Why Are There So Many Blowouts in the NBA Regular Season? | The Ryen Russillo Podcast

[@JJ_5289]

When you go down against a good shooting team thats shooting 40 3's a game, I think players feel defeated. The physical defense/energy plays usually get teams back into a game, but its hard to do that now. Its hard to even contest a normal 3 point shot without fouling. The officiating is so pro offense that you cant do much when one team is hot from 3

[@MK3504]

This is right on the money. You can whisper on someone shooting a jumper but commit defensive murder on a driver

[@chillyhwilly380]

100 percent right it’s a 3s difference

[@JJ_5289]

@@MK3504 a lot of the best players dont even want to contest 3's. So easy for the shooter the fall down, get the whistle and 3 free throws. Plus if you get in foul trouble early youre most likely out of the game

[@kevinc8955]

@@JJ_5289Plus coming down in the landing zone of a shooter is a flagrant. So to contest you basically have to take this angle jump at them and hope they don’t awkwardly lean into you anyway or kick their leg out sideways and fall down. It’s pointless.

[@JJ_5289]

@@kevinc8955 Yeah you stand no chance as a defender

[@theBrendanONeill]

I think it's pretty easy to see: -All rules are geared to benefit the offense and penalize the defense. -Additional rules are ignored by officials in an effort to further benefit the offense (travel, carry, etc.). -Three-point shooting plays a major role, of course. -Player movement and stacking of teams also contributes. -Top-heavy, non-balanced rosters also contribute.

[@WhereIsTheIntruder]

points one and two have absolutely nothing to do with blowouts (both teams play offense) and points four and five do nothing to explain the blowouts we've seen between two well balanced and stacked teams, such as celtics at bucks. try a little bit harder

[@4evahodlingdoge226]

The prevalence of the 3pt shot is why there are so many blowouts it has been this way since the Warriors made that playstyle famous.

[@shorewall]

Yeah, 3pt. shooting is more variance. If the shot isn't falling for one side, and is falling for the other side, boom, blowout.

[@4evahodlingdoge226]

@@shorewall Yup, a team shoots 40% from 3 on average and some guys they're going to shoot 20% and get blown out or hit 60%+ and blow everybody out the water.

[@Scotty_Bo0m]

@@poorchris this is a perfect example of the Mandela effect! The numbers dont lie! During the Warriors Dynasty they were something like middle of the pack in ATTEMPTED 3s. Their counter attack offense was just so memorable everyone thinks it was 3sssss for days...

[@richborn6700]

Warriors made that play style famous, but then also showed in those matchups with Houston that being dependent on a 3pt shot can cost you as well

[@AuraysTimelessChannel]

​@@richborn6700 I hate watching most NBA games today. The play style is almost devoid of the elements I used to love: talented traditional bigs, physical defense, pure point guards, intelligent shot selection....it's just a different gane entirely.

[@hilriekemp]

Because the league nerfed defensive play and guy's just Chuck up 3's. And when they're going in and the other teams making theirs as well the games are competitive. But when one team isn't making their's and the other is you end up with blowouts. Which is why the Lakers have been blown out as much as they have. And the players just aren't as skilled offensively as previous year's if they can't drive or chuck up a 3, they can't really fall back on anything else offensively

[@spencerpool6879]

I agree with that last coach's take... I totally agree that it has everything to do with the fact that some nights a team's offense is just hitting on all cylinders; because of the way officiating drastically favors offense, it's almost impossible to get rewarded for the physical effort needed to climb out of a severe deficit... so trailing teams are quicker to raise the white flag earlier in games

[@eriksports]

I was just thinking this! I paid for league pass this year and the majority of the time it feels like a waste

[@ianszcze]

82 games is too many games for the players to care about each one and if the players don't care then I don't care 🤷‍♂

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

It's worked for 75 years.

[@UO-kn5xc]

@@dimitrijetucovic1307 Indeed. Players today are paid too much to care. Even bench players today are getting overpaid. They are multi-millionaires in a few seasons.

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

@@UO-kn5xc If people want less games, then players have to be paid less.

[@UO-kn5xc]

@@dimitrijetucovic1307 They should be paid less. Players that aren't on the same level of Jordan are being paid more than what he was paid. I understand the higher popularity of the NBA in the world today would garner a higher pay, but bench players are being paid millions a year.

