Shaq: 'Whoever [changed ball] needs to be fired'

KingKong

KingKong

Starter
Monday, October 2, 2006
Associated Press

MIAMI -- Heat center Shaquille O'Neal is no fan of the new basketballs to be used by the NBA this season, and isn't afraid to say so. "It's the worst decision some expert, whoever did it, made. ... The NBA's been around how long? A hundred years? Fifty years? So to change it now, whoever that person is needs his college degree revoked. It's a terrible decision." -- Shaq on the NBA's new ball

"I think the new ball is terrible," O'Neal said Monday. "It's the worst decision some expert, whoever did it, made. ... The NBA's been around how long? A hundred years? Fifty years? So to change it now, whoever that person is needs his college degree revoked. It's a terrible decision."

It's only the second time in 60 seasons the NBA has changed its game balls, and the first time in 35 years.

The new model, the league said in a release, "is a microfiber composite with moisture management that provides superior grip and feel throughout the course of a game."

O'Neal, along with many of his Heat teammates, strongly disagree. "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. It was terrible, a terrible decision. Awful. I might get fined for saying that, but so what?"

Other factors cited by the league in changing the ball is so that ones used in games will be uniform throughout the league, and that the leather models needed a breaking-in period that won't be necessary with the composite.

"I don't like it, because it's different," Heat backup center Michael Doleac said. "You get used to something, you don't want to change it. ... But in three years, we'll probably all look back and not be able to imagine playing with anything else."

"But I think rebounds are going to go up this year. All around the league, I think there's going to be a lot of bricks thrown up there early on." -- Dwyane Wade on the new ball's effects

The new composite will be the third type of ball Heat guard Dwyane Wade will use in four months. Last season's finals were played with the traditional leather ball, then the FIBA world championships used a ball that was slightly smaller than the NBA model -- something Wade spent most of the summer getting familiar with.

"Now I've got to make another adjustment with a ball that I haven't shot with at all and it's going to be a challenge," Wade said. "That means it's going to take a lot of late nights for me, I'll tell you that, to get really adjusted to the ball because I have no choice."

Wade said the biggest complaint players have with the new ball is the slippage factor, as in how much grip will be lost when players' hands sweat and that moisture gets on the ball.

"Hopefully over time, you'll hear nothing about it and we'll all stop complaining," Wade said. "But I think rebounds are going to go up this year. All around the league, I think there's going to be a lot of bricks thrown up there early on."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2610976
 
I wasn't even aware that they had the changed the balls. I'm seriously out of the loop. I wonder how Bibby, and all our players for that matter, feel about this.
 
I totally agree with what Doleac said:

"I don't like it, because it's different," Heat backup center Michael Doleac said. "You get used to something, you don't want to change it. ... But in three years, we'll probably all look back and not be able to imagine playing with anything else."
 
there is nothing like listening to millionares whining. At leats they will add another excuse to a list of excuses for why they "can't make a shot to save their lives"
 
Shaq is already making execuses for the upcoming season. He wants everyone to know that he is missing even more shots because the ball sucks and its not because he is getting old. We also have to remeber that he is not an earthling (according to him anyway). Any which way you put it, its an execuse.
 
I'm confused by their complaints, because they're saying the slippage factor has gone up, but one of the big features of the new ball is that the material handles moisture better and is supposed to decrease slippage. I read about this new ball thinking there were no drawbacks at all (and I was planning to buy a new one myself!), and here we are with what seems like the entire Miami Heat franchise saying the complete opposite. Of course, they sound like they're just whining because they're used to the old (and Doleac admits as much), but we'll have to see how the rest of the league responds.
 
DaMan said:
I totally agree with what Doleac said:

"I don't like it, because it's different," Heat backup center Michael Doleac said. "You get used to something, you don't want to change it. ... But in three years, we'll probably all look back and not be able to imagine playing with anything else."
Click to expand...

He'll be lucky if he's even gotten a chance to shoot that ball in 3 years.
 
man he shouldnt care anyways. its not like he has to shoot much or hit big time 3s... he has big hands so all he has to do is catch and and turn around and put it into the hoop... not that hard so why is he complaining about the ball?
 
everyone has to use the same new ball, therefroe everyone is at disadvantage, and because everyone is at a disadvantage, in reality noone is at a disadvanatge (u may have to think about that for a sec).

Ya they should be fired, i liked the old ball, they could have just painted the old ball, doesnt make sense to me.
 
Talk about another tempest in a teapot.

Hey, living room suite? So they changed it. I have a news flash for you. They also changed the original basket and backboard at some point in the past.

