Anonymous
Years ago

Basketball a boring sport: Jim Maxwell

An interesting take by Jim Maxwell, who has said basketball is "as boring as batshit" on his Twitter account. This followed an on air rant about how kids should be playing cricket instead of basketball.

I guess this is a positive sign that basketball is starting to chip into the market share of the more established sports?

Topic #46619 | Report this topic


Anonymous  
Years ago

Ok boomer

Reply #782824 | Report this post


room for all sports - makes a fitter healthier community at any age participating in what they love doing.

Reply #782825 | Report this post


GordonG47  
Years ago

It's also posted on the ABC Sport Facebook page, and boy, does Maxwell cop some grief on there over it!

Reply #782827 | Report this post


Luuuc  
Years ago

Cricket getting a little nervous about basketball's increasing popularity and profile hey. Jimmy clearly hasn't noticed all the people who play pickup ball on outdoor courts.

Reply #782829 | Report this post


Mystro  
Years ago

I would rather watch paint dry than watch cricket.

Reply #782830 | Report this post


cavolo  
Years ago

Could this be a sneaky PR move by LK to stoke more fire for the benefit of the sport and NBL? Kinda reminds me of Bobby Riggs v Billie Jean king "controversy"...... ;)

Reply #782832 | Report this post


Hairs  
Years ago

Maxwell is just another big mouth trying to keep himself relevant. Basketball is boring - cricket is exciting ??? Been playing with your willie too long Jim.

Reply #782835 | Report this post


UseTaHoop  
Years ago

Wiki:

"Maxwell played cricket in Sydney at the Cranbrook School and once toured with an Australian Old Collegians team in 1972."

AM too. He's as establishment as they come. Eastern suburbs, old school tie. If Australia has an elite establishment, he’s in it.

I somehow think no kids play outside at all in his hood.

Reply #782836 | Report this post


Scout  
Years ago

Ignorance is bliss Maxwell

I enjoy cricket, do not feel the need to defend basketball as is it plays in to the stupid narrative that it is all flash no substance.

I used to say there is more to it than you realise (basketball) but now understand it is embedded in our culture and others also understand that.

Both can co exist I do not feel the need to bag cricket

Reply #782837 | Report this post


Perthworld  
Years ago

Spot the old bogan. It's nearly 2020 and he can't handle progress.

Reply #782838 | Report this post


Old bogan indeed. Agree with my little bro.
Cricket is actually boring as batshit.

Reply #782842 | Report this post


Luuuc  
Years ago

He doesn't hate T20, which makes him remarkably progressive for an old fogey

Reply #782843 | Report this post


Zodiac  
Years ago

This is actually pretty good news. If an old fogey cricket commentator is starting to feel threatened by the NBL it means the league is starting to make significant inroads into the Aussie sports pysche.

My old man is 70 probably a similar age to Maxwell never played or followed the game in his life until a couple of years ago and even he now watches most of the NBL games on TV. Christmas lunch and my old man is sitting their shaking his head in disbelief that I think Casper Ware is a better player than Jerome Randle lol

Loving it!

Reply #782844 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Establishment bogan from a private school in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. That's a funny mix of alligations.

I enjoy both sports but to call Basketball a boring American sport while commentating the second day of an English sport and to even have time to rant about another sport while commentating is laughable.

Reply #782846 | Report this post


Wendy Byrd  
Years ago

It is a bit ironic that test cricket is so slow paced that there's enough time to deliver a rant about how boring another sport is without missing anything in the commentary.

I know that the pace of the game isn't the only factor in whether a game is exciting or not but it's still ironic don't you think

Reply #782851 | Report this post


Manu "Wendy Byrd" makes a good point

Reply #782852 | Report this post


PlaymakerMo  
Years ago

Who?

Reply #782853 | Report this post


krayola  
Years ago

'Sport Y' is boring. That's a take?

Reply #782870 | Report this post


UseTaHoop  
Years ago

Wendy "Alannis Morisette" Byrd to you.

Reply #782873 | Report this post


Had to google Jim Maxwell never heard of the old prick.

Reply #782874 | Report this post


Manu Fieldel  
Years ago

Bryce Cotton dedicates that one to Jim Maxwell

Reply #782910 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Interesting topic. I think juniors and semi pro basketball is interesting to watch but top level basketball is so predictable and boring especially the nba. With sports science heavily involved players just go through the motions for 82 games

Reply #782914 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I love those cricket games that go for 5 days and have no result at the end because the bowlers are just going through the motions. Maybe cricket should get more sports science and less sandpaper.

Reply #782916 | Report this post


ME (he/kangaroo)  
Years ago

How a proponent of cricket could call any other sport boring is beyond me.