[@26zz]

@@dimitrijetucovic1307it worked when the NFL wasn’t king. times have changed so the NBA should as well

[@Scotty_Bo0m]

I dont agree that shooting has gotten better. Eliminating hand checking was the death of defense! Bring that back & watch the scores dip! On top of that dont you guys think its strange how every single playoffs scoring drops wayyyy back down to 200 point games? Hmmm.. its almost like real d is being played & horse shit reffing isnt inflating the scores... Cmon Russillo!

[@Remy4722]

It’s not even hand checking it’s jus refs and no defense bill Simmons and Ryan keep tryna tell us how the league is more talented then before but like you said playoff time comes around and all these stats go back to normal

[@IamBIGuUS]

When defenders aren't allowed to play the game why are we shocked offense is up. There is almost no such thing as a charge anymore. All contact is called. Simulated contact is called. It's infuriating to watch honestly. And don't come at me with free throw numbers. Watch the games, guys are afraid to get a foul called and are trying to get out of the way of offensive players.

[@UO-kn5xc]

But that only means there is more offense but doesn't explain the blowouts. I think the reasons there are so many blowouts are because the NBA curbed physical defense, too many teams falling in love with 3s that either go in or they don't, and seems that there is less of a competitive drive these days to claw back into the game. The blowouts recently I've seen the players sort of give up or not play as hard. With the 3s, one team may be shooting well and the other team doesn't and then the lead gets out of hand. If you lose by 20+ points, you have given up. No way a professional team should lose a game by more than 20+ unless you're Detroit.

[@SilverKen15]

It's unwatchable. Dudes are plowing into defenders elbows out WITH shoulder contact initiated by them and getting to the line. Its a joke. The only people that can watch the NBA today are people that never grew up playing it as a sport because it's unwatchable if you have any experience. 11 year old PAL games have more defense and contact.

[@jedkyle5873]

Free throws are the lowest they've been historically and this past month has the least free throws since 1951. It's just the manner of some of the smarter offensive players getting fouled that irks you. Defense is still in the NBA it just has evolved along with increased offensive skill.

[@26zz]

it’s cuz the NBA has outlawed defense. for some reason there’s this idea that offense is what drives ratings. when in reality a good balanced game is always going to be the best product. you can’t even show emotion in these NBA games anymore. refs are way too involved and analytics are ruining parts of the game. 3s and layups. nobody has post work, nobody wanna shoot midranges, no real ball movement. that’s why all the european guys come in the league and dominate. they play real basketball over there. physical basketball, fundamentally sound basketball. not just shooting 3s and driving to the hoop to get fouls. all the rules are being catered to the offense, foul baiting, all that shit that takes away from the game. and it’s not the players fault it’s the people who aren’t playing. the refs, the people who make the rules, and the analytics department. basketball doesn’t get good until the playoffs. the in season tournament was successful cuz it introduced a playoff like atmosphere. but regular season basketball being good is dead as of right now

[@26zz]

the fix is to reduce the games from 82 to like 65. create some sort of urgency in the regular season, have every team play the same amount of back2backs, actually allow players to play defense and stop rewarding foul baiting. the final and biggest hurdle is the analytics because 3 will always be greater than 2 and teams will always want to get as much 3s up as possible. but we’ve seen the last couple of years the teams that are winning the titles have been dominant on the inside with big men play. so hopefully that continues and teams realize they need to get back to playing basketball as a big man’s game even if you take a bunch of 3s. but they’ll also never go away from 82 games because that’s a lot of money and TV time you’re losing but the product will keep suffering in the regular season because of it.

[@razkable]

That portland game was a disgrace

[@chrisg2214]

3-pointers. All it takes is one team to have a bad night shooting and it becomes a blowout. It’s boring to watch. I would take 90s basketball any day over what they’re doing now.

[@CD-gk9ix]

I feel these two things are factors.. First: load management. I'm all for new approaches, innovation, etc ... but I feel load management stuff has downstream effects on teams and rosters. (Maybe there's a sports science approach to how many steps guys should take, force applied, whatever... that's fine, not gonna get into that). When guys sit out and don't play together, I feel chemistry suffers, thus losses. Lose a lot, and guys get frustrated. Never develop chemistry, so ya also lose... and come playoff time, ya lose. Circle back to player frustration, and so and so wants out. Star or two leaves, roster blows up. Rinse, repeat. Second; Players may not see the NBA as the end all be all like they used to... they may see it as a stepping stone to whatever else they want to do. Some guys just don't care. As a guy, I get it, but as a fan it sucks.

