They could legalize goal-tending, make the goal bigger, lower it to the floor, reduce the size of the ball, and cover the court in ice too! Wait...that sounds kind of familiar. Just playing, NewYorker. I definitely understand where you're coming from. Nothing is more boring than when the last 30 seconds of the game actually takes 15 minutes because of all the fouling/free throws/time-outs
I like the idea of in the 2 last minutes of the game (like in NCAA) the 1 - 1, they shoot one and if he makes it he throw a second, i think that will make the game more interesting.
If you were Miami up by 4 points with 15 seconds left and Shaq got fouled - would you rather have shaq shoot free throws or inbound the ball?
The 1 and 1 is more exciting, but i still don't like the idea of a team trying to get back into the game by fouling and hoping for a missed free-throw. It just seems to me to take away an advantage a team built through hard work and outplaying their opponents with free-throws. There has to be a better way to stage a comeback other then exploiting fouls - which are in existence to limit contact not INCREASE it. I mean, an intentional foul is such a huge advantage to the trailing team. First off, it's like a time out - a team can set up a play and sub players. Second, it stops the other team from taking time off the clock. Finally, it prevents the team from getting a 3 point basket - they are limited to two free throws. How can you penalize the team that is up with something that was suppose to reward them. FOULING is bad.
I don't like free throw shooting contests at the end of games myself but that's basketball, just like intentional walks are a part of baseball. I don't want it to become where I have to memorize more rules just I can follow the game flow. That's one thing why I don't follow hockey, I actually gotta ask someone nearby the who why what where when questions just to keep up. Basketball rules = the KISS method.
What about instead of 2 (or 3) freethrows of one point each, we have 1 freethrow worth 2 points. If a foul is committed within the last two minutes of the game, 1 freethrow would be worth 3 points. Also, don't give the defending team the advantage to rebound the freethrow. Let them fight it out for every missed freethrow (OK, I might love this idea because we have Yao and Mutombo on our team )
I don't like the 3 ft idea because it tilts the fate of the game towards the refs and not the players. These changes shift one problem of the game to another without serving any useful purposes....
Sounds like someone has trouble hitting his free throws. How is FT shooting any less of a skill than any other aspect of the game? I think we should eliminate dribbling, that way we would see a dramatic increase in ball movement. We should also disallow all shots from the paint, to level the playing field for smaller players.
How about on an intentional foul in the last minute, you can keep shooting free throws until you miss? I think that would provide drama while still giving the team that is ahead some advantage and also keep the FT shooting skills important. I also agree that flopping should be a technical in addition to the blocking foul that is called.
I don't see how out-of-bounds play in bonus situations help. If I were the losing team, I'd STILL foul every chance I get. Because inbound plays are hardly a sure thing. If there's 15 seconds left on the clock, a team can get in 3-4 hacks and force several inbound plays, during which there would still be tons of timeouts and other stuff to slow the game. Giving more FTs is just ludicrous. Anything that gives players more incentive to draw fouls would only mess up the game even more. Have you not seen enough of Steve Francis driving into the lane, get out of control, and hoping to draw the foul while bricking a layup?
I don't see how this will be. It's bad enough when a ref makes a bad call at a crucial moment -- how much worse will it be when a bad call is potentially worth 3 points instead of 2? The current system's fine.
If Shaq gets fouled, the team would definitely choose to inbound it to a guard. It would get rid of hack a shaq.
I really want them to go back to restoring the 24 second clock after a foul instead of the silly arbitary 14 they have now. Why penalize the offense by giving them just 14 seconds to run an offense? They might have been trying to increase scoring by increasing possessions but I think it's backfired. More times than not, the offense struggles to get a good shot on the possession.
So the rule should be changed to accomadate the few horrible FT shooters in the game? Since Yao and many other centers are pretty bad when it comes to transition defense, should the NBA change its rules to slow down fast breaks?
The whole idea of free throws and fouls are to DISCOURAGE contact, not ENCOURAGE it. I'm sorry, but free-throws are the ugliest part of basketball. And now, I wasn't a 60% shooter...more like 70-something...but the point is - free throws are an imperfect solution to discouraging "fouling". It's not changing the rules to accomodate bad free-throw shooters, it's changing the game to make it more about basketball and less about fouling. I don't know anyone who wished you could intentially commit a foul in football thereby forcing the other team to kick an extra point and give up the ball. Well gee, that would certainly make it possible for a team to come back from a 15 point deficit in the last 3 minutes of the game...wouldn't that be SO EXCITING!!!!
