Originally posted by LA9erFan:
Why exactly do you guys think that the Bad Boys earned their nickname and reputation? Do you think it's possibly because they played a brand of basketball that was so unique to their era that they stood out like a sore thumb?
Whenever the subject of the physicality of the 80's comes up, people say "Bad Boys" as though they were representative of their era. They wouldn't have even been called the "Bad Boys" if they were. The Lakers of the 80's weren't physical. Neither were the Celtics. The Sixers only sort of were with Moses Malone and Barkley, but neither one of those guys cared too much about defense. The Sikma/Moncrief Bucks weren't physical. 'Nique's Hawks weren't physical. Same goes for almost the entire league.
They were quicker to throw blows...that has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. They scrapped more because the penalties were far less. But in terms of the physicality of most of the 80's, offenses had it waaaaay easier back then because of how little resistance there was.
You really think the game was a ton more physical AND teams still averaged 110 points per game? Please.
You appear to just ignore the other side of the argument, I guess you didn't watch the posted videos? Since you are a self proclaimed expert on the NBA in the 80's I would hope you are at least 40 or older and watched lots of games from that era in their entirety. Anyone who watched a lot of 80's basketball might remember the so called Showtime Lakers. They happened to be masters of the fast break, due to their success lot's of teams tried to emulate their style. Running the fast break was popular in that era, leading to more possessions, which leads to higher scoring, not lax defense. There are teams today that rarely run, 30 years ago most teams tried to run any chance they got.