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Experimental game raises the basket and questions

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  • #1

    Experimental game raises the basket and questions

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2906707

    Experimental game raises the basket and questions
    Associated Press
    Updated: June 16, 2007, 11:55 PM ET


    Big men playing in Saturday's exhibition game in Seattle had to adjust their positioning to get the ball to the 11-foot rim.


    SEATTLE -- Brayden Billbe caught the pass on the block. He drop-stepped and turned to dunk, just as he usually would.

    Nope, not this time. Not with the basket a foot higher.

    "All of a sudden, I'm like 'oh, no.' So I flip it up there and it rolls off the rim," Billbe said. "I felt like an idiot."

    There were a few of those moments on Saturday during an exhibition basketball game featuring 11-foot rims. Organized by former NBA assistant Tom Newell -- son of former coach and acclaimed big-man instructor Pete Newell -- the exhibition surely won't be remembered for the quality of play, but perhaps for sparking a change.

    "I think this will open the professional league's eyes, where they may experiment with it, give it a serious look," said Jim Harrick, the former UCLA coach who was coaching one of the teams.

    For the record, Saturday's exhibition ended with a 90-60 victory for the "gold" team. Billbe, a 6-foot-11 center who played at American University, scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

    But the goal for Newell was to examine how the game was different with the taller rims. Was there more passing and spacing? Was teamwork at more of a premium and less of a focus on individual play? Was a challenge presented to the players, all of which had some college experience, and could they adapt?

    The answer seemed to be a resounding yes.

    "They represented the game fundamentally as best as I could have expected," Newell said.

    It was sloppy exhibition in the early going, a side effect of the players spending just a week practicing for it.

    By the second quarter the quality improved, and effects of the taller basket became evident.

    Perhaps the biggest impact was on the interior players. No longer could centers like Billbe catch the ball on the low block, turn and simply extend their arms and lay the ball over the rim.

    With the taller rim, if their positioning was too deep, the shot angle was nearly impossible. When they turned, an upward shot was needed. The feel a big man has for their position on the floor was completely altered.

    "I can't wait to get back to a 10-foot rim," said 6-8 Adam Zahn, who played at Oregon. "This showed me that I do rely on my athleticism a lot."

    The taller rim also impacted outside shooting. Players who weren't square to the basket with their feet set had trouble early on getting the ball over the front rim. Shots improved later in the game, but fadeaways and contested attempts often didn't have a chance.

    About a 1,000 fans turned out for the exhibition on the University of Washington campus, including current Washington coach Lorenzo Romar and former coach Marv Harshman. Newell's experiment came from a belief that today's game relies too much on dunking, 3-point shooting and the pure athleticism of players bigger, faster and stronger than the past.

    "On offense, a player still has to use their athleticism, you just use it in a different way," said Ryan Rourke, who played at Cornell and now plays in Europe.

    Added Andrew Zahn, Adam's brother who plays professionally in Japan, "Kids are dunking now in eighth grade, freshman year in high school. You go back to this, the court is a lot more spread, there are more fundamentals."

    Early on, there weren't many fundamentals. The teams combined for 16 turnovers in the first quarter and finished with 43 combined. Yet, the court opened up, proving lanes for cutting and passing. Players who usually would hoist 23-foot 3-pointers, passed up the deep shot to take a couple of dribbles and instead shoot an 18-footer.

    Ultimately, Newell was pleased, but realizes any change will depend on public reception to a game that would be less about entertainment and more fundamental.

    "I can definitely see this happening again," Andrew Zahn said. "To be involved with the first one is kind of cool."
    -----------

    I would like to see someone experiment with this. Maybe the NIT could use it in their tournament one year.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

    No. Just no.

    Kids spend their entire lives shooting at 10-foot baskets. Raising the rim a whole foot would completely throw off muscle memory.

    Furthermore, this would only make 7-foot big men MORE important, not less.
    Last edited by Kstat; 06-17-2007, 07:42 AM.

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    • #3
      Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

      Originally posted by Kstat View Post
      No. Just no.

      Kids spend their entire lives shooting at 10-foot baskets. Raising the rim a whole foot would completely throw off muscle memory.

      Furthermore, this would only make 7-foot big men MORE important, not less.
      Yeah...this reminds me of when I was a kid and I'd lower our hoop to 8 feet so that I could dunk and our neighbor would always tell me that it would screw up my J...so now I shoot like Muggsy Bogues.

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      • #4
        Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

        Originally posted by Kstat View Post
        No. Just no.

        Kids spend their entire lives shooting at 10-foot baskets. Raising the rim a whole foot would completely throw off muscle memory.

