Original Defensive 3 Seconds Rule vs. Current One

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Today's defensive 3 seconds rule requires defenders to stay out of the lane, unless they are within "armslength" of an opponent.. [url]http://www.nba.com/nba101/misunderstood_0708.html[/url]


The original rule from 1982 was different, and ALLOWED defenders to camp in the paint: ([url]http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_history.html[/url])

[INDENT][B]1981-82[/B]
"[I]Defender on post player is allowed in defensive three-second area (A post player is any player adjacent to paint)"[/I].[/INDENT]

So just by substituting the rule's own parenthetical reference, the rule translates EXACTLY to: "Defender on player adjacent to the paint is allowed in defensive 3 second area."


[IMG]http://gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/b209aeddf6bfaaa9fcaed8eea3c72c65.gif[/IMG]


[b]in this clip, Klay Thompson's dad (#43 in the middle of lane) would get a tech after 3 seconds in today's game because his man is out of "armslength".... but back then, he was legal because his man was "adjacent to the paint", which is all that was required at the time - notice how there is no need for Thompson to tippy-toe in and out of the paint.
[/B]

in previous eras, guys didn't have to worry about staying out of the lane or tippy-toeing - the 3 seconds rule was very simple back then: as long as their man was "adjacent to the paint", defenders could stay in the lane... so usually, they could camp in the lane for the entire possession because the paint is huge, and "adjacent to the paint" covers a ton of ground... Furthermore, "adjacent to the paint" could mean right next to the paint, a few feet outside the paint, or all the way out to the 3-point line - [url=http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10695139&postcount=1][u]defenders routinely camped in the paint while their man was behind the 3-point line[/u][/url].

contrastingly, today's rule makes sure defenders can physically touch their man to stay in the lane, by requiring defenders be within "armslength" of an opponent - since players that are outside, or "adjacent to the paint", are out of armslength to defenders inside the paint, players in today's game are not allowed to stay in the lane if their man is outside the paint.

:rolleyes:

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[B][SIZE="3"]Kobe's 2006 Roster[/SIZE] (D-League starting with 2nd guy):[/B]


Lamar Odom
Smush Parker
Chris Mihm
Brian Cook
Kwame Brown
Devean George
Luke Walton
Laron Profit


[B][SIZE="3"]Lebron's 2007 Roster[/SIZE] (solid top to bottom):[/B]


Larry Hughes
Zydrunas Illgauskas
Drew Gooden
Sasha Pavlovic
Donyell Marshall
Anderson Varejao
Daniel Gibson
Damon Jones
Eric Snow


[SIZE="3"][COLOR="Red"][B]Lebron's roster is a completely different caliber of players[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[QUOTE=3ball]fixed the op[/QUOTE]
nah it's still ****ed up

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[u][b]Measuring Changes Over Time in Defensive Effectiveness (How Hard it is to Score in the NBA)[/b][/u]


There is a stat that measures how hard it is to score, called League-Wide Offensive Rating (ORtg), or points per 100 possessions, and it's the same as it was 30 years ago.

This proves that the rule changes over the years have not changed defensive effectiveness... Instead, the rule changes resulted in a zero-sum game: where the defense gains in some areas (i.e. quasi-zones allowed), it loses in other areas (defensive 3 seconds, no more physical play), and the overall level of defensive effectiveness remains constant.

And the new defensive strategies resulted from the rule changes anyway, so in the [i]absence[/i] of the rule changes, the new strategies aren't needed.... the new defensive strategies only ensure that it remains equally hard to score under the new rules as it was under the old rules, and constant league-wide ORtg over time proves this.

[url]http://grantland.com/features/packing-paint-nba-defensive-strategy-forcing-coaches-rethink-their-offense/[/url]

“[i]A lot of the defensive strategies you see now are a natural evolution from rule changes,[/i]” says Houston GM Daryl Morey..

