The most important rule changes in NBA history

[GIF REACTION]

1981 - Illegal Defense Guidelines put in place to increase scoring and open up the paint
Passage from Bill Simmons' (Globally known NBA analyst, well respected publically) book

The new wave of coaches made defenses sophisticated enough by 1981 that the league created an “illegal defense” rule to open up the paint. Here’s how referee Ed Rush explained it to SI: “We were becoming a jump-shot league, so we went to the coaches and said, ‘You’ve screwed the game with all your great defenses. Now fix it.’ And they did. The new rule will open up the middle and give the great players room to move. People like Julius Erving and David Thompson who used to beat their own defensive man and then still have to pull up for a jump shot because they were being double-teamed, should have an extra four or five feet to move around in. And that’s all those guys need.”

Effect:
1979 league average offensive rating: 103.8

1981-82
• Zone defense rules clarified with new rules for Illegal Defensive Alignments.
a. Weak side defenders may come in the pro lane (16’), but not in the college lane (12’) for more than three seconds.
b. Defender on post player is allowed in defensive three-second area (A post player is any player adjacent to paint area).
c. Player without ball may not be double-teamed from weak side.
d. Offensive player above foul line and inside circle must be played by defender inside dotted line.
e. If offensive player is above the top of the circle, defender must come to a position above foul line.
f. Defender on cutter must follow the cutter, switch, or double-team the ball.

1982: League average offensive rating 106.9

2001 - Removal of Illegal Defense Guidelines
Purpose: To encourage ball movement and team play through giving defenses more freedom to defend, particularly help defense from the weak side, which was extremely restricted from 1981-2001 with the Illegal defense guideline in place

(Up coming quotes are from some of the most renowned and well respected NBA analysts and writers on the Earth today. Earning the big bucks because they are the best at what they do... Including ESPN's Henry Abbott, and Grantland's Zach Lowe)


“Getting to the hole is getting harder and harder,” says Chicago’s Carlos Boozer


“A lot of the defensive strategies you see now are a natural evolution from rule changes,” says Houston GM Daryl Morey, in reference to the league’s decision a decade ago to abandon illegal defense rules and essentially allow zone defenses. “First the defense evolved by overloading the strong side, and now the offenses are evolving to beat that.”


“The league has gotten so different today,” (Jim) Boylan says. “You just have to move the ball from one side to the other against the really good defensive teams.”

Isolation and Post up plays are much easier to defend now compared to the Illegal Defense era. Offenses have had to adjust to the modern, strong side flooding defenses, which require full court use, putting a premium on shooting ability enforced spacing (Not rule enforced spacing), passing and movement.


The league overall understands this, though some coaching staffs have been quicker than others in adjusting their systems. The percentage of offensive possessions that end with isolation plays and post-up shots has declined every season for the last five years, per Synergy Sports. In 2008-09, the year after the Celtics used a Thibodeau-designed system to create one of the stingiest defenses ever, 27 of the league’s 30 teams still finished at least 9 percent of their offensive possessions via an isolation play, according to Synergy Sports. The Magic, at 7.4 percent, were the least isolation-prone team in the league that season.3 This season, 15 teams — half the league — are below that 9 percent isolation mark, and a whopping 11 have lower isolation shares than Milwaukee’s league-low number from 2008-09. The drop in post-ups has been similar, and the numbers would seem to indicate an increase in ball movement.

Conversely, this has had an effect on the specifics of personnel scoring, not necessarily team scoring output. Elite scorer numbers are down across the board, and this is in direct effect due to advanced defenses thanks to the removal of Illegal defense. With post ups and isolation plays being able to be defended much better, more ball movement and clever schemes are required for these elite scorers to hit the box score.


Thorpe explains it best in the video, but the gist is this: In recent years more and more NBA coaches have signed up for the defensive philosophy, popularized by Tom Thibodeau since 2007-08, of "flooding ball-side box."

This is not the same as double-teaming, but it has some similarities. When the ball is on one side of the court, watch for this: Very often an extra defender sneaks over to join the action, bringing a crowd of defenders closer to the ball. It's something that became legal when the NBA began allowing zone defenses in 2001, but it took until 2008 for coaches to really figure out how to take best advantage.

That's when the big-time gunners started to disappear.