        Furthermore, this would only make 7-foot big men MORE important, not less.
        No, but for different reasons. They would adjust and the game would return to its current state within two years with perhaps less dunking. But are layups more "fundamental" than dunks?

        No, the only thing that has to happen to improve the NBA game is that the refs have to call the game the same for every player. I would also like fewer calls. If your star player cannot just get into the lane looking for a call, you would have to pass more looking for the open shot. There goes your spacing, teamwork and fundamental play. It also eliminates much of Wade's game.
        Slug 'em Sabres!!!!!
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        • #5
          Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

          I don't like the idea of changing the rim height for the reason kstat mentioned. I have always thought the nba should experiment with a wider court and a wider lane. Let's say 4' wider with a 2' wider lane. The idea being to naturally create improved spacing and more creases in the D for drives and mid range jumpers. IMO, the size and athleticism of players today effectively shrinks the floor. It has become harder for an offence to create an open shot simply with cutting, screening, and ball movement. Open shots are currently created more by great individual play than team work. Changing the size of the court wouldn't effect the individual skills (such as shooting) but I think it would improve movement and team work.

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          • #6
            Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

            rest assured that this is GOING to happen at some point.

            We as human beings are bigger than we were 20 years ago...50 years ago. I'm bigger than my dad, and indications are that my boys are going to be bigger than me.

            It may not happen while we are still watching, but it will have to happen sometime.
            Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
            - Margaret Mead

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            • #7
              Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

              Dwight Howard could still dunk, no problem.

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              • #8
                Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

                Absolutely! I would love to see the rim go to 11 feet. It would bring back the excitement of what a dunk meant in the 60's when only a few could dunk. In that era, dunks were electrifying. Now, it's routine and to top it off most who dunk have to show off by swinging on the rim and then thumping their chest. If they can do this at 11 feet, more power to them.

                Another reason it would work is because 90% of the rebounds now are below the rim so rebounding would put a premium on jumping ability and athleticism. Boxing out and positioning would also become more critical.

                As far as muscle memory, it would take only a short while for players to adapt. It's been proven in previous tests that players quickly adapt to a different height.

                I think it would really add spice to the game. Now, when 90% of the players can dunk, it has become routine. At 11 feet, perhaps as few as 10-20% could dunk and it would truly be a feat. In the 50's, it was rare and the 60's brought on the real roots of the dunk. So much that when Jabbar (Alcinder) came along, they outlawed the dunk in the college ranks for about 3 years. It didn't take the NCAA bigwigs to realize that some excitement had diminished without the dunk. By the same token, the excitement has now diminished because the dunk is so routine.

                Widening the lane opened up the game somewhat but it is still far too congested under the hoop. The dimensions need to be increased by 2-3 feet in all directions, including the lane. Athletes are just so much bigger and athletic and therefore more aggressive then they were 20-40 years ago. There simply is not enough room for their size and it boils down to a bump and grind game down low.

                How electrifying would it be to see an alley-oop pulled off with an eleven foot basket??? Once the players and fans got used to the higher rim, I think it would only result in greater fan enthusiasm and it would be SRO again.
                .

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                • #9
                  Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

                  But, but 11 is not an even number!

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                  • #10
                    Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

                    Originally posted by LoneGranger33 View Post
                    But, but 11 is not an even number!
                    hmm...thats odd...

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                    • #11
                      Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

                      I like the willingness to change things. The NBA has changed its rules when the players' abilities changed before; they can do it again. I hope they continue to experiment with this.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

                        Originally posted by bellisimo View Post
                        hmm...thats odd...
                        Touche!

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

                          Originally posted by TripleThreat View Post
                          rest assured that this is GOING to happen at some point.

                          We as human beings are bigger than we were 20 years ago...50 years ago. I'm bigger than my dad, and indications are that my boys are going to be bigger than me.

                          It may not happen while we are still watching, but it will have to happen sometime.
                          Nope. By that time it'll all be Tron-like sports like light cycles and that disc throw thing they did.

                          Oh, and of course Rollerball. Sidebar, I seriously need to get myself a Jonathan E Houston jersey. How cool would that be?! Maybe a Moonpie road jersey too.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

                            Keep the rim at 10 feet.

                            Ban the dunk.

                            That's right ban the dunk. If you want to see fundamental basketball then ban the dunk. It's very simple.

                            I believe the NCAA banned the dunk because they feared that Kareem Abdual Jabbar would dominate the game too much. Thanks NCAA because of that KAJ developed the sky hook!

                            If Shaqiule O'Neal had the sky hook he could still score 25. If players focused more on shooting the 18 footer than the dunk (or the 3 pointer for that matter) then the game would be much better to watch.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Experimental game raises the basket and questions

                              i thought the dunk was already banned... isn't that why this happened?
                              This is the darkest timeline.

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