Elams Ending

Would Elam's proposal make the game more interesting?


  • Total voters
    5
#1
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/radica...a-college-basketball-intrigued-143141174.html

This story was put up on Yahoo recently on how to make basketball more interesting to watch.. I like the idea.

"Under Elam’s proposal, the game clock disappears at the first stoppage in the last four minutes of a college game and the last three minutes of an NBA game. Officials then establish a target score by taking the score of the team that leads and adding seven points. The game ends whenever one team reaches that number, ensuring that every contest concludes with the winning team sinking a clinching basket or foul shot."

In theory, fouling becomes a death knell as the game (winner) is set to a target score and FTs are the easiest route to that score for the team ahead.
 
#5
What is the purpose? What "problem" is being solved?
In theory it's the parade to the free throw line at the end of the game which turns the last two minutes to thirty.

There are better ways to fix that if you must. Like make 15 minute quarters and keep a running clock, though that wouldn't be very commercial friendly.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#6
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/radica...a-college-basketball-intrigued-143141174.html

This story was put up on Yahoo recently on how to make basketball more interesting to watch.. I like the idea.

"Under Elam’s proposal, the game clock disappears at the first stoppage in the last four minutes of a college game and the last three minutes of an NBA game. Officials then establish a target score by taking the score of the team that leads and adding seven points. The game ends whenever one team reaches that number, ensuring that every contest concludes with the winning team sinking a clinching basket or foul shot."

In theory, fouling becomes a death knell as the game (winner) is set to a target score and FTs are the easiest route to that score for the team ahead.
Yeah...no thanks.
 
#8
The games themselves are fine, for the most part. Maybe tweak a couple rules, cut down on foul calls and replay times, etc. But the issue is more about league structure. This year's playoffs is a good case -- you had a number of exciting games, but then you step back and realize you ended up with another Cleveland vs. Golden State Finals and a predictable Warriors win. If there are changes to be made, I think they're not to gameplay, but things like the draft, salary cap structure, and even playoff format. Zach Lowe briefly alluded to this more in his piece today:

Hovering all of this is the relative lack of randomness in the NBA -- how hard it is to win four seven-game series without one or two of the best 10 players in the league. Change the playoff structure in a way that gives more teams a chance to go far, and you change the calculus of these Butler-level decision
 
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#10
If there are changes to be made, I think they're not to gameplay, but things like the draft, salary cap structure, and even playoff format. Zach Lowe briefly alluded to this more in his piece today:
To me, the salary cap needs to be changed. There's too much ability to circumvent it and not all teams are able to afford paying tax if they go over. The current format benefits larger markets with larger corporate and TV contracts. I'd like to see it become a hard cap. All 30 teams would be on a level playing field, or court as it were. Gotta make smart business decisions and budget properly.
 
#11
Yeah, this new 'ending' is a gimmick. Nothing more. It actually makes no sense considering how a game is played up to the point that they suddenly take away a clock and come up with a final score. Makes it even more disjointed than all the timeouts and stoppages IMO.

Also, the team that is leading is at a great advantage knowing that they only need 3 baskets (or 2 three's and a FT).

I don't like it. At all.

There's lots of things that can be done to alleviate many of the stoppages that don't involve changing how the game has always been played and concluded.
 
#12
this is preposterous. Make basketball more interesting to watch? to who? Mass appeal zombies? Conform the game around veiwers with split-second attention spans??? thats the master plan?

Whats wrong with basketball as is ? LOL...


Not surprised the dude who came up with the rule looks like a dude who can't play ball LOL.. What goes on at the end of the game is the result of tactics and high level competition. Just because the viewer doesn't find it to give them the instant gratification their seeking in that exact moment, doesn't mean they need to re-work the entire ****ing game. LOL.
 
#13
To me, the salary cap needs to be changed. There's too much ability to circumvent it and not all teams are able to afford paying tax if they go over. The current format benefits larger markets with larger corporate and TV contracts. I'd like to see it become a hard cap. All 30 teams would be on a level playing field, or court as it were. Gotta make smart business decisions and budget properly.
Harder cap plus no individual max salary limit would force teams to make interesting choices, in my opinion. The only way to get the rank and file members of the players union to buy off on that, though, is off the harder cap is at a higher level than it is now.
 
#14
Harder cap plus no individual max salary limit would force teams to make interesting choices, in my opinion. The only way to get the rank and file members of the players union to buy off on that, though, is off the harder cap is at a higher level than it is now.
Set it to the highest payroll right now plus 5 million.

What could go wrong?
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
#16
In theory it's the parade to the free throw line at the end of the game which turns the last two minutes to thirty.

There are better ways to fix that if you must. Like make 15 minute quarters and keep a running clock, though that wouldn't be very commercial friendly.
They only do that (for the most part) because the players can't hit their free throws. Hit the freebies and most of that stops.
 
#17
They only do that (for the most part) because the players can't hit their free throws. Hit the freebies and most of that stops.
It's also about clock management and in the modern NBA which is reliant on the 3 ball you'd take 3 for 2 all day.

I'd definitely be curious what a running clock would do. I guess you could still stop it at time outs and tv breaks, like the NFL does. But let it run during free throws and give the shooter a 10 second shot clock for each shot?

It could be a pre-season trial thing or something.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
#18
It's also about clock management and in the modern NBA which is reliant on the 3 ball you'd take 3 for 2 all day.

I'd definitely be curious what a running clock would do. I guess you could still stop it at time outs and tv breaks, like the NFL does. But let it run during free throws and give the shooter a 10 second shot clock for each shot?

It could be a pre-season trial thing or something.
To be fair, I said most for just that reason. However, if the players were all hitting their free throws at say, an 80% rate, even threes at a 40% rate are a losing proposition if you are trying to catch up if you are doing that multiple times. Yes, you may hit a couple in a row, but you will likely be missing at least half.