8. Refs don't call charging --> discourages good defense
> 9. Refs don't call traveling (better this year I've heard)
> --> allows for dunks from mid-court
> 10. 20-second timeouts --> to easy to get out of trap situations
> 11. too many playoff teams --> who cares about the regular season anymore

So, people back then complained about the lack of defense, 3-point shots, refs not calling travels and the RS not mattering anymore.

Sounds familiar?

Thank you for this gem, jkvonny.

Thanks.

Yes, big thanks to the OP for finding these to begin with lol