Shaq No Fan of the New Ball

[George O'Brien]

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/100206shaqball-ON.html

Shaq no fan of NBA's new ball

Tim Reynolds
Associated Press
Oct. 2, 2006 07:20 PM


MIAMI - Heat center Shaquille O'Neal is no fan of the new basketballs to be used by the NBA this season, and isn't afraid to say so.

"I think the new ball is terrible," O'Neal said Monday. "It's the worst decision some expert, whoever did it, made. ... The NBA's been around how long? A hundred years? Fifty years? So to change it now, whoever that person is needs his college degree revoked. It's a terrible decision."

It's only the second time in 60 seasons the NBA has changed its game balls, and the first time in 35 years.

The new model, the league said in a release, "is a microfiber composite with moisture management that provides superior grip and feel throughout the course of a game."

O'Neal, along with many of his Heat teammates, strongly disagree.

"Feels like one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store, indoor-outdoor balls," O'Neal said. "I look for shooting percentages to be way down and turnovers to be way up, because when the ball gets wet you can't really control it. Whoever did that needs to be fired. It was terrible, a terrible decision. Awful. I might get fined for saying that, but so what?"

Other factors cited by the league in changing the ball is so that ones used in games will be uniform throughout the league, and that the leather models needed a breaking-in period that won't be necessary with the composite.

"I don't like it, because it's different," Heat backup center Michael Doleac said. "You get used to something, you don't want to change it. ... But in three years, we'll probably all look back and not be able to imagine playing with anything else."

The new composite will be the third type of ball Heat guard Dwyane Wade will use in four months.

Last season's finals were played with the traditional leather ball, then the FIBA world championships used a ball that was slightly smaller than the NBA model - something Wade spent most of the summer getting familiar with.

"Now I've got to make another adjustment with a ball that I haven't shot with at all and it's going to be a challenge," Wade said. "That means it's going to take a lot of late nights for me, I'll tell you that, to get really adjusted to the ball because I have no choice."

Wade said the biggest complaint players have with the new ball is the slippage factor, as in how much grip will be lost when players' hands sweat and that moisture gets on the ball.

"Hopefully over time, you'll hear nothing about it and we'll all stop complaining," Wade said. "But I think rebounds are going to go up this year. All around the league, I think there's going to be a lot of bricks thrown up there early on."

 

[green machine]

Poor guy, this new ball will totally screw up his free throw shooting.

 

[Espo]

This seems to be a concern of a lot of guys. Supposidly its tough to grip and the groves have a totally different feel so it may change a lot of guys shots. I heard Vinny Del Negro say that his shot had a lot to do with touch and the feel of the groves.

 

[AZ Shocker]

Curious as to why the league felt the need to change.

Is there a couple young up and coming superstars that would benefit from the change? I dunno...but sounds kinda weird if you ask me. Maybe even a tad bit suspicious.

Prolly just a ploy to start merchandising and get kids to buy a "New Official NBA Ball".

 

[sly fly]

I had NO IDEA the FIBA ball is smaller than the NBA ball.

There you have it, no wonder the Euros can shoot so good in FIBA competition... yet come back to reality when they hit the NBA courts.

Ball size matters.

In regards to the new ball, the last thing the NBA should be doing is introducing a ball that has better grip. If you think you saw palming before, wait until AI goes cross-over on someone.

If ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[boisesuns]

Poor guy, this new ball will totally screw up his free throw shooting.

I wonder if the new design affects which row it lands in after he bricks it.

 

[Chaplin]

Has anybody here actually tried using it? I admit, I'm curious.

 

[Errntknght]

Poor guy, this new ball will totally screw up his free throw shooting.

I don't know but I missed this on the first reading... now that is hilarious!

 

[MigratingOsprey]

Ball size matters.

 

[Suns_fan69]

Has anybody here actually tried using it? I admit, I'm curious.

I'm curious as well. Has anybody seen it for sale anywhere other than at the NBA store?

I'm wondering if I can find it locally yet. Wouldn't mind giving it a try as I need a new ball anyways.

 

[George O'Brien]

I'm curious as well. Has anybody seen it for sale anywhere other than at the NBA store?

I'm wondering if I can find it locally yet. Wouldn't mind giving it a try as I need a new ball anyways.

According to Shaq, you try "Toys R Us".

The sad thing is that I think they were right about dealing with the ball, the problem was that their solution wasn't really appropriate. If they'd asked me, I would have recommended:

1. Custome break in all balls prior to use, the way they treat baseballs with special mud to get rid of the sheen.

2. Set exacting standards so that balls that have excessive wear are removed from use.

3. Set exact standards on the air pressure, which is a much bigger problem than the surface was.

It would have been different if they had converted to the FIBA ball, which wouldn't have eliminated the complaints but would have the redeeming value of preparing for international play. The new ball doesn't do that.

 

[Skumbag]

It would have been different if they had converted to the FIBA ball, which wouldn't have eliminated the complaints but would have the redeeming value of preparing for international play. The new ball doesn't do that.

Why should we conform? NBA is the standard... everything else is just small ball.

 

[Louis]

Why should we conform? NBA is the standard... everything else is just small ball.

Aw shucks that's just the bronze medal speaking.