[@deronpope3446]

To your point about more 3s equaling less FTs...look at FTs per 2 point shots...its at all time high and has been increasing for years.

[@dskalzzz4988]

The blowouts have been ridiculous this year, but I just want to agree with him about certain players gaming the refs for calls. Tre Young did it against the magic last night. Jimmy Butler did it repeatedly against the Celtics and Nuggets last year. I like both players, but it gives you such an unfair advantage when you have one player shooting 7 or 8 free throws in the last 5 minutes in a tight game. I know they're not the only ones though. A lot of players do it and it's ruining the game.

[@OreoShiChi]

As of today Ryen’s YT channel has 65 videos and 65 subscribers? This guy has one of the most popular sports food arts in the country… and less than a hundred subscribers?

[@realcoleholland]

Rusillo there is data to back up your point look at pts per drive and fts drawn per drive

[@kam_12_]

11:06 karl malone?

[@marquesmurray]

Same as AAU games. 400 3's one team is cold, one team is hot The shooter is under no theat of a block or challenge. The defender is required to jump out of the way. Or stand at the block and jump really high. It is.all nonsense Fre throws arent the problem, after you pick up a flimsy foul, the defender gets out of the way, which is the point of these goofy rules.

[@BasketballJunkie1324]

The moment the Bucks blow the Celtics out this video comes out. But if it was the Bucks getting blown out it would be the biggest story of the season.... Typical...

[@SilverKen15]

this is almost like the Fox news of sports. You know they cannot be objective on the NBA or bill will take their funding away lol. Dictator media

[@Missionretag]

Most teams with a back to back in which the previous game was very competitive the next game teams put up these bullshit performances. That's why I bet for Boston to lose by plus 10 never fails with the predictable NBA season

[@sethhussey5804]

The letting go of the rope has never been more prevalent

[@rickholladay4128]

NBA regular season is just a bad product

[@michaelturley3457]

My guess is fouls per drive is up and that’s why fouls seem like they’re called more. With all the 3s taken we should see way fewer fouls and we aren’t so it feels way worse.

[@ZacheryBoyd]

just curious, who on Portland's rotation could not play for Detroit?

[@zbt62]

Scoot

[@tonyschimmoeller]

​@@zbt62if Hayes can, Scoot can

[@landlocked_lifts332]

There's more room for volatility with today's game, which can create wider margins.

[@mdub9669]

Bcuz the NBA is turning into a joke. All these guys making what they make, whether you're the 8th best player on your team or the 3rd best. The league has become so player friendly that these guys don't give two shits either way. And I don't blame them honestly. It's all guaranteed money. I'm not saying I prefer 1995 pacers vs Knicks when final score is 87-81...but the nba is (in my opinion) on the presipis of losing a LOT of fans/support. Maybe not this year, maybe not next year...but in the very near future. There's no more integrity in a regular season game so why should anyone give a shit about a wed night Knicks vs pacers game in jan? It's cuz we don't. But we'll watch eagles bucs on Monday which NO ONE cares about in the teens of millions of people. NBA, yall got a large problem on your hands and I don't think the powers at be are gonna do anything. When the TV contracts are up, we'll see. Love ya rusillo and all you do happy new yr and cheers.

[@SaltyChip]

Because they're rich has been used for over 30 yrs now.

[@Marlowe10100]

The NBA needs to promote teams culture, multiple stars, defense, pride, rivalries, etc. If you only promote one player (And that player is not likeable because of antics, flopping, crying, and boring playing style) then your product is gonna suffer a lot.

