I watch every regular season Blazer game. I watch every Blazer playoff game. But other than that, I find the league completely unwatchable. However, this time of year is must watch, listen, read etc. So a couple of question for everyone. 1. Am I alone in this? 2. If not, is this bad long term for the league, or is it great for the league?
That's the exact same thing here. Which drives my girlfriend crazy to see me staying up until 4 in the morning "if someting happens". I know it's stupid but I love the developements of the rumours and to see the news unfolds. Not just the result in the morning when waking up. I feel like I am missing something. The NBA is amazing to keep fans entertain 11 months a year. Right after draft there is the Free Agency - Summer League and then the training camp is right around the corner. September is a bit slow but the rest of the year is incredibly dense in term of news. And this is definitley great for the league.
I also thoroughly enjoy the trade deadline, but yeah, the draft/early free agency period is awesome. But I also really enjoy watching games still, even games that don't involve the Blazers, because I've learned to enjoy them for what they are rather than lament them for what I want them to be.
Relatively speaking I'm new to the NBA, I grew up playing and watching soccer as well as AFL (Australian Football League), and only got into following the NBA in the last 10 or so years. What I can say is that no one does this trade/free agency/draft period quite like the NBA. I can't pull myself away from Twitter, forums and the like. I'm obsessed and I don't even care.
1. Definitely not alone in this. 2. No, the league would like to keep our interest year around. Hope is the league's biggest seller - that is why parity is so important. Right now, Paul George is available for cheap. So, a fan's favorite team could trade for Paul George and sign Chris Paul if they had cap space - 40% of your team is now amazing. If they had any decent pieces, the team (take, for example the Tpups), they could vault from "the suck" to contender.
NBA is now a year long sport. I love it. I love how Silver is embracing the madness on Twitter and Woj leaking every single convo between teams only increases interest. Makes the teams' jobs tougher but great for fans.
It's my favorite part, followed immediately by my least favorite part. It's better now (since the league has changed into a year round thing), but as a kid and young adult, post draft was so god damn boring.
The days leading up the the NBA draft are awesome! Especially when there are lots of trades. The NBA draft is the best draft in major sports in my opinion, mainly because there are more trades that involve current players. There are lots of trades during the NFL draft, but they mainly are just swapping draft picks.
I love the offseason maneuverings in all sports, so the NBA included. But I also love watching the games--I feel that the quality of play has never been higher, defensive and offensive schemes are the most sophisticated they've ever been and the Spurs and Warriors have led the NBA into an era where beautiful ball movement is prized (even if every team can't pull it off). It doesn't currently matter to me that I know who's likely to win it all (barring injuries). I feel like I've been in that situation before with the NBA. But the last time it happened (with the Bulls) the league-wide style and quality of play was less exciting as the NBA was going through it's own neutral-zone trap/left-wing lock period.
I don't even follow NCAA but I concur that this time of year is among the most exciting/interesting. It's a sad commentary on what the league has become...or maybe it's a sad commentary on what's become of the Blazers.
Agreed, favorite time of the NBA year!! Some years, even better than the season!! I love wearing my GM hat and making imaginary deals to improve the team!!
I'm with you. As a rule I only watch Blazers games, when I can, and only watch small parts of other games if I'm bored, which isn't often. Usually I quickly lose interest. Other than my life-long Blazers fandom, the NBA has pretty much lost me, partly as a result of the really dark days of blatantly crooked NBA officiating. But I'm hooked on the Blazers, so I still hope. Now the super team thing makes the entire exercise of following an NBA season completely pointless, except in the context of extracting money from fans. It's sad. I love the off season and the draft and the trade speculation and all that. Despite what I wrote above. Always with the hope. I should get a shirt that says: "Hope is for suckers".
either this time of year, or the trade deadline are both exciting (league wise). i like those times a lot too.
I don't agree with you. I love the NBA as much as I love the Blazers. I will record and watch summer league games, preseason games. I watch 5 to 6 NBA games a night during the regular season. I don't watch a lick of baseball, hockey or NFL......Love me some NBA and college hoops though followed closely by college football.
Hope season. It fucking sucks that this is the most exciting time of year for a lot of us blazer fans, just waiting to see where we placed when the draft grades come out. Blazers A-? Yeah! Lakers C+? Fuck yeah!
Right now I am on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. Tomorrow night my family will go to the show after dinner and I have already cleared it with the bartender at the sports bar to make sure they show the draft. I guess that says enough about what I think about this time of the year. And the fact that I'm on S2 while floating around the middle of the ocean.
