Analytics is killing the enjoyment of pro basketball and baseball
At one point, every NBA team ran pick-and-roll at the top of the key and now, due to the influence of analytics, most teams jack up a ton of 3s. Even those that don't hit a percentage high enough that it makes sense (>35%, imo). Many teams turn down wide open 16-footers to pass out to a guy 24+ feet from the hoop for a 3. A lot of possessions boil down to one guy handling the the ball for the majority of the clock and 4 guys just hanging around the 3-point line. I don't enjoy watching NBA games much anymore, either. What I've come to believe (and it may not be true) is today's NBA doesn't have a lot of true, 'automatic' midrange jumpshooters anymore. The few guys who do shoot them don't seem to be as accurate as previous eras. I guess the analytics suggest you shouldn't shoot midrange shots but concentrate on 3s, FTs and dunks. That seems to be the majority of NBA offense in today's game.
However, they are collectively among the finest athletes in professional sports. They do play defense but the rules are so geared towards the offensive player (very few traveling/palming calls, the 'and 1' continuation, no hand checking, etc.) that they limit the effectiveness of even the most feared defender. Nobody is 'getting in shape for 2 months' and scoring against NBA players.
The college game has slipped due to the very best players generally only sticking around for 1 year and even those players are not finished products while in college. Think how much better Tim Duncan's fundamentals were when he came to the NBA vs the OAD crowd. Just knew the game better, better passer, team defender, got better positioning on rebounds, avoided the dumb foul, etc. Sure, he's an all-timer but I'm talking about basic fundamentals of how to play the game. Look at Zion, for example. Obvious #1 overall draft pick but he needed/still needs to develop post moves, a midrange jumper, be better on defense, etc. Another year or two and he'd be a much more polished product and the level of play in college would be better if more like him stuck around for a couple more years.
The really good HS kids have played AAU ball which teaches nothing about fundamentals (as UK fans are painfully aware of), play one year in college where they start to perhaps grasp some of the nuances and then it's off to the NBA. I mean, previous generations of college PGs didn't need to 'work on their handle' at the NBA level, they learned how to handle the ball well in college over 3+ years. Look at UK's recent history. Several of our OAD PGs were not adept at dribbling, passing, setting up the offense, creating shots for teammates while at UK but went on to the NBA anyway.
