Merry Dunkmas
December 25, 2014 4:10 AM Subscribe

There will be several NBA games on TV this Christmas day. But they just don't make the basketball like they used to, do they? Perhaps you would be more interested in that Old Timey Basketball instead. For that we have the NBA On Youtube Google Doc.

posted by Potomac Avenue (31 comments total) 27 users marked this as a favorite

I think the NBA should have throwback games , where the teams wear the uniforms from the 60's and 70's, short-shorts and all. Bonus points for Darnell Hillman-worthy 'fros.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:03 AM on December 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Make sure to watch the Payton games first.
posted by One Hand Slowclapping at 5:23 AM on December 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

You have just solved The Great Sports Dought which begins each June. Bless you.
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:51 AM on December 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

I really hope you used some sort of link-generator to make this post.

Now I can go back and confirm/deny that the Bulls received a shot clock reset against the Pacers when they didn't hit the rim and went on to win the game by just a point or two. I vaguely remember being mad about that ~20 years ago.
posted by michaelh at 5:56 AM on December 25, 2014

I think the NBA should have throwback games , where the teams wear the uniforms from the 60's and 70's, short-shorts

Nooo!
posted by Room 641-A at 6:10 AM on December 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

I really hope you used some sort of link-generator to make this post

Nah, I was up all night assembling this fudging thing in the basement of course.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:11 AM on December 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

Well, I appreciate it!
posted by michaelh at 6:26 AM on December 25, 2014

Wow, I haven't even been able to keep up with this season, and I'm a warriors fan (since I'm in the bay now and no self respecting Seattleite can root for the thunder). Thanks PA.
posted by lkc at 6:34 AM on December 25, 2014

I want to see Duncan win one more if only to see him smile, once. A lot of people would pick Kobe for his slashing style in the key and his odd strength in outside shots but if I still played pick-up games I would pick Duncan first because he is so efficient and selfless.

Also I would be remiss here if I didn't include a link to Paul Silas, Dennis Johnson of later Celtics fame who had the flattest shot in the history of basketball, the nearly unblockable Jack Sikma [he was really tall and shot from behind his head] , Downtown Freddy Brown [who I once saw live hang 30 on Portland before there was a three point shot] and Gus "The Wizard" Williams winning the revenge championship against Washington in 1979. Seattle won after a pitched battle.
posted by vapidave at 6:50 AM on December 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Thorzdad, the Lakers actually did that a couple years ago, without consulting the players. The players were very, very unhappy with it, especially the short shorts, and it's not likely to happen again.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:20 AM on December 25, 2014

I'll be watching the 1970 and '73 NBA stuff because being a Knicks-obsessed kid in late-60s/early-70s NY turned out to be a particularly potent kind of curse; i.e., 40+ years without a ring is a looong time. Watching the Ewing-era Knicks was like watching epic tragedy, and before and since then was and has been a whole lot of Laurel & Hardy, and I and those like me are sustained (probably unhealthily so) by memories of Clyde and Willis and DeBusschere and Cazzie and Dollar Bill and Dick Barnett and Jerry Lucas and Earl the Pearl. Thanks for this; best Christmas present of the year.
posted by Lyme Drop at 7:25 AM on December 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

This is so much wonderful! I'd love it if some of y'all chipped in with which games are (relatively) high quality, in terms of both the game and the video.
posted by antonymous at 7:37 AM on December 25, 2014

This dataset has allowed me to answer an important question: when did basketball shorts get so ridiculously huge?

Answer is mid nineties, with a peak in 2001.
posted by overhauser at 7:51 AM on December 25, 2014

And, uh, while a commendable, even exhaustive list, the egregious lack of the 2009 Bulls-Celtics series, in particular, Game 6, with Noah's amazing steal and dunk, capped by Rose's outstanding block of Rondo's* fadeaway jumper is nothing short of the beauty of basketball as a sport. That whole series, 7 games, something like two regular overtime games, a double overtime, and game 6, a triple overtime game was amazing. Rose in his rookie year, Noah finally starting to show his true potential, Brad Miller dazzling the league with his array of full-speed-but-it-looks-like-slow-motion cuts to the basket.

