The Ever-changing NBA | Suite101.com

In the good old days , defence won ballgames. Hard nose and unrelenting. Today , the National Basketball Association seems to think that they need more fans, and that a more offensive game will bring them back. First, they moved the 3-point line in and replaced hand-checking with the forearm. The latter was a positive move, with the cross-over being implemented more frequently with more people driving towards the basket. The former, well, that is a different matter altogether. With the 3-point line moved in, more players were shooting from there. Players that would never have thought about it before. Which didn't give much credibility to the players which made their bread and butter from shooting from beyond the arc. And now they have decided to move they 3-point line back , and remove using the forearm as well. That, combined with the softness of the fouls , has really slowed up the game of basketball and counteracted the powers at be's intention of making it a quicker, smoother flowing game.

The All-Star Weekend has changed, for the worse. The highlight of All-Star Saturday has been reduced to a publicity stunt. A merger of the NBA and the WNBA. What I mean by that, is they have taken out the Dunk Contest, with hardly any notice to the fans at all, and replaced it with something that sounds like some people shooting around. The NBA-WNBA 2-Ball game has replaced what has been a delight to watch over the years. A showcase of the best dunkers in the league, the great finishers, the ones who can raise the intensity of a ballgame in the blink of an eye. The NBA's excuse for replacing the Dunk Contest is that the big names weren't participating like the good old days. Back in the good old days, the best players were the flashy players. The ones like Mike, Dominique, and Dr J. The NBA says that they weren't getting the crowds that they used to. To me, the stadium looked full last All-Star Saturday. Look at some of the players that participated last year- Chris Carr, Darvin Ham, Michael Finley, and Kobe Bryant. Sure they aren't the players that Mike and Dr J are, but they are incredibly entertaining. They have more hops and showcase talent then some players shooting the ball from certain areas on the court. That's what the 3-point shootout is for. The powers at be say that the big names don't participate in the Dunk Contest. Who have they got in the 2-Ball game? Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone and Glen Rice. When it is broken down , the All-Star Weekend has turned into a commercial tool for the NBA, and now the WNBA. What happened to the weekend being for the fans?