Newest gen 180’ breakaway rims since the bubble, are much much softer…

[BarberSchool]

Has anyone noticed how soft the front and sides are on these new goals ?

The first few generations of goals which broke away from the sides as well, weren’t THIS soft ….

So many more soft bounces that wind up going in, and far less long rebounds, that used to be much more frequent on long jump shots.

The only hard-ish spot now is the back of the rim.

I’d wager it’s by design, to still make interior offensive rebounding a thing, while making perimeter shots have a ~0.5-1% bump in efficiency.

Any thoughts ? Or knowledge of the exact brand/model ? Are the exact same spec models available to the public ?

[BarberSchool]

*Crickets AF*

I can’t be the only one noticing this obvious pattern ….

[Rake2204]

Honestly yeah, I've broadly noticed and felt how soft the 180-degree rims are since their introduction years ago. I'm not sure I've noticed the difference between the old 180's and new 180's though.

As a whole, it's kind of interesting the rim change never came up in discussion very often. A soft rim can make a huge difference to a shooter (imagine playing on double rims versus soft indoor breakaways). I've hooped on a fair share of 180's and they're gloriously soft, even compared to standard breakaways (and the league's standard breakaways were wound tight... except in Boston).

[L.Kizzle]

The ball has also changed to Wilson. Not sure how much that effects things as well.

Back in the day, you had to have a soft touch because there were no break away rims (I'm talking pre-80s.)

[warriorfan]

the double and triple rims are a mother ****er

makes you a better shooter though, you better be swishing :lol

[Rake2204]

The ball has also changed to Wilson. Not sure how much that effects things as well.

Back in the day, you had to have a soft touch because there were no break away rims (I'm talking pre-80s.)

Yep. I'm not going to sit here and act like today's shooters are only so good because blah, blah, blah. They'd be amazing no matter the circumstances.

Just speaking as a hooper though, I've always been intrigued with how the NBA's change in equipment has affected player performance throughout the years. Because I remember the days growing up when one school's rims may be 9'10'', another school's basketballs may been hyper-inflated, and another school might play on a surface that hadn't been waxed or swept in two decades. My junior year, our home gym had one breakaway rim wound so tight that it would not, in fact, breakaway as intended, even when trying to Shaq dunk on that thing.

When I look back in NBA history and see places like the Boston Garden, which had cracks that could hold four quarters at the end of its run, I can't help but think about how much that probably sucked for players. Same goes for when I see pictures of guys using basketballs that looked as worn in as the ones we'd have to pull from storage to use in open runs at the old gym across town. Slick indoor leather basketballs were the worst, especially in the winter when your hands were cold, dry, and chalky.

All of that is to say that I'd choose today's softer 180-flex rims any day of the week if I were a shooter, even if the advantage was more mental than anything else. Then again, maybe those softer rims would lead shooters to get a bit lazy, thinking they're more likely to get the benefit of a rattle or roll. I may hate double and triple rims, but I must admit they make you strive for perfection, knowing any contact with the rim's going to be trouble.