The NBA will soon step back from the business of operating a team in its own league as the New Orleans Hornets were sold to Tom Benson, who also happens to own the New Orleans Saints of the NFL.
The “Big Easy” made a complete sweep of the headlines and for a short time pushed the transgressions and controversy of the NFL Saints and “bounty gate” out of the news as the NBA also announced that New Orleans would be hosting the All-Star Game in 2014.
It will mark the second time in six campaigns that the Crescent City will be the site of the world’s best pickup game.
Interesting how the NBA seems, and I underscore the word seems, to value certain markets over others.
It sure seemed like the NBA worked hard to keep the team in New Orleans, possibly in fear of public chastisement for turning its back on a city that was ravaged by a natural disaster some years ago. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina the city was forced to cling to hope from its sports teams in the healing process.
Yes, New Orleans seems to have a special place in the hearts of NBA league executives. Hey, they went back didn’t they? (The original New Orleans team is in Utah now.)
I can just hear fans in Seattle and Vancouver saying “hey, wait a minute, what about us?” Are the Sacramento fans the next group to watch owners pick up the team and leave the city? It looked like a deal for a new arena to keep the Kings in Sacramento was all set and done, but now mayor Kevin Johnson is fighting like he’s trying to hold on to a 3-1 playoff series lead on the Houston Rockets in mid 1990’s.
The only good thing coming out of all this chatter in California’s capital is that talk has surfaced again about the Pacific Northwest being a possible home for an NBA team. While everyone eyes Anaheim as a possible destination, Seattle and specifically Vancouver may be back in the running.
Ah, but would Commissioner David Stern help the NBA return, that’s the big question? In spite of reports that the city that once housed a team on Canada’s west coast could be a front runner, Francesco Aquilini, the man who owns the Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena says he is not in pursuit of an NBA franchise.
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Dallas owner Mark Cuban was outspoken, again, about the league taking video review a step further to confirm basket interference calls. Cuban was referencing a key possession in his Mavericks recent overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Officials in any sport are going to have judgment calls questioned. That will never stop and more than one NBA official has told me that anything that makes it cut and dry and eliminates any grey areas, for them, is a good thing.
Well how about changing the rule to the one employed in international basketball by FIBA? If you’re not familiar with it, the rule states that once the ball touches the rim, anything goes. You can knock it off the rim defensively or flush it down offensively after the initial contact between the ball and iron.
It may not be popular, and the idea has been bandied about for the past couple of seasons, but it would sure make it a lot easier for the officials.
The biggest issue comes with the fact that the NBA game has a higher number of more athletic players than the FIBA game. While some international players and coaches say that contacting the ball in the cylinder isn’t a regular occurrence, others say contact after the ball hits the rim happens with more frequency than one would think. They do agree that with the athletes in the NBA it could really change the game.
The NBA has rules that vary from the international game for a reason.
Could you imagine the likes of Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, and DeAndre Jordan to name just a few being able to stand in the lane, as allowed in FIBA, in a true zone defence?
One group says it would be like the international game and you would only see what used to be called basket interference sporadically because it’s not about athleticism but rather it’s a timing issue.
Others are of the mindset once more athletic NBA players adjust to the rule and start to perfect their timing around the rim, balls being batted away from, or crammed into the hoop after the first touch on a shot would become far too regular a play. Hmmm, does the NBA want to open up that can of worms?
Like moving the three point line back some years ago, the NBA may want to try it and see what happens. Similar to the results with the closer three point arc, you can always go back to the way it was in the past.