What's O'Neal's REAL problem? Is he worried because, for once, he isn't the focus of off-season speculaton?

Somehow, I just don't care that the reigning NBA-champions are unhappy about this. In fact, to be honest, I think it's hilarious.

Waaaaaaaah!
 
I like those new composite basketballs, they are really grippy. But I'm sure it is hard to adjust to something as integral to the game as the ball, especially after about a 15 year career.
 
This is the same ball that Stern unveiled during the Draft festivities. It was used all during summer league. (Of course, O'Neal wouldn't know anything about that.) Most comments about it were that it was no big deal.
 
I could have sworn that they introduced the new ball before the All-Star Game last year. Had McGrady posing for pictures with it.

But because Shaq's not gonna have his leather ball this season and actually used the words "shooting percentages" in a sentence this article was written.
 
Elise10 said:
I could have sworn that they introduced the new ball before the All-Star Game last year. Had McGrady posing for pictures with it.
Click to expand...

I think you're right. I do know it was introduced a while back and I know it was used for summer leagues.

But because Shaq's not gonna have his leather ball this season and actually used the words "shooting percentages" in a sentence this article was written.
Click to expand...

Yep.
 
reminds me of the classic SNL skit with Alex Baldwin, Ana Gastmeyer and ...

Well, I can't remember the other woman's name but Baldwin's character is named Schweaty and he's advertising a new Christmas confectionary treat, similar to bourbon balls. And I'm going to leave it at that...

;)
 
VF21 said:
reminds me of the classic SNL skit with Alex Baldwin, Ana Gastmeyer and ...

Well, I can't remember the other woman's name
Click to expand...

Molly Shannon, ("Delicious Dish").

These new composites ward away schweat. :o No more schweaty "basketballs". I don't see what can be so wrong with that, Shaq. If you'll complain about that, you'll complain about anything.
 
Gargamel said:
Molly Shannon, ("Delicious Dish").

These new composites ward away schweat. :o No more schweaty "basketballs". I don't see what can be so wrong with that, Shaq. If you'll complain about that, you'll complain about anything.
Click to expand...

Ah, yes. Molly Shannon. Thanx.

As far as the bolded item goes, I thought the votes had already come in on that part...

;)
 
The League's Response:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2006-10-03-new-ball_x.htm
League: No heads will roll over new basketball
Posted 10/3/2006 10:09 PM ET

By Oscar Dixon, USA TODAY
Despite Shaquille O'Neal's call for someone's head, NBA executive Stu Jackson said Tuesday that no one at the league office will be fired as a result of the new ball.

"No," Jackson said, "it's a better ball."

O'Neal said Monday that the new ball by Spalding, the first introduced by the NBA in 35 years, was terrible and that whoever thought it was a good idea should be fired. The Miami Heat center said the new ball will result in increased turnovers and lower shooting percentages.

"I really didn't have a reaction to his comments, and everyone is entitled to his opinion," said Jackson, executive vice president of basketball operations and chairman of the competition committee that approved the ball. "The testing has proven it has played well without any negative damage to the game, in terms of its playability."

Jackson said composite balls have been used at every level for the last 10 years. He said the NBA tested its ball at the last two All-Star Games, in the D-League and 76 summer-league games.

"Statistically, we shot the ball better from two (-point range), from three (-point range) and the free throw line, and turnovers were even," Jackson said.

Jackson said there were concerns raised by players, including O'Neal, about the ball at last season's All-Star Game.

• The majority of the feedback about the feel and grip of the ball has been positive, but some players said it felt "tacky."

• Another comment from players was the ball felt great when it was dry but it got a little slippery when wet.

Jackson said it was in the best interest of the NBA to consider all feedback. "We have nothing to gain by putting a non-performance product out on the floor," he said.

To Shaq, I guess he's forgotten that he's already played with this ball before....and why exactly would you care about shooting percentages, it's not like you're taking 10-foot jump shots to begin with.
 
Last edited:
And here's another article on it:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2612127

NEW YORK -- The NBA is convinced it is playing with a better basketball this season -- no matter what Shaquille O'Neal thinks.

The old leather balls are being replaced by a microfiber composite model, the league's first change in 35 years, and O'Neal isn't impressed. The Miami Heat star blasted the ball Monday, criticizing not only the product but whoever was involved in the decision to use it.

One of those people, executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson, defended the ball Tuesday.

"Sure you hear some comments that aren't as positive as the overwhelming majority of people that we tested the ball with," Jackson said in a phone interview. "That's going to happen. Everyone that handles the ball loves the grip and the feel of the ball."

