Everything Beagle
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I don't know if there's a strategy to the NBA. Teams suddenly start flailing every time some other team finds a winning formula. NBA front office guys are obsessed with the latest trends in offense and defense, and it's preventing any sort of grand strategy to the game from forming. NFL Football isn't a solved game, but it's definitely more consistently played than the NBA. Same with MLS Football and MLB Baseball. There are ways to make the game's tactics fit your lineups that make each team unique, but essentially the fundamentals of the game are solved.
The NBA is a game of match-ups where no particular strategy is going to work. Out of all the major team sports, you have the fewest number of players out there for your team; each player *means* more on the court than a soccer team or a baseball team, which means everyone is doing two or three things out there. Weaknesses are exploited ruthlessly, because weaknesses are much more obvious.
Because it's such a game of match-ups, the only way to know what's going on is either: know the team you're watching really well (nerd shit) or follow a superstar who is going to do his thing no matter who he's playing against. This makes the attendance experience above average because everyone there is a fucking nerd too and you can complain about so-and-so's assist to turnover ratio with the stranger next to you. But it makes the viewing experience garbage because it's just second screen noise being sold as a premium experience. Did we just miss? Why did we miss? Does it matter? The next play is already happening. It's just noise.
The three point shot is worth too much; it's a gimmick shot that became the only shot anyone wants to get, and the ways they're getting these shots off is becoming more and more byzantine. Screens and rolls and feints and fakes and running the clock, it's nerd shit. It's not compelling television.
You know what is compelling television? Fast break dunks off a rebound or a steal. That's all any sports bar watcher cares about. The question is: do you want to cater to that guy? If so, then some things need to happen that might make some rich people unhappy.
1: Players are bigger than ever so widen and lengthen the court just a little, three feet wider and six feet longer. This has some knock on effects I'll list below but the idea here is to give the players one or two more dribbles to set themselves up and pick a direction.
1a: Make the half-court timer 10 seconds again, but reduce the overall shot clock to 20 seconds. This adds risk/reward back into a half-court or 3/4 court trap.
1b: Move the three point arc out 3ft and extend the arc to eliminate the corner three. Review the 3pt line distance every three years with an eye towards keeping 3pt attempts at around 33% of the total shots taken.
2: Loosen up the fouling rules a little. Allow perimeter hand-checking again, don't expand the circle under the basket, don't expand the key. Let the game be just a little bit less cautious. This will also have some knock-on effects:
2a: Eliminate the personal foul limit and team foul bonus; but after 3 personal fouls, your opponent also gets to shoot a technical foul before the fouled player shoots his FTs. Fewer FT calls should be made by the referees.
2b: Eliminate most referee and coach's reviews. They kill the flow, and prevent anger and tension from building over the game.
2c: A flagrant foul immediately benches the offending player for three minutes or the rest of the quarter (whichever is longer)
2d: Add line judge referees specifically for out of bounds and inbounding situations. Their job is to get the call right quickly (within 5 seconds). Their word is law and cannot be reviewed.
3: Move to running clock quarters and OTs, except for shooting fouls and timeouts. However, the last play of each quarter/OT goes the full shot clock even if the game clock goes to zero first.
3a: Reduce the number of timeouts allowed to three 60-second timeouts per half (use or lose) and two per OT. Lineup changes are only allowed coming out of timeouts or between quarters.
3b: If you sub out a player, they're benched until the end of the quarter.
I'm so very tired now.
The NBA is a game of match-ups where no particular strategy is going to work. Out of all the major team sports, you have the fewest number of players out there for your team; each player *means* more on the court than a soccer team or a baseball team, which means everyone is doing two or three things out there. Weaknesses are exploited ruthlessly, because weaknesses are much more obvious.
Because it's such a game of match-ups, the only way to know what's going on is either: know the team you're watching really well (nerd shit) or follow a superstar who is going to do his thing no matter who he's playing against. This makes the attendance experience above average because everyone there is a fucking nerd too and you can complain about so-and-so's assist to turnover ratio with the stranger next to you. But it makes the viewing experience garbage because it's just second screen noise being sold as a premium experience. Did we just miss? Why did we miss? Does it matter? The next play is already happening. It's just noise.
The three point shot is worth too much; it's a gimmick shot that became the only shot anyone wants to get, and the ways they're getting these shots off is becoming more and more byzantine. Screens and rolls and feints and fakes and running the clock, it's nerd shit. It's not compelling television.
You know what is compelling television? Fast break dunks off a rebound or a steal. That's all any sports bar watcher cares about. The question is: do you want to cater to that guy? If so, then some things need to happen that might make some rich people unhappy.
1: Players are bigger than ever so widen and lengthen the court just a little, three feet wider and six feet longer. This has some knock on effects I'll list below but the idea here is to give the players one or two more dribbles to set themselves up and pick a direction.
1a: Make the half-court timer 10 seconds again, but reduce the overall shot clock to 20 seconds. This adds risk/reward back into a half-court or 3/4 court trap.
1b: Move the three point arc out 3ft and extend the arc to eliminate the corner three. Review the 3pt line distance every three years with an eye towards keeping 3pt attempts at around 33% of the total shots taken.
2: Loosen up the fouling rules a little. Allow perimeter hand-checking again, don't expand the circle under the basket, don't expand the key. Let the game be just a little bit less cautious. This will also have some knock-on effects:
2a: Eliminate the personal foul limit and team foul bonus; but after 3 personal fouls, your opponent also gets to shoot a technical foul before the fouled player shoots his FTs. Fewer FT calls should be made by the referees.
2b: Eliminate most referee and coach's reviews. They kill the flow, and prevent anger and tension from building over the game.
2c: A flagrant foul immediately benches the offending player for three minutes or the rest of the quarter (whichever is longer)
2d: Add line judge referees specifically for out of bounds and inbounding situations. Their job is to get the call right quickly (within 5 seconds). Their word is law and cannot be reviewed.
3: Move to running clock quarters and OTs, except for shooting fouls and timeouts. However, the last play of each quarter/OT goes the full shot clock even if the game clock goes to zero first.
3a: Reduce the number of timeouts allowed to three 60-second timeouts per half (use or lose) and two per OT. Lineup changes are only allowed coming out of timeouts or between quarters.
3b: If you sub out a player, they're benched until the end of the quarter.
I'm so very tired now.