[@blessembreaks]

Its unprecedented this season i was just having this discussion the other day. This is why i laugh when all the casuals say the nba is more talented than ever. Which is a total farce. There are at least 2 blowouts every nite, we’ve never seen this before. We used to never see these kinds of blowouts when the nba was truly competitive and talent rich and the players actually practiced and incorporated fundamentals in the game

[@spartansfor3v3r1]

It’s defense. Some KZbinr has been reviewing these games nightly and it’s clearly the defense on a nightly bases misses easy stuff. Yeah athletically players are better but team defense isn’t consistent enough from night to nught

[@tonyschimmoeller]

I'd be willing to wager it has a lot to do with the age of players. Team defense is typically improved upon as players get older. Teams however are getting younger

[@spartansfor3v3r1]

@@tonyschimmoeller you may be right and also a couple of championship level teams these past few years have been picking up much older veterans for their defense so I guess teams as a whole value younger players but the ones competing for a title know “he we’re gonna need a 38 y/o igoudala or Jeff green to play vital minutes for us when it actually matters”

[@tonyschimmoeller]

@spartansfor3v3r1 In general, the older plays have higher basketball IQs, know the opponents' plays, opponents tendacies, how to communicate, and how to handle adversity. So, as teams have started to keep vets less and even more importantly play them less, defense has probably regressed as a whole even if the players are more talented.

[@JFP95]

What the fuck was that dig at Maxey?? At 10:21? Did he mean that embiid does this all the time?? Maxey obv takes a lot of contact at the rim but he’s legit attacking maxey never flops

[@LiamborninDC]

They should raise the hoop another foot.

[@justinsalzl1517]

Rusillo - I disagree with the statement that shot making is so much better now. I believe the rules have changed - at least how the rules are enforced and called - and that allows people to make easier buckets. I watched Chet pick up his dribble and then take three steps before he shot. He was under the basket after two steps, was covered, then took one more step for an open layup. People are getting open because they can travel and carry at will compared to how rules used to be enforced. With extra steps and carries, a player can get a layup any time. It’s become really hard to defend well. So why would a player take anything other than a 3 or a layup? You can get open shots from those spots almost whenever you want. When you throw in the foul calling on the slightest contact for some players, we shouldn’t wonder why scoring is up so much. It’s pretty obvious.

[@JM-qn3tf]

Bc teams don’t care. Hope that helps

[@BeefPapa]

The more you score the better chance for a blowout. It's hard to blow out a team when you're scoring in the 70s and 80s range, like we saw in the mid 2000s. A bucket doesn't mean much nowadays. Main reason why I don't follow the league anymore.

[@mastersplinter1950]

Teams don't seem to have a 'plan B' if the 3s are not dropping, just try to shoot out of the slump who cares if we shoot 8/40, where in the past teams would change up their offence to try and get their shots to drop.

[@northside4767]

It’s a combination of shotmaking being the best we’ve ever seen, and the legislation of defense out of the game. Guys are as good as they’ve ever been, and there are very little tools left in a defender’s arsenal to stop them.

[@tonyschimmoeller]

If that were the reason, then the team being blown out wouldn't be getting blown out

[@phamawa]

Yeah, let's bring hand checking back!

[@phamawa]

Yeah, let's bring hand checking back!

[@patcoghlan3852]

The thing is, in football, they've really done way more to legislate defense out, and teams have adapted with stuff like Cover 0 flat funnelling, Cover 6, etc, and it's brought scoring down. You'd think in the NBA there would be more evolution like, say, when switching first became prominent, or what Miami did with their zone last yr in the playoffs. It hasn't happened yet. Where I agree with Ryen is on officiating on drives. It goes way beyond Harden cheesing for FTs on the Morey Rockets. Everyone is doing it now, Embiid, Giannis, etc. you have to get that outta the game for defense to matter

[@KeithBeacham]

Defense has been legislated out of the game.

[@AuraysTimelessChannel]

Teams rely on the 3 point shot. If they're off on a given night, it's tough to close the gap. But more than that, I think the league has forgotten about defense. And it's because of the way it's officiated. The games are meant to be high scoring already. The league loves that. Me as a fan, I want a well rounded game. That just doesn't happen.

[@jdizzytalks]

The trend will continue and start to show more in the playoffs. We could have more game 7s in every round but never have a game that is actually close until the 2-4 best teams meet. Soft whistles from referees and inconsistent physicality. Silver better wake up because in 5 years it’s going to be a huge problem. I will die on this hill that Silver is an overrated commissioner.

[@Missionretag]

Ryan u really tryna spin that shitty ass Celtics game last night. The starting 5 shouldn't be paid for that shit last night

[@jerry2968]

Its because its a jump shooting league and thats the biggest variable from game to game. Its like Pop said a few years ago whomever wins or loses depends on who shoots 3's well that night and thats boring basketball.