Not O'Neal, who said the ball, "Feels like one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store, indoor-outdoor balls."

Both O'Neal and Dwyane Wade griped about the ball's slick grip when wet, and two-time reigning MVP Steve Nash said the ball has a tacky feel that's making shooting and certain types of passes tricky.

"I certainly won't have to lick my fingers. The ball sticks to your hand. It's a big transition. It's extremely sticky," Nash said Tuesday in a conference call from the Phoenix Suns' training camp in Italy.

The ball looks noticeably different, too: Manufactured by Spalding, it features only two interlocking panels -- imagine a pair of hands with the fingers laced together -- rather than the eight panels found on traditional basketballs.

Nash said it will be a difficult transition, but sounded as though he expected players to figure it out.

"We do have a month to get it going," he said. "Right now I would say that the basketball sticks to the floor, it sticks to the backboard. It is different."

Jackson said no matter what the players say, the new ball's grip is an improvement, even when wet.

"If you moisturize a leather ball, it also feels very slick," he said. "But this new ball has a better grip when it's wet than a leather ball."

Players have already had plenty of exposure to the new ball, which was sent to all teams after the All-Star break and to all players over the summer.

Most players were probably exposed to it even before that. The ball was used in events at the last two All-Star games, which O'Neal played in, and was tested in summer league and D-League play. It is also used at the amateur levels, so most players grow up using it.

"It's a better ball," Jackson said. "But as a product matter, composite balls are used in every league throughout the world. And they've been used in every level of play over the last 10 years domestically in the NCAA and also in high school."

Jackson said O'Neal would not be fined for his outburst, in which he said that the person who decided to change the ball "needs his college degree revoked." But he did say that the change would not have been made if there were many similar complaints when the ball was tested.

"We would have pulled the ball," Jackson said.

Of seven Heat players interviewed about the new ball at the team's media day Monday and after practice Tuesday, not one preferred it to the old leather model. Certainly not Shaq, who took a spinning jump hook in the lane, about six feet from the basket. But the ball slipped in his hand and went straight up in the air -- without moving toward the hoop at all.

It was one of three times Shaq lost the handle in a span of about 15 minutes.

"I'm right with him," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "I think it's horrible. ... It really does feel like an indoor-outdoor ball. We'll see how it works. Maybe they'll learn to love it, I don't know."

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press

Shaq missing a shot from farther that about 2 feet? Tell me it isn't so.... :rolleyes:

Maybe Shaq missed because the ball wasn't covered in Nash's saliva.
 
Last edited:
Sources: Not enough good leather to go 'round?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2614312

The NBA has controversially introduced a new basketball for the first time in 35 years, prompting an obvious question: Why?

One potential factor: Spalding, which has manufactured NBA balls since 1983, might have been eager to get out of the leather business.

NBA sources told ESPN.com that Spalding urged the NBA to switch to a composite model because it was having trouble securing the "consistent" leather needed to keep manufacturing the ball that has been used for decades.

At the NBA's annual rookie orientation in September, according to sources, first-year players were told by league officials that the change to a microfiber composite ball was caused largely by Spalding's struggles to keep finding the specific leather used for the NBA model.

Spalding, though, contends that the change was made because the new model is simply "a better ball." That's according to Dan Touhey, Spalding's vice president of marketing, who told ESPN.com on Thursday that the composite ball can be produced with "more consistency, a better grip and more advanced technology."

"That's not the reason at all, far from it," Touhey said of any leather shortages. "It is a fact that there are very few manufacturers remaining that produce leather. But when you go down the list of reasons why [the ball was changed], that would be No. 999 out of a thousand.

"We're always looking for a better material, a more consistent material. Leather, because it's a natural material, is inherently a more difficult material to source. A composite material, because it's a man-made material, is easier to source. … The benefit is consistency. That's probably what the point was [at the rookie orientation]."

It has likewise been suggested that Spalding had marketing motivations to switch from an expensive leather ball to a composite ball that, in addition to its lower production costs and the promise of fresh publicity, might have more practical appeal to NBA fans.

"They probably couldn't sell it," New Jersey's Jason Kidd told the New York Post after Wednesday's practice, referring to the old leather ball. "It was an indoor model. A lot of kids play outside, so maybe that was the reason."

It remains to be seen if the widespread outcry against the new ball will prompt the league office to consider switching back to leather before the regular season opens Oct. 31. But that seems unlikely, given the view expressed by NBA commissioner David Stern in Spain on Thursday.

