AleksandarN
Starter
But they used the ball in the last two All-Star games. So i do not know why it is a big deal now. The players had their chance to speak up against it then. I am also sure that they had imput from players since then.
Shaq: 'Whoever [changed ball] needs to be fired'
- Thread starter KingKong
- Start date
But they used the ball in the last two All-Star games. So i do not know why it is a big deal now. The players had their chance to speak up against it then. I am also sure that they had imput from players since then.
kingsgurl87
Bench
i dont really blame them for complaining..there was nothing wrong w/ the old ball so theres no reason to change it
hoopsfan
Starter
And a true traditionalist would be lobbying to bring back the peach basket...
How about those short- shorts??
GoGoGadget
All-Star
How about those short- shorts??
I KNOW Brick ain't that much of a traditionalist.
KingKong
Starter
He did have that "girly movie" marathon not so long ago, so i'm not so sure about that.
I'll always hold that against him.
For the first time ever, I agree 100% with Shaq.
The seams being different is what bothers me the most.
"The interlocking cross-panel design has one-third the channel area of the previous official ball to provide more material coverage and better grip."-NBA.com
For shooters, this is complete BS. My whole life growing up i was taught to align my fingers to the grooves on the ball, now what???
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Idea!!!
I guarantee you if this idea was brought up to the MLB they would die laughing...
The seams being different is what bothers me the most.
"The interlocking cross-panel design has one-third the channel area of the previous official ball to provide more material coverage and better grip."-NBA.com
For shooters, this is complete BS. My whole life growing up i was taught to align my fingers to the grooves on the ball, now what???
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Idea!!!
I guarantee you if this idea was brought up to the MLB they would die laughing...
What, you stop in mid-stride on a layup to move your hands around?
Seriously, this ball has been used in all-star games (which Shaq was in) and nobody has complained at all until this summer. Peja doesn't stop to re-align the ball before launching his quick 3's. For FT, yes, some folks will have to adjust. There are lines on the new ball as well, they have time to figure out where to line up their fingers in camp if it is throwing them off.
Is it a change? Yes. Is it a mountain being made of a molehill? Yes. It's not like they are using the ball only for certain games or changing the ball mid-season. Everyone has the same time to get used to it, in fact, every player got a ball delivered to them for use at home to help adjust. You are being paid millions. Deal with it. It's your job.
Kev.in
Starter
Just because some guy in a lab says the ball will manage moisture better doesn't mean it actually will on the court. They came out with this new ball and annouced the change right at the beginning of the summer. I want to know who gave it actual game testing and for how long they made it hold up?
To me, this sounds like a scheme to sell more basketballs. More to the fans ("everyone" is going to need the new one) and to sell more basketballs to the teams. There is no way a composite material is holding up as long as a leather ball. Keep an eye on Spalding's profits in the next 18 months.
Steve Nash doesn't like the ball either and that bothers me. That guy is a ballhandling machine and if he's going to have problems adjusting to it, then so is virtually everyone else. This will be an interesting topic to revist in December, see if there really are more rebounds and turnovers per game than the past few seasons.
To me, this sounds like a scheme to sell more basketballs. More to the fans ("everyone" is going to need the new one) and to sell more basketballs to the teams. There is no way a composite material is holding up as long as a leather ball. Keep an eye on Spalding's profits in the next 18 months.
Steve Nash doesn't like the ball either and that bothers me. That guy is a ballhandling machine and if he's going to have problems adjusting to it, then so is virtually everyone else. This will be an interesting topic to revist in December, see if there really are more rebounds and turnovers per game than the past few seasons.
Elise10
Starter
Taken from Kings Notes: Team's intensity during practice pleases coach:http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/35330.html
I could have understood the complaints until I re-check the thread and found this:
This ball has been around for about 8 months already and all of a sudden now there's this backlash about it. It's just so sad isn't it!
I could have understood the complaints until I re-check the thread and found this:
This ball has been around for about 8 months already and all of a sudden now there's this backlash about it. It's just so sad isn't it!
No, they have had the ball for the last 2 All-Star games, according to various articles, which I think qualifies as in-game testing. Shaq and the rest had nothing bad to say about the ball then. They just announced the switch for the regular season at the beginning of summer.
Padrino
All-Star
i'm not gonna apoligize for nba players, but lets get real here. an all star game is hardly a test for the functionality of a new ball. there's tons of turnovers and sloppy play as it is. long term exposure to the ball over the summer has caused some players to realize that it might not be as good. i can't blame them for that. its likely not gonna be that big of a deal, but it seems like a legitimate complaint.
coolhandluke
Starter
Once again NBA finds a way to screw up things. Why mess with something that is already good just to make a few extra bucks with an inferior product?
