Knicks Morning News (2018.07.31)

  • [NYPost] Porzingis visit is everything Knicks love about David Fizdale
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 7:43:37 AM)

    Mission accomplished. Knicks coach David Fizdale and his wife, Natasha, have moved on from Latvia to a seaside resort in Croatia, but the five days spent in Kristaps Porzingis’ home country thrilled Knicks brass, according to sources. The visit that concluded this weekend featured basketball talk and relaxation in Liepaja’s special saunas by the beach….

  • [SNY Knicks] Knicks’ Perry details his whirlwind journey that landed him in New York last season
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 12:50:57 PM)

    Last summer, Scott Perry was ready to make the official move from Orlando to Sacramento to start his new journey as the VP of Basketball Operations with the Kings. But that’s before Knicks president Steve Mills gave him a ring.

  • [NYTimes] If an N.B.A. Workout Isn’t on Instagram, Does It Even Count?
    (Tuesday, July 31, 2018 7:14:04 AM)

    Led by LeBron James’s example, a generation of young players is getting shredded, and making sure the cameras are always rolling.

  • [NYTimes] LeBron James Opens Public School in Hometown Akron
    (Tuesday, July 31, 2018 4:47:11 AM)

    James, who left Cleveland for the Los Angeles Lakers, called the school’s opening “one of the greatest moments of my life.”

  • [NYTimes] Keeping Score: Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard Are Hall of Famers. No Matter What Twitter Says.
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 7:00:06 AM)

    Howard, a well-traveled center, and a host of others should easily gain induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame despite frequent skepticism.

  • [NYDN] For Daily News Hometown Hero nominee, helping the homeless is much more than a mission
    (Tuesday, July 31, 2018 3:00:00 AM)

    When Thomas Neve’s co-workers at Reaching-Out Community Services told him they were nominating him for a Daily News Hometown Heroes award in public service, he responded in protest.

    “We had shown him a clip from a newspaper with the (Hometown Heroes) logo, and he was like, ‘Don’t do that, guys,…

  • [NYDN] Cuomo holds big lead over Nixon among likely Democratic primary voters, new poll shows
    (Tuesday, July 31, 2018 2:30:00 AM)

    With less than seven weeks to go until the Democratic primary, Gov. Cuomo leads insurgent challenger Cynthia Nixon by a hefty 2-1 margin, a new poll shows.

    The Siena College poll, the first of the campaign to look at likely primary voters, found that the Democratic races for lieutenant governor…

  • [NYDN] Keep up the fight against misleading abortion clinics
    (Tuesday, July 31, 2018 2:00:00 AM)

    When you think you might be pregnant, you deserve two things: quality medical care, and the truth. A majority of the Supreme Court disagrees, and with the recent nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, that’s unlikely to change.

    In a mostly overlooked decision before the end of its term, NIFLA vs. Becerra

  • [NYDN] Ramp up the NYCHA outrage, now
    (Tuesday, July 31, 2018 2:00:00 AM)

    Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams stepped outside the realm of regular politics to add a much-needed dose of authentic personal outrage, complete with profanity, to the ongoing scandal of substandard living conditions in the New York City Housing Authority.

    “The problem is not merely one cleanup…

  • [NYDN] Give all American girls tech role models
    (Tuesday, July 31, 2018 2:00:00 AM)

    Name 10 female scientists. Can’t? Try five. Still can’t? You aren’t the only one. According to a recent study in the U.K., one in four people couldn’t even name one. Statistics like these are discouraging at best, dangerous at worst.

    I founded Girls who Code six years ago to close the gender gap…

  • [NYDN] Apps and caps: The City Council’s bid to rein in Uber and Lyft gets it mostly right
    (Tuesday, July 31, 2018 1:10:00 AM)

    The addition of 2,000 new app-hail vehicles onto city streets each and every month has meant booming business for Uber, Lyft and other companies. There are now more than 80,000 such cars in our midst, an armada dwarfing the 13,587 yellow taxis.

    The benefits have been new income for drivers, low…

  • [NYDN] Collusion of dunces: The real crime in the Russia-Trump story
    (Tuesday, July 31, 2018 1:05:00 AM)

    Rudy Giuliani, the President’s lawyer, laid down the new line Monday morning: “I have been sitting here looking in the federal code trying to find collusion as a crime. Collusion is not a crime.”

    He has a very narrow technical point; the colloquial term that often used to characterize the possibility…

  • [NYDN] Trains in vain: An epic fail, even for a subway system in trouble
    (Tuesday, July 31, 2018 1:00:00 AM)

    New subway boss Andy Byford says it again and again: There’s no substitute for good communication.

