Can we stop pretending like old school NBA playoff games are more physical than they are now?

[TheChaser]

I think this Orlando team would do well back in the day.

[Indomitable]

The playoff games every year are so physical. I actually don't like the "let them play" mindset because I think the game should be called consistently during the season and postseason.

There's simply more physicality now a days. You see guys getting hip checked and bodies up 5 feet outside the 3 point line. Back in the day defenders would say off players if they were even close to the 3 point line. There's just more handchecking and contact in the playoffs now a days.

I'm sure I'll get some "hurr durr Bad Boys Pistons, therefore all games back in the day were MMA matches" from some dudes that were 5 years old when the Bad Boy Pistons played. That's one team over a span of 2 years. And they were known for hard fouls. It still wasn't as consistently physical as it is now. We also saw a leg lock on Luka and a karate chop to LeBron's face get no called and then a common foul, respectively.

Bottom line, playoff games are as physical as ever. I think it's too physical, which makes it so drastically different than the regular season. Call the games consistently.

One sentence claims its more physical, another claims the physicality is similar.

Not sure why so many threads have this narrative lately. But I can guess why.

This does not make any sense admittedly.

[bledredwine]

The playoff games every year are so physical. I actually don't like the "let them play" mindset because I think the game should be called consistently during the season and postseason.

There's simply more physicality now a days. You see guys getting hip checked and bodies up 5 feet outside the 3 point line. Back in the day defenders would say off players if they were even close to the 3 point line. There's just more handchecking and contact in the playoffs now a days.

I'm sure I'll get some "hurr durr Bad Boys Pistons, therefore all games back in the day were MMA matches" from some dudes that were 5 years old when the Bad Boy Pistons played. That's one team over a span of 2 years. And they were known for hard fouls. It still wasn't as consistently physical as it is now. We also saw a leg lock on Luka and a karate chop to LeBron's face get no called and then a common foul, respectively.

Bottom line, playoff games are as physical as ever. I think it's too physical, which makes it so drastically different than the regular season. Call the games consistently.

One sentence claims its more physical, another claims the physicality is similar.

Not sure why so many threads have this narrative lately. But I can guess why.

This does not make any sense admittedly.

It's always coming from the same Lebron fans. I'll call it out every single time.
Dumb threads comparing Jordan and lesser players, threads disguised talking about
the "physicality" of today's game (lol).

There have been too many failures, so all other routes lead to Rome for them.

The irony is that it just makes Lebron's argument appear that much more desperate and that much more of a farse.

LBJ fans - I told you all that it was like the Kobe fan days..... the case grows weaker, not stronger as a player retires and the NBA moves on.
Now you're experiencing it and reflecting desperation in the process.
From triple double and "achievements by age 25" threads to this.
What's left? Longevity and excuses, and I'll call it out over and over again.
And every time I call it out, I look forward to the cliches of "rent free" and "yells at cloud".

All of it is indication that there's nothing else left and he's out the door. And it's why it's so easy
to ignore your harmless posts. There is no valid argument or threat here, nor is there to try and say
today's game is somehow more defensively challenging or physical. That itself is a joke and the offensive stat
boom reflects it.

[Indomitable]

One sentence claims its more physical, another claims the physicality is similar.

Not sure why so many threads have this narrative lately. But I can guess why.

This does not make any sense admittedly.

It's always coming from the same Lebron fans. I'll call it out every single time.
Dumb threads comparing Jordan and lesser players, threads disguised talking about
the "physicality" of today's game (lol).

There have been too many failures, so all other routes lead to Rome for them.

The irony is that it just makes Lebron's argument appear that much more desperate and that much more of a farse.

LBJ fans - I told you all that it was like the Kobe fan days..... the case grows weaker, not stronger as a player retires and the NBA moves on.
Now you're experiencing it and reflecting desperation in the process.
From triple double and "achievements by age 25" threads to this.
What's left? Longevity and excuses, and I'll call it out over and over again.
And every time I call it out, I look forward to the cliches of "rent free" and "yells at cloud".

