The NBA . . . . . gone and forgotten

[Cowperson]

The results of a study conducted by the polling firm Poll Position present an alarming picture of widespread fan apathy towards whether or not the two sides can resolve their differences and return to the hardcourt.

When asked if they were longing for basketball to resume play, 76% of voters said they were not, while merely 12% claimed to miss the game.

The remaining 12% of respondents did not have an opinion on the issue.

“I think it is pretty reliable that three-quarters of Americans have made it pretty clear that they are not missing the NBA season up to this point,” said Larry Register, content manager at Poll Position. “I think what it says is that American people are kind of fed up with this millionaire-versus-billionaire mentality, when things are pretty tight for everybody.”

The telephone survey, conducted on Nov. 6, posed the question to 1,179 registered voters across the United States.

In addition to showing overwhelming numbers that point to widespread disinterest in the work stoppage, there were daunting disparities within the league’s key demographics as well.

Those aged 30-44 were found to care the least, with 83% claiming not to miss NBA basketball, compared to 7% who said they did.

Younger fans appeared significantly antsier for the two sides to come to terms, with 29% of the 18-29-age bracket saying they are in fact missing the games, which were originally scheduled to begin Nov. 1.

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2011/...labour-strife/

Uh, oh. Interesting results. Sort of Major League Baseball in 1995 results.

The maximum pressure point in negotiations will be the point where they have to call an entire season which I assume would be roughly mid-February. Given the dispute is about a percentage split of revenues, a poll like this pressures both sides.

Cowperson

[Cheese]

Roundball needs a complete makeover.
I suggest they start by going back to uniforms of the past.
Like these:

[Resolute 14]

Would be interesting to compare to any such study for the NHL in 2004.

[burn_baby_burn]

The NBA has always had a problem, with the exception of the Bird vs Magic era and the Micheal Jordan era (which overlapped significantly). The rules suck and make for a very boring game. I would rather watch Jr high girls play than watch an NBA game. (I'm not exaggerating in the least).

[troutman]

National Basketball Association Nielsen ratings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...ielsen_ratings

Despite the problems in the early-to-mid-2000s, the NBA's regular season ratings average was (and is) on par with Major League Baseball's, and ratings for the finals continue to outdraw competing events that occur during the same month, golf's U.S. Open and the Stanley Cup Finals.

Since 2007, NBA ratings have steadily risen, thanks to the resurgence of nationally recognized NBA teams, their star power, and their annual presence in the NBA Finals. The 2010 Finals, Game 7, had the best rating for a basketball game in the modern NBA on ABC era, and the 2011 Finals held steady in the ratings department as well. Both series drew over a 10 rating, beating the World Series in consecutive years for the first time ever.

However despite the declining TV ratings in the early 2000's and moderate ratings after, NBA's television audience is often younger, and thus very attractive to advertisers

[troutman]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

The NBA has always had a problem, with the exception of the Bird vs Magic era and the Micheal Jordan era (which overlapped significantly). The rules suck and make for a very boring game. I would rather watch Jr high girls play than watch an NBA game. (I'm not exaggerating in the least).

My issue with the NBA game, is it is not as much of a "team game" as the other sports. Five or six players get almost all of the minutes on some teams.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by troutman

National Basketball Association Nielsen ratings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...ielsen_ratings

Despite the problems in the early-to-mid-2000s, the NBA's regular season ratings average was (and is) on par with Major League Baseball's, and ratings for the finals continue to outdraw competing events that occur during the same month, golf's U.S. Open and the Stanley Cup Finals.

Since 2007, NBA ratings have steadily risen, thanks to the resurgence of nationally recognized NBA teams, their star power, and their annual presence in the NBA Finals. The 2010 Finals, Game 7, had the best rating for a basketball game in the modern NBA on ABC era, and the 2011 Finals held steady in the ratings department as well. Both series drew over a 10 rating, beating the World Series in consecutive years for the first time ever.

However despite the declining TV ratings in the early 2000's and moderate ratings after, NBA's television audience is often younger, and thus very attractive to advertisers

I think the NBA has made some serious errors in how they've positioned themselves over the last decade; in a superstar-centric marketing model, they can create a lot of buzz about certain players, teams, and games - the games that are on national TV. But at the same time, attendance has declined in many traditionally strong markets. Places like Indiana and Detroit, places with lots of basketball history and average teams. They're basically told by the NBA that their market doesn't matter because it doesn't have stars.
If you can't get people out to those arenas except when Miami or LA are in town, something's really wrong with your fan relationship. People are always going to watch the NBA on TV. Getting people to come out to games again is going to be a lot tougher, especially if a season is wiped out. I agree that it's going to be more like the backlash to MLB in the mid 1990s.

[Stay Golden]

The players need to locked out for the entire season. The owners should just keep them locked out until they come around. Reality check.

[Joborule]

NBA should change the rules like NHL did when it came back.

Get rid of all the bloody timeouts for one. No way should the final 5 minutes take a half hour to complete. Brutal.

NCAA Ball > NBA

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Joborule

NBA should change the rules like NHL did when it came back.

