Thanks for acknowledging that, and that's the bigger issue. You can say you've watched pro basketball since you were 5 years old. But with all due respect, you were incapable of seeing the product for what it was until the last ten years or so. How do I know that? Because I was a kid once. You don't really know what the NBA used to be except by reading or watching old videos. That's the biggest reason why you're enamored with the current version.
...I don't care about the motivation of the players, their salaries, their egos...
So, you're saying that nothing off the field of play affects how you see the game? Does that extend to U of L? If one of our coaches or players shows himself off the court, is that OK with you? If not, why does the NBA get a free pass? It shouldn't.
...The competitive fire...
I think someone must have hijacked your computer for a second here... A league that itself admits that most of the players cruise through three-fourths of the regular season games has "competitive fire"? Either you were hijacked or trying to crack a joke. C'mon, let's have an intelligent debate.
...That's a pig that's looks better than it has for the last 15 years. I'm okay with that, even knowing it isn't what it used to be...
I think Blackberries and vinyl records are selling better than they have for awhile. Are you switching over? That's why I say you're putting lipstick on a pig. You're trying to find any reason at all to look at the NBA positively. You're acknowledging stuff I agree with, but you're so forgiving because it's the NBA. Makes no sense unless you treat everything else in life that way.
...How did you respond to UofL basketball recovering after Pitino took over? Did you see it as lipstick on a pig, compared to the 80's? Or were you excited to just see a winning product back on the floor? What about after Strong took over the football program? Was it a pig because he didn't pick up right where Petrino left off?...
Not sure I understand those analogies... U of L had excelled in both of those sports prior to hiring great coaches and attempting comebacks, which we did successfully. I don't blame the NBA for TRYING to improve. I blame it for failing in large part, for having a fundamentally flawed product, and for not taking the right steps to address that. Strong and Pitino were precisely the right steps. Poor analogies.
...And the root of your argument shows it's ugly head again. You're trying to tell me what I think, despite everything I have written. You're just not reading, or you're just not comprehending because you don't care what I have to say. There are 2 parts to communication. Talking and listening. You are very good at one of those, but the other seems non-existent on a message board level...
We just don't agree, and we each refuse to give up the debate. I think you're way to dismissive of the warts on the NBA, warts that you see yourself. That really makes no sense to me. If I see enough warts on anything, I bark "WARTS!"
...It's sounding like Towns is #1 and it's a done deal. I strongly agree with that pick too. Looking beyond the motives of D'Angelo Russell, he is an insanely talented basketball player. I doubt he has his life goals figured out at the age of 18, but I'm guessing he's going to continue to grow mentally, just like the rest of us. As a basketball player, his talent is undeniable. There's no way he should go outside the top 5.
Sorry, but I'm not really interested in talking about the NBA Draft--I can see that you are. I just use recent news or speculation about it to bolster my viewpoints. There's no better indicator of the quality--maybe the future quality--of something than to analyze its feeder system, how it is supplied, how things and people brought into it are valued. By just looking at the NBA Draft over multiple years, I could probably tell what I needed to know about the NBA itself. That was my only point...