    Then why under God’s gray pavement didn’t the MTA tell commuters about long-planned repairs that snarled N, R and D trains in Brooklyn during Monday morning’s rush hour? Why didn’t straphangers on…

  • [NYDN] Staten Island Democrat Max Rose vows to donate federal lobbyist cash, calls on Rep. Donovan to do the same
    (Tuesday, July 31, 2018 1:00:00 AM)

    Staten Island Democratic congressional candidate Max Rose says he’ll stop accepting contributions from federal lobbyists and will donate the ones he’s already received to charity — and he’s calling on his opponent to do the same.

    Rose, a first-time candidate and Army veteran, is hoping to unseat…

  • [NYDN] Readers sound off on the Daily News, Donald Trump and Bill de Blasio
    (Tuesday, July 31, 2018 12:00:00 AM)

    A lifetime of Daily News memories

    Staten Island: Sad how you ran this paper into the ground the last few years. Growing up, I couldn’t wait to read the Daily News in the mornings. Of course, I had to wait for dad to finish first. I started in 1970 at seven years old. When I grew older, great journalists…

  • [NYDN] Entire police force suspended after North Carolina chief charged with corruption
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 11:50:00 PM)

    SOUTHPORT, N.C. — All police operations have been suspended in a North Carolina town in the aftermath of public corruption charges levied against its chief and an officer.

    Southport Mayor Jerry Dove tells WECT-TV that he and the city board last week asked the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office to…

  • [NYDN] Senators want investigation of immigrants who were abused at detention facilities
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 11:10:00 PM)

    WASHINGTON — The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked federal investigators late Monday to examine allegations of sexual, physical and emotional abuse of immigrants held at government detention facilities, saying the mistreatment may have been occurring since 2014 or earlier.

  • [NYDN] Mehta: Sam Darnold’s stalemate with Jets is over, and now we’ll see if he can actually win the starting QB job
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 10:35:00 PM)

    Superman reappeared Monday afternoon in Florham Park with his sublime hair, sunny disposition and same steely-eyed focus that have had grown men giddy for months.

    He floated to practice without a cape to a roar from fans and a sarcastic slow clap from his teammates.

    When Sam Darnold showed up to…

  • [NYDN] Synagogue vandalism ignites governor to seek hate crimes bill
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 10:30:00 PM)

    CARMEL, Ind. — Republican Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is calling on the General Assembly to pass a hate crimes bill after someone spray-painted anti-Semitic graffiti at a suburban Indianapolis synagogue.

    He said Monday that he’ll meet with lawmakers, legal experts, corporate leaders and “citizens…

  • [NYDN] Attorney General Jeff Sessions says America has become ‘less hospitable’ to religious people
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 9:50:00 PM)

    WASHINGTON — American culture has become “less hospitable to people of faith,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Monday in vowing that the Justice Department would protect people’s religious freedom and convictions.

    Sessions spoke at a Justice Department summit on religious tolerance at a time…

  • [NYDN] Daily Horoscope — July 31, 2018
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 9:00:00 PM)

    Via Tarot Astrologers

    General Horoscope for July 31, 2018

    A little compassion goes a long way as the ephemeral Pisces Moon melds with spiritual Neptune. But we may be uneasy with the consequences of our actions if we let promises fall to the wayside. We might even be pulled into a conflict when…

  • [NYDN] Ian Kinsler dealt to Red Sox from Angels in trade to shore up second base
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 8:45:00 PM)

    The Red Sox saw all the moves the Yankees made Monday and had to counter with one of their own.

    Ian Kinsler was dealt to Boston from the Angels as the Red Sox look to bolster their offense to keep the Bombers at bay in a top-heavy AL-East division race.

    The Red Sox sent minor league pitchers Ty…

  • [NYDN] Amazon will no longer ask viewers to vote on pilots to determine which series to green-light
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 8:00:00 PM)

    Amazon Studios is cutting viewers out of the decision-making process.

    The streaming network announced at the Television Critics Association’s press tour Sunday that pilots will no longer be put up for a vote before Amazon decides what shows to green-light.

    “I’d never say ‘never’ but that version…

  • [NYDN] LeBron James says President Donald Trump is using sports ‘to divide us’
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 7:50:00 PM)

    Shut up and dribble? Not LeBron James.

    On the same day he announced the opening of his ‘I Promise School,’ James took on President Donald Trump.

