Ryan Wilson: The NBA Gets It The NBA Gets It

Right on the money, RW.
Ive said countless times the NHL would love to have every team finish 0-0-82 and have a serious of televised coin flips determine who makes the playoffs.

They've done this for years, forcing Lemieux and those who came after him to skate with low skill players trying to waterski off them as they skate down the ice. All with the tired mantra of "let the players decide the game". Ironically, that cant occur when you refuse to allow the players to display their skill sets!!!!

Congrats to Cleveland. I can't stand LeBron and havent watched the NBA since Jordan retired, but Pittsburghers remember: it could very easily be us with the long championship drought. Great Cleveland can finally enjoy that and a bonus that it doesnt come at the expense of a Pittsburgh team/fan base. Save your vitriol for Philadelphia and Baltimore...

The "flaming stick" celebration goes against most sports code, see Bautista's bat flip and TO's Star celebration against Dallas. It's not just an NHL thing it's called crossing the line of sportsmanship and it's low class.

The NHL will never be as big as the NBA, NFL, or MLB. Aside from the mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and the Northern mid US (Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan), no one cares about hockey. And it has nothing to do with marketing, it's that people just don't want to care. They all know who Wayne Gretzky was, and I'm sure a lot of them have heard of that Crosby guy, but they don't want to watch hockey, that silly Canadian game where a bunch of guys with hard to pronounce last names skate around on the ice with a bunch of circles and lines and hit a puck back and forth.

The "casual hockey fan" does not exist. Sure, the Olympics and SCF will get more viewers than a mid-February Panthers/Blue Jackets game, but you can not grow fans out of people who just don't wish to be interested. The NHL, short of paying people to watch, is not marketable like the other 3.

I get the argument but the NBA does it way too much (see continuation penalty and the inane amount of floppery that has penetrated the league since the 90s). There is a happy ground between what the NHL does and what the NBA does where a game can be called fairly AND be conducive to skill play. I don't think either the NHL or the NBA get it right when it comes to in-game reffing.

The NBA should be a more popular league than the NHL to begin with. Basketball costs near nothing to play, so kids from low income households (aka most Americans) can grow up with basketball. So I don't think that you can say that the NBA finals had 10X the viewership as the SCF and say that they deliver a better product. I honestly don't think their product is that good. The league has zero parity and the refs do everything in their power to make it even more so that way. What is the case is that the NBA has more fans due to demographic issues, and as you said is leagues better at marketing itself.

Bang onl bro.Why Kelly Kisio ? Why should I care what Kisio thinks and why does he have to actually think he knows what he is talking about ? The guy is clueless .

Right on the money, RW.
Ive said countless times the NHL would love to have every team finish 0-0-82 and have a serious of televised coin flips determine who makes the playoffs.

They've done this for years, forcing Lemieux and those who came after him to skate with low skill players trying to waterski off them as they skate down the ice. All with the tired mantra of "let the players decide the game". Ironically, that cant occur when you refuse to allow the players to display their skill sets!!!!

Congrats to Cleveland. I can't stand LeBron and havent watched the NBA since Jordan retired, but Pittsburghers remember: it could very easily be us with the long championship drought. Great Cleveland can finally enjoy that and a bonus that it doesnt come at the expense of a Pittsburgh team/fan base. Save your vitriol for Philadelphia and Baltimore...
- Amanion

(frank) Cleveland.

Ryan, look back to 1994 for some perspective. The cover of SI had the NHL is not while the NBA is not. The strike removed a lot of the gains made by the NHL, which was coming off a Game 7 in the finals won by the Rangers, an Original Six team. the league has never recovered.

The NBA removed the "thug" roots that was pervasive at the time, finally opening the game and allowing the stats to shine. In the past, it was slog basketball with 1:1 isolations and physical play. The league started or went back to embracing the stars and allowing them to do what they do best without worry of clotheslines or hip checks on the way to the hoop.

I wish the NHL would grow in popularity, but attempts to reel in the casual fan - for example, the glowing puck on FOX - was met by disdain from the hard core fans. The history is great and what also keeps hockey players grounded, since one player was never viewed as being above the team. Look back at the comments after Gordie Howe passed away for proof of this. I wish it would change to a certain extent, I just don't foresee it happening.

I get the argument but the NBA does it way too much (see continuation penalty and the inane amount of floppery that has penetrated the league since the 90s). There is a happy ground between what the NHL does and what the NBA does where a game can be called fairly AND be conducive to skill play. I don't think either the NHL or the NBA get it right when it comes to in-game reffing.

