Why is Scoring up in the League???

[montej1695]

Seeing the Atlanta Hawks score 146 points inspired this thread so im curious to what everyone thinks.

There are 14 teams in the nba currently averaging 100+ pts. Does that seem odd to anyone else???

I know the last few years scoring has been up, but 14 teams?? Really???

I remember back in the day when 3 or 4 teams scored over 100 and it was a defensive oriented game... now last few years at least 11/12 temas have been scoring over 100...

Is it just that players dont feel the need to D up anymore??? Better players???

[nadeau01_johnson48]

It's the style of offense some of these teams run now. Bottom line.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Back in 2001, I was on a forum where a guy claimed that today's players were far too athletic to ever give up 100 PPG regularly again, basically correlating good defense with superior athleticism. I said athleticism had very little to do with the lower scoring numbers back then, but since he fancied himself a Renaissance Man who had insight into everything, he was certain I was off-base.

Well, I'm sure no one thinks today's players are any less athletic than they were eight years ago, so I'd say Jeremy's reasoning makes more sense: up-tempo offenses are now the rage. The anti-handchecking stance referees started to take a few years ago has also helped: players are getting to the line more, and more free throws means more easy points.

[avstars]

The Knicks average over 100 pts per game. Too bad they give up more in return.

[whalechaser]

The high scoring is a product of David Stern. The defense of modern era (Lebron/Kobe) is watered down by rules such as no handchecking, no contact, defensive 3 seconds (can't anchor down in the paint). David Stern wanted this style of play because it allows for players who are not as talented to score. If you go back 15-20 years (Jordan era), people with less talent had a really hard time scoring, the game was slowed down and locked down, only people such as Jordan were able to really score. Look at this video below you can see how in the older era, if someone drives in the lane they get bodies on them and physical contact is made versus the modern era where the defenders just moves away from the ball handler to avoid contact while still trying to play defense. (in the newer videos you also see A LOT more people just standing to the side and watching the driver dunk or layout versus attacking the driver with contact like in the 90's)

This video compares people driving to the rim in different eras.


Also people say that oh now (Kobe/Lebron era) defense is harder because you can do zone or you can double the player off the ball. Jordan era defense saw as much zone as Kobe.



yeah so weaker defense = higher scoring game = more exciting dunks faster pace = more fans = more money for David Stern.

(And because of the defense difference, I really think it's ridiculous when people claim that Kobe is a greater scorer than MJ, citing Kobe's 81 point game)

[cgb_orl]

Thanks whalechaser. My answer was simply David Stern, but you nailed it and then some. The guy has worked the rules so much (even moving the 3pt line at one point) it's a mystery why we put any value in statistics.

[Italy61587]

The scores aren't astronomically higher......if you got back into the late 70s the scores even higher than what they are now.......as for the videos, i don't think it's fair to show how much more physical the game was by showing a bunch of Jordan drives against the Knicks LOL

[whalechaser]

The scores aren't astronomically higher......if you got back into the late 70s the scores even higher than what they are now.......

Have you seen the 70's games? Defense from the 50's, 60's, 70's were pretty miserable and weak. Defense mainly relied on one man either the tallest guy or the strongest guy. There were no defensive schemes or team defense. The games can be like a run-a-thon where it's just fast break after fast break, it's like the whole league were the Suns of today's world. I mean the guys played defense, but focus was more on scoring and the defense was just not as intense even by today's standards.

I think defense started to develop and became more important during Kareem's era when he won the championship with Milwaukee with some good defense.

as for the videos, i don't think it's fair to show how much more physical the game was by showing a bunch of Jordan drives against the Knicks LOL

He wasn't only driving at the knicks or pistons, it was pretty much every team in the NBA. People couldn't stop him unless they made contact, much like how people could not stop Lebron in the modern era. It was just to compare how there was much more contact in the defense when driving to the rim versus today (if you look at the kobe & lebron drives, much less contact). You can feel free to look up highlights of other players of the 90's and compare them to the highlights of other players of recent years, you can see there is more contact.

[garnett_21]

It's a combonation of less defense being played than in the 80s/90s, more fastbreaks, and more fouls being called. The majority of fans don't want to watch a great defensive game - they'd rather see a high-scoring offensive game.

[Jay520]

Wow!! Good thread. In my opinion it is because of what Phoenix started 5 years ago with the uptempo style. Everyone liked watching a fast paced game and a few teams implemented it into their style of play. Next thing you know Stern see's dollar signs and now almost everyone except for a few teams have plays or systems for uptempo play. Therefore less defense when you have a fast style of play. I like a defensive game every now and then but fastbreak is fun to watch! In Jordan's era defense was considered the way to win a championship. Today it still is but more fast paced play is now the norm. Like Charles and Kenny from TNT say no team with Phoenix's style of play will win a championship because they have no defense! Maybe this year a team will prove them wrong!!! Just my thoughts on the topic!!