    The newly minted Laker told Don Lemon in an interview on CNN Monday night that the president is trying to divide people, and he’s using sports as a main…

  • [NYDN] Cops find four people, including 5-year-old boy, shot dead inside Queens home
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 7:00:00 PM)

    Four people — including a boy about 5 years old — were found shot dead in a Queens home on Monday night, cop sources said.

    Officers made the grisly find in a first-floor apartment on 30th Drive at 23rd St. in Astoria just after 8:50 p.m. when they responded to a 911 call about a man bleeding.

    They…

  • [NYDN] Guy Fieri, José Andrés set up ‘relief team’ to feed people displaced by Northern California’s Carr Fire
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 6:50:00 PM)

    Guy Fieri and José Andrés are cooking for the displaced masses.

    The celebrity chefs have set up a makeshift kitchen in Redding, Calif., to feed residents who have been affected by the Carr Fire and crews helping to put out the flames.

    “My team and I got involved – my son and I, and his buddies,…

  • [NYDN] Demi Lovato remains hospitalized with ‘complications’ six days after reported overdose
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 6:41:00 PM)

    Pop star Demi Lovato remains in the hospital nearly a week after she reportedly suffered a drug overdose.

    The “Confident” singer is dealing with “complications” such as a high fever and nausea six days after she was taken to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, TMZ reported, citing a…

  • [NYDN] Yankees acquire Lance Lynn in deal that sends Tyler Austin to Twins
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 6:40:00 PM)

    As reassuring as it was Sunday to watch J.A. Happ go out and give the Yankees six solid innings, the day before was a reminder that Brian Cashman had more work to do before Tuesday’s non-waiver trade deadline.

    Monday, the Yankees GM again made a move to shore up his rotation as his club heads into…

  • [NYDN] SEE IT: Man torches Staten Island gas station, nearly gets burned
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 5:55:00 PM)

    A brazen firebug caught on video torching a Staten Island gas station injured a bystander and nearly lit himself ablaze early Monday.

    The amateur arsonist walked into a 7-Eleven on Richmond Ave. and Victory Blvd. at about 1:50 a.m. and asked to buy a gas can and $40 in gas, police said.

    The clerk…

  • [NYDN] Giants respond to Pat Shurmur’s call for more physicality with all-out melee
    (Monday, July 30, 2018 5:30:00 PM)

    Higher intensity and a big hit prompted the Giants’ first fight of training camp on Monday.

    With an apparent directive from head coach Pat Shurmur to up the physical play heading into Tuesday’s off-day, Olivier Vernon thumped running back Wayne Gallman to the ground. And when Gallman threw the…

  • 49 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2018.07.31)”

    To build on yesterday’s discussion about the 3 point shot – Ken Pomeroy wrote a really interesting piece in the Athletic last week, nominally about college 3 pointers, but of course it’s applicable to the NBA — it’s behind a paywall but the gist is that giving 3 FTs to a fouled 3 point shooter is extremely overpowered — since the best 3 point shooters are also generally really good FT shooters, the reward for getting fouled is just too great. One stat he put out is that over the last 6 seasons, players have averaged 2.31 points per 3 point foul, which equates to that player essentially becoming a 77% 3 point shooter — as compared with getting fouled on a 2P shot, on which players average 1.4 points per 2 point foul (=70% 2 point shooter). Now imagine Steph Curry who shoots 90+% from the line — you’re basically giving 2.7 points per 3 point foul, or making him a 90% 3 point shooter.

    So his solution is that you have to decrease the incentive for the shooter to try and draw a 3 point foul – and it really is a fascinating solution he has — basically making 3 point fouls a 1 and 1 and 1 like the single bonus in college basketball – you only get the next FT attempt if you made the one before. So by his math, the expected value of getting fouled on a 3 pointer would be roughly 1.77 points rather than 2.31, and that the chance of making 3 shots is still there but the chance of making zero really does exist.

    I think it’s a great idea. Anything that leads to less time watching free throws is great, and any solution that leads to less contortions trying to get fouled on 3s is great. And the entertainment value of watching guys trying to make 1-1-1’s in playoff crunch time would be amazing.

    Trouble with the 1-shot and possession is that it probably over-incentivizes fouling. I would 1000% foul Steph Curry on any 3 point attempt if all he could get is 1 shot and possession. If you fouled him, the max he could get out of that shot attempt is 1 point, which hardly seems fair. Now maybe the expected points out of the 1 shot + possession would still be pretty good, but I would imagine you’d see a ton more fouling on 3 point attempts, which is maybe the most boring outcome in basketball.

