Save the NBA

pudge on 2005-09-07T16:14:39

During discussion about inadequate enforcement of infractions in professional sports, it was noted that in the NBA, they call everything (well, except for travelling), but the fouls are still committed. Obviously, this is because the penalty for the foul is insufficiently high to encourage the participants to NOT foul.

So my idea: get rid of all free throws. A shooting foul becomes a scoring foul. You foul me on a two-point shot? I get two points. On a three? I get three.

Take away the very point of the foul, and they won't foul anymore. This won't disrupt the game like ejections or timed suspensions (like hockey) would do; they would merely remove the reason for fouling.

A friend noted he likes that the ability to shoot from the line is part of the game, and offered one point, plus the shots. I counter: the points, plus one shot.

Also, when a team gets over the foul limit, you could give automatic one point + one shot, or two points. Or two points and one shot. Any of those is fine with me.

If they did this, I maybe could watch basketball again.

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Fixing the NBA

ziggy on 2005-09-07T16:38:31

Sounds about as likely to happen as George Carlin's plans for fixing baseball: one strike and your out; hit by pitch, and you're out; and randomly placed landmines in the outfield, just to spice things up.

If you upped the penalty for a foul so that basketball was a more sporting game, you'd miss all of the close contact that makes it such a fast paced game. With the penalties you propose, basketball would be about as boring as baseball, and only slightly more interesting than bowling or curling.

Re:Fixing the NBA

pudge on 2005-09-07T16:56:08

If you upped the penalty for a foul so that basketball was a more sporting game, you'd miss all of the close contact that makes it such a fast paced game.

The NBA, fast-paced? On what planet?

Re:Fixing the NBA

ziggy on 2005-09-07T17:12:43

The NBA, fast-paced? On what planet?

This one. You can schedule an NBA game in prime time, and not need 7 hours to finish 60 minutes or 9 regulation innings of gameplay. And compared to Golf, the NBA plays at near relativistic speed. (That's even with the foul-a-minute rules.)

Re:Fixing the NBA

pudge on 2005-09-07T17:26:53

Oh, you're thinking of the actual time from start to finish? I was referring to the pace of action on the court.

MLB Re:Fixing the NBA

n1vux on 2005-09-13T19:27:16

hit by pitch, and you're out

But only if you're leaning outside the batters box at the time.

higher rims

gizmo_mathboy on 2005-09-08T04:30:28

Imagine if they raised the rim to 11 feet? Maybe even stretched the court to be a little longer and made the lane a bit bigger.

Don't get me wrong I like the suggested change in penalties for a foul but I think the mechanics of the game need to change.

What made Lou Al^H^H^H^H^H^HKareem so great is that he had a helluva hook shot. He had to learn how to shoot.

Make dunking the ball special again. How many guys could dunk on an 11 foot rim?

how about just fouling out sooner?

mako132 on 2005-09-13T18:32:37

Wouldn't you achieve the same results by fouling out after just 2 or 3 fouls? If it were that low, everyone would have to play very carefully.

I'm for raising the rim and increasing the size of the lane (even though my game is all low post...)

I enjoy watching womens basketball, its game reflect more of what I experience when I do pick-up games. Watching millionaires stand around while one person drives or shoots a 3 is no fun.

Re:how about just fouling out sooner?

pudge on 2005-09-13T19:06:04

Wouldn't you achieve the same results by fouling out after just 2 or 3 fouls? If it were that low, everyone would have to play very carefully.

Not at all. Then you will just try to save up your fouls for the end of the game and you will do the exact same thing as before. It still allows a cost-benefit analysis of a given foul opportunity, which is what I want to take away, by giving *no possible benefit* (under normal conditions) to a foul.

Plus, I don't want players ejected, I want them to play, but just *not foul*.

Re:how about just fouling out sooner?

ziggy on 2005-09-13T20:29:22

Plus, I don't want players ejected, I want them to play, but just *not foul*.

So, you mean you want Basketball to be more like Baseball?

Re:how about just fouling out sooner?

pudge on 2005-09-13T20:44:50

No, baseball doesn't have a serious problem with "fouling" (that is, intentionally interfering with or harming another player). There's some beanballs here and there, but they only very rarely get in the way of the game -- maybe a few times a year out of thousands of games played -- as opposed to basketball, where fouls are a big problem in every single game that is played.

Re:how about just fouling out sooner?

ziggy on 2005-09-13T21:04:34

Actually, I meant "foul" in the Baseball sense, as in a "foul ball." ;-)

Still happens. No one gets benched. Doesn't happen every five minutes.