I Loathe the Participation of NBA Players in International Competition - Part II
Jul 27th, 2007 by Answerman
II. The Rules.
FIBA rules are different than NBA rules. Its the trapezoidal lane, goaltending rules, foul rules, traveling rules, 3 point distance (and for the purposes of this entry we’ll pretend that FIBA refs don’t have it out for NBA players).
The adjustment to these rules, though minor and intellectually simple, have an adverse effect on the NBA and its players. For example, Tyson Chandler is a great NBA rebounder. He was probably able to get rim by the time he was 12. Ever since that time, he has been timing his jumps so as NOT to take the ball of the rim, because that is illegal at all levels of American play. It has become so part of his muscle memory, that it is now an instinct. You CANNOT give him a rule book that says he CAN take balls off the rim and expect him to easily adjust. Michael Redd is a tremendous shooter. He practices shooting from specific distances (NBA 3 point range) as part of the offense. Giving him another distance requires him to readjust arm angles and stroke and practice a different shot.
To demonstrate the difficulty in making these intellectually simple, but physically complex adjustments, try walking left foot-left foot-right foot/left-left-right/left-left-right. You can do it, seems easy enough, you are just bad at it. Same can be said for the “minor” adjustments NBA players have to make in FIBA.
The impact of this adjustment to the NBA is 2-fold.
1. To adjust to the rule changes, U.S. team officials have now made FIBA participation into a multi-year commitment, requiring more practices, scrimmages and, of course, exhibitions (no money there, right) to get used to these rules. Since its a multi-year commitment, the guys who had no break last summer, will have no break this summer and will have no break next summer. To see a discussion of NBA players playing more, see Part I.
2. It confuses the players. Lets say I’m the Detroit Pistons. I have an offensive approach that I want my team to master and I want it mastered using NBA rules. Now, you are taking two of my starters, including my point guard, getting them used to different rules and forcing them to execute different plays to compensate. How is that good for Pistons fans who want to see clean execution by their team? NBA fans who want to se ethe NBA game played well?
The NBA does not want Billups working on breaking a zone during the summer, since we all know he won’t face a real zones in the NBA. The NBA wants him focused on beating the defenses the NBA presents, focused on Detroit Basketball. The NBA does not want his head filled with Mike K’s college and Mike D’An’s international approaches.
The NBA talks about team work and continuity, yet they send players to work in other systems under different rules, serving to break any semblance of team work and continuity.
To stretch my analogy, lets say you spent all summer training for a race where you are required to run left-left-right against guys who have walked like that their entire lives? You do your level best to be the best left-left-right runner in the business…and eventually you develop strategies and muscle memory to do it at an elite level. Will you be ready to run left-right-left-right effectively in the fall? As effectively as you could before all the intelligent left-left-right training?
I’d rather my players spend their summers like the “Super-Size Me” guy than participating in FIBA. The weight will come off during the season, the damage to their psyche from learning another system, being bad at it, and then readjusting to the NBA, is far more difficult to overcome.
Part III coming soon.
15 yrs ago, when pros were allowed to play international games for the first time (dream team), i dont remember mullin or bird having any problems with the 3pt distance… USA won every game playing by FIBA rules. this was 15 yrs ago, you´re saying that after 15 years USA players still have problems adjusting to FIBA rules? You’re absolutely right about the number of games USA players have to play before FIBA games… but this part II of your “I loathe FIBA”, I´m not so sure.
Very nice that Dream Team I won so handily. Its because they were so much better than the world. The world has caught up so - as I said - more effort is being made into adjusting to these rules. Hence, my loathing.
well, its very true that dream team I won because they were much better than the rest( so was dream team II)… but let me remind you that the Croatian team was probably the best european team ever (petrovic, radja, kukoc…), and USA won both games by 30 or 40 points. i follow european basketball (in spetember there will be euro cup in spain), and i believe that none of these teams from today would stand a chance against croatia from 92. so, when u say the world caught up… u probably speaking of countries like argentina, brazil, china. right ?
“I’d rather my players spend their summers like the “Super-Size Me” guy than participating in FIBA.”
How arrogant!
Competing on a world stage has nothing to with the NBA, or not enough to justify pulling its players out of world basketball. Only the Americans. Surely this can be put down to bitterness at seeing Team USA humbled by the Greeks, the Argentinians, etc. who show superior levels of IQ to the ’superstars’ that get trotted out by the Yanks.