    I dunno, you are giving a team a chance at a point and a continued possession, i.e. a chance to take another 3, or get 3 points in a possessions with a 2-pt shot. You’re also giving them a chance to run more clock.

    If you put a tracking device in the ball and could track its position in real time then you could have points per foot of shot distance, starting with two points and going up to say four. Scores would not be round numbers anymore, but think of the strategy implications when you need say, 2.6 points to win. You would probably never get ties either, unless you ruled any margin less than a half point called for overtime.

    If you go to a one shot and possession system, at the end of games it brings into play the possibility that if a team is down in a close game, they would rather foul and risk the point so that they could steal the inbound pass. This could be easily counteracted by giving the inbounding team a free pass to the backcourt (defensive team can’t cross the midcourt line until the ball is released by the out of bounds passer.)

    I like the 1+1+1 idea. (Also don’t hate the 1+ possession one). An additional advantage of both is that, by reducing the cost of fouling a three-point shooter, you’d encourage tighter more aggressive D on those shooters and maybe bring down %ages a bit.

    Although I have to say, as the team who rolled out a mid90s offense in 2017, and whose (ex) president laughed at the three-point revolution, doesn’t Dolan’s razor dictate that as soon as a rule is changed to make twos more effective is exactly when we’ll finally embrace the three-point-shooting revolution?

    From the other thread……..speaking of Bigs who might have trouble playing now………how about Rodman?……..maybe the greatest defensive player of all time (OK, other than Russell)……….but does he get on the court now with everyone wanting a stretch 4?…….is there any chance he gets 30+ mins today?……..probably not, and that’s not a good thing.

    (post style stolen)

    I think we as a fan base tend to romanticize a lot how cool to watch those games in the 90s really were simply because it’s the last time the Knicks were really relevant. If you ask a long time Warriors fan I’m pretty sure their memories of the 90s are far less fond of the slow playstyle and the post emphasis.

    Well, yeah, fans like when their teams play winning basketball no matter what the style. No one here is advocating for a particular style. Some of us are simply saying that when you approach the extreme of shooting more 3’s than 2’s to the point where nearly all low-post play is marginalized, it’s as aesthetically displeasing as dumping the ball in to Ewing was back then (and many Knicks fans complained about that offensive strategy back then, believe me.) But that also was a function of that particular Knicks team…the drop-off from Ewing to the next best offensive option was off a cliff. On the other hand, ’90’s Utah Jazz played beautiful basketball. So did the ’80’s Lakers, the ’70’s Knicks, the ’60’s Celtics. More recently, the Spurs have set a very high standard for aesthetically pleasing basketball. And GSW fans from the early ’90s loved Run TMC, a crazy-fun team to watch.

    I think the 2013-14 Spurs set the standard for playing basketball the way it was intended to be played in the 3-pt era. They were 10th in pace and 16th in 3-pt rate (25%) but first in 3-pt%.

    The current GSW would play beautiful basketball no matter what era, even without the 3-pt line. They have two all-time great offensive players and several really good ones. During this 4-year run, they’ve hit near 40% of their 3’s. They’re not the problem. The Rockets shoot way more threes and only hit 36% of them. Most of their points come on 3’s and FTs. That means tons of missed shots and lots of stopped action. And lots of teams shoot lots of 3’s at a lower % than that. The Thunder shot 32.7% on nearly 26 attempts a game. Russ is no easier for the purist to watch than Ewing was.

    I can’t stand watching Houston play, while G State is beautiful to watch. Draymond is the key to that team – they’re unbeatable as long as he maintains his current level of play.

    It’s hard for me to get on board with changing the 3PT FGA foul situation because it seems a little dangerous quite frankly to decrease the penalty for fouling on a 3PT shot. It already feels like (there’s your disclaimer that this is completely anecdotal) a disproportionate number of injuries happen in that situation and I have to think they would only increase if players felt more comfortable completely selling out on 3PT attempts.

    I’m not entirely convinced this is a legitimate problem but I do understand a kind of visceral revulsion to someone like Wayne Ellington arguably being more valuable to a team than, say, Blake Griffin. I suppose the offensive 3 second rule is feeling pretty antiquated nowadays and wouldn’t have a problem with doing away with it at least temporarily. If you want to go further, I think eliminating the corner 3 would go a long way towards deemphasizing the 3PT shot in general.

    @9 Rodman couldn’t score from 2 either, and still got minutes. But it’s an interesting question.