The NBA should be a more popular league than the NHL to begin with. Basketball costs near nothing to play, so kids from low income households (aka most Americans) can grow up with basketball. So I don't think that you can say that the NBA finals had 10X the viewership as the SCF and say that they deliver a better product. I honestly don't think their product is that good. The league has zero parity and the refs do everything in their power to make it even more so that way. What is the case is that the NBA has more fans due to demographic issues, and as you said is leagues better at marketing itself.
- Victoro311

I think the fact that SportsCenter has become "The Dunk Highlight and Tom Brady Show" helps them as well.

I am not a fan of the NBA whatsoever. I feel like Ive already spent too much time on the subject.

I am not a fan of the NBA whatsoever. I feel like Ive already spent too much time on the subject.
- all-pgh

What, you don't like dunk, dunk, dunk, posterized dunk, missed free throw shot, dunk, dunk, layup, posterized dunk, dunk?

Ryan Wilson: The NBA Gets It
The NBA Gets It
- Ryan_Wilson

I have not watched basketball for years because it's awful. We tuned in to the game last night and it was as suspected awful. Refs are horrible. Very biased towards Cleveland. I still hate that travelling basically doesn't exist in the NBA anymore. There could have been about 1000 travelling calls. It's a fundamental rule of the game that has been distorted so "skill" could be shown. Sorry but you can show skill without travelling every play.

Both teams sucked. Awful shot selection. Throwing up bricks from all sorts of horrible angles. I just confirmed what I've known for a long time. The NBA sucks. I won't be watching again anytime soon.

I am not a fan of the NBA whatsoever. I feel like Ive already spent too much time on the subject.
- all-pgh

This.

I have not watched basketball for years because it's awful. We tuned in to the game last night and it was as suspected awful. Refs are horrible. Very biased towards Cleveland. I still hate that travelling basically doesn't exist in the NBA anymore. There could have been about 1000 travelling calls. It's a fundamental rule of the game that has been distorted so "skill" could be shown. Sorry but you can show skill without travelling every play.

Both teams sucked. Awful shot selection. Throwing up bricks from all sorts of horrible angles. I just confirmed what I've known for a long time. The NBA sucks. I won't be watching again anytime soon.
- Iggysbff

I tuned in for about 12 seconds last night, chuckled, and flipped back to Wedding Crashers.

The "flaming stick" celebration goes against most sports code, see Bautista's bat flip and TO's Star celebration against Dallas. It's not just an NHL thing it's called crossing the line of sportsmanship and it's low class.
- dragonoffrost

Don't celebrate what you are paid to do, you might hurt someones feelings!

Damn straight, every word.

- The NHL, without a doubt, will never be more than the 4th biggest sport in the US market (logistics = ice, culture = hockey doesn't have as big a sociocultural history as the other major sports)

- Some people used to say to me that the NHL isn't as popular because they don't the same outspoken, vibrant personalities as NFL, NBA BUT I DISAGREE for the same reasons you mentioned. The league cracks down on nonconformity and the "fun" element.

- The NBA, NFL seem to do a better job marketing individual player rivalries much better than the NHL


- Even in NY, I could go days without hearing/seeing something about the Rangers, but I couldn't go a day without hearing about who the Jets are planning to sign or when OTAs are. Ditto for Pittsburgh.

- Financially, the league is in better shape than before (if we turn a blind eye to franchises annually bleeding chips) but a better job has to be done to encouraging player individualism

I get the argument but the NBA does it way too much (see continuation penalty and the inane amount of floppery that has penetrated the league since the 90s). There is a happy ground between what the NHL does and what the NBA does where a game can be called fairly AND be conducive to skill play. I don't think either the NHL or the NBA get it right when it comes to in-game reffing.

The NBA should be a more popular league than the NHL to begin with. Basketball costs near nothing to play, so kids from low income households (aka most Americans) can grow up with basketball. So I don't think that you can say that the NBA finals had 10X the viewership as the SCF and say that they deliver a better product. I honestly don't think their product is that good. The league has zero parity and the refs do everything in their power to make it even more so that way. What is the case is that the NBA has more fans due to demographic issues, and as you said is leagues better at marketing itself.
- Victoro311

The parity I agree with, no one is watching the Timberwolves play the Jazz but the NBA does do a great job of highlighting superstars and the best teams win, with all the 2-1 games in the NHL with game winning goals bouncing in off skates, quite often the best team doesn't win. The Sharks and Lightning clearly had no business going 6/7 games with Pens.

