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game changers with a capital "g"

C

citygriz

Well-known member
just watched an old celtics-lakers playoff game from the 80's, back when kareem and jack nicholson still had some hair, and before larry riley slicked his back. i got to thinking about the people who've changed the game, the way hank lusetti changed it with the jump shot, or any number of black players took the game above the rim. watching that playoff game from yesteryear, even though it was a short 20 years ago, i noticed several things:
1. defense--back then it amounted largely to a scowl and a feeble last-minute lunge to get a hand in the face of the shooter. i started to count the number of uncontested shots within the three-point arc, but quit counting at 20. of the players on that court 20 years ago, only dennis johnson of the celtics played up to today's defensive standards.
2. the wiry if not scrawny physiques of those players. why, today's players would blow them away. i once asked nate thurmond, who runs a rib joint down here, how he'd stack up at his old playing weight against shaq today, and he said, "no way!"
3. the absence of international players. can you imagine a championship game today without a tony parker, pau gasol, dirk nowitizki, tim duncan, steve nash, yao ming, or any number of other international stars?
4. the absence of the crossover dribble as a major offensive weapon.

so i asked myself, who came up with these changes? who's the guy that showed that weight training was good for basketball players? who came up with all these new and improved defensive schemes? who was the first major scout or executive to take a chance on international players? who perfected the cross-over dribble (timmy hardaway?)

then i asked myself, what if montana had been the first with any of these game-changers? just think of the advantage that would have afforded us for a couple of season before everybody else caught up.

so: what will be the changes over the next twenty years? and why can't they originate in montana?
 
citygriz said:
just watched an old celtics-lakers playoff game from the 80's, back when kareem and jack nicholson still had some hair, and before larry riley slicked his back. i got to thinking about the people who've changed the game, the way hank lusetti changed it with the jump shot, or any number of players took the game above the rim. watching that playoff game from yesteryear, even though it was a short 20 years ago, i noticed several things:
1. defense--back then it amounted largely to a scowl and a feeble last-minute lunge to get a hand in the face of the shooter. i started to count the number of uncontested shots within the three-point arc, but quit counting at 20. of the players on that court 20 years ago, only dennis johnson of the celtics played up to today's defensive standards.
2. the wiry if not scrawny physiques of those players. why, today's players would blow them away. i once asked nate thurmond, who runs a rib joint down here, how he'd stack up at his old playing weight against shaq today, and he said, "no way!"
3. the absence of international players. can you imagine a championship game today without a tony parker, pau gasol, dirk nowitizki, tim duncan, steve nash, yao ming, or any number of other international stars?
4. the absence of the crossover dribble as a major offensive weapon.

so i asked myself, who came up with these changes? who's the guy that showed that weight training was good for basketball players? who came up with all these new and improved defensive schemes? who was the first major scout or executive to take a chance on international players? who perfected the cross-over dribble (timmy hardaway?)

then i asked myself, what if montana had been the first with any of these game-changers? just think of the advantage that would have afforded us for a couple of season before everybody else caught up.

so: what will be the changes over the next twenty years? and why can't they originate in montana?
Click to expand...
There, I fixed it for you. Now you are right on!
 
I feel basketball has evolved to the point where it is near impossible to come up with someone or something that is game changing. Defenses, what other is there? Man, Zone, match up, traps, press, and variations of each. Offensively, I am not sure I want to see much more change, just expand on the emphasis of ball movement and unselfishness. The only thing that can be done is widen the lanes in American basketball.

Here are a few things that a team may do to begin a trend, but I don't see these things happening. (1) An all small lineup, no bigs. The closest we get to that now is the 3 guard lineup. An all small lineup would never fly beyond the collegiate level and be successful. (2) An all 7' foot line up. This has more potential due to more bigs being athletic these days. However, those bigs are going pro, we may see it in the NBA but not college, at least for a prolonged period. Once again matchups would not permit it. The closest the GRIZ can come to this would be Taylor, McGillis, Hasquet, Selvig, and Qvale on the court at one time and be competitive.

I do think the GRIZ were somewhat part of game changing trend, the do it all PG. MR Richardson belongs in the group of Robertson, Magic, and Kidd in that regard how that position could change the game. The difference being those guys withstood time and temptations. Nobody argues MR's talents, and most definitely would have been a 1st ballot HOFer had he been able to keep his life clean. Nonetheless he was a rarity in this game. To this date every program/team looks for this kind of player. These players are few and far between. Todays, these kind of players play SF or SG for the most part. Jordan in his day, Kobe, Pierce, McGrady, Garnett, and insert your star here.

Richardson played almost 3 decades ago yet comes up time and time again on EGRIZ as for the player he was. Richardson was the Greatest GRIZ basketball of all time. Anyone that knows Pro basketball will compare him to the all time greats. Everytime though, there will be "BUT" thrown in there when mentioning him. I was very young when Richardson was a GRIZ, but remember reading every clipping on him as a GRIZ and in the NBA. Hell I rooted for the Knicks and Nets just because of him. To this date, I cannot stand either franchise.

We had that game changing player, lets never forget that. :thumb:
 
Oh the good old day's!

Remember basketball was orginally invented, as a non-contact sport. It took 100 year, Chuck Dailey and Pat Riley, to to turn the NBA into what it is today.
 
Mslacat said:
Oh the good old day's!

Remember basketball was orginally invented, as a non-contact sport. It took 100 year, Chuck Dailey and Pat Riley, to to turn the NBA into what it is today.
Click to expand...


Do you mean unwatchable Mslacat?
 
i just can't believe the game is done evolving, mtgrizrule, even if i can't think what the next evolution might be. two ideas...

... the desperation heave. did you see kevin love of u.c.l.a. throw in full-court, two-hands bombs during warmups to the final four? he made a low percentage but he was on target with almost every shot. i think in the future we'll see teams practise these last-second shots more, and build them into the playbook as makeable shots rather than desperation heaves.

...fuller use of the bench. if a player is good enough to make a pro or college roster, he's good enough to play, period. don nelson is a great innovative coach in many ways, but by not playing his bench, especially his rookies, his team ran out of gas down the stretch this year. the two teams that made the finals, the celtics and lakers, both used their benches extensively, and you might say the celtics won because of superior contributions from powe, perkins and posey. i know this is pro ball but i believe the same is true of college, where you not only risk key injuries but to win a conference tournament a team must play on three consecutive nights. i'd make sure each kid on my team had a role, knew that role, and i'd play him every game. i think don nelson learned his lesson this year. i don't think you'll see eight or nine man rotations any more.
 
Over the next 20 years the international players (and style of play) will continue to have more influence. Teams that play team basketball will win championships, while the teams that focus on their superstar ball-hogs will watch the championship games on TV. Come to think of it, maybe Bob Cousy shorts will come back in style, too.
 
AllWeatherFan said:
Over the next 20 years the international players (and style of play) will continue to have more influence. Teams that play team basketball will win championships, while the teams that focus on their superstar ball-hogs will watch the championship games on TV. Come to think of it, maybe Bob Cousy shorts will come back in style, too.
Click to expand...

yesterday's fashion is today's joke, but today's fashion is tomorrow's joke. and don't forget: today is tomorrow's yesterday.
 
AllWeatherFan said:
Over the next 20 years the international players (and style of play) will continue to have more influence. Teams that play team basketball will win championships, while the teams that focus on their superstar ball-hogs will watch the championship games on TV. Come to think of it, maybe Bob Cousy shorts will come back in style, too.
Click to expand...
Sooo, flopping will eventually become the new traveling.
 
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