    An interesting fact about the Warriors: Of their 3-pt attempts last year, only 15.8% were corner 3’s (3rd lowest in NBA) and they only converted 40.5%. Their overall 3-pt % was a league-best 39.1% That means that they are an off-the-charts 38+% as a team on non-corner 3’s. So eliminating the corner 3 would hardly make a dent in their offense! Not nearly as true for most other teams.

    Really good P&T piece breaking down Mitchell Robinson’s strengths and weaknesses in SL play, and making a convincing argument for why he may be better off starting the season in Westchester. He has a lot of basic fundamentals to learn, needs to play a lot to do so, and would be lit up by most NBA players right now.

    @9

    If PJ Tucker could play significant minutes for a real contender, I can’t see how Rodman wouldn’t find a way to earn his 30 minutes per game. His defensive value would be off the charts, especially in this smallball era.

    Jowles laughed off the suggestion of eliminating screening at the 3-pt line, insinuating that it would result in a dramatic decrease in straight line/dive-dunks, which would take excitement away from the game. First, I disagree (lots of those dunks originate inside the 3-pt line) and second, I think the main reason post play is losing favor is on the defensive end, where traditional bigs can’t keep up. on the perimeter. Eliminating the screening which leads to switches 25 feet from the basket would keep bigs from needing to chase smalls on the perimeter (they would still have to deal with stretch bigs) and make them less of a liability on D. Kanter would still suck on D, but guys like Marc Gasol, Mozgov, Asik and Adams would not look so out of place.

    Rodman would be great in any era. He could guard anyone and anywhere on the floor at a DPOY level. He was an all-time great offensive rebounder.

    Z-man, we are syncing a lot these days…

    Re: 3pt fouls, would it be crazy to just award 2 foul shots for any shot on the court? It would somewhat change strategy at end of games and still might up foul rates, but maybe it would just make defenders less afraid to defend the three? What really kills, though, is the made three with the plus-one.

    I would 1000% foul Steph Curry on any 3 point attempt if all he could get is 1 shot and possession.

    You might foul out.

    Prime Rodman would grab 25 rebounds a game in today’s league. He was a freak of nature in an era where the paint was packed. Can’t imagine how much he’d dominate today. He might also foul out in fifteen minutes.

    I think Rodman would be seen more as a smallball C in today’s game than a PF. Draymond Green is 6’7″ (Rodman’s height) and the best defensive C in the league arguably. There just aren’t a lot of teams that can punish the lack of size counterbalancing how valuable it is to have a guy who can switch extremely effectively at that spot. I don’t think Rodman was quite the rim protector that Draymond is but a better 1 on 1 defender against all sizes. In a switch heavy scheme I think he’d be a pretty devastating defensive weapon (to go along with the rebounding of course), good enough that he’d still be a super valuable player despite the modern emphasis on shooting.

    If Rodman played today we would probably be having discussions here about how he’s not a valuable player because he can’t shoot a 15 footer to space the floor or create his own shot, so I think he would fit very well! Then the Knicks would trade him for Jose Calderon and a couple of seconds.

    Prime Rodman would grab 25 rebounds a game in today’s league. He was a freak of nature in an era where the paint was packed. Can’t imagine how much he’d dominate today. He might also foul out in fifteen minutes.

    Rodman per game averages (2018)
    18 min
    3 pts
    9 rbs
    5 fouls
    0.7 techs

    Will we ever see the bigs dominate the paint again and force teams to match up. I guy like Shaq killed you inside while also wearing you down to the point where the jump shots were useless at the end of playoff games because legs were shot. This is why pringles suns who were high offensive teams never won chips.

    I like pick and roll, spacing and ball movement but have analytics forever destroyed the value of feeding the post player and going from inside out?

    I would 1000% foul Steph Curry on any 3 point attempt if all he could get is 1 shot and possession.

    This is a great strategy if your goal is to be the first NBA team to be shut out

    Rodman per game averages (2018)
    18 min
    3 pts
    9 rbs
    5 fouls
    0.7 techs

    I agree that if Rodman played today, these would be his averages. I mean he’s 57 years old, for crying our loud!

    Re: 3pt fouls, would it be crazy to just award 2 foul shots for any shot on the court? It would somewhat change strategy at end of games and still might up foul rates, but maybe it would just make defenders less afraid to defend the three? What really kills, though, is the made three with the plus-one.

    Maybe in the last 2 minutes, 2 shots and the ball? It might get rid of that decision by teams up by 3 with less than 24 seconds to foul a player not in the act for 2 shots rather than risking a made 3.