"Every organization plays with a synthetic ball -- high school, college, FIBA and the like -- and so the time of the synthetic ball is here," Stern said of his league.

The chorus of complaints has been getting louder by the day since Miami's Shaquille O'Neal ranted against the switch, likening the composite model to "one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store."

New Jersey's Vince Carter, Detroit's Rasheed Wallace, Denver's Carmelo Anthony, Washington's Gilbert Arenas, Phoenix's Shawn Marion and the Suns' reigning two-time MVP Steve Nash are among the big names who have since voiced their displeasure with the change.

The most common complaints are that the ball is too sticky when dry and too slippery when it gets wet, much slicker than a wet leather ball.

Miami's Antoine Walker raised another concern earlier this week, saying, "The problem with this ball is that it wears down very easily and that's not good. During the course of a game, if a guy is 10-for-10 in the first half and now you've got to switch to another ball, that makes a difference. We should have stayed with the old ball. It was better. Those old balls last a long time and you could play with them when they got old. These balls, once they get slippery, it's going to be difficult."

Wallace told the Detroit News: "Terrible. I don't know why they did it. The thing that [upsets] me about it is, that's a major part of playing and you can't just change it without getting the players' opinions on the ball before you change it."

Yet much like the dress code instituted by the league last fall and its subsequent decision to ban the compression tights sported by several top players throughout the 2005-06 season, changing the official ball -- according to the current collective bargaining agreement -- is another measure that the NBA has the right to impose unilaterally, without consulting the NBA Players Association.

NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson, promoted from senior vice president of basketball operations to executive vice president in June, defended the new ball Tuesday, insisting that it has a better grip than its predecessor when wet, not worse.

"It's a better ball," Jackson said. "But as a product matter, composite balls are used in every league throughout the world. And they've been used in every level of play over the last 10 years domestically in the NCAA and also in high school."

The composite ball has been used at the past two All-Star Games and was modified by Spalding after the first composites were tested by NBA players in 2005. The league dispatched a new ball to every NBA player over the summer and Jackson estimated in June that "99 percent" of the league's players grew up using only a composite ball.

But that hasn't hushed or even slowed an ongoing flurry of complaints.

"As a kid going up through high school and then college, you dream about playing with that leather NBA basketball," Mavericks swingman Jerry Stackhouse told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "This new ball is the one I played with in the backyard when I was 12.

"Nobody that ever played the game would want to change that ball. Nobody. Not Michael Jordan. Not Dr. J. Nobody."

Spalding, according to Touhey, was prepared for such reactions, knowing that protest is a reflex response to change.

"It takes time," Touhey said. "These guys are professional athletes. They get custom fitted for their shoes. Everything about their lives is about consistency. When you switch out the most important piece of equipment, players are going to be resistant to that.

"But we know it's a better ball, so we're comfortable."

Bulls coach Scott Skiles told the Chicago Sun-Times: "I think it was my sophomore year in college, the Big Ten -- or maybe it was the whole NCAA -- changed balls. Initially, everybody was kind of frowning on it, but within a couple of months, everybody was fine with it. That will probably be the case here."


Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com.
 
Hmm...not just Shaq after all.

Well traditionalist that I am about such things, I think this is B.S., and really really shoudl have had the players approval or at least acquiescience before doing it. It would be like the NFL changing all of the fields from grass to astroturf because its "better" + not asking the players about it.

All of that said, I would imagine after a while everybody will get used to it and move on. But it really has been handled *** backwards and high handedly. Easy to say its a better ball and whatnot when you are not actually the one using it in the sport and are just sitting in an office.
 
Warhawk said:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2614312

The NBA has controversially introduced a new basketball for the first time in 35 years, prompting an obvious question: Why?

One potential factor: Spalding, which has manufactured NBA balls since 1983, might have been eager to get out of the leather business.

NBA sources told ESPN.com that Spalding urged the NBA to switch to a composite model because it was having trouble securing the "consistent" leather needed to keep manufacturing the ball that has been used for decades.

At the NBA's annual rookie orientation in September, according to sources, first-year players were told by league officials that the change to a microfiber composite ball was caused largely by Spalding's struggles to keep finding the specific leather used for the NBA model.

Spalding, though, contends that the change was made because the new model is simply "a better ball." That's according to Dan Touhey, Spalding's vice president of marketing, who told ESPN.com on Thursday that the composite ball can be produced with "more consistency, a better grip and more advanced technology."

"That's not the reason at all, far from it," Touhey said of any leather shortages. "It is a fact that there are very few manufacturers remaining that produce leather. But when you go down the list of reasons why [the ball was changed], that would be No. 999 out of a thousand.

