Paul Pierce blogs this suggestion to the NBA today in the BOSTON GLOBE:
Raise the rim three inches: The athletes today are crazy. You see the way guys are jumping these days. I would raise the rim three inches. Then, you have to learn the art of the jump shot. You’ll have to know how to play this game a little bit better then. Raising the rim, you’ll see improved play. You’ll see increasing fundamentals. I’m telling you.
He’s right on all counts, but I think Pierce’s post may have a perhaps unwitting, alternate motivation.
What teams will likely most challenge Pierce’s Celtics in the battle for Eastern Conferene supremacy this season? Orlando and Cleveland.
Now look at the rosters and how those teams would be affected if you raised the rim.
Players who would be most impacted by a rim-raising would be post performers who rely on a paint-based power game. Like Orlando’s Dwight Howard and most of the front court of the Cavaliers. Not to mention LeBron James, who gets plenty of his scores off slashing to the basket - which could be neutralized.
Meanwhile, the primary Celtics’ strength comes more from intermediate and perimeter play.
I know it’s folly to pretend the NBA would actually make the change, but the state of the C’s roster - and their opponents - might give a clue why Pierce made the suggestion in the first place.
5:58 pm on December 18th, 2009
raise it a foot and then we are talking
6:09 pm on December 18th, 2009
Drop the rim 2 feet for the WNBA and I might watch a game for once.
6:37 pm on December 18th, 2009
3″??? WTF. I’m with Matty on this one, and maybe we can enforce traveling, too.
I’d go higher than 12″ given the choice….
Slam dunks ruined basketball forever for me.
7:09 pm on December 18th, 2009
He is trying to lobby for the NBA to be more of a jump shooting league which would extend his playing career and the career of the over 30 crowd in the league. Not fair to the younger players who still have good hops.
12:03 am on December 19th, 2009
While you are at it require NBA players to learn how to box out for a rebound and actually shoot a ball. I don’t see how anyone who plays basketball can shoot less than 80% from the line. Or how 6′10 guys can’t rebound.
Then solve that whole tackling thing in the NFL. How can someone even get to the NFL and not know how to tackle? When I was a kid you would get cut from the Pee Wee league. You would have no chance of making the JV for the local high school if you can’t tackle. Yet starting defensive players in the NFL never learned tackling?
Well I guess it goes along with college graduates who can’t read, but they usually can at least make a tackle or grab a rebound.
12:33 am on December 19th, 2009
Pull out the MTV Rock N Jock VHS tapes and take a few cues from them…..crazy sh*t like 5 pointers from certain spots…maybe 10 pointers. Get the game close.
How about dialing back timeouts to less that 30 per game?
Also allow one defender on eat team to carry a stick or a tazer?
I am also not against a narrow, yet present moat at half court.
2:39 pm on March 9th, 2010
I find it interesting that 629 people said that they would no longer watch “No (26%, 629 Votes)”.
I would think that everybody would want to see how the players would adapt to such a change and what this would do to the amount of slam dunks in the game. It certainly would be interesting and worth watching but for obvious reason it would never happen.