All of it is indication that there's nothing else left and he's out the door. And it's why it's so easy
to ignore your harmless posts. There is no valid argument or threat here, nor is there to try and say
today's game is somehow more defensively challenging or physical. That itself is a joke and the offensive stat
boom reflects it.

Hopefully the Twolves send him home. Then I can actually enjoy the post season.

[bledredwine]

This does not make any sense admittedly.

It's always coming from the same Lebron fans. I'll call it out every single time.
Dumb threads comparing Jordan and lesser players, threads disguised talking about
the "physicality" of today's game (lol).

There have been too many failures, so all other routes lead to Rome for them.

The irony is that it just makes Lebron's argument appear that much more desperate and that much more of a farse.

LBJ fans - I told you all that it was like the Kobe fan days..... the case grows weaker, not stronger as a player retires and the NBA moves on.
Now you're experiencing it and reflecting desperation in the process.
From triple double and "achievements by age 25" threads to this.
What's left? Longevity and excuses, and I'll call it out over and over again.
And every time I call it out, I look forward to the cliches of "rent free" and "yells at cloud".

All of it is indication that there's nothing else left and he's out the door. And it's why it's so easy
to ignore your harmless posts. There is no valid argument or threat here, nor is there to try and say
today's game is somehow more defensively challenging or physical. That itself is a joke and the offensive stat
boom reflects it.

Hopefully the Twolves send him home. Then I can actually enjoy the post season.

Agreed.
It'd be nice for all of the annoying voices to fade out for once and to simply enjoy the game.

[Asianiac_24]

Depends on how you define old school.

2005-2010? No.

Before 2000? No.

2000-2004, especially 2004? It is definitely way more physical

[Ainosterhaspie]

Let's examine the brutality as the Bad Boy Pistons eliminate Jordan in 89 starting in the 4th quarter. Begins at 1:15:00.

Watch on YouTube

Play 1: Pistons bring the Ball up court. Defenders sag. Some light hand touching as Pistons run a play. Pistons make open jumper.

Play 2: Jordan dribbles full court. Defender gets hand on him briefly at the free throw line, gets to the hoop with minimal contact and miss layup.

Play 3: Play three Pistons bring ball up court, make pass, make jumper in paint. Slight body contact with defender on jump. Otherwise no meaningful contact.

Play 4: Bulls get ball to three point line with no notable contact. Two bigs jostled for position, then Jordan makes baseline drive and misses tricky layup. Foul called for minor hand and body contact. Free throws.

Play 5: Bulls rebound missed freethrow. Jordan drives into paint. Gets bumped at hip/waist area. Makes short hook.

Play 6: Pistons get into half court offense before any contact. Players doing some light touching. Couple passes. Outside jumper. No significant contact. Perimeter player untouched. Shot uncontested.

Play 7: Bulls get into half-court offense with no contact. Jordan drives toward foul line with some body contact. Passes out for uncontested three.

Play 8: Pistons bring ball to three point line with no contact. Wide open 2 with feet on the three point line is missed. Offensive rebound. Bulls player stumbles for some reason (trips or lands on a foot). Pass to perimeter where ball handler given space. Passes for a contested three but no contact. Bulls foul on rebound. (Hard to see what the foul is. This often wouldn't be a foul today.)

Play 9: Pistons inbound with no pressure or contact. Foul called on post entry pass for contact that often would not be called in today's game.

Play 10: Pistons inbound with no pressure. Ensuing play has a good bit of hand and body contact in several places. Ends up with offensive foul on a shove.

Play 11: More light hand body contact inside. Jordan on peremiter gets handchecked quickly a couple times. Takes jumper. Foul by Pistons on the rebound. Hard to see what is called. Looks like normal contact, but apparently a push by Laimbeer on the box out. Interesting Collins wanted a foul for the handcheck and announcers didn't seem to think he was wrong.