Flooding the side of the court with the ball makes everything tougher for that star scorer, starting when he makes the catch and assesses options. Driving lanes are tighter or closed off entirely. More defenders have more ability to get hands in faces. It's difficult to reach favored spots on the court, and to operate once there.


That's all happening. Stars putting up big numbers are incredibly hard to find this season compared to five years ago, but overall team scoring is down only about two points per game -- the non-star scorers must be picking up a little slack.

And as for assists, in 1985-86, the 10 players who played the longest minutes in the season's first 36 games combined for 1,308 assists. Five years ago, that number was 1,482. This year it's all the way up to 1,768.

David Thorpe

Now, when you beat that first line of defense, you’ve got four dudes very often sitting, waiting for you on ball-side …You might have three, four, even five defenders on that ball-side box. That wasn’t the case when Jordan played … You couldn’t go anywhere near a ball-side box back then. There were great teams like Chuck Daly’s Pistons and Pat Riley’s Lakers that devised “zone,” so to speak, to kind of flood the ball more, but it was nothing, Henry [Abbott of ESPN], like it is today. The teeth of the defense today is much sharper, and there’s many more teeth then there was back when Jordan played,

George Karl on how the rule changes have made post ups inefficient

“The game is getting out of balance,” says George Karl, now coaching perhaps the league’s preeminent post-up brute. “But until we figure out a way to make the post-up more efficient, we’re not going back. You just can’t win throwing the ball into the post 60 times per game.”


Referees let point guards flit around unfettered, but the paint remains a war zone where brutality can trump skill. Legalized zone frees help defenders to sandwich dangerous post-up threats. “The reason the post-up doesn't work anymore is that teams just front now,” Karl says. Help defenders can drift from their assignments to prevent a lob pass over that front, forcing the defense to whip the ball elsewhere.

2004 - Hand-check reinterpretation

[Lensanity]

The first meaningful post in GIF REACTION's ISH career :applause:

[GIF REACTION]

Handchecking is not as big a deal as made out to be

It has been a topic of rule change since the 70's

The original hand checking rules were made in 1979, and further modified in the 80's and 90's

It still occurs in the game today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Z7BfkquvU

[JohnnySic]

And that's why I appreciate college bball.

College bball = basketball in its pure form.

NBA = all about the "show". National Basketball Entertainment.

[ShaqTwizzle]

The 2005 handchecking rules were also a HUGE change.
In 2006 you had like 50 guys averaging 30-ppg while in 2004 it was like.... 2 guys.

[nba_55]

The 2005 handchecking rules were also a HUGE change.
In 2006 you had like 50 guys averaging 30-ppg while in 2004 it was like.... 2 guys.

There were 3 in 2006 and 1 in 2007.

[GIF REACTION]

The 2005 handchecking rules were also a HUGE change.
In 2006 you had like 50 guys averaging 30-ppg while in 2004 it was like.... 2 guys.
It's funny, because the actual hand check rule was made after the 2003-2004 NBA finals. Yet everyone wants to mention 2006, and not the 2004-2005 season which was the first season after the hand check reinterpretation.

[GIF REACTION]

1988
1. Michael Jordan*-CHI 35.0
2. Dominique Wilkins*-ATL 30.7
3. Larry Bird*-BOS 29.9
4. Charles Barkley*-PHI 28.3
5. Karl Malone*-UTA 27.7
6. Clyde Drexler*-POR 27.0
7. Dale Ellis-SEA 25.8
8. Mark Aguirre-DAL 25.1
9. Alex English*-DEN 25.0
10. Hakeem Olajuwon*-HOU 22.8
11. Kevin McHale*-BOS 22.6
12. Byron Scott-LAL 21.7
13. Reggie Theus-SAC 21.6
14. Xavier McDaniel-SEA 21.4
15. Terry Cummings-MIL 21.3
16. Otis Thorpe-SAC 20.8
17. Jeff Malone-WSB 20.5
18. Tom Chambers-SEA 20.4
19. Moses Malone*-WSB 20.3
20. Patrick Ewing*-NYK 20.2

