Random thoughts...

scottmitchell74 wrote:Where is this? Couldn't find it.

Sorry, forgot to mention it. Here it is.

Baby #3 due mid-July!  I'm hoping for a boy this time; I'm already quite outnumbered as it is haha.

Congrats Kerrick…that’s great news!

Thanks dude!

^^^

Congrats!!!! We LOVE our four kids, and if I hadn't had health issues we'd probably had 1 or 2 more. All the best!

This evening, I had the privilege of venerating the Kursk Root icon.

I miss the NBA of the 90s when players were actually allowed to play defense.

I don't watch the NBA anymore, hardly any fundamentals anymore. Give me college ball.

Preach!

The NBA now is just traveling, flopping, and 3 point shots.

Ok, so I know this is controversial. (And for pure excitement, I agree that college is more entertaining, especially this weekend.)

NBA is WAY better as a product today than it ever has been. Growing up in the 80's as a Celtics fan, the old Celtics vs Lakers and all that went with that was amazing and is never coming back like it was -- the continuity year in year out with the same players on the same teams and the way that built on itself is probably gone forever, or has at least changed (players changing teams is interesting in it's own right and creates different story lines and carreer arcs, but it's different).

I agree that the flopping is ridiculous and frustrating. I loved a few years back when they started fining players for it, I'm not sure why that went away. No argument on that point.

But the game now has so much more movement and space then it used to, largely thanks to the stronger emphasis on 3's and the virtual elimination of illegal defense. 3's, or even better drive and kick 3's, or the greater spacing allowed in the pick and roll going to the hoop, along with not allowing as much physicality on defense make half-court offense WAY more open and free-flowing and entertaining IMO. Who would rather watch Tim Duncan fight his man for position, take an entry pass, pivot and shoot? Who would rather watch Kobe hold the ball on the wing and move everybody else to the other side of the court to go one on one while 8 players stand on the other side to avoid illegal defense? Who would rather watch Patrick Ewing bang, bang, bang, bang, back down his defender with sheer force and repitition to create a 5 foot baby hook? Give me shot making and space to drive inside created by the threat of that same shot making all day, every day.

Travelling has been ridiculous, and still needs to get better, but Dumars has made that and carrying real points of emphasis this year, the players did nothing but complain for the first month of the season if anybody remembers. 

There are more things I'd love to see changed/tweaked. Watching a 7 game series with the Bucks last year, there has to be some better way to officiate Giannis so that he isn't rewarded for just crashing into guys repeatedly, specifically that series I remember thinking about how it wasn't even basketball anymore, it was something that I didn't recognize, but that's one unique player/instance. On the whole, I think the game's better than it's ever been, and the talent is WAY better than it's ever been. The world has never seen a Steph Curry before Steph Curry. He's a villain, but Kyrie has to be the greatest ball handler in history. The popularity in Europe has given us the spectacular passing of guys like Jokic and Luka, the G-League has given high-upside but underdeveloped players a place to develop rather than either sit and rot or get thrown in way before they're ready. 

This weekend's about college for sure. But for my money. . . the NBA. It's faaaaaantastic!

I'll take Duncan and Kobe any day. The running up and down and not being allowed to play defense is goofy imo. It's a different game and I guess some like it but there's a reason they're losing audience.

Black Rider wrote:I'll take Duncan and Kobe any day. The running up and down and not being allowed to play defense is goofy imo. It's a different game and I guess some like it but there's a reason they're losing audience.

Me too, or rather give me Bird-Magic-Jordan. It was never better.

The emphasis on 3s and the lack of D kills me.

I suppose some people really might prefer the old wrestling matches to the modern displays of skill and athleticism. I mean, I suppose some people watch actual wrestling. Or golf, or curling, or cars driving fast. For most people, I suspect that preferring 80's/90's NBA has a lot more to do with nostalgia then the product, and that if people watched enough old ball vs new ball for the nostalgia to wear off, they'd agree that modern is more fun to watch (not that I think this would be a good use of anybody's time). But, maybe you're the people who really would rather watch Oakley and Malone push each other around than miraculously skilled athletic marvels.

But for now, I'll graciously just get off of y'all's lawns.




(FUN! This is meant in good nature and FUN!!!)

I mean, is it that impressive if you're 7 ft tall and can run down the court carrying the ball and dunk and shoot unopposed—and then flop if someone comes near? 

