3 point shots / Flagrant fouls / rebounding

[<hartleyo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Just thought that I would opine about NBA basketball.

I finally have come to the realization that you cannot win over the good teams
with 3 point shooting. You must be able to play a half court game with the
good teams or you will lose consistently against almost all of the good teams.
The 3 point shot is ruining what was at one time a great game. Almost all
young players who believe they are shooters, just want to run up the court and
shoot 3's. I for one hate this new style. At one time the 3  was like a
dagger, a nail in the coffin. Remember Larry! Great players  took them only
when it was time to put a knife in the heart of the opponent. I would love to
see the 3 point shots  count only in the last 2 minutes of each quarter. In
this way teams definitely would have to go to the basket more and it would
make for a more exciting game. To me there is nothing exciting about players
hanging around the 23 foot line waiting to line up a 3 pointer. Boring!

This craziness of calling flagrant fouls is nuts. They have turned this game
into the WNBA instead of the NBA. These are men whose average weight is about
250 LBS and their height is an average of "6"7 and they are being turned in to
Pussies.  I  love the  tradition that the Celts, Knicks, Pistons and even the
Sixers of the 80's lived by. NO LAYUPS ALLOWED. You come down my lane you end
up on your Ass. Pat Riley is right. The way you win in this league is
hard-nosed, strong defensive half court Basketball. It is not hard to  tell
the difference between  a player who is trying to hurt someone and just good
solid hard foul. Christ if a guy ends up on the floor it's called a flagrant.
You foul a guy, you have to hold him up, so he shouldn't fall to the floor.
What kind of crap is this.

Celtics have no rebounders, zero, zip, nada. Our best rebounder hangs around
the 3 point line. Battie is nice little player but he plays small at the
center position and would probably play big at the power forward, but
unfortunately, we are stuck with the only center we have, the Gaston legacy,
the inimatable Vin (no shake, no bake) Baker. He is an absolute stiff, can't
shoot , can't run , can't rebound, can't jump; a perfect 4 for 4. Oh , I
forgot can't shoot free throws, either.

I hope everybody had a wonderful and healthy holiday today. I did, especially
seeing the Lakers go into the dumper again.

Regards to all,
Hart