2006
1. Kobe Bryant-LAL 35.4
2. Allen Iverson-PHI 33.0
3. LeBron James-CLE 31.4
4. Gilbert Arenas-WAS 29.3
5. Dwyane Wade-MIA 27.2
6. Paul Pierce-BOS 26.8
7. Dirk Nowitzki-DAL 26.6
8. Carmelo Anthony-DEN 26.5
9. Michael Redd-MIL 25.4
10. Ray Allen-SEA 25.1
11. Elton Brand-LAC 24.7
12. Vince Carter-NJN 24.2
13. Jason Richardson-GSW 23.2
14. Chris Bosh-TOR 22.5
15. Shawn Marion-PHO 21.8
16. Kevin Garnett-MIN 21.8
17. Mike Bibby-SAC 21.1
18. Antawn Jamison-WAS 20.5
19. Pau Gasol-MEM 20.4
20. Mike James-TOR 20.3

[ShaqTwizzle]

Look here.
Compared 2004 against 2006.

2004 *year before the rule changes
2006 *year when the new changes really sunk in



2004
1. 28
2. 24
3. 24
4. 23.9
5. 22.9
6. 22.8
7. 22.5
8. 22.3
9. 21.8
10. 21.7

2006
1. 35.4
2. 33.0
3. 31.4
4. 29.3
5. 27.2
6. 26.8
7. 26.6
8. 26.5
9. 25.4
10. 25.1

Pretty dramatic difference.
#10 in 2006 would be #2 in 2004.

[Foster5k]

Lmao. OP finally realizing that the Kings are hot garbage, so now he's making history threads. Bravo! :applause:

[catch24]

2000-2004 is the greatest defensive era in history, IMO

probably the BEST combination of pace/ppg/drtg

[GIF REACTION]

why 2006?

If your argument is that it is referee interpretation, then I can argue that 2006 was a one off year, and ever since then elite scoring numbers have decreased significantly to where we have a lack of 25+PPG scorers

And strongside floods didn't really occur until 2008

Either way, the impact of handchecking reinterpretations of 2004 is very overblown, and the freedom it provided on the perimeter, was nullified by the effect getting rid of illegal defense had. This is a commonly excepted notion among the elite NBA writers like Zach Lowe or Henry Abbott or David Thorpe.

[LikeABosh]

One of the GOAT ISH posts:applause: . Waiting for 3balls arrival

[Foster5k]

One of the GOAT ISH posts:applause: . Waiting for 3balls arrival
No, we don't need 20 pages of Jordan YouTube clips.

[catch24]

3ball!....3ball!....3ball!....3ball!....

http://www.flashfilmworks.com/MovieGuide/Onstar/onstar18.jpg

In 3ball's world, the Batsignal = Jumpman logo

[Foster5k]

3ball!....3ball!....3ball!....3ball!....

http://www.flashfilmworks.com/MovieGuide/Onstar/onstar18.jpg

In 3ball's world, the Batsignal = Jumpman logo
:oldlol:

Somewhere, 3ball has just sensed a thread has been made to diminish the greatness of Jordan. In the words of Martin Lawrence, in the movie Bad Boys, "Shit just got real."

[catch24]

:oldlol:

Somewhere, 3ball has just sensed a thread has been made to diminish the greatness of Jordan. In the words of Martin Lawrence, in the movie Bad Boys, "Shit just got real."

http://i.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/michael-keaton-batman-christian-bale-ben-affleck-response.gif

[Rocketswin2013]

The 2005 handchecking rules were also a HUGE change.
In 2006 you had like 50 guys averaging 30-ppg while in 2004 it was like.... 2 guys.
Kobe and Iverson averaged 30 PPG BEFORE the changes.

LeBron was a 6' 8" 250+ pound beast. ****ing hand-check. No-one is controlling him with their hands.

[GIF REACTION]

Thread cliffs;

1979 handchecking ban - Increased scoring

1981 Illegal defense rules - Increased scoring

2001 removal of illegal defense - potential for more advanced team defensive schemes (Ball side box - Thibs) Not fully taken advantage of til 2008 with Boston.... Decrease isolation and post up scoring - Decrease scoring

2004 handcheck - Loosened up perimeter defenders initially, refs now more lenient in rule... Overstated... Did have an effect, but was essentially negated once the 2001 Illegal defense rules were fully taken advantage of with strong side flooding schemes

[Rocketswin2013]

:oldlol:

Somewhere, 3ball has just sensed a thread has been made to diminish the greatness of Jordan. In the words of Martin Lawrence, in the movie Bad Boys, "Shit just got real."
:oldlol:

[!@#$%Vectors!@#]

:applause: :applause: :applause: You Impress me with your Knowledge.