The only thing even close since Jordan left town? The 2013 series between a the Bulls and Nets, starring Nate Robinson. Most fans were skeptical when he was signed but he made himself a legend in his only year with the Bulls. After all, when you score 23 points in the fourth quarter, and seal the game in overtime, people remember you.

* as a Bulls fan: fuck Rondo
posted by Ghidorah at 7:52 AM on December 25, 2014 [4 favorites]

Overhauser, the first real mainstreaming of the big shorts was University of Michigan and the Fab Five (Webber, Rose, Howard, and... Jackson? And the other guy?). It caught on pretty quickly from there, and I'm pretty grateful for it. I had to wear those awful short shorts for gym class in junior high. Tight fitting shorts aren't ideal. Loose shorts, much easier to move in.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:55 AM on December 25, 2014

Many of the 70s ones (search for Walt) are filmed on film and look pretty good in a flashback way. All the 80s-90s ones look pretty bad on a big screen unfortunately.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:14 AM on December 25, 2014

What's old is new, and basketball shorts are getting shorter again.
posted by gnutron at 8:21 AM on December 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

I was trying to find a video for the Rose block, but only just found it. It's pretty damn amazing.

Also, I miss those "Where Amazing Happens" commercials.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:23 AM on December 25, 2014

Dear fans of basketball: if you're not watching the Golden State Warriors this year, you're doing it wrong. The most fun, exhilarating team I've seen in ages. There are times when Steph Curry, when he gets hot, makes me giggle with simple delight. But the whole team plays with a real joy, it's so great.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 8:46 AM on December 25, 2014

I agree except they can't ever win. I can't remember the last time a fun team won a championship. Fun =/= winning.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:49 AM on December 25, 2014

Actually the 11 Mavericks were kinda fun. Aside from their best player.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:56 AM on December 25, 2014

Yeah I hope it's a Warriors/Grizzlies conference final. Light vs anti-light (in a good way).
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 9:09 AM on December 25, 2014

That Rose block on Rondo screwed with Rondo's head for a half-decade. He is the opposite of clutch.

As a Celtics fan, I am glad he is gone.
posted by andreaazure at 9:25 AM on December 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

#ripcity
posted by gucci mane at 9:48 AM on December 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

I remember the 1995 Suns/Rockets game 7 as one of the most intense and, as a fan of Charles Barkley, most disappointing losses. Even as a condensed game, the intensity comes through, and the offense looks downright weird compared to the modern drive-and-kick game. It seems that every possession ends with a contested mid-range jumper or shot in the paint.

And the Suns played Joe Kleine and Danny Schayes against Hakeem! And they let them both shoot!

I'll catch up on some classic Pistons games later. I miss them being competent.
posted by Turkey Glue at 10:38 AM on December 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

First commenter to find the hour minute second tic mark to a: "Any Unauthorized Use of This Broadcast is Strictly Prohibited" sounder should win a prize.
posted by bukvich at 10:43 AM on December 25, 2014

Needs far more '83 Sixers. Little Mo, Big Mo, The Doctor, Andrew Toney and Iavaroni. Fo' Fo' Fo'. Funnest team ever.
posted by N-stoff at 11:59 AM on December 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

Clap your hands... everybody...
posted by tonycpsu at 12:51 PM on December 25, 2014

(So good to watch clips from the pre-Tankadelphia era.)
posted by tonycpsu at 12:52 PM on December 25, 2014

Is that all y' got! Cmon!

(searching in closet for old shorts)
posted by dragonsi55 at 2:28 PM on December 25, 2014

I want to see Duncan win one more if only to see him smile, once.

My favorite celebration moment from 2014: A very happy Tim Duncan jumps into David Robinson's arms after winning game 5.
posted by rouftop at 8:50 PM on December 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

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December 25, 2014 4:10 AM Subscribe

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