Play 12: Pistons hand check two players on perimeter here. Jordan pushes the hand away once. Same sort of quick touches you see today, though briefly two hands at same time. I don't recall seeing that much in today's game. Couple passes and a drive leads to a shooting foul called on contact that happens frequently in the modern game with no fouls called.

Play 13: Pistons get to three point line with no pressure. Some jostling for position down low. Pass for wide open jumper.

Play 14: Bulls rebound and run. Jordan cut off at free throw line with solid body contact. Passes and Bulls make a three. That body contact was most significant I've seen so far. Decent chance that gets called for a foul today.

Two Point Game. 8:40 remains.

Play 15: Pistons inbound no real contact until Dumars tries to get around defender at baseline. Looks like he gets shoved out of bounds with no whistle. Makes pass outside for missed jumper.

Play 16: Bulls rebound missed and run. Jordan's drive gets cut off at baseline with no contact. Dribbles out then drives right, let's stripped. Defender gets arm on his chest as he drives. That happens most drives in today's game.

Play 17: Pistons fast break. (Blocking?) Foul on drive. Free throws.

Play 18: Bulls get to three point line with noncontact pressure. Jordan posting. Defender has hands on his hips. Gets doubled. Passes for open missed jumper at free throw line.

Play 19: Pistons rebound. Defense begins at three point line. Light screen and dribble forward then cross court pass for open shot. Minimal contact. After making pass, Thomas runs a big circle and no one picks him up so he ends up with an uncontested shot.

Play 20: Jordan gets pass at the wing. Closely defended. Might be some handchecking but can't tell from the camera angle. Tries driving right and is cut off by second defender. Tries left, again cut off. Passes inside and foul on shot attempt. Maybe we could call that one a hard foul.

Play 21: Pistons bring ball up no pressure. Make pass to baseline. Foul called for what looks like little hip push on a baseline drive.

Play 22: Bulls bring ball up. Pass to wide open shooter for uncontested missed three.

Play 23: Bulls give ball handler light handcheck then body contact to change path. Pistons pass to open shooter for lightly contested made jumper.

Play 24: Jordan gets touched a bit in the post. Passes for open long two. Minimal contact.

Play 25: Pistons try driving and there is some light handchecking. Get deep in paint. Body contact on layup attempt. Gets own rebound. Makes nice wraparound pass in crowded paint for layup with some more body contact. No foul called. Lots of contact, none particularly strong.

Play 26: Jordan attacks left and is cut off with minimal if any contact. Defender does a great job of moving his feet to stay in a good position. Two passes and lightly contested made shot. Little if any contact.

Play 27: Bulls light hand contact and swiping before midrange jumper missed by Pistons. Offensive rebound and another missed jumper with no contact.

Play 28: Weird play. Jordan is pushed into Rodman who falls into another Bull. Jordan called for a foul. Rodman too? Bulls retain possession. Closest thing to a dirty play so far, not really a hard foul though. Blown call by ref would get overturned on replay today.

Play 29: Jordan walks in to an open three. Misses. No contact.

Play 30: Bulls try a trap. First time defending beyond the three point line. Get called for a foul. Free throws. Insee far more contact in modern traps than what got called for a foul there.

Play 31: Jordan getting some body contact in post. Passes out. Bulls try to drive, but body/arm contact disrupts that. Bad pass leads to steal and breakaway.

Play 32: Pistons get breakaway layup. Slight body contact on the jump.

10 point Piston lead. 4:25 remaining.

Play 33: Jordan being physically defended off ball. Receives pass and drives. Gets fouled on shot. Laimbeer bumps him with chest.

Play 34: Some contact inside. None on the perimeter. Wide open three missed by Pistons. Bulls rebound and run.

Play 35: Bulls run, pass ahead, drive, another pass and foul (hack) on shot at basket.

