Do big men now get less touches than big men in past eras?

Dude, no illegal defense any more has changed the enitre game down low...

 

Also add the 3 seconds rule. If big men were able to do that now, there would be more 20-10 players in the league, while Dwight and Yao both would average at least 24 ppg. For Yao, he would be able to set up deeper into the paint and stay locked down there and not come out to the perimeter or out of the protected area on some possessions.

 

Yep yep, that and allowing people to double others before the get the ball...I hate it.

DD

 

This should be easy enough to counter. Get a damn mid-range to long-range jumpshot that isn't a 3 pointer. Oh, but wait... what's a mid-range shot anymore? "We'll just try to beat that double-team with a 3 point shot that I can barely make 35% of the time! I'm a specialist dammit! FEAR ME!"

 

I think double teaming before getting the ball causes most of the problems. Super athletic big men make it even harder.

 

Zone defenses, doubling the big man before he gets the ball will hurt the number of touches. Though Shaq was getting his same numbers after the rules change... and his FG% has actually been BETTER after he left the Lakers.

But thats just too bad. In other sports the defense can set up almost any way it wants. No one calls 3 seconds or illegal defense at the park or gym, just play through it

 

I agree 100%

 

Actually it has made the game worse. I limits the chances of teams spreading the floor. Also what kills he game is the coaches are more control freaks and want to slow the game down andlimit posessions.

 

I like college ball. Its so physical on the perimeter. But their 3pt line is so close, they allow zone defense, AND there is not defensive 3 seconds. Big men simply cannot have an impact. Its always kept me from loving the game.

Same thing is happening to our NBA and its a damn shame.

 

I'm not sure what to think. Uglyball from the Knicks really made some change needed I'm not sure this hybrid zone nonsense was the right answer.

 

The 3 second rule on offense has been around for a long time.

I think it's a double edge sword. The rules have an effect because the centers today aren't as talented. Whereas Olajuwon, Robinson, and Ewing could take their game out to the perimeter, Dwight Howard just doesn't have that skill level yet and Yao Ming just doesn't have the athleticism to get himself open.

The interesting player is Gasol because he does have an outside shot and he's athletic enough to catch on the move. I think the Lakers just don't go to Gasol enough. After all those years of Kobe feeding Shaq, I don't think he's too interested in feeding Gasol and letting him be the hero.

 

agreed...it's not basketball. they could make it better by going from a 24 second clock to a 45 second clock. but there's not enough time in 24 seconds to swing the ball around enough to get post men open when you allow illegal defense.

 

Here's the thing. No team has a dominant post player. Dwight and Yao have major issues keeping them from reaching that level and Shaq/Duncan are getting old. The fact that Dwight with his complete lack of offensive post moves is even in the discussion for best big man is unsettling. It's tough to say if these players should be getting more touches when you see an old lazy Shaq out performing them on occasion. In general, I'd say big men get less touches around the league but how much of that can be attributed to their abilities? When was the last time we've seen such a poor crop of big men?

 

Shaq said it best.

He said something like "Nobody likes Goliath, they changed the rules to protect all the Davids in the league"

DD

 

The NBA wanted to speed the game up and give the fast guys the advantage.

 

A big part is on the big men.

Howard, Gasol, Yao do not deserve as many touches as Dream or Shaq.

 

I gotta disagree on doubling without the ball is a bad thing, it makes for an interesting defense. You should be able to capitalize on the fact that someone is being unguarded.Altough I think if they allow that,then they should get rid of the 3 sec rule. Maybe they should make the extra defender stay on that man for 3 sec after the outlet pass is made

 

The answer is simple, as someone else mentioned...

look at how Seattle strangled Hakeem BEFORE zone was even legal. If it was legal, every team would have eventually employed the same defense against him.

 

Let's look at Shaq's numbers. He is as dominant a big man as you can get. And it just happened that so far, half of his career was BEFORE the rule change and half of it AFTER. Let us look at the years that centered on the rule change year 01-02. Those years are arguably the prime of Shaq's career.

I don't have the stats for touches. So I just look at shot attempts and ft attempts per minutes played.

year fga/m fta/m
98-99 .52 .29
99-00 .53 .26
00-01 .49 .33
01-02 .51 .30
02-03 .48 .29
03-04 .38 .27
04-05 .44 .31

Let's say roughly every 2 ft attempts is equivalent to 1 fg attempt, in terms of opportunities of scoring.

98-99 .665
99-00 .660
00-01 .655
01-02 .660
02-03 .605
03-04 .515
04-05 .595

As you can see, his number of scoring opportunities was very consistent up until 01-02, which is the year of the rule change. (I am assuming that teams had not adjusted to the new rule during the first year of the rule change.)

Is the drop significant enough? You be the judge.