And as for calling for kids to play cricket instead of basketball, can he explain the rationale behind that? One is a dynamic full body work out that incorporates sprinting, jogging, jumping, throwing, catching, bilateral movement, hand-eye coordination, reflexes, so on and so on, bringing kids heart rates up and shedding pounds. The other is either hitting a ball, or throwing a ball. It's perfectly possible to obese and a decent cricket player.

Jim Maxwell needs to find another sport to attack, because, in the words of my black bretheren, "this aint it, dawg"

Reply #782942 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Cricket is incredibly boring

Reply #782943 | Report this post


ME (he/kangaroo)  
Years ago

Just out of interest, does there exist people who rewatch entire cricket matches? Or those who will watch a full match if they miss it, even if they know who wins?

I just cannot imagine the answer to those questions being yes.

So, while I can respect the "passive" aspect of watching cricket, and how it might be something people do as a bit of background action that facilitates a reason to yell at a TV and drink, pretending that it is as entertaining as basketball, or as lively, or as action packed, is frankly obscene.

Everyone has the right to like whatever sport they want to like, but basketball being "boring" compared to cricket isn't just a preference thing, it is objectively untrue.

I imagine if you brought in 100 test subjects from an untouched African tribe who have never seen basketball or cricket, had them watch a full randomly-selected game of either, and then have them tell you which they were entertained more by, that the vote would be unanimous. It is only because of our Commonwealth/Australian culture and upbringing and the history of cricket in this country that cricket even has a following.

Once again, I imagine to play cricket is a fun, passive, easy way to waste some time, and that maybe people enjoy watching it if they've had that experience, but to pretend it is objectively more entertaining than basketball? Bitch please!

Reply #782944 | Report this post


Haz  
Years ago

Believe it or not, but a kid can play many sports. In fact they actually do!

I used to play cricket and basketball as a kid and found both great fun to play and watch. Today though id have trouble watching a couple of overs on TV before tuning out. Its still a good sport to play though.

Each to their own, but to purposefully encourage one sport over another especially for junior participation is a bit low and requires some justification or explanation other than his uneducated opnion of it being boring...

Reply #782945 | Report this post


ME (he/kangaroo)  
Years ago

"Each to their own, but to purposefully encourage one sport over another especially for junior participation is a bit low and requires some justification or explanation other than his uneducated opnion of it being boring..."

Yeah, I somehow think the million-something kids playing basketball wont be too deterred by what some old fogey says.

And I definitely challenge him to tell us all the benefits cricket has over basketball for kids health and well being. For socializing, equal. For fun, well, probably equal if the kids play the sport they enjoy. For fitness? Not even close.


As has already been said though, they're obviously starting to feel threatened.

Reply #782948 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

For the amount of media coverage the cricket gets there crowds are woeful. Give cricket the same main stream media that the basketball get and they would be broke in five years when all the sheep stopped following.

Reply #782949 | Report this post


ME (he/kangaroo)  
Years ago

What is the average cricket crowd?

I do know that the New Year's Eve test etc in Adelaide packs out, but outside of that?

Reply #782950 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Maybe he watched the South Eastern game last season.

Reply #782952 | Report this post


PeterJohn  
Years ago

To each their own.

Average test crowd this year was 20,400 odd per day, according to austadiums.com. That was for the test matches in Australia in 2019.

Reply #782955 | Report this post


Haz  
Years ago

Test cricket is dying although the ironic thing is its been other forms of cricket that have killed it off, not so much competition from other sports, although its contributing to its demise moreso than before.

The Brisabne and Perth tests were poorly attended (given the amount of media coverage it gets). Not sure about Adelaide but Sydney and Melbourne get the best crowds due to the so called prestige and historic appeal. Outside of those two, test cricket is obnoxiously overrated.

Reply #782957 | Report this post


Luuuc  
Years ago

Driving home at 8:30pm on a saturday evening and noticed that my local basketball courts are full of people, as usual. Indoor sport my arse. I should have taken a photo for Jim. Meanwhile I wonder how many kids are outside playing T-20 cricket right now.

Reply #782958 | Report this post


Old fart Maxwell trying to get his 15 minutes of fame.

Reply #782961 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Cricket is propped up somewhat by Australia's media. You can guarantee that any media outlet, news or newspapers will be reporting on cricket all season long day in day out. Most of which will be shameless self promotion. Watch the news tonight: you will likely find a non story on cricket and a story promoting cricket in a positive light.

Very similar to the AFL although the demand for AFL is more so there.

All part of the marketing machine.

The problem cricket will face is that people are moving to different forms of media such as social media where you get choice on what you want to view.

Anecdotally I don’t see much of cricket highlights being shared on social media.

Reply #782971 | Report this post


UseTaHoop  
Years ago

Wow.

Good to see so much passion about someone, who we've never heard of before, writing something we only know about because it’s been aired by the ABC.

