More on the Ball

[George O'Brien]

http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/sports/15776775.htm

• The ball slipped out of Garnett's right hand during a dunk attempt in the first quarter. Forward Mark Madsen, who watched in disbelief, was quick to blame the new synthetic ball.

 

[Nash]

http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/sports/15776775.htm

Mark Madsen has written quite a bit about the new ball in his blog. There's some interesting stuff in there.

I think that the NBA did the right thing in taking a more measured approach to the synthetic basketball that is being used in the NBA. David Stern recently said:

"Right now our plans are to stay the course, but we will monitor it and if we find there is something to it and it is a serious issue, we will take the appropriate steps because the most important thing to us is the game,"
​

Earlier this week I got a phone call from Michael Curry who works alongside the executive office of the NBA. He told me on the call that David Stern was going to order additional testing of the basketball and that the NBA really wanted feedback from the players. This was great news to hear and I am really glad that the league office is taking feedback from the players so seriously. I knew from the beginning that the league would listen to the players on this issue. From all of the reports that I've heard, the main issue with the new basketball is that when it gets wet it gets extremely slippery and can slip out of players' hands causing turnovers, etc. I'm excited to see how this unfolds. I think that the additional testing will only confirm what the NBA players feedback has been about how slippery the ball is when it has moisture on it.

 

[Amare32]

Hopfully It is switched back, It is affecting allthe players. If this ball stays i think you will find games alot lower scoring which isn't good for the league in general.

 

[CardNots]

Hopfully It is switched back, It is affecting allthe players. If this ball stays i think you will find games alot lower scoring which isn't good for the league in general.

The ball affects the players contract incentives . For this reason, the ball will be recalled, never to appear again.

Can you imagine the possible lawsuits for changing something as important as the ball? Oh yeah I forgot, players probably sign a waiver not to sue the NBA in order to be a NBA player in the first place.

 

[nowagimp]

What kind of idiots are these NBA officials anyway. Water retention on the ball surface can be measured if they are too stupid to realize it themselves. Or maybe they dont understand that liquid in between 2 solid surfaces prevents friction or grip.

 

[nowagimp]

Hopfully It is switched back, It is affecting allthe players. If this ball stays i think you will find games alot lower scoring which isn't good for the league in general.

Its even more than that. Ugly basketball with more turnovers late in the game as winded players handle a wet ball, and highly variable outside shooting depending on whether players can shoot a dry and a wet ball well. Teams that move the ball around, pass alot, will be most impacted in the turnover area, and teams that shoot the outside shot may see a FG pct drop when they try to take quick shots. Steve Nash is not a complainer, and he is probably one of the most intelligent basketball players in the NBA. He came out right away and said the ball was a problem. If this was almost anybody else, I'd wonder about "complaining". Nash realizes that it will impact the suns negatively. The "slow down" teams who shoot from close range in post ups will be least effected.

 

[ampersand]

If they're going to change it, I would hope it would happen in the next two weeks, before the season starts.

Then it starts to feel like very sloppy administration.

 

[Errntknght]

Is there some rule that they have to play the game with a single ball? Synthetic balls should fairly easily be manufactured so there is very little difference from one ball to the next, and if that is the case what is the problem with using enough balls so they don't get wet?

 

[SunsTzu]

Is there some rule that they have to play the game with a single ball? Synthetic balls should fairly easily be manufactured so there is very little difference from one ball to the next, and if that is the case what is the problem with using enough balls so they don't get wet?

Thats what I was thinking since the big thing they're promoting with the ball is how consistant they are. And they regularly played with more than one game ball with the leather ball.

 

[Puppet]

This might sound simplistic but, maybe the refs could just have a towel handy to dry the ball off every timeout and quarter break?

 

[nowagimp]

Is there some rule that they have to play the game with a single ball? Synthetic balls should fairly easily be manufactured so there is very little difference from one ball to the next, and if that is the case what is the problem with using enough balls so they don't get wet?

