Move to the Vipers forum if you'd like. The NBA G League is experimenting this season with a new rule under which all trips to the free throw line will include only a single foul shot that will be worth one, two, or three points depending on the nature of the foul leading to the attempt, officials told ESPN. It marks the latest move -- in both the G League and the NBA -- to improve game flow and reduce the length of games. Officials estimate that moving to a "one foul shot for all the points" model will shave between six and eight minutes off of each G League game, says Brad Walker, head of basketball operations for the G League. The G League will revert back to traditional free throw rules for the last two minutes of regulation and overtime, officials say. Shooting fouls on made baskets -- "And-Ones"-- will proceed the same way, with the shooter attempting one free throw worth one point. The NBA's competition committee has discussed the concept in recent meetings, and league officials brought it up at to NBA head coaches at their annual preseason gathering in Chicago earlier this month, officials say. Officials also worried about deviating from historical statistical standards, according to reporting in 2014 from ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz. The league then brandished evidence showing players shoot more accurately on the second and third attempts of any trip to the line, a finding that has held across other independent studies; logic follows that moving to a one-shot rule would result in an overall decrease in league-wide free throw accuracy. The raw number of attempts would obviously drop sharply. "We might hear some blowback on that," Walker says, "but I think [the change] is going to be great for game flow." Others wondered how the one-shot rule might change the way trailing teams approach late-game fouling -- and whether it would increase or decrease the likelihood of dramatic comebacks. Trailing teams hack on purpose to stop the clock. The one-shot rule bumps up the likelihood of those fouls resulting in zero points -- a boon for comebacks. But it also eliminates the 1-of-2 splits that provide trailing teams some hope. Overall, the rule probably adds more variance to game outcomes. Walker says the G League worried the lure of those empty trips might push trailing teams to start intentionally fouling earlier. That led to the decision to revert to traditional free throw rules in the last two minutes, he says. "We don't want to incentivize fouling," Walker says. The G League contemplated moving back to traditional free throw rules even earlier -- with five minutes remaining, or even for the entire fourth quarter, Walker says. The G League will evaluate the one-shot free throw rule at the end of the season and decide whether to go forward with it in 2020-21 and potentially beyond, officials say.
I.....honestly don't know how I feel about this. On one hand, I think it can be really interesting to see how it affects players' FT percentages across an entire season. My gut tells me good FT shooters will have even better percentages while bad FT shooters will regress, but I probably haven't thought out all the angles. On the other hand, I think it might be messing with things just for the sake of messing with them, and it could impact the game in a negative way.
Do whatever you want until the last 2 minutes. The pressure of hitting those when the game matters is part of the drama. Would hate it if it decided a game.
IIRC, the percentages of makes are not meaningfully different between the first, second, and third free throws FT% averages likely won’t change at all. The number of outliers will increase due to smaller sample size for sure, but I’m not sure if that matters too much.
Spoiler Using James Harden as the cover for the story even though it's G League? Media conspiracy @Os Trigonum
I despise this idea. If American professional sports leagues want to reduce game times by five to ten minutes, how about they start with a minimal reduction in the number of television commercials per game? Also, the NBA could easily reduce game times by five to ten minutes if they eliminated the special rules that only apply in the last two minutes of regulation and overtime.
Absolutely horrible idea. It should be shelved and never make its way to the NBA. Free throws are an important part of the game. It shows the mental fortitude of the teams and not only in the last 2 minutes they are clutch. A comeback doesn't happen only exclusively in the last 2 minutes of the game , what stupidity is that? I would rather spend 10 minutes watch free throws than spend 20 minutes watch commercial breaks and mascots. Also they are deluded to believe this will stop teams from intentionally fouling. On the contrary it will encourage them.
I don't hate it as much as others do, I can see the sensibility in it. When shooting the ball, you get one chance to score your bucket and get your 2 or 3 points. So free throws working the same way doesn't seem too odd. Funny enough, I could also see being fouled on a 3 pointer leading to taking your single 3 point foul shot from the actual 3 point line making some sense as well.
Why does it take away from being clutch? Hitting the single free throw would still be clutch. I agree, if it's to make time for more ads, then F it. Why does it encourage intentional fouling? How do you know this rule change would lead to fewer points scored?
The psychological pressure of having to make the FT after having missed the first one, the crowd booing all this will be minimised. Both as a viewer, and as a player it takes away from the experience. It encourages intentional fouling, because a team making a comeback is already betting against the odds. They will take their chances more in all or nothing anyway because they have nothing much to lose.
Well, I could the pressure of having to hit one free throw being just as clutch and exciting. Secondly ... perhaps, but at the same time, perhaps not? It could help teams come back faster, or it could put teams away faster... depends on if their hitting the FT's or not. If on average, there are fewer points scored due to one shot, then yes it will encourage more fouling on average. If more points are averaged due to the 1 shot FT, then it should discourage fouling. At least that would seem logical to me.
This feels like change for the sake of change. Throwing things at the wall to see if any of them stick. Similar to some of the rule changes the NFL and MLB have implemented over the past decade that have done little to reduce game times and little to improve flow. (And some of those changes have made things even MORE complicated, even for the refs/umps.) I'm not a fan. A better way to improve basketball pace-of-play is to get better, smarter and more consistent refs that know when to back off and let the players play, and are better at getting calls right the first time. Even in the last two minutes. (Chances of the G-league or NBA doing that are slim to none.) And get better technology that will help reduce the number of reviews and speed up the ones that do occur. If the pacing is good, then the overall length of a basketball game isn't that big of a deal.
Harden actually misses his free throw the most out of any and then easily corrects it 90% of the time. I get the idea, but commercials and replays ruin the flow since the latter can be handled by the guys at the replay center much quicker. Also, how about actually doing something about speeding FTs up? The routines before a shot and after a shot take way too long. I say when a foul is assessed, have one ref immediately deal with the table and the other give the ball to the guy at the line. No screwing around, arm up, ball, short routine and shoot, catch ball, pass it back, short routine and shoot. I actually don’t want too much time between shots, especially after hitting the first. The unnecessary fist bumps to all teammates - gone. Also, the substitutions during FTs can be handled better and done much faster by not having anyone there for the first FT or one person at scorers table handles it right after it’s assessed a FT line situation so it’s resolved prior to the first FT. I’m sure they could come up with something. I highly doubt this new rule will make it to the NBA, but neither will any good solution to cut down game time.
Dumb idea. The way to shorten time on free throws is to make them happen faster. Meaning, change the 10 second rule to 8 seconds - and then enforce it. Meaning, once the foul is called and recorded in the books, players line up and you go. Not this 30 second interval where players are chirping, figuring out how to line up on the lane (as if that's complicated), etc. There's lots of little areas like this where they can shorten the game. Not that I think it needs shortening at this point. Compare it to football or baseball, and it's a super quick experience. Obviously in the playoffs they get extended...