Play 36: Brief light handcheck on perimeter. Pass for lightly contested missed two. Missed rebound out of bounds. Stays Pistons ball.

Play 37: Some perimeter passes. Slight bump on perimeter. Pass inside. Defender a little handsy. Made jumper for Pistons. Minor contact on play.

Play 38: Jordan gets ball in post. Defender is defending physically with hands and body. Jordan makes contested shot. Decent amount of physicality on this play.

Play 39: Bulls foul on perimeter trying for steal. Free throws.

Play 40: Bulls get perimeter semi-open shot with one pass, minimal contact on play.

Play 41: Long pass on rebound to leak out leads to layup for Pistons.

Time out. 12 Point Pistons Lead. 2:32 left.

Play 42: Pistons grabbing Jordan off ball, but he's a decoy. Bulls make a pass miss a layup score on putback.

Play 43: Minimal contact. Pistons make some passes and use full shot clock before scoring on lightly contested paint jumper.

Play 44: Bulls get layup. Minimal contact.

Play 45: Light handcheck on perimeter. Piatons miss shot. Bulls knock rebound out of bounds.

Play 46. Pistons burn clock. Inconsequential contact. Miss shot. Rodman rebounds. Pistons burn more clock. Handcheck on ball handler. Bad pass. Bulls ball.

Play 47: Minimal contact. Bulls miss jumper from free throw line.

Play 48: Bulls foul. Pull starters. Game functionally over.

Summary. Final quarter of an elimination game involving the team with worst reputation for physicality in the era. Game was close (2 point difference with 8 minutes to play) and not one play stood out as being unusual compared to today's game, and many of the plays involved very little contact.

[Ainosterhaspie]

Was almost done going through every play from the 4th quarter of yesterday's Laker game then internet ate my post. I'm not doing all that again.

To summarize. How does it compare the fourth quarter of the 89 game?

Wolves are defending aggressively on many plays starting at or before half court with plenty of hand and body contact. Neither 89 teams was doing that.

Most of the action is on the perimeter for both teams. Much of it was similar to things that were happening in the 89 game, just farther from the basket.

An example is there were several Jordan postups where he was jostling for position before he received a pass. It wasn't all that heavy, but it was there. Same thing happened with Wolves Randle except instead of being near the elbow, it was at the three point line. The contact was similar, the location was different.

Both teams in 89 had most off ball players marking each other near the basket, while in the 25 game the same type of marking was happening but closer to the three point line.

Light handchecking was happening in both games, but I saw more of that and body contact on drives in the 25 game. Most of it was light in both cases, but the modern game had a couple more moderate contact drives that didn't draw fouls than the 89 game.

Seemed like there were a lot more whistles in the 99 game and more on minimal contact.

Screens in the modern game were much more aggressive. The 89 screens didn't have the blatant pushing of the defender I saw several times in the 25 game, and the ones in the 25 game weren't nearly as bad as some younsee in other games.

All in all, more physical on the perimeter today. Similar on the interior. Neither fourth quater had notable dirty plays or hard falls. Both were two good teams playing hard playoff basketball.

[MavsDirk41]

:banghead:
Was almost done going through every play from the 4th quarter of yesterday's Laker game then internet ate my post. I'm not doing all that again.

To summarize. How does it compare the fourth quarter of the 89 game?

Wolves are defending aggressively on many plays starting at or before half court with plenty of hand and body contact. Neither 89 teams was doing that.

Most of the action is on the perimeter for both teams. Much of it was similar to things that were happening in the 89 game, just farther from the basket.

An example is there were several Jordan postups where he was jostling for position before he received a pass. It wasn't all that heavy, but it was there. Same thing happened with Wolves Randle except instead of being near the elbow, it was at the three point line. The contact was similar, the location was different.

Both teams in 89 had most off ball players marking each other near the basket, while in the 25 game the same type of marking was happening but closer to the three point line.