I had to google JM too. He loves cricket. He lives for it. He dreamed of playing test cricket whilst still in his private school short pants. He even toured England in some kind of schoolboy tour (in 1973 I think, ain’t gonna google him twice). In the 1970s, I think David Hookes was the only SA Sheffield Shield player to go to a public high school. JM then dreamed of working for the BBC, and it took him a few tries to get a gig on the ABC. His AM was for his work with cricket. Of course he’s going to defend his livelihood and raise d’etre. I don’t take it personally, and neither should anyone here.

Cricket is very establishment, very conservative. The ABC radio commentary is catering for a small niche market, and that’s what JM does.

I think basketball has a relatively bright future in Australia. It’s easy to practice skills and play game variants with just a ball, the hoop systems you can put in your driveway or yard mean you can play pickup games at home. Lots of local parks have at least a small concrete area with a hoop.

We can sit back and enjoy the publicity produced by these sorts of statements. They will only help the game grow more.

Reply #782983 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

180,000 have attended the current test match after 3 days. NBL would take a month of games to reach that number. Cricket is australia's national sport basketball is made up of guys who aren't good enough to make it overseas

Reply #782984 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Easy to pick out the biggest cricket event in the calendar to refer to numbers. How about the Pakistan vs Australia test that got 4000 on a day.

Sure still more than the NBL but let's be reasonable.

Reply #782988 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

180,000 have attended the current test match after 3 days. NBL would take a month of games to reach that number.

Um that's because cricket is played in a 90,000 seat stadium. That means they've only sold 2/3 of the tickets. Basketball generally gets better than 2/3 of sales for blockbusters.

Reply #782989 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

They got 80,000 on Boxing Day mainly because it's in the Melbourne public physique and all the kiwis. Give the plugs cricket gets in every news broadcast on every free to air channels for basketball and see how it works out.

Basketball a truly international sport, cricket played in so few countries. West Indian cricket died after there golden era due to the introduction of the nba on local tv, it never got back as every decent athlete would rather run up and down a basketball court rather than spend days in the sun watching grass grow.

Reply #782991 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

No disputing that 180,000 in three days is impressive, but so is 105,000 in two days at the Docklands to watch Australia v USA.

Reply #782994 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Who is Jim Maxwell?

Reply #782995 | Report this post


Curtley  
Years ago

He mentioned being outdoors during summer as a bonus with cricket. To be honest id rather be in an air conditioned environment during summer.

Reply #782998 | Report this post


Wendy Byrd  
Years ago

Serious question: Is basketball more popular than cricket amongst the youth of today?

Reply #783004 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I believe in terms of participation, basketball sneaks in ahead of cricket.

Reply #783018 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Cricket advantage - anywhere you take the kids as long as there is an area of grass or sand they can bring a bat & ball and have a game
Basketball advantage - it is actually fun

Reply #783029 | Report this post


Even my Indian mates prefer basketball.

Reply #783030 | Report this post


Zodiac  
Years ago

I'm not trying to stick up for cricket but using the outlier Boxing Day crowds isn't right. Have a look at the crowds they get for all the other Test matches, the Boxing Day Test is so traditional to practically be sacred Victorians (and others) always turn out in droves for the first 1 or 2 days play.

The biggest issue for cricket at the moment is T20 is cannibalising Test cricket so all the traditionalists are standing around stomping their feet and now the NBL has even come into the firing line. Only a good thing.

Reply #783032 | Report this post


PeterJohn  
Years ago

Wendy Byrd - you can ch CD Sport Australia's sports participation stats from its annual Ausplay survey here - https://www.clearinghouseforsport.gov.au/research/smi/ausplay

Sport Australia used to be called the Australian Sports Commission.

In the past, Australian Bureau of Statistics also run various surveys that collect data on both organised and non-organised sport participation. Not sure whether they still do that or stopped when the Ausplay surveys started. ABS website is at abs.gov.au.

Reply #783036 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Physique is the new Psyche .

Reply #783041 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Every sport can be boring that's why there is a spot for all of them.

I know blokes that have played cricket all there lives that think baseball is boring, and that the tour de france is exciting.

Some games of cricket are rubbish as there are basketball (NBA All Star game) so swings and round-abouts.

Reply #783127 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Handball, easily the most boring sport, it makes no sense the way it's poayed and the court is ridiculous.

Reply #783128 | Report this post


Straight Bat  
Years ago

Maxwell is a very knowledgeable and responsible sports commentator.

Do his comments offer any useful insights into how non-basketball people might see the game?

Aussies love fast moving, athletic and physical sports, e.g. AFL, rugby league.

Parents like skillful and safe sports, e.g. football, basketball.

Many Aussies see basketball as a fairly non-contact, non-physical sport, ie, two teams of mostly very tall players going back and forth trying to throw a big ball thru a basket.

And a sport where the interesting bits are continually interrupted by long stoppages and by endless numbers of generally very boring free throws.

