Well, there was goto...and then gosub, no formal parameters, lack of scope for variables, no data structures beyond simple arrays, loose typing...
Yes, these were issues in the early BASICs, but I know that certain BASICs in the 1980s were much better than that (such as Microware's BASIC-09 for OS-9). Later, Microsoft's QuickBASIC 4.5 and PDS 7.1 (and much later, VB for DOS) were leaps and bounds ahead as well, but BASIC had this stigma that its never overcome.
Today's BASICs are much more advanced than that (and people really used VB to death for a lot of projects; some good, some bad) - but the stigma (which is unfounded with today's languages) remains, unfortunately.