Light handchecking was happening in both games, but I saw more of that and body contact on drives in the 25 game. Most of it was light in both cases, but the modern game had a couple more moderate contact drives that didn't draw fouls than the 89 game.

Seemed like there were a lot more whistles in the 99 game and more on minimal contact.

Screens in the modern game were much more aggressive. The 89 screens didn't have the blatant pushing of the defender I saw several times in the 25 game, and the ones in the 25 game weren't nearly as bad as some younsee in other games.

All in all, more physical on the perimeter today. Similar on the interior. Neither fourth quater had notable dirty plays or hard falls. Both were two good teams playing hard playoff basketball.

Watched Houston and GS last night so thats 7 playoff games plus the Mavs two play in games and im not seeing any extra physicality this postseaon. All in all, i could hand pick some nba postseason games from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s that would be just as physical as what i have been watching. Just say you are a fan of the modern nba its ok lol. You dont have to trash 30 years of basketball in the process.

[Ice Man]

You dont have to trash 30 years of basketball in the process.

Describing what happened on videos is not trashing history.

[Bergmaniac]

The "it used to be so much more physical" side is so terrified of old video, they immediately default to "cherry-picked" before even watching.

When are you gonna show proof that todays nba is more physical than 80, 90, and 00 nba? Is it gonna be this year that your gonna provide this? Just curious…

Ainosterhaspie has posted extensive commentary on several videos from games from different eras, that's way more than any of the nostalgic "NBA used to be way more physical" group of posters has ever done in these threads in my experience.

And no, saying that today's games are more physical isn't "trashing 30 years of basketball". Basketball can be great with less physicality, plus it's all relative, there was still plenty of physicality in other eras and some like 1997-2005 or so were much more physical than others, lumping everything between 1980 and 2010 together is just wrong, the game changed dramatically during this period.

[Ainosterhaspie]

The last thing I said in that last post was that both games had two good teams playing hard playoff basketball. No idea how that or the posts as a whole can be interpreted as trashing the era.

[dhsilv2]

:banghead:
Was almost done going through every play from the 4th quarter of yesterday's Laker game then internet ate my post. I'm not doing all that again.

To summarize. How does it compare the fourth quarter of the 89 game?

Wolves are defending aggressively on many plays starting at or before half court with plenty of hand and body contact. Neither 89 teams was doing that.

Most of the action is on the perimeter for both teams. Much of it was similar to things that were happening in the 89 game, just farther from the basket.

An example is there were several Jordan postups where he was jostling for position before he received a pass. It wasn't all that heavy, but it was there. Same thing happened with Wolves Randle except instead of being near the elbow, it was at the three point line. The contact was similar, the location was different.

Both teams in 89 had most off ball players marking each other near the basket, while in the 25 game the same type of marking was happening but closer to the three point line.

Light handchecking was happening in both games, but I saw more of that and body contact on drives in the 25 game. Most of it was light in both cases, but the modern game had a couple more moderate contact drives that didn't draw fouls than the 89 game.

Seemed like there were a lot more whistles in the 99 game and more on minimal contact.

Screens in the modern game were much more aggressive. The 89 screens didn't have the blatant pushing of the defender I saw several times in the 25 game, and the ones in the 25 game weren't nearly as bad as some younsee in other games.

All in all, more physical on the perimeter today. Similar on the interior. Neither fourth quater had notable dirty plays or hard falls. Both were two good teams playing hard playoff basketball.

Watched Houston and GS last night so thats 7 playoff games plus the Mavs two play in games and im not seeing any extra physicality this postseaon. All in all, i could hand pick some nba postseason games from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s that would be just as physical as what i have been watching. Just say you are a fan of the modern nba its ok lol. You dont have to trash 30 years of basketball in the process.

Just to be clear, your statement is that you see about the same amount of physicality today vs then?

[KP Duty]

Crazy watching Edward's repeatedly shove LeBron down the court. I'm like "I guess you can do that?!".