[i]...he (Thibodeau) was the first coach to stretch the limits of the NBA’s new defensive three-second rule and flood the strong side with hybrid man/zone defenses."[/i]




[b][u]Case Example:[/u][/b]


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On this play, look at Love (near the bottom of screen by the score) and Waiters (top of the key) - both are beyond the 3-point line.. Noah and Hinrich have to pay attention to these guys out there [i]while being careful not to enter the paint because of defensive 3 seconds[/i], which gives them no chance to help on Varejao; so Varejao finishes easily and in stride after Lebron makes the cupcake pass - it almost looks staged.

Back in the day, this play would look a lot different.. Love and possibly Hinrich as well, would have been camping in the paint waiting on Varejao - and with Noah waiting for him, Varejao does not finish this play, let alone make it look easy strolling down the open lane... but in today's game, the 3-point shooting coupled with defensive 3 seconds clears the lane of defenders, which forces noah and hinrich to provide weaker paint defense than would have provided in previous eras, when they would have been allowed to camp in the paint.

So even though today's defenses gain by being able to play quasi-zones, it loses by not being able to camp in the paint anymore or play physically, resulting in a zero-sum game, where everything evens out, and the the difficulty of scoring (league-wide ORtg) remains stable over time. The "sophistication" of today's defenses is precisely what allows league-wide ORtg to be the same today as it was 30 years ago, let alone go through the roof, as would otherwise be expected in an environment of better spacing due to 3-point shooting and defensive 3 seconds, along with rules banning physical play.
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defenders had to be arms length from the guy they were defending, or double teaming, you couldnt be inbetween like you can today

[QUOTE=chips93]defenders had to be arms length from the guy they were defending, or double teaming, you couldnt be inbetween like you can today[/QUOTE]
but you could camp in the paint if your defender was "adjacent to the paint", which is better than only being able to camp in the paint if you were "closely guarding someone".

[QUOTE=3ball]pretty lax rule in 1982 huh?

it allowed defenders to stay in the paint as long as their man was "adjacent" to the paint.

how far adjacent?... doesn't say.

but based on the definitions of the English language, this rule from 1982 gave defenders the right to camp in the lane - we've finally found the rule that does that..[/QUOTE]

You realize these rules say the same thing? The language is different but lets be real -- If a rule sets out what is allowed; that means every other situation is prohibited, and vice versa. Therefore:

[b][u]1981-82 RULE[/U][/B]: 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).

[COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Allows defenders to stay in the paint an unlimited amount of time if you are guarding a player in or near the paint area.[/B][/COLOR]

[b][u]2001-02 RULE[/U][/B]: A new defensive three-second rule will prohibit a defensive player from remaining in the lane for more than three consecutive seconds without closely guarding an offensive player.

[B][COLOR="DarkRed"]Allows defenders to stay in the paint an unlimited amount of time if you are guarding a player in or near the paint area and expands the rules to also allow defenders to stay in the paint for 3 seconds or less at any time even if not close to an offensive player.[/COLOR][/B]

[QUOTE=3ball]but you could camp in the paint if your defender was "adjacent to the paint", which is better than only being able to camp in the paint if you were "closely guarding someone".

[B]And given that the "adjacent" rule from 1982 was based on their backwards understanding of spacing at the time, the higher bar for what a packed paint was at the time, and the end result that we saw of the crowded paints back then, the "adjacent to the paint" language was likely intended to be as lax as it sounds and a rule with no teeth - this is why the NBA decided it needed to replace the rule in 2001.[/B][/QUOTE]

This is also a bit misleading as well; as the league basically re-wrote the entire rulebook in the early to mid 2000's.

I thought i always heard em say have to be within an arm's length distance

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[size="4"][B]MJ GOAT Splitting the Double-Team (mostly for dunks)[/B][/size]


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[size="3"]most of the GIFs above show how standard it was for jordan to split the double with a crossover, and then get to the rim [i][B]with no more dribbles[/B][/i] - this is GOAT [url=http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=360900][u]navigation efficiency[/u][/url] that no one in history has duplicated and it represents a GOAT combination of skill and athleticism.[/size]
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