I don't see how stopping a dunk in that Lebron fashion is not a foul. I'm sure that on occasion of a miracle play you could do that move without touching the dunking player and only touching the ball itself. But most of the time, you're going to touch the player who is dunking in some fashion. At the very least, you will touch their hands. And even if he can execute that amazing defense, he's only the best player in the world. If almost everyone can dunk, but only a handful of people can stop it some of the time, it's still effectively indefensible.
You've got the right idea of the one point dunk. You use it when you are winning to conservatively and steadily keep scoring while taking less risk. While conservative play is usually boring for spectators, the fact that they get to see dunks balances it out. Meanwhile the team that is behind has to shoot and score to catch up, which makes their end of the court pretty exciting.
This extra strategy that ha s been describe is what's missing in the game.
It would change it from watching 1 or 2 start athletic people do athletic things to a team based strategy and team composition game.
The person that can dunk and shoot, the long range shooter, the play making defender / stealer (stealing the ball is way underrated in the NBA, mostly players force an error and capitalise rather than making the play).
Stealing is definitely underrated in the NBA. Stealing is pretty much the best move you can do. It's so obviously a strong play. It's as big a deal as an interception in the NFL.
I've known this to be true since playing basketball video games like double dribble and NBA Jam. All I did was try to steal. That was the only way to consistently get ON FIRE!
One other thing about raising the rim, though. I always thought goaltending was a silly rule in the NBA. You can block a shot on the way up, but not the way down? Dude, if you can jump up there and prevent the ball from going in the net, that's totally legit in my eyes. Just as legit as a goalie blocking a shot in soccer or hockey. The problem is the net is too low and small, so it is impossible to shoot and score if goaltending is allowed. Raising the rim higher means you can remove the goaltending rule. Then if some miraculous person can get up there and do something about it, good for them. How often will they be able to pull it off? Once ever? Let it happen. It will be a highlight we'll rewatch on Youtube for the rest of our lives.
I think we're on the same page. When I played basketball competitively in highschool, the only reason coaches and people wanted me on the team was that I would consistently steal the ball because otherwise I was just a relatively short guy that could shoot well.
I'm pro removing goal tending in our hypothetical revised rules as it adds that layer of - 3 point shot (high skill, high risk, depend on positioning of your entire team) - 2 point shot (less skill, high risk, team position importance) - 2 point lay up (less skill, moderate risk as can still be blocked, no positional importance) - 1 point dunk (least skill, risk and positional importance)
I actually like watching basketball, at the college level anyway, but I also like the idea of making games more like volleyball/tennis matches where each segment of the game matters a lot more. I would argue that the basketball played in the NBA isn't the same game that is played by college athletes or below, for the very reasons that you guys have enumerated. The games are much too long and the rules are so lax that it ends up just being a spectacle. College basketball is much more entertaining, especially during the tournament when you tend to see a lot of ridiculous upsets and close games.
The problem with college basketball is that often it's the meta that makes it exciting and not anything inherent to the game itself. You could have red team vs. blue team in hockey and it would be great! In college basketball, if you hadn't filled out that bracket, or known beforehand that one team was the underdog, a lot of the excitement is gone. The game itself is better than, and much different from, an NBA game. But it's still not exciting enough to be worth watching.
Comments
You've got the right idea of the one point dunk. You use it when you are winning to conservatively and steadily keep scoring while taking less risk. While conservative play is usually boring for spectators, the fact that they get to see dunks balances it out. Meanwhile the team that is behind has to shoot and score to catch up, which makes their end of the court pretty exciting.
It would change it from watching 1 or 2 start athletic people do athletic things to a team based strategy and team composition game.
The person that can dunk and shoot, the long range shooter, the play making defender / stealer (stealing the ball is way underrated in the NBA, mostly players force an error and capitalise rather than making the play).
I would enjoy that podcast.
I've known this to be true since playing basketball video games like double dribble and NBA Jam. All I did was try to steal. That was the only way to consistently get ON FIRE!
One other thing about raising the rim, though. I always thought goaltending was a silly rule in the NBA. You can block a shot on the way up, but not the way down? Dude, if you can jump up there and prevent the ball from going in the net, that's totally legit in my eyes. Just as legit as a goalie blocking a shot in soccer or hockey. The problem is the net is too low and small, so it is impossible to shoot and score if goaltending is allowed. Raising the rim higher means you can remove the goaltending rule. Then if some miraculous person can get up there and do something about it, good for them. How often will they be able to pull it off? Once ever? Let it happen. It will be a highlight we'll rewatch on Youtube for the rest of our lives.
I'm pro removing goal tending in our hypothetical revised rules as it adds that layer of
- 3 point shot (high skill, high risk, depend on positioning of your entire team)
- 2 point shot (less skill, high risk, team position importance)
- 2 point lay up (less skill, moderate risk as can still be blocked, no positional importance)
- 1 point dunk (least skill, risk and positional importance)