[MavsDirk41]

:banghead:
Was almost done going through every play from the 4th quarter of yesterday's Laker game then internet ate my post. I'm not doing all that again.

To summarize. How does it compare the fourth quarter of the 89 game?

Wolves are defending aggressively on many plays starting at or before half court with plenty of hand and body contact. Neither 89 teams was doing that.

Most of the action is on the perimeter for both teams. Much of it was similar to things that were happening in the 89 game, just farther from the basket.

An example is there were several Jordan postups where he was jostling for position before he received a pass. It wasn't all that heavy, but it was there. Same thing happened with Wolves Randle except instead of being near the elbow, it was at the three point line. The contact was similar, the location was different.

Both teams in 89 had most off ball players marking each other near the basket, while in the 25 game the same type of marking was happening but closer to the three point line.

Light handchecking was happening in both games, but I saw more of that and body contact on drives in the 25 game. Most of it was light in both cases, but the modern game had a couple more moderate contact drives that didn't draw fouls than the 89 game.

Seemed like there were a lot more whistles in the 99 game and more on minimal contact.

Screens in the modern game were much more aggressive. The 89 screens didn't have the blatant pushing of the defender I saw several times in the 25 game, and the ones in the 25 game weren't nearly as bad as some younsee in other games.

All in all, more physical on the perimeter today. Similar on the interior. Neither fourth quater had notable dirty plays or hard falls. Both were two good teams playing hard playoff basketball.

Watched Houston and GS last night so thats 7 playoff games plus the Mavs two play in games and im not seeing any extra physicality this postseaon. All in all, i could hand pick some nba postseason games from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s that would be just as physical as what i have been watching. Just say you are a fan of the modern nba its ok lol. You dont have to trash 30 years of basketball in the process.

Just to be clear, your statement is that you see about the same amount of physicality today vs then?

My point was i can find nba playoff games from past eras that were just as physical as what im watching on tv now. Give me 30 years of 80s, 90s, and 00s nba and ill find a player getting an elbow to the face, undercut going up for a rebound, and getting grabbed/held. Its playoff basketball lol! This isnt groundbreaking!

[Ice Man]

This is a useful video to watch. It shows Scottie Pippen's defense on Magic Johnson in the '91 Finals. Scottie's defensive technique for that matchup was regarded as unusually aggressive -- enough so that I still recall the complaints from Lakers fans, who thought that Scottie was getting away with fouls.

So, the issue for considering the physicality of today's game versus back in the past is whether you believe Scottie's defense would be whistled in the 2025 playoffs.

Watch on YouTube

[wco81]

Physicality comes down to what officiating allows players to do.

If they officiated like they did the first half of the 2023-24 season, when people were complaining about too many foul calls, players would be getting in foul trouble every game in these playoffs.

Look at the last play of game 4 of Knicks-Pistons. NBA admitted they blew the call. Was Guthrie blind? He saw the contact, didn't call it, just hoped it wouldn't be so obvious a foul.

NBA has instructed officials to let them play, though it's selective obviously.

They weren't going to call the last foul on the Lakers-Wolves game until Wolves challenged and there was clear evidence of Lebron hacking Ant on the wrist.

Wolves fortunate to have a challenge left but what if they didn't? Thing is, they miss calls all game long. So teams have to use challenges earlier in the game. Really they could give teams 4 challenges a game instead of 2 and there would still be many missed calls, simple things like which player last touched the ball which went out of bounds or blatant fouls which weren't called or called incorrectly.

It's clear now that they're not missing anything. They're calling fouls selectively, just a fraction of the fouls they could call but they didn't want the flow disrupted by too many instant replay reviews or players parading to the FT line.

Playoffs ratings are suppose to be higher so the officiating isn't going to change, until and unless big stars get hurt or bigger draws than the Pistons get screwed over. If that was the Lakers in that situation, you can bet Guthrie would have made that call, or any star player instead of THJ.

