http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/marty_burns/10/12/new.ball/index.html
It's the talk of the NBA so far during this year's training camp. No, not Amare's comeback or Stephen Jackson's wild escapades or even the Sixers losing an exhibition game to a Spanish pro team. It's the ball, stupid.
Everybody, it seems, is talking about the NBA's decision to switch to a new microfiber basketball, replacing the old leather ball in use the past 35 years. The league says the new ball is superior. Better grip. More consistent. More durable.
The players aren't so sure. They say the new ball is too sticky at the start. Then when it gets wet, it becomes slippery. They wonder why the NBA felt the need to change. They wonder if it's some kind of marketing thing with Spalding, the official provider of NBA balls.
Heat center Shaquille O'Neal ignited the controversy last week when he called the new ball "terrible" and said it was "the worst decision" the league has made.
"It feels like one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store, indoor-outdoor balls," O'Neal said. "I look for shooting percentages to be way down and turnovers to be way up, because when the ball gets wet you can't really control it. Whoever did that needs to be fired. ... I might get fined for saying that, but so what?"
My take on the controversy? With apologies to the Diesel, I don't think he's going to win this one. My guess is that it's going to blow over. Just like last year's hullabaloo over the dress code.
Granted, I'm basing this opinion on a very unscientific survey: Wednesday night's exhibition game between the Wizards and Bulls at Chicago's United Center.
After spending much of the pre-game and post-game inquiring about the new ball to players, coaches and team executives from both teams, I came away with two distinct impressions: 1) the ball is definitely an issue, and 2) nobody really believes anything will be done about it -- at least not this season.
Here's a brief sampling of some of the comments about the ball itself from players Wednesday night:
Bulls guard Ben Gordon: "It's pretty much the exact opposite of the old one. Way, way more grip but when it gets wet it's really really slippery. The other one starts off kind of slippery but once you start to play with it and sweat absorbs into the basketball, you get more grip. So it's definitely different."
Wizards guard Antonio Daniels: "It's an adjustment. It's sticky. I have huge hands, and it's hard for me because it's sticky. But when it gets wet, it's very slippery. With the old ball when it got wet, it actually got better. The leather soaked up the sweat or whatever. This ball just gets slippery."
Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich: "At first I didn't like it, but I think that was probably because I wasn't used to it. When I first came in the league I didn't like the [old] ball, but I got used to it. It is much different, though. The feel is different. The leather is different."
Wizards swingman Caron Butler: "It's weird. It feels like three different types of balls. The material is different. At times it's kind of a slippery ball. Then you have a kind of broken-in ball. Then you have [a ball] with real grip, which isn't bad to play with. But once [the new ball] gets wet, it never gets dry. You try to dry it off, and it's still kind of slippery."
But when pressed to see if they were willing to join Shaq in going to war with the NBA over the new ball, those same players weren't exactly signing up for duty.
"It's all right," Hinrich said. "It's not my favorite ball in the world but I'll get used to it."
"It caught a lot of people by surprise but sometimes you gotta go with the flow," Butler added. "We'll see how it works out."
"I liked the old ball," Gordon said. "But we'll see what happens."
Without a groundswell of anger from star players, it's unlikely NBA commissioner David Stern would reverse course now.
For one, it's not as if the new ball is so slippery that it's affecting the quality of the game. As Bulls forward P.J. Brown pointed out after Wednesday's game, it's not as if we're suddenly seeing a bunch of passes flying into the stands or slipping through fingers. At least not from players who normally catch and pass the ball with no problem.
For another, going back to the old ball would put the NBA in a difficult position with one of its business partners. Even though Spalding provided the old leather balls, the company surely has invested a great deal of money in marketing the new ball to consumers. It's safe to say Spalding wouldn't be thrilled if the NBA suddenly declared the new product inferior.
As for compromise solutions, Butler suggested allowing refs to rotate new balls into the game if one got wet. However, this is unlikely given the NBA's general guideline to use the same ball if possible throughout the course of the game. While refs are given discretion to change a ball during a course of a game, NBA director of officials Ronnie Nunn said Wednesday night that it was only for rare cases when a ball got soaked with beer, say, or lost proper inflation for some reason.
The NBA players have at least two legitimate questions about the decision to go to the new ball. Why change a good thing? And why didn't the league give players a better chance to test it out in real game conditions, instead of just doing so at summer leagues and two previous All-Star contests? As Daniels noted, "Most veterans don't play in the summer leagues."
Either way it looks as if the new ball is here to stay. While some players might gripe, there are far more who appear resigned to accepting the change. As Bulls forward Luol Deng joked, "I play with a different ball in Europe every summer anyway. But ask me again after I go through a shooting slump during the season. Then I'll definitely blame it on the ball."
