Pete Newell Is Absolutely Correct about the NBA

There's a quote from the San Francisco Chronicle's article from Pete Newell's passing away yesterday, stating, "Players today have increased physical skills, but basketball skills have diminished, I resent the fact that many of them take the game for granted. It starts at the top, though. It's an overpriced, corporate-dominated business run by lawyers who have a bad product, and don't know how to fix it."

No words spoken were ever as true. Under David Stern's reign as commissioner, the fundamentals of basketball have all but been ignored. After the NBA lockout season of '98-'99 the league became more about the scores than the actual quality of the game.

Following the lockout some rule changes were made. Zone defenses were allowed, and the league put in the defensive three seconds, resulting in one free throw for the offensive team.

Again, it just goes back to what Newell said about the lack of basketball skills. Teams can hide their worst defenders when the team goes to zone defense, so in today's game there aren't many defensive stoppers that can take a player out of their game.

Recently the teams that have been the most exciting to watch are those that don't go far in the playoffs. These are the teams that like to push the ball up and down the court. One of those types of teams did manage to pull off one of the biggest upsets in postseason history—when the No. 8 seed took out the No. 1 seed. However, that was as far as the team got and they were bounced in the next round.

The teams that have won the NBA championships most recently were teams that emphasized defense and ran selectively. The reason is that teams that have won recently have had players that can defend the other team's best players one on one, forcing them to take bad shots and make turnovers, or forcing the team to rely on someone else.

David Stern was much more enthralled with the game becoming more offensively oriented, yet he pointedly ignored the saying that "Defense wins championships." There's a reason why the Celtics, Spurs, and Pistons have all won championships recently. The one key feature of these teams was their defensive ability. The only anomaly was when the Miami Heat won the title.

Now, onto the second point made by Newell. It's a fact that the NBA is dominated by corporations. Before LeBron James even played a single game in the NBA he signed a seven-year, $90 million contract with Nike.

Don't get me wrong, LeBron James is a great player. But, as related to the first part of Newell's quote, what happens when James' physical abilities aren't so great? What does he have to fall back on? James doesn't have a great mid-range game or outside jumper. He relies on his athleticism.

What happens when James suffers a serious injury and he is no longer able to rely on his athleticism to get him to the basket? He'll have to start relying more on a mid-range game or outside jumpers. His defense would be hindered as well because he relies on his athletic ability.

The great on the ball defenders have been lost. What is considered good defense now isn't even defense. Players now are just hoping to get into position to draw a charge and are shocked when they are called for a blocking foul because they weren't in position or they were inside the restricted circle at the time of contact.

A player possessing actual basketball skills is seen as boring. One such player is Tim Duncan. He's the type of player who can use his footwork to get into excellent position offensively or defensively, he can pass out of double teams, he uses the glass on jumpers, would rather make the safe play than the more exciting play, and is as steady as they come in regards to his game. He may be aging, but his skills haven't diminished one bit.

Another problem with the NBA is the owners. There are some who will hand out money like candy and others who care about making money rather than having a team that is competitive.

The first example of an NBA owner throwing out money to anyone is New York Knicks owner James Dolan. He doled out a five-year, $30 million contract to Jerome James, a player who's averaged 4.3 points per game and 3.1 rebounds per game. He also took on Stephon Marbury's contract from the Phoenix Suns as well as Anfernee Hardaway's contract.

Examples of owners who care only about saving money are Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, and Chris Cohan, owner of the Golden State Warriors. The Clippers themselves have been to the playoffs twice in 16 years. The Golden State Warriors have been to the playoffs twice in 14 years.

These teams have had a carousel of players, bad trades, poor coaches, etc. They've also lost some very good players as well.

The Warriors traded away or let go in free agency players such as Tim Hardaway, Chris Webber, Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, Latrell Sprewell, Chris Gatling, Larry Hughes, Jason Richardson, Mickael Pietrus, and Baron Davis.  

The Los Angeles Clippers have traded away or not signed from free agency such players as Danny Manning, Mark Jackson, Ron Harper, Dominique Wilkins, Lamond Murray, Malik Sealy, Brian Williams also known as (Bison Dele), Rodney Rogers, Brent Barry, Lamar Odom, Derek Anderson, Quentin Richardson, Chris Wilcox, Sam Cassell,  Bobby Simmons, Andre Miller,  Elton Brand, and Corey Maggette.  

What Newell didn't mention is the fact that there have been increasing amounts of players coming out earlier from college or high school. Most of them have been hit or miss in the NBA and need time to develop their games. David Stern did change the rule, requiring an athlete to play at least one year of college or be at least one year removed from graduating high school.

Now, there are players who may instead of going to college programs go overseas to play for a year. It's already happened to one prospect who spurned the Arizona Wildcats offer. His name is Brandon Jennings and he's now playing for a team in Italy.  

The solution to the problem is going to have to come with David Stern leaving his position as NBA commissioner. There's no way around the situation that he has created. Until Stern is gone we'll see the lack of defense in the NBA for years to come.

The NBA needs to start looking at developing a policy similar to the NFL's. This would mean that in order for a player to declare for the draft he would be required to complete at least three years of college, and only after his junior year would he be allowed to declare for the draft.

For one, it gives an incentive for college players to get a degree and go for the full four years. It allows them to develop their games so that they are better prepared for going pro. The NBDL hasn't really been around long enough to show that it would be beneficial for teams to draft players who come out early from college and be able to develop their talent.