[GIF REACTION]

Handcheck rules are pretty irrelevant for star players anyways. They can't be touched. Doesn't matter what era.

What does matter however, is zone/strong side flooding... It isn't something you can tweak for a star player. Jordan played in an era where spacing was enforced by the rules (Rule enforced spacing).... Today spacing is personnel enforced spacing via 3 point shooting ability (Skill encouraged spacing). You are obliged to clear the lane in Rule enforced spacing due to the rules of illegal defense. You are not obliged to clear the lane in skill encouraged spacing.

Failure to clear the lane in Rule enforced spacing will result in a technical foul

Modern skill encouraged spacing is completely dependent on the ability of all 5 players on the court

Rule enforced spacing is completely dependent on the guidelines of the Illegal Defense rule schemes

[Foster5k]

http://i.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/michael-keaton-batman-christian-bale-ben-affleck-response.gif
3ball: I am vengeance! I am the night! I am 3ball!

[ShaqTwizzle]

Kobe and Iverson averaged 30 PPG BEFORE the changes.


Kobe was with Shaq and he only did it once so it is hard to compare.
Even then his volume + efficiency in his best scoring seasons after the changes were better despite facing more defensive attention being on his own.

Iverson despite being past his Peak put up his highest PPG season in 06 and on considerably better efficiency then his pre-05 30-ppg seasons.


LeBron was a 6' 8" 250+ pound beast. ****ing hand-check. No-one is controlling him with their hands.

Lebron in 2004 (before the changes) : 20ppg on 49%TS...

Slashers who don't have a great jumper (Iverson / Young Lebron) would be hurt the most by physical handchecking or pre-05 rules.

[feyki]

Most important stat is "%eFG" for scale to "defensive and offensive freedoms" .

Toughest era is 50's cause players no freedoms on offence and always keep harder fouls and get to the ft line . 50's Had ; Most Ft/fg rations , lowest %efg , league defensive rating averages was between 0.8 - 0.9 and lowest fgm .

60's more playable era at offence than 50's . Mikan give the freedoms for short players(under 2 meter) at offence like hand checking .

And Mikan once again shows self , ABA ..

ABA is the best American league at between 74-76 . And Nba evolution to be like ABA's . More freedoms at offence , 3pt line , etc .

And After Erving effect , players are to be more acrobatics and athletics ; like Jordan,Drexler,Wilkins etc.. And rules evolution for these guys , hand check etc .

After 1994 playoffs hand check more important than other things cause Nba don't want to scrimpy games for the league and people .

2001 defensive rule is good for me but nba don't wanna tough league , they want to be show league . And after 2005 rule , Wade attempt 19 ft per game at last 4 games of 2006 Finals .

I'm gonna rate era's toughness(don't playable) ;

Before 50 - 10

50's - 9

60's - 8

70's - 7

80's - 5

90's - 5

00-05 - 6

05-present - 4

[Rocketswin2013]

Look here.
Compared 2004 against 2006.

2004 *year before the rule changes
2006 *year when the new changes really sunk in



Pretty dramatic difference.
#10 in 2006 would be #2 in 2004.
So the league rule changes sunk in by 2006...Because? :oldlol:


By that logic, if the rules didn't sink in by then because...guys just scored more that year...

Then the rules have been adjusted to today because while there are great scorers, no-one is getting up to 35, 33, and 31 PPG...

[ShaqTwizzle]

Then the rules have been adjusted to today because while there are great scorers, no-one is getting up to 35, 33, and 31 PPG...

The rules have been adjusted since then.
They "peaked" in 06 & 07 when they were overly enforced and defenders couldn't breath on a guy without being called for a foul.

Since then the league re-calibrated and started allowing a more reasonable degree of physicality between an offensive player and his defender.

:kobe:

[DonDadda59]

The first meaningful post in GIF REACTION's ISH career :applause:

:roll:

This is the same recycled and debunked garbage he posts at least twice a week. But again, it's on me to put him to sleep. Round and round we go. :rolleyes:


1981 - Illegal Defense Guidelines put in place to increase scoring and open up the paint

The illegal defense rules were not only not the most important changes in NBA History, they were BY FAR the biggest failure ever to come out of the rules committee. If the idea was to increase scoring and eliminate zone, then you know why the NBA gave up on them at the turn of the century.