Get rid of all the bloody timeouts for one. No way should the final 5 minutes take a half hour to complete. Brutal.

NCAA Ball > NBA

NCAA is worse for time-outs than the NBA.

I agree the time-out should be greatly reduced. Work out plays in practice, not on my time.

[corporatejay]

I'd be curious to see what that poll says in February after the NFL season and to some lesser extent college football season is over.

In reality, the NFL is the biggest of big dogs and every else is left fighting for scraps. Once the NFL is in its offseason people will start looking for something to fill the void.

[alan21]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

The NBA has always had a problem, with the exception of the Bird vs Magic era and the Micheal Jordan era (which overlapped significantly). The rules suck and make for a very boring game. I would rather watch Jr high girls play than watch an NBA game. (I'm not exaggerating in the least).

AGREED!!!

[Traditional_Ale]

What's the NBA?

[valo403]

Originally Posted by troutman

NCAA is worse for time-outs than the NBA.

I agree the time-out should be greatly reduced. Work out plays in practice, not on my time.

No it's not.

NBA teams get 6 full length timeouts (which vary in length depending on TV from 60 to 100 seconds) plus one 20 second in each half. NCAA varies depending on the broadcast setup, but if you're watching it on TV the teams are only getting 4 30 second timeouts and one 60 second timeout per game. There are additional mandated commercial timeouts, but it's pretty safe to say those aren't going anywhere.

[valo403]

It's very telling that even in NYC I haven't heard much in the way of griping about the NBA not being around. This is supposed to be a basketball mecca and people really don't seem all that upset. It'll be interesting to see if that's still the case in a month or two, it would only be a week into the season now so maybe people will start to get restless later.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Joborule

NBA should change the rules like NHL did when it came back.

Get rid of all the bloody timeouts for one. No way should the final 5 minutes take a half hour to complete. Brutal.

NCAA Ball > NBA

Agreed - Here is what they should do:

No time outs in the last 3 minutes of the game.
No Subs in the last 3 minutes of the game.
Any intentional fouls = 1 free throw + keep possession during the last 3 minutes.
Shot clock = 18 seconds for the final 3 minutes.

Basically, you get exciting finishes to games, and a losing team has a real chance to come back if they make their shots (and not to mention can do it in very entertaining fashion) instead of this lame foul parade.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by valo403

No it's not.

NBA teams get 6 full length timeouts (which vary in length depending on TV from 60 to 100 seconds) plus one 20 second in each half. NCAA varies depending on the broadcast setup, but if you're watching it on TV the teams are only getting 4 30 second timeouts and one 60 second timeout per game. There are additional mandated commercial timeouts, but it's pretty safe to say those aren't going anywhere.

I expected I might be wrong on the numbers. Somehow it seems worse when watching NCAA - probably my impressions are skewed by March Madness, when advertisements are ramped up. NCAA seems far more "coached" than NBA. I realize this may not make sense, but the end of an NCAA game can be glacial.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Agreed - Here is what they should do:

No time outs in the last 3 minutes of the game.
No Subs in the last 3 minutes of the game.
Any intentional fouls = 1 free throw + keep possession during the last 3 minutes.
Shot clock = 18 seconds for the final 3 minutes.

Basically, you get exciting finishes to games, and a losing team has a real chance to come back if they make their shots (and not to mention can do it in very entertaining fashion) instead of this lame foul parade.

I'm not a fan of any of those ideas, but the no subs one in particular is ridiculous. Would you rather watch gassed players or guys with energy? What happens if you pick up a 4th foul? What about a 5th?

Also your intentional foul rule pretty much means teams will have a much more difficult time coming back, not the increased chance you've made it out to be.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Agreed - Here is what they should do:

No time outs in the last 3 minutes of the game.
No Subs in the last 3 minutes of the game.
Any intentional fouls = 1 free throw + keep possession during the last 3 minutes.
Shot clock = 18 seconds for the final 3 minutes.

Basically, you get exciting finishes to games, and a losing team has a real chance to come back if they make their shots (and not to mention can do it in very entertaining fashion) instead of this lame foul parade.

I'd revise that to be one time out per team in the final two minutes, and/or 2 timeouts in the last three minutes.

Subs don't take much time, refs just need to make sure they happen quickly.

Intentional fouls already mean free throws + possession, so I don't know what you are changing there.

Changing the shot clock length probably doesn't affect the length of the end game very much.

[CaramonLS]

Intentional fouls mean 2 Free throws, not free throws + possession right now, or just possession if you have fouls to give.

To clarify, No Subs - sure, if someone fouls out, then yes, don't make them play with 4. But no Subs as in switching out players for the most part.

But to the person who thinks they will be too tired? Whatever. They can play 3 straight minutes of basketball without any big problems.

I actually think this will increase the likelyhood of comebacks. Instead of a team playing a possession game for 24 seconds, the 18 second rule makes them shoot it faster. It pretty much ensures that a team will get 5 possessions trying to make a comeback in the final 3 minutes. The fouls will decrease the amount of guaranteed points that on the board making it possible for bigger swings.