It's the talk of the NBA so far during this year's training camp. No, not Amare's comeback or Stephen Jackson's wild escapades or even the Sixers losing an exhibition game to a Spanish pro team. It's the ball, stupid.
Everybody, it seems, is talking about the NBA's decision to switch to a new microfiber basketball, replacing the old leather ball in use the past 35 years. The league says the new ball is superior. Better grip. More consistent. More durable.
The players aren't so sure. They say the new ball is too sticky at the start. Then when it gets wet, it becomes slippery. They wonder why the NBA felt the need to change. They wonder if it's some kind of marketing thing with Spalding, the official provider of NBA balls.
Heat center Shaquille O'Neal ignited the controversy last week when he called the new ball "terrible" and said it was "the worst decision" the league has made.
"It feels like one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store, indoor-outdoor balls," O'Neal said. "I look for shooting percentages to be way down and turnovers to be way up, because when the ball gets wet you can't really control it. Whoever did that needs to be fired. ... I might get fined for saying that, but so what?"
My take on the controversy? With apologies to the Diesel, I don't think he's going to win this one. My guess is that it's going to blow over. Just like last year's hullabaloo over the dress code.
Granted, I'm basing this opinion on a very unscientific survey: Wednesday night's exhibition game between the Wizards and Bulls at Chicago's United Center.
After spending much of the pre-game and post-game inquiring about the new ball to players, coaches and team executives from both teams, I came away with two distinct impressions: 1) the ball is definitely an issue, and 2) nobody really believes anything will be done about it -- at least not this season.
Here's a brief sampling of some of the comments about the ball itself from players Wednesday night:
Bulls guard Ben Gordon: "It's pretty much the exact opposite of the old one. Way, way more grip but when it gets wet it's really really slippery. The other one starts off kind of slippery but once you start to play with it and sweat absorbs into the basketball, you get more grip. So it's definitely different."
Wizards guard Antonio Daniels: "It's an adjustment. It's sticky. I have huge hands, and it's hard for me because it's sticky. But when it gets wet, it's very slippery. With the old ball when it got wet, it actually got better. The leather soaked up the sweat or whatever. This ball just gets slippery."
Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich: "At first I didn't like it, but I think that was probably because I wasn't used to it. When I first came in the league I didn't like the [old] ball, but I got used to it. It is much different, though. The feel is different. The leather is different."
Wizards swingman Caron Butler: "It's weird. It feels like three different types of balls. The material is different. At times it's kind of a slippery ball. Then you have a kind of broken-in ball. Then you have [a ball] with real grip, which isn't bad to play with. But once [the new ball] gets wet, it never gets dry. You try to dry it off, and it's still kind of slippery."
But when pressed to see if they were willing to join Shaq in going to war with the NBA over the new ball, those same players weren't exactly signing up for duty.
"It's all right," Hinrich said. "It's not my favorite ball in the world but I'll get used to it."
"It caught a lot of people by surprise but sometimes you gotta go with the flow," Butler added. "We'll see how it works out."
"I liked the old ball," Gordon said. "But we'll see what happens."
Without a groundswell of anger from star players, it's unlikely NBA commissioner David Stern would reverse course now.
For one, it's not as if the new ball is so slippery that it's affecting the quality of the game. As Bulls forward P.J. Brown pointed out after Wednesday's game, it's not as if we're suddenly seeing a bunch of passes flying into the stands or slipping through fingers. At least not from players who normally catch and pass the ball with no problem.
For another, going back to the old ball would put the NBA in a difficult position with one of its business partners. Even though Spalding provided the old leather balls, the company surely has invested a great deal of money in marketing the new ball to consumers. It's safe to say Spalding wouldn't be thrilled if the NBA suddenly declared the new product inferior.
As for compromise solutions, Butler suggested allowing refs to rotate new balls into the game if one got wet. However, this is unlikely given the NBA's general guideline to use the same ball if possible throughout the course of the game. While refs are given discretion to change a ball during a course of a game, NBA director of officials Ronnie Nunn said Wednesday night that it was only for rare cases when a ball got soaked with beer, say, or lost proper inflation for some reason.
The NBA players have at least two legitimate questions about the decision to go to the new ball. Why change a good thing? And why didn't the league give players a better chance to test it out in real game conditions, instead of just doing so at summer leagues and two previous All-Star contests? As Daniels noted, "Most veterans don't play in the summer leagues."
Either way it looks as if the new ball is here to stay. While some players might gripe, there are far more who appear resigned to accepting the change. As Bulls forward Luol Deng joked, "I play with a different ball in Europe every summer anyway. But ask me again after I go through a shooting slump during the season. Then I'll definitely blame it on the ball."
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