“Only the Americans. Surely this can be put down to bitterness at seeing Team USA humbled by the Greeks, the Argentinians, etc.”
No, I’ve gone to great lengths to explain the source of my bitterness, but in a nutshell, participation in these tournaments hurts the NBA. I am bitter as an NBA fan.
I’ll be the first to admit my style of writing can be a little gruff. Don’t let that convince you that I’ve got an agenda beyond convincing you where you are going wrong in your thinking. And you are really grasping at straws.
Lets start with the travelling rule. Yes, the FIBA refs call it a travel if the player takes more than two steps. Which is actually the correct rule in every league in the world. Whereas NBA officials let players, especially stars, take up to four steps sometimes, such as that old Shawn Kemp dunk where he starts his run up from in front of the scorers table. And that’s FIBA’s fault, not the WWF, uh, I mean NBA’s?
Illegal Defence. Whoever thought of that idea, or at least whoever implemented it, should be quietly invited behind a barn and shot. Lets punish the defence for using their brains and standing under the basket with unbridled joys of a stop in play, some referee activity, and a free throw.
The three point line. By your logic, or complete lack of it, Michael Redd is forced to toe up to the international line and then shoot the three ball. If you knew anything about FIBA and other countries national tournaments you’d realise that a lot of threes are taken at about NBA three range, due to spacing concerns. So yes, Redd can still shoot an NBA three, if he indeed prefers to do so. Assuming he realises he what you haven’t.
Taking the ball off the hoop is a little different, I’ll admit it.
Get use to it.
Regarding players “filling their head” with FIBA plays, has it ever occurred to you that they could actually learn a few new tricks at these tournaments, playing with the best players from rival NBA clubs, under a different coach, against foreign competition that have different concepts and strengths? Obviously not.
“I’d rather my players spend their summers like the “Super-Size Me” guy than participating in FIBA”
I hope you’ve another nutshell like this for all us true basketball fans, not just the WWF fans like yourself, in in “FIBA and Loathing in Las Vegas III”
J
Maybe, if you really love NBA, your post should encourage NBA players to learn the game. It’s not about the rules. The euro-Raps with a bunch of talented players have shown the path… With Garbo and without the excellent last two plays of Jefferson in Game 6, they would have achieved greater goals.
So, learn how to play a 5 players game, called basketball, and stop developing just physical/strong/overmuscled players who are not able to understand and adapt to the tactical richness of the WORLD (being the World not just the USA…) of basketball.
Agreed, they should just send the NBA champs over to compete. Except their three best players were all born overseas, lol.
That says something about team play right there. The better European and South American teams haven’t been winning FIBA because they of the rule differences, or fatigue, given that their best players too have to make the rule change adjustments and fight through the fatigue borne from the grueling NBA season themselves, and have also not had the chance to practice with their national squads except during the offseasons. These are simply the excuses thrown at the American public thirsty for an excuse for their own teams shortcomings.
They have been winning, despite having less talent, simply because their players have a better understanding of simple team ball concepts and role playing. Dunc, Manu and Tony couldn’t have cared had they gone scoreless in the clinching game over the Cavs, so long as they got the prize, which is why they are NBA champs, again. Oberto and Elson, and Nesto before them knew their roles. The same could be said of Shaq, who accepted his 2nd option status in the Miami championship team with dignity, even if the US press and public couldn’t, despite being double teamed by Dallas every time he got the ball the whole series.
In simple terms, share the ball.
J
I remember David Robinson taking balls out o fthe rim in Barcelona and kickingi it out for fast breaks.
The lack of patriotism of the USA when it comes to hoops is amazing. USA Baskebtall does not make money, so no point having exhibition games…ridiculous.
The Internationl player como to the NBA and adapt and can still play by their country.
Must I remmeber that NCAA 3 point line neither conforms to the NBA nor to the FIBA one?
The problem of the US is trying to play each game like an All Star game and not playing like a team.
Then excuses come, like rules, balls, etc…
The point you are missing is that the FIBA rules are the ‘true’ rules of basketball. FIBA is real basketball, every country uses these rules except the USA, yet you complain about them. The NBA made their changes to these rules soley for entertainment purposes, nothing else, sort of like the WWE of basketball. But, I suppose that we are talking about a country who calls their baseball finals the “World Series”, when there is only one non American team (Toronto), and the NBA champion is the world champion, but USA has not been a world champion at basketball since 2000.