Though the NBA's opening weekend featured sellouts for
half of the teams, "by the end of the first week, the deep
wounds were drawing into focus, showing the league must
continue to lay on huge portions of suck-up to win back the
masses," according to Larry Guest of the ORLANDO SENTINEL.
Guest notes that the 20 games played last Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday that ended the first week of the season
were played in front of "nearly 94,000 empty seats," and
writes these "cold, hard numbers paint a disturbing picture
undeniable even by the most accomplished ostriches and spin
doctors" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 2/18). NEWSDAY's Shaun Powell
writes under the header, "Still Love This Game? No Way," and
says "the meek have inherited the league. The NBA is mostly
role players with a few stars thrown in for commercialism."
Powell also notes the fans seem to "have accepted the lower
standards while paying higher prices." Powell concludes:
"We Still Love This Game. That's what the NBA says. Some
Still Loathe This Game. That's what I say" (NEWSDAY, 2/18).
In Atlanta, Jeffrey Denberg profiles several players' low
shooting percentages under the header, "Blame Lockout For
Cold Touch" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/18). USA TODAY's Mike
Lopresti writes that through Tuesday, no team in the NBA was
averaging 100 points a game, while 13 were averaging fewer
than 90 and 24 were shooting under 45% (USA TODAY, 2/18).
On ESPN.com, Jack Ramsay: "The first 10 days of NBA play
resulted in what I'd expected -- tough defense and ragged
offense -- as teams began competition without the benefit
of a proper training camp" (ESPN.com, 2/18).