"We're always looking for a better material, a more consistent material. Leather, because it's a natural material, is inherently a more difficult material to source. A composite material, because it's a man-made material, is easier to source. … The benefit is consistency. That's probably what the point was [at the rookie orientation]."

It has likewise been suggested that Spalding had marketing motivations to switch from an expensive leather ball to a composite ball that, in addition to its lower production costs and the promise of fresh publicity, might have more practical appeal to NBA fans.

"They probably couldn't sell it," New Jersey's Jason Kidd told the New York Post after Wednesday's practice, referring to the old leather ball. "It was an indoor model. A lot of kids play outside, so maybe that was the reason."

It remains to be seen if the widespread outcry against the new ball will prompt the league office to consider switching back to leather before the regular season opens Oct. 31. But that seems unlikely, given the view expressed by NBA commissioner David Stern in Spain on Thursday.

"Every organization plays with a synthetic ball -- high school, college, FIBA and the like -- and so the time of the synthetic ball is here," Stern said of his league.

The chorus of complaints has been getting louder by the day since Miami's Shaquille O'Neal ranted against the switch, likening the composite model to "one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store."

New Jersey's Vince Carter, Detroit's Rasheed Wallace, Denver's Carmelo Anthony, Washington's Gilbert Arenas, Phoenix's Shawn Marion and the Suns' reigning two-time MVP Steve Nash are among the big names who have since voiced their displeasure with the change.

The most common complaints are that the ball is too sticky when dry and too slippery when it gets wet, much slicker than a wet leather ball.

Miami's Antoine Walker raised another concern earlier this week, saying, "The problem with this ball is that it wears down very easily and that's not good. During the course of a game, if a guy is 10-for-10 in the first half and now you've got to switch to another ball, that makes a difference. We should have stayed with the old ball. It was better. Those old balls last a long time and you could play with them when they got old. These balls, once they get slippery, it's going to be difficult."

Wallace told the Detroit News: "Terrible. I don't know why they did it. The thing that [upsets] me about it is, that's a major part of playing and you can't just change it without getting the players' opinions on the ball before you change it."

Yet much like the dress code instituted by the league last fall and its subsequent decision to ban the compression tights sported by several top players throughout the 2005-06 season, changing the official ball -- according to the current collective bargaining agreement -- is another measure that the NBA has the right to impose unilaterally, without consulting the NBA Players Association.

NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson, promoted from senior vice president of basketball operations to executive vice president in June, defended the new ball Tuesday, insisting that it has a better grip than its predecessor when wet, not worse.

"It's a better ball," Jackson said. "But as a product matter, composite balls are used in every league throughout the world. And they've been used in every level of play over the last 10 years domestically in the NCAA and also in high school."

The composite ball has been used at the past two All-Star Games and was modified by Spalding after the first composites were tested by NBA players in 2005. The league dispatched a new ball to every NBA player over the summer and Jackson estimated in June that "99 percent" of the league's players grew up using only a composite ball.

But that hasn't hushed or even slowed an ongoing flurry of complaints.

"As a kid going up through high school and then college, you dream about playing with that leather NBA basketball," Mavericks swingman Jerry Stackhouse told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "This new ball is the one I played with in the backyard when I was 12.

"Nobody that ever played the game would want to change that ball. Nobody. Not Michael Jordan. Not Dr. J. Nobody."
Spalding, according to Touhey, was prepared for such reactions, knowing that protest is a reflex response to change.

"It takes time," Touhey said. "These guys are professional athletes. They get custom fitted for their shoes. Everything about their lives is about consistency. When you switch out the most important piece of equipment, players are going to be resistant to that.

"But we know it's a better ball, so we're comfortable."

Bulls coach Scott Skiles told the Chicago Sun-Times: "I think it was my sophomore year in college, the Big Ten -- or maybe it was the whole NCAA -- changed balls. Initially, everybody was kind of frowning on it, but within a couple of months, everybody was fine with it. That will probably be the case here."


Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com.
Click to expand...

i like stack's argument. i have no idea if the new ball is really a "better ball," but i do know that there's this mysterious level of status when concerning leather. people love leather. the nba uses leather balls because...well...they're made of friggin' leather. they last a long time. they've got a great feel. changing the ball to something your parents might have bought you to play with in the backyard when you were 12 is just...well...cheap. it sounds like a production cost-cutting measure on spalding's part to me, and given that the nba will likely market the ball at around the same price, there's some money to be made in the marketing.
 
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