Scoring stats in 1980 (Last season before Illegal D Rules implemented)
PPG: 109
Pace: 103.1
eFG: .486

Scoring stats in 1990
PPG: 107
Pace: 98.3
eFG: .489

Scoring stats in 2001
PPG: 94.8
Pace: 91.3
eFG: .473

As you can see, if the idea was to increase scoring then the illegal defense rules were an unequivocal failure. In the 20 years they were in place, scoring PLUMMETED, as did pace and shooting percentage. With the rise of the Bad Boy Pistons and their Jordan Rules, other teams emulated them (most notably Riley's Knicks) and the game became slower, rougher, more defense oriented. Scoring from '90-'99 alone dropped from 107 to 91 PPG. :eek:

In fact, the only time in NBA History when scoring, pace, and shooting percentages increased was in the post 00s rule changes era.

'00-'01 (last season of illegal D)
PPG: 94.8
Pace: 91.3
eFG: .473

'13-'14
PPG: 101
Pace: 93.9
eFG: .501 (all time high)

TLDR: Illegal D era- scoring, pace, shooting plummets. 'Zone era'- scoring, pace, shooting increases for the only time ever in NBA History.

[DonDadda59]

And if the other purpose of the Illegal D Rules was to curtail zone... Again, colossal failure...


LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Responding to the proliferation of all-out zone defenses being implemented as the 1988-89 season unfolded, the Competition Committee of the National Basketball Association has, for the umpteenth time, attempted to address the matter at the league meetings.

"We received a great many complaints, especially over the last third of the season," said league vice president of operations Rod Thorn.

-'NBA TARGETS ZONE DEFENSE', Boston Globe
9/18/89

The NBA in the 2 decades following the implementation of the rules tried countless times to stop the proliferation of all-out zone defense, to no avail. Teams played zones throughout the 80s-90s.


The NBA has always outlawed zone defenses guarding an area of the floor, instead of a man by the logic that giant centers would dominate the game too much if allowed to roam around and the 24-second shot clock places enough pressure on the offense. Through the years, the no-zone idea has evolved into the latest rule, adopted in 1981 after Cotton Fitzsimmons, Don Nelson and Dick Motta holed up in a room and came up with the guidelines.

-ILLEGAL DEFENSE RULE IS AS CONFUSING AS NEW TAX LAWS AND FULL OF NEARLY AS MANY LOOPHOLES

By Kurt Kragthorpe, Sports Writer
Thursday, April 14 1988


NBA coach/Illegal D creator Dick Motta in 1996:

What particularly bothers Motta is that many teams try to get away with zone defenses now, content to only be penalized by a technical foul. "Our teams are zoning now. Rule or no rule. We're not allowed to use the word `zone' but it's a zone," Motta said.


-THE NBA HAS THIS RULE ABOUT ILLEGAL DEFENSE, BUT WHO CAN EXPLAIN IT, AND WILL IT EVER GO AWAY? A TWILIGHT ZONE (LA Daily News April 14, 1996 Scott Wolf)

The Illegal D Rules were literally useless outside the odd technical every once in a while. Teams still played zone openly. Real zones too, no clearing out the lane every 3 seconds bullshit. The refs could not consistently enforce anything, had little to no understanding of the complex.

The architect of the Illegal D Rules himself was on record 15 years after he crafted them, saying that the rules were useless. Motta was on the committee that abolished the illegal D rules and started the process of changes that caused the first ever increase in scoring, pace, and shooting percentages in NBA History.




Same time in a few days, ImStillSnitchin? :cheers:

[DonDadda59]

Kobe and Iverson averaged 30 PPG BEFORE the changes.

LeBron was a 6' 8" 250+ pound beast. ****ing hand-check. No-one is controlling him with their hands.

LOL (https://youtu.be/5X-VaAqPqmY?t=38s)

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/10-02-2015/N7212f.gif


CHICAGO -- Kobe Bryant said it's been hard to watch the Los Angeles Lakers as they've struggled in his absence, but it turns out he doesn't like watching the NBA in general with the way it is currently being played and officiated across the league.

