I must admit when the new rules came down from the NBA front office, I was a little skeptical. I must say that after 20 or so games, I like them. Scoring is up, no longer can you play defense with your hands, you need to move your feet. (How it is supposed to be) In addition, palming is now being called..HURRAY !!! I do not like the strong side zone however. You are taking away some of the greatest one on one players in the post. If you are going to allow a zone of any kind, make all zones legal. Thoughts? DaDakota - trying to get back to some real basketball discussion, since this season is dead. PS. I wonder if any other Olympic team was coached by a man whose team will be in the lottery.
I like the changes too. I really like the "5 second rule", so we don't have to watch that boring back-it-in play every big guy tried to use. I actually think Zone defense is good for the game. The effect of it is not meant to limit great big men's ability, but to stop or reduce the effectiveness of that so called Inside-Outside offensive system, which was a trade mark of Rockets. All said, I have not seen a really aggressive zone defense yet in the league, except by Dallas. Charles Barkley actually played very well under the post when Hakeem was out. I guess the whole point is that NBA is emphasizing on movement and athelism. May be they were just as tired to watch Rockets on NBC and play ugly slow ball as I was.
The only problem I have with the new rules is that they haven't truely HELPED the game in any way. The league likes to say how scoring is up, but of course it is. The whistled is being blown more often. I don't have the exact figures but Im willing to bet that scoring average increases are pretty much in line with how many more whistles there are and Free throw shots. To me, Id rather see a 95 point game with 40 whistles combined being blown. Than a 102 point game with a combined 60 whistles a game. It really doesnt increase the point total. It just stop the game more and allows more free throws. Which is the most boring part of the game.
The strong-side zone does seem to be an effective attack on the inside-out offense, which is too bad. The inside-out offense is a beauty to behold when executed with sophistication -- like the '93-'94 Rockets managed to do.
I love the no hand check rule. It really gives guys with great one-on-one ability an advantage and opens up the whole game. I wonder, though. Would the league have changed anyway? Think about it. More and more players coming into the league are face-the-basket, one-on-one, open-court players with poor jump shooting abilities and almost no presence in the low post. I think the rule changes have helped force older players into a more up-tempo game, but that may have been accomplished naturally in time.
I hate 'em... The 5 sec rule is too short. If they want to limit the time the ball is in the hands of a post player who is just doing his job, POSTING UP, then they should limit the time any player can handle the ball. The "No Hand Checking" rule just plain sucks. You'd think I was a 6'7" post up guy who never had to handle the ball, but I'm not. I'm 5'9". There was a guard by the name of Michael Jordan who didn't have the luxury of this weak rule, and he still managed to score 30 pts a game in his career. It seems like the NBA is doing with its backcourt players what the NFL has done with its QBs. They have separated the QB from the rest of the game. I realize that both in the NFL and NBA that there is a line you don't cross, but those rules were already on the books. We don't need new rules to baby these guys. ------------------ I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem.
Dreamer, There is no 5 second count on someone posting up. You can hold the ball as long as you like. The 5 second rule applies only when you are DRIBBLING with your back to the basket. It forces you to move or get off the pot. I agree there are more whistles, but I think they will come down as the players adjust to the way the game is being called. I think they are ok, and I like the HANDS OFF policy. That is the way the game was designed and it keeps the THUGS from getting an upper hand, so to speak. DaDakota
To tell you the truth, I haven't even noticed the new rules that much, so they can't be that bad. I like the fact that I have't seen one of tose horrible games where Utah, Miami, or some other team only scores 50 or 60 points. Yikes! Some of these "defensive" oriented games these last few years have been downright ugly. Give me a high-scoring game any day.
The New Rules are a So So Prop. I like the New 14 seconds Rule. Hands off Rule is okay. I think it's overhyped though. I don't like the DON'T TOUCH AT ALL . . .I think the OVERCALLING of Flagrants is kewl but I don't notice any real net results. I have problems with them but they minor. I have More Problems with The different level of calls. . . Superstar/Star/Playa/Scrubgetsnolovecalls. Rocket River