Imagine a guy like Bird in today's game, it'd be a picnic. And shooting percentage isn't really up, it's that teams take way more threes. It's boring.

PostSubject: Re: Random Ramblings Random Ramblings - Page 40 I_icon_minitimeYesterday at 19:35 Select/Unselect multi-quote Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
Christians need to build their faith foundations by studying the Word of God for themselves. You can read books and watch YouTube videos all you want, but too many people are taking the word of other people as truth. If your Bible expertise comes from watching YouTube videos mostly, then your faith is not in Christ but in manmade doctrines created to get more clicks and more $$$.

Black Rider wrote:I don't watch the NBA anymore, hardly any fundamentals anymore. Give me college ball.

It's my favourite sport to my play, and my least favourite to watch. For all the reasons listed already.

Black Rider wrote:Imagine a guy like Bird in today's game, it'd be a picnic. And shooting percentage isn't really up, it's that teams take way more threes. It's boring.

! 

Go down the Bird, Magic and MJ youtube rabbit hole and then tell me these people aren't athletic.  

MJ is one of the most athletic athletes ever across all sports.  

Dr J not athletic?
Karl Malone?
Wilt Chamberlain? He's one of Earth's greatest athletes ever.
The Admiral?
Hakeem?
Clyde the Glide?
Pippen?


It's not nostalgia: those guys were utter ballers.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Black Rider wrote:Imagine a guy like Bird in today's game, it'd be a picnic. And shooting percentage isn't really up, it's that teams take way more threes. It's boring.

! 

Go down the Bird, Magic and MJ youtube rabbit hole and then tell me these people aren't athletic.  

MJ is one of the most athletic athletes ever across all sports.  

Dr J not athletic?
Karl Malone?
Wilt Chamberlain? He's one of Earth's greatest athletes ever.
The Admiral?
Hakeem?
Clyde the Glide?
Pippen?


It's not nostalgia: those guys were utter ballers.

Is this directed at me?

I don't have to go down the youtube rabbit hole, I'm old like you and was there (not Wilt old, but pretty old).

I didn't tell you that Dr. J wasn't athletic, that would be such a stupid argument that it shouldn't even be answered. I didn't say that Robinson wasn't an incredible player, that would also not be worthy of a reply. I happily and obviously agree with your points that there have been outstanding and athletic players through the history of the league. I guess I DO think it's odd that you mention Bird and Magic as athletic, where they really both were successful much, much more on stunning levels of skill and awareness/bbIQ than athleticism, but that's not really a point worth aruguing. 

Bird's my all time favorite player, for what it's worth.

(I also never said shooting percentages are up? Who are you guys arguing with?)

For my part, I was arguing with Kerrick. He didn’t say anything, but I figured someone should argue with him anyway lest the power go to his head.

Go sports!

I let my church in the Netherlands know that I'm reconsidering our membership because they are allowing women as elders and deacons. Somehow I feel terrible.

Andreas89 wrote:I let my church in the Netherlands know that I'm reconsidering our membership because they are allowing women as elders and deacons. Somehow I feel terrible.

I understand how you feel. I was in the same place not long ago. I did not quit, but when we voted on the new bylaws allowing it, I openly vote against it as one of the few members of our congregation. It certainly didn't feel great. However, this is not about being popular, but about being true to the Scriptures.

Andreas89 wrote:I let my church in the Netherlands know that I'm reconsidering our membership because they are allowing women as elders and deacons. Somehow I feel terrible.

That stinks. Sorry you’re dealing with it. Personally, I’m fine with women deacons biblically, but not women elders.

It stinks indeed. Since we're living 600 kilometers away I always kept my distance when this topic was discussed in church, and I was kinda hoping that we'd get back to the Netherlands and find a more biblical church before we'd arrive at this point. It's a mixture of me genuinely not wanting to make a big stink out of it and genuinely caring for the people there and, I hate to admit it, a good dose of cowardice. But today there was a vote and there were five vacancies for elders and only four men available. So I felt I had to inform our designated church elder (who is a few years younger than I am) of our stance in this.

By the way, we're still members there because things are extremely slim pickings in Eastern Germany when it comes to churches. We went to a church plant for a few years but those guys said "the Bible isn't really clear enough to follow" just one too many times.