"It's more of a finesse game," Bryant said before the Lakers played the Chicago Bulls on Monday. "It's more small ball, which, personally, I don't really care much for. I like kind of smash-mouth, old-school basketball because that's what I grew up watching. I also think it's much, much less physical. Some of the flagrant fouls that I see called nowadays, it makes me nauseous. You can't touch a guy without it being a flagrant foul."

Bryant said that the hand-check rule that was introduced nearly a decade ago during the 2004-05 season has made it easier for less-talented players to succeed. Bryant said Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni is at least partially responsible for the shift in style of play across the league.


"I like the contact," Bryant said. "As a defensive player, if you enjoy playing defense, that's what you want. You want to be able to put your hands on a guy. You want to be able to hand check a little bit. The truth is, it makes the game [where] players have to be more skillful. Nowadays, literally anybody can get out there and get to the basket and you can't touch anybody. Back then, if guys put their hands on you, you had to have the skill to be able to go both ways, change direction, post up, you had to have a mid-range game because you didn't want to go all the way to the basket because you would get knocked ass over tea kettle. So I think playing the game back then required much more skill."

http://espn.go.com/losangeles/nba/story/_/id/10325177/kobe-bryant-losangeles-lakers-calls-nba-finesse


http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z192/Def_Fit/GIF/kobe-laughing_1350060747.gif

[!@#$%Vectors!@#]

LOL (https://youtu.be/5X-VaAqPqmY?t=38s)

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/10-02-2015/N7212f.gif


CHICAGO -- Kobe Bryant said it's been hard to watch the Los Angeles Lakers as they've struggled in his absence, but it turns out he doesn't like watching the NBA in general with the way it is currently being played and officiated across the league.

"It's more of a finesse game," Bryant said before the Lakers played the Chicago Bulls on Monday. "It's more small ball, which, personally, I don't really care much for. I like kind of smash-mouth, old-school basketball because that's what I grew up watching. I also think it's much, much less physical. Some of the flagrant fouls that I see called nowadays, it makes me nauseous. You can't touch a guy without it being a flagrant foul."

Bryant said that the hand-check rule that was introduced nearly a decade ago during the 2004-05 season has made it easier for less-talented players to succeed. Bryant said Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni is at least partially responsible for the shift in style of play across the league.


"I like the contact," Bryant said. "As a defensive player, if you enjoy playing defense, that's what you want. You want to be able to put your hands on a guy. You want to be able to hand check a little bit. The truth is, it makes the game [where] players have to be more skillful. Nowadays, literally anybody can get out there and get to the basket and you can't touch anybody. Back then, if guys put their hands on you, you had to have the skill to be able to go both ways, change direction, post up, you had to have a mid-range game because you didn't want to go all the way to the basket because you would get knocked ass over tea kettle. So I think playing the game back then required much more skill."

http://espn.go.com/losangeles/nba/story/_/id/10325177/kobe-bryant-losangeles-lakers-calls-nba-finesse


http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z192/Def_Fit/GIF/kobe-laughing_1350060747.gif
:bowdown: :bowdown:

[Duffy Pratt]

Sorry, but the most important rule change in NBA history, and I don't think it is arguable, was the institution of the 24 second violation in the 54-55 season. Scoring jumped from 79.5 to 93.1. FGAs jumped from 75.4 to 86.4. Field goal percentage rose from 37 to 39% (I'm guessing because teams ran fast breaks, instead of going immediately into a stall).

The amazing thing is that, in the late nineties, the game had slowed down almost to the ridiculously slow pace that prompted the shot clock in the first place. In the 98-99 season, shot attempts were down to 78.2. If there were no shot clock today, there would likely be games with less than 30 points scored.

Also, I notice that I have never seen anyone try to do pace adjusted arguments to elevate the greatness of those players in the early 50s...

[3ball]

Not 1 word itt about defensive 3 seconds, which banned zone inside the paint.. Instead, today's defenders must stay within "armslength" of an offensive player (about 3 feet) - that's the exact opposite of a zone.. Infact, "armslength" is the strictest defense possible outside of having defenders stand shoulder-to-shoulder.. Yet this strict policy governs today's defenders in the most important area of the floor: the paint.

