Still room for improvement in NBA

Published by www.probasketballnews.com on 23/07/2008
Link: http://www.probasketballnews.com/todd_072308.html

No one loves NBA basketball more than I do, but there are certain aspects of the game I would characterize as ‘ugly’. They slow the game down, suck the excitement from a close contest, and otherwise detract from the unique spectacle that is an NBA game.

Let’s examine the culprits:

Timeouts
It has reached the point where I would rather tape a live game and watch it later, so as to avoid the endless timeout breaks. Each team has a total of 8 timeouts per contest - 6 x 100 second and 2 x 20 second timeouts. Do the math and that’s 16 potential stoppages in play, which doesn’t include TV timeouts, quarter time breaks and interruptions from fouls and substitutions. Also, it’s not uncommon for the final minutes of a tight game to be drawn out to 20-25 minutes. Whilst I do understand the commercial aspect of timeouts (revenue through adverts), it’s borderline ridiculous and the game is suffering as a result.

Too often a game is brought to a halt so that a coach can instruct his players exactly where to go and what to do. Wouldn’t it be more exciting if players could make their own decisions during a game, especially in the closing moments? Isn’t that what practice is for, to prepare players for different scenarios? Heck, a coach can call plays on every possession if he so desires, but why continually interrupt the game through timeouts?

There are numerous solutions to the problem. You could simply reduce the number of timeouts allowed per team, or, eliminate them altogether and replace with TV timeouts at specific stages each quarter (9 min/6 min/3 min). However, something tells me ($$$) this aspect of the game will never change. It’s a shame.

‘Penalty' free throws
Nothing is more boring in an NBA game than watching players shoot free throw after free throw. I would liken it to watching paint dry or grass grow. But we are regularly subjected to this facet of the game through the ‘penalty’ rule. Under this rule, each team is allowed to commit 4 fouls in each quarter with no penalty. On the 5th team foul committed that quarter, that team is in the penalty, and thus, free throws are awarded to the opposing team. If a team commits more than 1 foul in the last 2 minutes of a quarter, this also results in a ‘penalty situation’.

In combination with timeouts, penalty free throws can stifle a game of basketball and reduce it to a crawl. Solutions - raise the limit by 2 fouls (from 4 to 6), or award a player 1 free throw instead of 2. Either way, alternative solutions must be sought to speed up the game.

Flopping
The flopping issue has generated significant discussion recently, but it is something the league must address. ‘Flopping’ is the act of feigning physical contact when little or no contact is made. In essence it is cheating. Whilst this behaviour is accepted in some sports, it shouldn’t stand in the NBA. The best floppers in the game today are arguably Manu Ginobili (Argentina) and Anderson Varejao (Brazil). Not surprising, when you consider that South Americans do have a reputation for ‘play acting’ on the soccer field. But I am not saying that only non-Americans flop, many players do it and it seems to be becoming more prevalent.

A policy of ‘naming and shaming’ the offender would go a long way towards stamping out the behaviour. Its one thing to be accused of flopping from time to time, but to be publicly outed and fined would make many second guess the action. I propose that a panel of officials review each game, and if there is a clear case of flopping (unanimous agreement), the player would receive a small fine and the details made public. If a player is caught 3 times they would receive an immediate suspension – 2 games perhaps. Although it is extremely difficult for a ref to make this judgement during a game (it is called in soccer), they would be given the power to penalise a player who 'flops', by calling a technical foul. The after-match panel would review the game and fine that player if they determine the call to be correct. If the player was deemed not to have flopped, a public retraction would be made.

This seems like a radical step to take, but such action is necessary in order to eliminate this unsportsmanlike behaviour from the game.

Whining
Watching grown men continually harass a referee by whining and complaining is not an attractive part of the game. In fact, it’s annoying. I know it’s an emotional game and tempers flare, but there is no excuse for this childish behaviour. There was an attempt 2 years ago to tighten up the rules, but as far as I can see it hasn’t worked, with both players and coaches returning to bad habits.

I am not aware of any other sport that allows this level of complaining at a referee to occur, so why is it tolerated in basketball? The rules should allow for a player/coach to express an immediate emotional reaction to a call/play, but it's the continued badgering of a referee well after the play has concluded, that must have a 'zero tolerance’ policy.

I think refs earn every penny they get, and maybe even deserve a pay rise. How would you like to be the object of continual abuse whilst trying to perform your day job?

Quarter-time coach interviews
Please, do us all a favor and can this idea! It is obvious to everyone that the coach doesn’t want to be there. They typically provide minimal answers to the questions posed, and it adds no new insight to the game that hasn’t already been covered by the commentators. Instead, show the quarter time huddle and the coach’s address to the team.

Yes, coaches do get paid a lot of money so we shouldn’t feel bad about wanting our pound of flesh, but why persist with it when there is no entertainment value?

Hack-a-Shaq
While on some level I don’t mind seeing woefully bad free throw shooters exposed, the hack-a-shaq strategy does give the impression of bad sportsmanship at play. The hack-a-shaq strategy is the repeated intentional fouling of an individual every time his team takes possession of the ball, in order to force that player to shoot free throws.

Most recently the strategy was used against Shaq during the Spurs/Suns series in the first round of this year’s playoffs. Whilst successful, it did leave a very bad taste in the mouth at the conclusion of the already spiteful series.

Fact is the rules allow it, and in today’s NBA where coaches are under a tremendous amount of pressure to succeed, they will do whatever is necessary to get the job done. Therefore, the rules must be changed. The solution is simple. A technical foul should be awarded for any such transgression (fouling off the ball), with the team receiving free throws and possession of the ball. Problem solved.

The NBA is such a great game, but with a few changes, it could be even better.