The NHL attempts to highlight superstars but keeps coming up with ways to take scoring out of the game. I think the NHL made a lot of progress coming off the lockout when penalties were actually called and allowed for a slightly more open style of play, but we're basically reverting back to the late 90s

Don't celebrate what you are paid to do, you might hurt someones feelings!
- ImThatGuy

It's not about hurting feelings, it's about doing what you're paid for.

Best example: linebacker stops a running back for a 2-yeard gain on 3rd and 5. He gets up pounding his chest and making hand gestures proclaiming his superiority. Dude, YOU GET PAID TO DO THAT, AND MORE THAN THAT, YOU SHOULDN'T LET HIM GET ANY YARDS.

My dad is 60 years old and works outside as a tree surgeon every day in the blistering heat and in the dead of winter. Should he do a dance every time he puts a log into the wood chipper when it's 102 degrees outside?

I have not watched basketball for years because it's awful. We tuned in to the game last night and it was as suspected awful. Refs are horrible. Very biased towards Cleveland. I still hate that travelling basically doesn't exist in the NBA anymore. There could have been about 1000 travelling calls. It's a fundamental rule of the game that has been distorted so "skill" could be shown. Sorry but you can show skill without travelling every play.

Both teams sucked. Awful shot selection. Throwing up bricks from all sorts of horrible angles. I just confirmed what I've known for a long time. The NBA sucks. I won't be watching again anytime soon.
- Iggysbff

in order:
- You obviously did not watch the GS - OKC series if you think the refs don't favor GS
- Maybe you don't understand the definition of travel. Sure it happens sometimes, but most of the time the refs catch it. (Lebron was called at least 3-4 times the last two games on it)
- I guess you haven't seen much of GS. Throwing up unusual shots has been the splash bros. forte. Nothing new. Its just great defense by Cleveland. If you recall games 3,4, they set records for finals scoring. A lot of finals have had way less scoring
- Good. Doesn't seem you understand the game anyway

The NBA is all about fantasy. Every back yard hoopster dreams of being Lebron James, or beating him. Without the big star though, ratings drop. It was like when every amateur golfer fantasized of being Tiger Woods until he went to crap and tons stopped watching. But the actual product stinks. That why the conversation around the NBA is always greatest all time rankings. Where does Lebron rank. Before him it was where does Kobe rank. It's never talking about present rivalries or teams versus teams because the present is full of boring games after boring games. Last nights game was compelling so the talking heads will completely ignore the rest of the bore that was this series, the playoffs, and the irrelevant regular season.

Hockey has a lot of issues but following the NBA's lead isn't the answer.

The NHL will never be as big as the NBA, NFL, or MLB. Aside from the mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and the Northern mid US (Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan), no one cares about hockey. And it has nothing to do with marketing, it's that people just don't want to care. They all know who Wayne Gretzky was, and I'm sure a lot of them have heard of that Crosby guy, but they don't want to watch hockey, that silly Canadian game where a bunch of guys with hard to pronounce last names skate around on the ice with a bunch of circles and lines and hit a puck back and forth.

The "casual hockey fan" does not exist. Sure, the Olympics and SCF will get more viewers than a mid-February Panthers/Blue Jackets game, but you can not grow fans out of people who just don't wish to be interested. The NHL, short of paying people to watch, is not marketable like the other 3.
- jmatchett383

I couldn't careless about the NBA, just like there are some NBA fans (or NFL, MLB) that feel the same about the NHL. Just how it is I suppose. I think the NHL is doing a good job trying to expand the fanbase. Look at the upcoming #1 draft pick this year Auston Matthews, he's from Arizona. I think had the NHL not expanded into Arizona/Texas/San Jose kids like these wouldn't be playing hockey.

Busy week ahead. Over under on trades before draft?

Going 4

How could you watch basketball when GOT was "Battle of the Bastards"? The most satisfying episode of that series yet!!!!

Playoff ratings will always be a disaster in Canada whenever you have a season and playoffs where Canadian teams do not contend. Hard core hockey fans remain to watch the hockey. But all your casual fans that come out for the playoffs will disappear.

It's not about hurting feelings, it's about doing what you're paid for.

Best example: linebacker stops a running back for a 2-yeard gain on 3rd and 5. He gets up pounding his chest and making hand gestures proclaiming his superiority. Dude, YOU GET PAID TO DO THAT, AND MORE THAN THAT, YOU SHOULDN'T LET HIM GET ANY YARDS.

My dad is 60 years old and works outside as a tree surgeon every day in the blistering heat and in the dead of winter. Should he do a dance every time he puts a log into the wood chipper when it's 102 degrees outside?
- jmatchett383

Should he every time? Probably not. But once in a while would be nice. I would actully love to see that. lol