That would help but I dont know how often you would be able to wipe down the ball or exchange it the way the suns take it out of the basket and run. How long will it take for a ball to get wet in an nba game ninety second, 3minutes? Maybe the nets could me made of absorbent cotton and made a little thicker?

 

[nowagimp]

Thats what I was thinking since the big thing they're promoting with the ball is how consistant they are. And they regularly played with more than one game ball with the leather ball.

The variation between balls is small, but the variations in the grip of a single ball is larger than a leather ball, and probably larger than all the leather balls because of the slipping. Drying off the ball would slow down the game nicely, I'm sure D'Antoni will be pleased! They wanted a faster game with the new breakaway rules(foul shots plus possession), but now they have to dry off the ball, shucks guys. I'm sure all the plodding teams will be asking for the ball to be dryed off as much as possible to catch their breath against the suns in the second half.

 

[Scot1]

I wonder which is more inconsistent, the leather balls or the wet vs. dry synthetic balls. I'd guess the latter.

 

[msdundee]

Its even more than that. Ugly basketball with more turnovers late in the game as winded players handle a wet ball, and highly variable outside shooting depending on whether players can shoot a dry and a wet ball well. Teams that move the ball around, pass alot, will be most impacted in the turnover area, and teams that shoot the outside shot may see a FG pct drop when they try to take quick shots. Steve Nash is not a complainer, and he is probably one of the most intelligent basketball players in the NBA. He came out right away and said the ball was a problem. If this was almost anybody else, I'd wonder about "complaining". Nash realizes that it will impact the suns negatively. The "slow down" teams who shoot from close range in post ups will be least effected.

All true, and anything that slows down the game works against "The Plan." This is one of those situations where everyone's not in the same boat. There have already been comments that the properties of the new ball should be a + for the post up, grind it out teams and a - for the pass-and-pop teams. That, and it's hard not to notice that the officials are wearing out their whistles calling PFs every 30-40 seconds in the preseason, evenly distributed Tuesday night but still frustrating. Those free throw contests bring the action to a screeching halt too. Hopefully some of the refs are just a little overenthusiastic about the new directives but we can expect the games to be called a lot tighter.

Neither situation fits in with D'Antoni's need for speed and he's been quoted as saying he wants to crank it up even more this year. But then, if we start thinking everyone's against us we'll get paranoid.

 

[Mainstreet]

How long does it take a football to get wet if it's raining or if a basketball player handles it with wet hands... a split second?

IMO, it's kind of like a wet spot on the floor, it should not be tolerated or cleaned up as quickly as possible.

The trouble with a wet ball, it's going to be continually wet, especially when players are sweating heavily. Just think about how many players are sweating profusely near the end of the game when they go to the FT line. And I'm not even discussing FT shooting because the ball could be continually wiped down there. I'm just using this as an example of how frequently the ball is going to be handled by players with wet hands.

 

[nowagimp]

How long does it take a football to get wet if it's raining or if a basketball player handles it with wet hands... a split second?

IMO, it's kind of like a wet spot on the floor, it should not be tolerated or cleaned up as quickly as possible.

The trouble with a wet ball, it's going to be continually wet, especially when players are sweating heavily. Just think about how many players are sweating profusely near the end of the game when they go to the FT line. And I'm not even discussing FT shooting because the ball could be continually wiped down there. I'm just using this as an example of how frequently the ball is going to be handled by players with wet hands.

You do get it mainstreet, if others dont. The ball will get wet quickly in fullcourt NBA basketball. These guys run(not jog) up to 5 miles a game, ya think they sweat? Did you ever see shaq after playing even 10 minutes? People will be asking to towell off the ball alot. What used to be a delay of game, (defense taking the ball out of the basket) will be "drying off the ball or replacing it".

 

[Errntknght]

I guess its good to have devil's advocates but with multiple balls you wouldn't have to interrupt the flow of the game to dry it off. Three balls, one in play and one at each end of the floor. Balls are rotated when FTs are shot and during time outs. I like the idea of more absorbant nets, too - every little bit helps. It doesn't have to be a perfect system, just no worse than it used to be.