There’s been a lot of chatter lately about the NBA declining ratings. I blame you guys for just reading this and not watching. Slackers. Honestly, I’ve watched less too. But it’s not a crisis for the league. Here’s my take.
- League Pass: There’s no need to watch TNT games, or ESPN, you just watch whatever game you want on the League Pass. And yes, you can find any game you want on certain places that I won’t talk about.
- Style of Play: They don’t run plays anymore. It’s pick and roll, and three guys standing outside the three point line. Like, it seems like coaching is minimized.
- Fantasy basketball, of course, is unaffected by this. We just want the numbers. This is just a commentary. So what affects fantasy the most that’s also reasons people don’t watch?
- Rest days: This tanking thing really kills your fantasy vibe. You either have to roll with the insane amount of missed games, picking up streamers daily, or just live with it. I mean, could you imagine if your job had a participation policy? Like, you need to show up 82 days for work, that’s it. It just seems like the players could do more to get out there. They’re not entitled to this job; they have to keep it. Just showing up would help fans and fantasy owners.
Anyway, just some thoughts. Here’s the notes:
Bulls: Zach LaVine sat out (back tightness, Bulls trying to trade) and Josh Giddey is set to miss some time. Giddey hurt the same ankle that he hurt in the summer, which in the business of basketball we call a bad thing. Patrick Williams would benefit in minutes but he’s on his own minutes limit. Just leave this alone. Ayo Dosunmu will get all the minutes he can handle, probably for the rest of the season. Coby White has been banged up and not replicated last season with more defensive attention on him. So Ayo is cool, the rest of the frontcourt just avoid for now.
Pistons: Ausar Thompson is up to 25 minutes so fire that one up. Jaden Ivey missed this with a knee thing, probably be managed, but it was a surprise thing so we just don’t know. Malik Beasley hit 41 minutes in the overtime. Maybe Ivey just doesn’t want to work extra or something? Isaiah Stewart took a nasty fall and didn’t return after seven minutes. Jalen Duren owners, rejoice!
Sixers: Jared McCain is out for a long time with a torn up knee. Joel Embiid has a fractured orbital. Andre Drummond is healthy so there’s the Embiid replacement. McCain’s minutes was filled by Eric Gordon, for some reason, but hey, I’m not the coach.
Kings: Keegan Murry sat out this one out with an ankle that seems minor. Doug McDermott, AKA McBuckets, was the fill in.
Magic: Wow, they need an oblique specialist. With Franz Wagner joining Paolo Banchero and myself in the no sit up club, their rotation has opened up. Tristan Da Silva hit 32 minutes, Mo Wagner 26, and Anthony Black 20. Paolo is shooting again at least and is hoping to be back by January.
Hornets: Brandon Miller left last night with a leg injury, which figures as LaMelo Ball just returned from his injury. It’s an ankle for Miller, looks like a couple weeks. Tre Mann would be nice to have, but he’s still out a couple more weeks. Miles Bridges is now back. Mark Williams started, but was limited to 17 minutes with that pesky limit. Josh Green might be useful in his 30 minutes played, especially with more opportunity with Miller going down. What a snakebit organization, amiright? Hornets have been extra stung by injuries.