    Rodman would have been suspended by the league for the rest of the season on his first couple of games.

    You know the dog days of summer have arrived when the discussion on this blog is fantasizing about rule changes like it’s NBA2K19.

    How about in the last two minutes of each quarter the refs put in the red, white, and blue money ball and a 3 point shot is now worth 4 points?

    Or the refs could add one more ball on the court and both teams would have to attack AND defend at the same time!

    Yeah, even around the NBA there’s no news. We could talk about how Lebron opened his school and it’s a fucking awesome project and how can you really hate this guy, but there’s not much to discuss at all.

    Or the refs could add one more ball on the court and both teams would have to attack AND defend at the same time!

    Sold!

    How about making the floor like a scrabble board with 2X and 3X squares, plus extra points if your name has lots of z’s, q’s and x’s?

    @34

    I’m already sold just because Zhou Qi would probably instantly become a max player.

    I went to put some numbers behind the foul curry when he shoots a 3 thing before…..I found points per possession stats. Did you know that 2 of our old friends, Quincy Acy and Kole Aldrich , are among the top 10 in the league, if you sort it alphabetically?

    Shaq killed you inside while also wearing you down to the point where the jump shots were useless at the end of playoff games because legs were shot. This is why pringles suns who were high offensive teams never won chips.

    Um, Shaq was playing in the Eastern conference during the Pringles’ Suns years (up until he, you know, joined Pringles’ Suns), but okay.

    The Suns have never won a chip because Robert Horry hip checked Nash and the Suns lost a 3 point game 5 at home that they would have easily won with Amare and Diaw. That team would have crushed the Jazz and then the Cavs in the finals just like the Spurs did. It had nothing to do with basketball reasons or the system not working.

    Bruno and Donnie: Agreed on both points. thank you for that info.

    Will there ever be a team that is a legit contender whose offense starts with feeding the post player(s) and going from inside out?

    How about in the last two minutes of each quarter the refs put in the red, white, and blue money ball and a 3 point shot is now worth 4 points?

    Do you enjoy watching teams foul to stop the clock in the last two minutes?

    Also, who remembers the Aughts, when people talked ad nauseum about how AAU basketball, with its selfish emphasis on shooting ISO, was ruining the game?

    I honestly don’t think the game is in that dire need of a rules shake up. I think the thing that is making the game unwatchable is the number of bad teams in the league at the moment. Whilst not a massive fan of the way Houston play, they aren’t really the issue. I think if the talent pool was spread over say 20 teams, the league would be far more competitive and people wouldn’t be bemoaning GSW for being loaded.

    I think the way you combat that is by having a relegation type of system. The top 20 teams play in the NBA with teams finishing in the bottom 2 for 2 consecutive years being relegated. Vice versa for teams finishing on top in the lower division. I appreciate it would probably be more complex than that, but just spit balling ideas here.

    .

    The way to fix both the hack-a-shaq and foul to extend the game strategies is to give a team the choice of two free throws or one free throw and possession when fouled if the other team is in the penalty, or three shots to make two if the other team is in the penalty.

    I would love to see relegation and promotion in the NBA. It would be great in MLB, too. Will never happen, though.

    @40 It was just a fanciful suggestion in keeping with the other ideas being thrown out.

    Lighten up

    Hack-A-Shaq was frustrating to watch, but it was, literally, the only way to stop him, so I understood why teams did it. It was Hack-A-D’Andre that killed the game for me because he would just step on the court and the other team would wrap their arms around him even though he was no threat to create a shot and was more than happy to never touch the ball outside of catching a lob or two per quarter. It was completely unsporting and thoroughly unfun to watch.

    Was there a rule change that fixed that? I haven’t really watched many games over the last few years— certainly none that D’Andre Jordan has played in. It was painful and made me hate basketball.

    The Warriors and their motion offense and 3 point shooting, on the other hand, is the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life on a basketball court. Changing the rules to make that less attractive sounds like as dumb a move that the league could do.

    Or the refs could add one more ball on the court and both teams would have to attack AND defend at the same time!

    The Globetrotters have inplemented a bunch of these rules changes already. And the funny thing is, even playing the Globetrotters at their game, by their rules, the Warriors would still kill them. Extra balls, 4 pt shots, it all plays into Golden State’s wheelhouse. There is nothing you guys can come up with that is both entertaining and handicaps the Warriors. Nothing.

    The Warriors and their motion offense and 3 point shooting, on the other hand, is the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life on a basketball court.

    But it’s like a video game! (Except it’s real life, which is awesome.)

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