Test cricket can be ridiculously slow and predictable, but nevertheless, there are things that basketball can do to improve its attractiveness and watchability.

Reply #783133 | Report this post


PeterJohn  
Years ago

Spot on, Straight Bat.

Reply #783148 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

"Do his comments offer any useful insights into how non-basketball people might see the game?"

No. Just the usual story of how non-basketball people see the game in a very warped and weird way. Like having a problem with it being American. When it comes to which sport kids should be playing who GAF what country the sport comes from? Does he take issue with his kids being friends with people from certain countries too? He is a sport racist and therefore his opinion is trash.

Reply #783149 | Report this post


Jick  
Years ago

Jim Maxwell is a boring old flog, end of story.

Reply #783163 | Report this post


Harsh but true.
If Finn Delaney or Cameron Bairstow played cricket I would take more notice.

Reply #783164 | Report this post


Wendy Byrd  
Years ago

"And a sport where the interesting bits are continually interrupted by long stoppages and by endless numbers of generally very boring free throws."

But in cricket there's a stoppage in action after every ball is bowled.

Reply #783216 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Cricket is terrible.

Who wants to throw away a few days to watch a test? Then there is the Twenty 20 which is one of the most cringey sports I've ever watched apart from AFLX. Fireworks, motorbike jumps and neon wickets to distract you from how boring it still is.

Cricket is on its way out. Kids are moving towards basketball and AFL. Old fogeys are clinging onto cricket.

And yes I go to the Boxing Day test but that is just to get drunk like everyone else there.

Reply #783222 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I heard this year they had a swimming pool / marquee type area installed at the cricket matches. Kind of adds to the perception that people go there for the event feel as opposed to the game itself. Melbourne cup style

Reply #783226 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

Maybe after each bucket is scored, the in-bounder should walk very slowly back measuring their pace and then take a run up.

(That aside, after each over in cricket or goal in AFL, those sports are set up for brief sponsor ads which would help commercially.)

Reply #783229 | Report this post


Crack down on pointless fouls or timeouts when there is a 15 point defecit with under a minute left.

Reduce time taken on video reviews.

Reply #783234 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

All I know is basketball is an Olympic sport. Cricket is not (skateboarding jumping over cricket at the next Olympics tells you all you need to know).

Reply #783276 | Report this post


Anon  
Years ago

How on earth can anyone say cricket is exciting, it's akin to golf to watch, nothing happens

Reply #783279 | Report this post


Times are a changing less people into cricket these days.
Move with the times J Maxwell far less VB drinking fellas nowadays.

Reply #783287 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

It probably doesn't help that cricketers are completely unrelatable too. They carry on like a bunch of dickheads out on a buck's night in the Cross. Bunch of thugs. No characters either.

Reply #783312 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Maxwell is entitled to his view, but does it really matter what he thinks about basketball?

Reply #783334 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

No, not at all.

Reply #783335 | Report this post


UseTaHoop  
Years ago

Isaac:

"Maybe after each bucket is scored, the in-bounder should walk very slowly back measuring their pace and then take a run up.

(That aside, after each over in cricket or goal in AFL, those sports are set up for brief sponsor ads which would help commercially.)"

Spot on with the commercial breaks. Kerry Packer only wanted the broadcast rights when he started World Series cricket. Until then the players had been amateurs. They jumped ship to make bank. Test matches in Australia used to have 8 ball overs before the Packer era. Shortening the overs made more advertising space available.

I also remember NBL refs calling “tv time out”s if no break in play had occurred for too long. (I think it was still The Apollo era in Adelaide).

In veeerry broad brushstrokes, sport in Australia has changed from promoting alcohol and tobacco to promoting sports betting. So maybe in the future sports will grow or wither based on gambling profits. Indian bookmakers offering spot bets on wides and no balls clearly adds to gambling profitability (and corruptibility). I guess basketball equivalent would be missed free throws wait, we already have cheeseburgers for that).

Reply #783339 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Skateboarding at the Olympics tells you what a joke the Olympics has become, not much more.

Reply #783341 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

"One is a dynamic full body work out that incorporates sprinting, jogging, jumping, throwing, catching, bilateral movement, hand-eye coordination, reflexes, so on and so on".

None of this happens in cricket. I know you're an idiot ME but at least try to not be once in a while.

Reply #783342 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

"It probably doesn't help that cricketers are completely unrelatable too. They carry on like a bunch of dickheads out on a buck's night in the Cross. Bunch of thugs. No characters either."

This is a great troll.

Reply #783343 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

For a bunch of people who don't care about what Maxy said, you lot sure do care about what he said.

Reply #783344 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

cricket is about as entertaining as a snail race

Reply #783829 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Cricket still boring.
Is Jim Maxwell still alive?

Reply #807603 | Report this post




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