basketball

[bishop05]

i was wondering if anyone watches basketball , im looking to start watching wondered where the best place to start is , i enjoy watching but never got into it.....

[jgaugust]

Basketball is a tough sport to pick up if you've never watched it. Being an American, I'm probably most fluent with this sport than any other.

In terms of where to start watching it, my best advice is to pick a team and then just start following as many games of theirs as possible. Currently, the best teams in the NBA are the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, San Antonio Spurs, and Houston Rockets. The best players in the league right now are Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, LeBron James of the Cavaliers, Dwight Howard of the Magic, Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets and Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat. Historically, the Celtics have the most championships with 17 and the Lakers are second with 14. They played a ton of NBA Finals back in the 1980s to create lots of bad blood between the fans (I am from LA, so I hate the Celtics and love the Lakers).

In reality, you also might just want to try watching as many games online as possible of any and all teams and then pick one that you like and just follow them and the league. I got into Arsenal because of a friend who is close with AW, but that is obviously a special circumstance. Games usually are broadcast on weeknights at 7 PM for the East Coast clubs, and they can begin around noon or 1 PM EST on weekends or major US holidays (making it easier for you all across the pond to watch).

Best of luck. If I were you, I would become a Laker fan.

[bishop05]

thanks for all this means alot , am i able to pick it up would you say , it feels weird being english wanting to watch nba , i just find it a very interesting sport. i could do with learning the rules of it all firs

[jgaugust]

It's a very fast moving paced sport with a lot of weird technical rules. It's not like football which really has very few rules outside of penalties, yellow card, red card, goal kick, corner. Basketball has a lot of different kinds of fouls, tons of different stats (points, assists, rebounds, blocks, steals, turnovers, fouls), and a variety of other minor rules.

It's actually a great sport in my opinion because it's high scoring, tons of action, and very crowd interactive. Unlike in football where players don't care how they score a goal as long as they simply score, in basketball, players do try and produce highlight reel material such as crazy slam dunks, passes or blocks. If you want to see what I mean, just search on YouTube for Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, or Chris Paul and you'll see some amazing stuff. It really is a wonder what these guys would do on a pitch instead of the hardwood.

As for the rules, scoring is self explanatory. Every shot on the court is worth two points if it is inside the big arcs on each side of the floor, 3 points if it is outside, and 1 point if it is a free throw (top of the rectangle after a foul with no one guarding you). Fouls are either offensive or defensive, with far more defensive fouls being called (essentially it is when you impede the offensive player's progress, but there are times when the defender has the right of way).

If you watch a game, you'll pick up a lot of the rules in reality because the announcers do a decent job of explaining the plays on the court. Justin.tv typically has all the games on it streaming, so you can watch there. Lots of people in Asia and the European continent like the sport, so they broadcast.

I'd be more than happy to explain the rules in more detail if you all want.

[Libertine]

Is it still very popular amongst the younger generation these days?

Seems not very long ago that the local parks were full of kids wearing Bulls shirts playing basketball but i rarely see many now.

[jgaugust]

Libertine, are you referring to the youth in America? If so, then absolutely yes. It is probably the most popular sport for people under 21 in the United States, with American Football taking the 21+ demographic.

As for the Bulls shirts, that makes sense because of Michael Jordan in the 1990s. Today, people wear Yao Ming, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James shirts as they are the most popular players in the game today.

It's also not surprising that there aren't that many people wearing shirts these days as NBA clothing has become extremely expensive, even more so than football kits. There also isn't necessarily a world transcending star like Michael Jordan, but Kobe, Yao, and LeBron do come close.

[jgaugust]

Damn right the Lakers are a lovely team. Best team in the NBA.

Jayant, you a Warriors or Kings fan if you're from Fremont?

[jgaugust]

Ah, well done. Quality team to follow. Glad to have you following the purple and gold.

Where did you do your masters at in LA?

[StLGooner]

The one frustrating thing about basketball is if the game is close and its in the final minute, that final minute could take about 40 minutes with all the time outs, tv breaks, foul shots, then another time out, then another tv break, then more foul shots.

[Andreys_Does_Simples]

I went to a Clippers game with the Mrs when we was over there last year. Quite exciting it is really fast paced, didn't really get all the rules and that but don't think I'd ever sit and watch it on TV though.

Also she said that the Lakers are the manure of basketball so f**k them!

[jgaugust]

ChVint, yeah, agreed. I work at CBS during the NCAA Tournament doing stats, so all the timeouts are insane.

Ades, as for whether or not we're the Manure of the NBA, I think it's up for debate. We don't have the highest payroll of the teams (that's the NY Knicks), but we are probably the most successful with the players that we buy and we give out solid contracts for our players. The Knicks are just a joke of a franchise at this point. As for the Clippers, I am sorry you had to watch that travesty of a basketball team. I see the Lakers as similar to Arsenal in that we are not the most historic club with championships (we're 2nd), but we play a tremendously beautiful style of the game with players who are very athletic and are known for their high quality finishing and passing abilities.

[StLGooner]

I went to a Clippers game with the Mrs when we was over there last year. Quite exciting it is really fast paced, didn't really get all the rules and that but don't think I'd ever sit and watch it on TV though.

Also she said that the Lakers are the manure of basketball so f**k them!

The Lakers are the easy team to pick if you're a new fan, its just like yanks that start supporting European football picking the Mancs or Real Madrid, or if someone from England started supporting baseball and picked the Yankees.

You are right though, basketball is much better live, I've been to a Lakers game and a Memphis Grizzlies game and both were good, but I hardly ever watch it on TV, unless its college tournament time, then I cheer for Mizzou.

[Andreys_Does_Simples]

ChVint, yeah, agreed. I work at CBS during the NCAA Tournament doing stats, so all the timeouts are insane.

Ades, as for whether or not we're the Manure of the NBA, I think it's up for debate. We don't have the highest payroll of the teams (that's the NY Knicks), but we are probably the most successful with the players that we buy and we give out solid contracts for our players. The Knicks are just a joke of a franchise at this point. As for the Clippers, I am sorry you had to watch that travesty of a basketball team. I see the Lakers as similar to Arsenal in that we are not the most historic club with championships (we're 2nd), but we play a tremendously beautiful style of the game with players who are very athletic and are known for their high quality finishing and passing abilities.

Mate I really don't have a clue about them but according to her they're the team all the glory hunters play for and go celeb spotting at. When I went tho the Clippers beat the Lakers and they're her team so I had no choice in who to support really

Yeah ChVint, I tried watching it on tv when we got home but it was just well I couldn't watch it and I think thats what she ment about most people choosing them to support, they're just the big team everyone seems to know. Bit like when everyone had Bulls shirts cos of Jordan.

[jgaugust]

Ah, well done. Quality team to follow. Glad to have you following the purple and gold.

Where did you do your masters at in LA?

I went to University of Southern California mate.

That's a shame. Should have gone to the good one across town (Go Bruins!). Just joking.

What did you study there?

[Libertine]

Libertine, are you referring to the youth in America?

No, sorry mate i was referring to the British youngsters.

It doesn't seem as popular in this country as it was say 15 years ago.