[@TylerDurden-ww3yg]

Not calling traveling and double dribble. Referee technical fouls of marquee players and free throw galore discrepancy. 3 points ruined the offense of the entire NBA.

[@courtvisions2]

Thanks for actually acknowledging that the Bucks won last night. No one else seems to care lol.

[@NOcanDoification]

Sacramento kings are inconsistent. They're either blowing out the other team or getting blown out. No in between.

[@BlackMambas82]

It's because of sports betting! Big spreads equal close games! Small spreads equal blowouts! If Vegas sees that majority of the money is on the underdog at plus money, Vegas will make sure that the favorite scores enough to where the underdog has no chance of covering the spread! Duhhhhhhh!

[@iTuber012]

Great talent but the NBA product sucks now

[@marquesmurray]

Also, now they nerfed highschool basketball. 2 shot penalty at 5 fouls, and everything is a foul.

[@wolfdrayvus101]

Ofc bro makes this video after his lovely Celtics get smoked

[@pete_cornell]

There’s too many games so many teams see 10-20% of they’re games as meaningless. Too many teams so the talent at the bottom of the league is not on the same level as the top. Essentially greed is ruining the nba and all sports imo. Play less games, consolidate teams and punish teams for consistent losing. They’ll make less money but the game will be better, fans will be happier, and the world will be a better place.

[@dreamcage1801]

There is no defense in the NBA no more.

[@Simouno]

There are simple ways ro fix the regular season Play 58 games (home and away, no B2B) Relegate the worst team in each conference Allow more physicality and remove the touch fouls Get rid of the 3 second violation Remove the corner 3 Extend the in season tournament until Christmas with the best 4 teams in each conference playing quarter finals, semi finals and finals, all sudden death Eliminate the play in, get in the playoffs the first 8 teams from each conference, with the division winners getting a bye

[@jackkaestner7424]

We really got to eliminate these back to backs. They are super lame. One team is always resting guys or super low energy.

[@user-ov7uv3wx6i]

That's soooooo soft to eliminate back to backs. Pro athletes can't play on consecutive days now? I don't remember anyone complaining about back to backs until the current generation. Just awful. Pathetic actually.

[@user-ov7uv3wx6i]

On that note, why don't we shorten the season too? And we can shorten the games too to make it extra easy on the players.

[@UO-kn5xc]

@@user-ov7uv3wx6i Back to backs are an issue today because players today are soft. I think players making so much money today have softened them. NBA should be looking at removing fully guaranteed contracts. The more players have gotten, the more soft they have become as a whole. You still see stars giving their best most of the time, but the others have not been.

[@SilverKen15]

we giving these fucking idiots 40 mil a year and now they cant play back to backs? Fucking hell.... the NBA is a disaster.@@user-ov7uv3wx6i

[@veljkocetnik3050]

Celtics style of dont run just gun is susceptible to blow-outs ... its an ugly basketball even when they win like they did against Minnesota ... I dont think this will work in playoff either, at least wont take them all the way

[@vanlifedad9963]

Too many games. Everyone has adhd. Can’t focus for so many games nor do we want to. Shorten the season to 40 games. Probably will see fewer blowouts. Move towards an nfl model. Buildup during the week, big game days. And so many 3 pointers is dumb.

[@eriksports]

Expand to 32 teams and then have a 64 game season where every team plays each team twice. No b2bs.

[@user-ov7uv3wx6i]

The league doesn't want less games...they want more games! That's why they added an in-season tournament and play-in games. Obviously, the league wants more games, you should know that. They aren't going to shorten the season, they want to squeeze every last penny out of fans and sponsors.

[@vanlifedad9963]

@@user-ov7uv3wx6i I know, but in a perfect world…

[@coltenschroeder3046]

@@eriksports If you played everyone twice in a 32 team league you’d play 62 games only, not 64.

[@eriksports]

@@coltenschroeder3046 gp

[@brettdavis5873]

Athletes NEVER work as hard as they portray

[@dbsuper2928]

Hear me out maybe these guys just suck

[@Biz613]

Tatum is not an alpha. It’s as simple as that. No dawg in him.