Of course, the defensive 3 seconds rule also banned paint-camping... Paint-camping is a superior defensive tactic to today's shading/flooding.. Furthermore, due to defensive 3 seconds, defenders must shade/flood to OUTSIDE the paint, leaving the paint unprotected and allowing quick wings to beat defenders to the open paint (as opposed to defenders already being in the paint waiting on penetrators, like previous eras).

Finally, today's 3-point shooting and the resulting spacing negates the current defensive schemes.. It's all nice and good that defenders are flooding, but the spacing makes them help from further away - spacing makes defenders help from further away - that's the definition of spacing... The further distance of today's help defenders isn't disputable - it's physics... Spacing affords today's players more time and room to operate than ever before.
.

[Dr Hawk]

Not 1 word itt about defensive 3 seconds, which banned zone inside the paint.. Instead, today's defenders must stay within "armslength" of an offensive player (about 3 feet) - that's the exact opposite of a zone.. Infact, "armslength" is the strictest defense possible outside of having defenders stand shoulder-to-shoulder.. Yet this strict policy governs today's defenders in the most important area of the floor: the paint.

Of course, the defensive 3 seconds rule also banned paint-camping... Paint-camping is a superior defensive tactic to today's shading/flooding.. Furthermore, due to defensive 3 seconds, defenders must shade/flood to OUTSIDE the paint, leaving the paint unprotected and allowing quick wings to beat defenders to the open paint (as opposed to defenders already being in the paint waiting on penetrators, like previous eras).

Finally, today's 3-point shooting and the resulting spacing negates the current defensive schemes.. It's all nice and good that defenders are flooding, but the spacing makes them help from further away - spacing makes defenders help from further away - that's the definition of spacing... The further distance of today's help defenders isn't disputable - it's physics... Spacing affords today's players more time and room to operate than ever before.

GOAt post

[Foster5k]

Not 1 word itt about defensive 3 seconds, which banned zone inside the paint.. Instead, today's defenders must stay within "armslength" of an offensive player (about 3 feet) - that's the exact opposite of a zone.. Infact, "armslength" is the strictest defense possible outside of having defenders stand shoulder-to-shoulder.. Yet this strict policy governs today's defenders in the most important area of the floor: the paint.

Of course, the defensive 3 seconds rule also banned paint-camping... Paint-camping is a superior defensive tactic to today's shading/flooding.. Furthermore, due to defensive 3 seconds, defenders must shade/flood to OUTSIDE the paint, leaving the paint unprotected and allowing quick wings to beat defenders to the open paint (as opposed to defenders already being in the paint waiting on penetrators, like previous eras).

Finally, today's 3-point shooting and the resulting spacing negates the current defensive schemes.. The spacing makes defenders help from further away - that's the definition of spacing... The further distance of today's help defenders isn't disputable - it's physics... Spacing affords today's players more time and room to operate than ever before.
Bane: "Speak of the devil and he shall appear."

[chips93]

Sorry, but the most important rule change in NBA history, and I don't think it is arguable, was the institution of the 24 second violation in the 54-55 season. Scoring jumped from 79.5 to 93.1. FGAs jumped from 75.4 to 86.4. Field goal percentage rose from 37 to 39% (I'm guessing because teams ran fast breaks, instead of going immediately into a stall).

The amazing thing is that, in the late nineties, the game had slowed down almost to the ridiculously slow pace that prompted the shot clock in the first place. In the 98-99 season, shot attempts were down to 78.2. If there were no shot clock today, there would likely be games with less than 30 points scored.

Also, I notice that I have never seen anyone try to do pace adjusted arguments to elevate the greatness of those players in the early 50s...

this

the shotclock made basketball watchable in the 50s

[GIF REACTION]

[QUOTE]Now, when you beat that first line of defense, you

[DonDadda59]

How many times to I have to mention this to your thick skull don? Some of the most RENOWNED and well respected NBA writers today are saying this. They are getting paid the BIG BUCKS to be as accurate as possible. Use your brain a little. There is a big difference.

So the zones (with 3 second violations that are played less than 3% of the time) with no hand-checking are more what... 'floody' than real zones with physical defense and no 3-sec clear out the lane rules only because this nerd, a stand up comedian from Portland, Oregon says so?


http://www.sloansportsconference.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/HenryAbbott.jpg

Story checks out I guess. Nevermind what the aftual architect of the illegal D rules or an ATG who played under both sets of rules have to say.