That's the problem, if they're being selective about which fouls to call, are they officiating evenly? Every fan other than fans of glamour teams like the Lakers absolutely do not believe that officiating is on the level. They've come to accept that superstars have different rules.

Lebron complained that that foul happens multiple times during a game and most of the time isn't called. Unfortunately for the Lakers, Wolves still had a challenge and that top-down camera angle was hard to ignore.

But imagine the controversy if the Wolves didn't have a challenge and Lakers win that game. Fans would have complained but the Lakers have the biggest fanbase so the NBA wasn't going to lose too many fans or see ratings go down. In fact, that would have tied the series at 2-2 and meant more games in the series featuring the Lakers instead of them potentially being eliminated early.

So expect this kind of officiating to continue and that means teams are going to be more physical. As long as they get away with it, they will grab and foul and you get tons of these games where teams struggle to score 100. OK if the ratings are good, the NBA and the TV networks are happy.

Only people upset are people who want to see good offense and want a level playing field, games officiated accurately.

[wco81]

This is a useful video to watch. It shows Scottie Pippen's defense on Magic Johnson in the '91 Finals. Scottie's defensive technique for that matchup was regarded as unusually aggressive -- enough so that I still recall the complaints from Lakers fans, who thought that Scottie was getting away with fouls.

So, the issue for considering the physicality of today's game versus back in the past is whether you believe Scottie's defense would be whistled in the 2025 playoffs.

Big factor in the Bulls dynasty is the favorable officiating. They got to play more physically than opponents. Bulls didn't have talented centers. So the Knicks were one of their biggest potential rivals with Ewing tearing it up in the playoffs, until the Knicks faced the Bulls.

Ewing often got into foul trouble while the Bulls centers got to bang aggressively. That was also true of players like Oakley or Barkley getting in foul trouble when they faced the Bulls.

People just accepted it, the Bulls were the glamor team but also, a precedent had been set with Bird and Magic, superstars will get advantage in the big games.

It was rationalized, the NBA was struggling and Stern decided that the league would boost superstars, competitive integrity be damned.

MJ was still the best performer but the rest of the Bulls got away with murder.

Now we see it with the Lakers (as we saw it during the Kobe-Shaq years, like how they beat up on rivals like the Kings in the playoffs -- still remember that one game, Scott Pollard got a foul called against him when Shaq elbowed him in the throat and Pollard couldn't even talk after the game), when you see good players but not stars like Reeves get sent to the FT line over 10 times with foul-baiting.

Also, when is the last time you saw Lebron foul out of any game, let alone a playoffs game? I don't think MJ or Pippen fouled out too often either, same for Shaq and Kobe, though they were very aggressive and physical players on both ends.

Not only do they not foul out, they rarely get in early foul trouble which would limit their minutes or make them play less aggressively in key playoffs games.

[Jamaaliver]

Anthony Edwards would have fit in well in the 90s and 2000s era.

Read on Twitter

[dhsilv2]

Watched Houston and GS last night so thats 7 playoff games plus the Mavs two play in games and im not seeing any extra physicality this postseaon. All in all, i could hand pick some nba postseason games from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s that would be just as physical as what i have been watching. Just say you are a fan of the modern nba its ok lol. You dont have to trash 30 years of basketball in the process.

Just to be clear, your statement is that you see about the same amount of physicality today vs then?

My point was i can find nba playoff games from past eras that were just as physical as what im watching on tv now. Give me 30 years of 80s, 90s, and 00s nba and ill find a player getting an elbow to the face, undercut going up for a rebound, and getting grabbed/held. Its playoff basketball lol! This isnt groundbreaking!

Sure, but isn't that the point of the thread? That there really isn't a difference?

The biggest differences are harsher calls on non basketball plays. Less calls in general. And a shift from more physicality inside to outside. I think the increase in movement shows we have more contact in general...but it seems open to interpretation if that makes it more or less physical.