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Thursday, April 19, 2001
NBA rules vote on tap
Associated Press
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NEW YORK – NBA teams will vote today on a package of
rules changes, including allowing zone defenses for the first time.
One proposal already has been dropped: changing goaltending
rules to let players touch the ball while it is on the rim.
With scoring down and teams increasingly relying on isolation
plays, the league's Board of Governors discussed five possible rule
shifts at a meeting last week.
The proposals still on the table:
scrap illegal defense rules.
institute a defensive 3-second rule.
give teams eight seconds instead of 10 to bring the ball past
midcourt.
redefine incidental contact to cut down on touch fouls.
Those four will be considered as a package, so either all will
be accepted or none will. The vote will be done by conference call
and the measures need approval from 20 of the 29 teams.
Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, who headed the committee
that drew up the suggestions, said a straw poll at the Board of
Governors meeting indicated 22 teams would approve of the changes.
He's talked to coaches, general managers and players since to
gauge support.
"I'm aware that there's not 100 percent agreement," Colangelo
said Wednesday. "I've been around this game for 3½ decades and
there's never been agreement. Some people are just not very happy
about change and this is a considerable change."
The idea is to discourage teams from gearing offenses toward
2-on-2 or 1-on-1 isolation plays in which a majority of a team's
players stand idle on the weak side to draw their defenders away
from the ball.
That strategy has helped drain points over the last decade, with
scoring down about three points per team per game from last season.
The goaltending guideline didn't last long, but Colangelo said
it could be brought back and tested during summer league games.
"There have been enough reservations from various sources about
that rule," Colangelo said. "One of the major things we've heard
is it's fine in international ball because it only happens a couple
of times a game, but our athletes play so much above the rim it
could have a real impact. It takes away some of the drama of a ball
that hangs up there and has a chance to go in."
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ALSO SEE
NBA moves closer to allowing zone defenses
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