:roll:

I would love to see you actually tackle what I posted BTW. I know you don't have shit, but take a stab at it.

[GIF REACTION]

Henry Abbott is the best in the business. He gets paid the BIG BUCKS to talk and break down the NBA. There's a reason why guys like you, 3ball and bruceblitz occupy the stands.

[DonDadda59]

Henry Abbott is the best in the business. He gets paid the BIG BUCKS to talk and break down the NBA. There's a reason why guys like you, 3ball and bruceblitz occupy the stands.

Skip Bayless gets paid BIG BUCKS too. What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying Henry Abbott, a stand up comedian from Portland, Oregon who has probably never picked up a basketball or coached in any capacity is more knowledgeable about the game and nuances of the rule changes than a championship winning coach who created the rules and an ATG with 5 rings who played in both eras?

Like... Really, son? :wtf:

[pauk]

LOL (https://youtu.be/5X-VaAqPqmY?t=38s)

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/10-02-2015/N7212f.gif


Thats not handchecking, thats fouling & getting away with it due to all-star/harlem globetrotter/exhibition game level reffing standards.

http://s9.postimage.org/ss9pq4b8v/image.jpg
http://s17.postimage.org/4x5ye71rz/image.jpg

[GIF REACTION]

Skip Bayless gets paid BIG BUCKS too. What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying Henry Abbott, a stand up comedian from Portland, Oregon who has probably never picked up a basketball or coached in any capacity is more knowledgeable about the game and nuances of the rule changes than a championship winning coach who created the rules and an ATG with 5 rings who played in both eras?

Like... Really, son? :wtf:
Delusional.

Zach Lowe and Henry Abbott and David Thorpe > You bruce blitz and 2ball

[DonDadda59]

Thats not handchecking, thats fouling & getting away with it due to all-star/harlem globetrotter/exhibition game level reffing standards.

http://s9.postimage.org/ss9pq4b8v/image.jpg
http://s17.postimage.org/4x5ye71rz/image.jpg

That's some old lion shit. Old school players were great at doing little things the refs couldn't see. I'm sure Jelly Bean and Chubby Cox taught him that move. Players in the handchecking era saw much worse than that on a nightly basis. But even if you think that was a foul, look at the full court pressure. Look at how clumsy and pedestrian the ghost of Bean made a prime Bron look by just placing a forearm on his hip.

Like Beans pointed out, a guy like LeBron is lucky he gets to play in an era where he can hide his lack of skill. If hand-checking were still allowed, his poor ball handling would not fly. He'd be forced to play more off-ball and let a real PG handle the ball. LeBron having no off-ball skills to speak of. :(


Delusional.

Zach Lowe and Henry Abbott and David Thorpe > You bruce blitz and 2ball

:lol

You still never tackled my points from earlier.

If the point of the illegal D rules, the most important rule change in NBA History (:lol) was to increase scoring, then why did PPG go from 109 to as low as 91 PPG during its tenure? If the point was to curb zone... then why was the NBA trying to stop 'out right zones' for the 'umpteenth time' in 1989?

If the rules were so impactful and important, why did the architect of the rules deem them ineffective and the NBA abolish them eventually?

Why did scoring, pace, and shooting percentages INCREASE for the first time ever post merger only after the rule changes of the 00s?

Any time you're ready.

[catch24]

That's some old lion shit. Old school players were great at doing little things the refs couldn't see. I'm sure Jelly Bean and Chubby Cox taught him that move. Players in the handchecking era saw much worse than that on a nightly basis. But even if you think that was a foul, look at the full court pressure. Look at how clumsy and pedestrian the ghost of Bean made a prime Bron look by just placing a forearm on his hip.

Like Beans pointed out, a guy like LeBron is lucky he gets to play in an era where he can hide his lack of skill. If hand-checking were still allowed, his poor ball handling would not fly. He'd be forced to play more off-ball and let a real PG handle the ball. LeBron having no off-ball skills to speak of. :(

:roll:

A double entendre in its purest form

[DonDadda59]

:roll:

A double entendre in its purest form

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jh4J34Z7_5s/UPrjBYGLw8I/AAAAAAAAGSE/STKnIiMMbQw/s1600/django-unchained.gif