Stern: NBA testing new ball; leather still an option
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2617527
By Ian Whittell
Special to ESPN.com
PARIS -- David Stern has flown across the Atlantic on an NBA Europe Live tour that will have taken him to five countries by the middle of next week, but the league's commissioner has been unable to escape the raging controversy about the new basketball introduced this season.
Speaking to reporters in Paris before Sunday's exhibition game between the San Antonio Spurs and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Stern conceded for the first time that reverting to the old leather ball is a possibility if the rigorous testing he has just ordered validates the widespread complaints about the ball -- particularly its tendency to become slippery when wet.
"We have sent out the most stringent testing crew to see what there is to the issue," Stern said when asked if returning to leather was under consideration.
"Right now our plans are to stay the course, but we will monitor it and if we find there is something to it and it is a serious issue, we will take the appropriate steps because the most important thing to us is the game.
"We have gone out and done tests. We have wet both balls. When the [old] leather ball is wet at the end of the game, it is very slippery.
"But with the new ball, all you have got to do is put in a new ball because they [Spalding's new microfiber composite balls] are all the same, all the time. One of the benefits Spalding stressed to us is that it is a better ball, it has a more modern approach to the grip that would endure.
"But the game is uppermost in our mind."
Stern went on to insist that the technology behind the new synthetic ball is sound.
"Spalding came to us and said they had a technology that will improve the ball," he said. "They said that we are the only sport, professional or college, the last sport using leather and that they had a way to improve it.
"They came to us several years ago and we said we would have to see the technology working … they wanted to launch it one year ago, but we said no. We used it in the D-League, used it in the summer league, had players test it individually and, a year later, they said they had improved it even more.
"We said, 'OK, let's go.' So that's what we did."
The change from traditional leather to a synthetic ball, the first such change made by the NBA in 35 years, has been greeted with almost universal criticism by players after a week of training camp.
Complaints have centered not only upon the ball becoming slippery, but also a "sticky" texture when dry and its tendency to wear out more quickly than the old-style ball, making it likely that more than one ball will have to be used in many games.
Ian Whittell covers the NBA for The London Times and BSkyB.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2617527
By Ian Whittell
Special to ESPN.com
PARIS -- David Stern has flown across the Atlantic on an NBA Europe Live tour that will have taken him to five countries by the middle of next week, but the league's commissioner has been unable to escape the raging controversy about the new basketball introduced this season.
Speaking to reporters in Paris before Sunday's exhibition game between the San Antonio Spurs and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Stern conceded for the first time that reverting to the old leather ball is a possibility if the rigorous testing he has just ordered validates the widespread complaints about the ball -- particularly its tendency to become slippery when wet.
"We have sent out the most stringent testing crew to see what there is to the issue," Stern said when asked if returning to leather was under consideration.
"Right now our plans are to stay the course, but we will monitor it and if we find there is something to it and it is a serious issue, we will take the appropriate steps because the most important thing to us is the game.
"We have gone out and done tests. We have wet both balls. When the [old] leather ball is wet at the end of the game, it is very slippery.
"But with the new ball, all you have got to do is put in a new ball because they [Spalding's new microfiber composite balls] are all the same, all the time. One of the benefits Spalding stressed to us is that it is a better ball, it has a more modern approach to the grip that would endure.
"But the game is uppermost in our mind."
Stern went on to insist that the technology behind the new synthetic ball is sound.
"Spalding came to us and said they had a technology that will improve the ball," he said. "They said that we are the only sport, professional or college, the last sport using leather and that they had a way to improve it.
"They came to us several years ago and we said we would have to see the technology working … they wanted to launch it one year ago, but we said no. We used it in the D-League, used it in the summer league, had players test it individually and, a year later, they said they had improved it even more.
"We said, 'OK, let's go.' So that's what we did."
The change from traditional leather to a synthetic ball, the first such change made by the NBA in 35 years, has been greeted with almost universal criticism by players after a week of training camp.
Complaints have centered not only upon the ball becoming slippery, but also a "sticky" texture when dry and its tendency to wear out more quickly than the old-style ball, making it likely that more than one ball will have to be used in many games.
Ian Whittell covers the NBA for The London Times and BSkyB.
kennadog
Dog On It!
This just caught my eye. The baseball has been changed more times than the basketball.
http://www.fogdog.com/fog-the-history-of-the-baseball--bg-527303.html
Add to that how many times the bat and glove have been changed or changes to the pitcher's mound.....
Compared to baseball, basketball has been a bastion of tradition.
What I wonder is, if this ball has been used in international, college and high school basketball for 10 years, a large percentage of the younger NBA players, must have played with this ball for a few years at least, right?
Gargamel
Starter
I never had an official leather ball in my day and my stroke was absolutely daleellis.
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