NBA needs to move 3 pt line back

[dannyboy35]

I think the nba has benefitted a lot from the no hand check rule. Even as a kid when someone hand checked me I'd back the ball up and mock him for it. It's an admission that you can't guard someone. I love the no hand check. There's other stuff I'd love to change but that is not one of them.

[action781]

Yeah it sucks that the league is rewarding players for being able to defend multiple positions, handle the ball, drive and shoot.

Lets go back to the time when roles were more rigid, the game was much slower, and defense involved a lot of hacking and bumping. Why would we want to encourage teams to actually implement a system? Why would we prefer players who are nimble and make good use of angles and shot deterrence without clobbering opponents?

Boo! I hate floor spacing! I hate multiple points of attack! Let's go back to the time when individual players tried to create offense for twenty to thirty possessions a game. Let's go back to the time when the floor was much smaller. Let's go back to the time when being huge and strong was enough to be very valuable. Who wants a league where the ideal player is average in size, very quick, and versatile?

Being able to defend multiple positions is definitely a virtue and I have nothing against it.  My issue is that the NBA has chosen to allow teams to utilize an illegal play (the moving screen) to force teams into switches which makes defending multiple positions almost a necessity rather than a virtue.  Those Big Baby Davis screens that he used to get called for (sometimes) have basically become every single screen in NBA basketball now.

[PhoSita]

Fifteen years ago the most dominant player in the league was 7'2'' 300+ pounds.  He broke the game by being bigger and stronger than everybody else. 

In today's league, the most dominant player in the league, when everybody is healthy, is a 6'3'' guard with an elite handle and finishing ability, good passing and stealing instincts, and the deadliest jumper -- especially from beyond 25 feet -- the league has ever seen.  He breaks the game with his ability to punish every little mistake an opposing defense makes, and he not only creates opportunities for himself, but also for others.


I'm pretty much OK with the league as it is.


I do think the power forward position is getting phased out a little bit, and that's somewhat concerning.  It does seem like it's better to have an adequate but unremarkable combo forward who can hit open three pointers than it is to have an elite physical specimen with a great back to the basket game and limited range.  In other words, you might be better off with Marvin Williams at the 4 than Derrick Favors.  In the Finals, the Cavs were far better with Richard Jefferson on the floor than they were with Kevin Love.

Maybe that's a problem.  On the other hand, maybe the Derrick Favors of the world will just need to develop a passable three point set shot.  Maybe the Kevin Loves of the world will be relegated to backup roles because they can't reliably defend anybody who can actually move their feet.

Maybe that's a good thing.  I dunno.  Either way, I'm not in a panic about it.

[LooseCannon]

Better move is lifting the ban on handchecking and eliminating the three second rule. Throwback to the '90s. I miss the aggressive, physical game. If Jordan played today, he would average 45-50 ppg. We need a bit of contact in basketball. I used to love football, but hate what concussions have proven to do to the players. We're not going to reach that level of contact, of course, but basketball should have some contact. If a guy as small as Stockton could dominate under the old rules, there is really no concern. Man up.

I'd rather just get rid of flagrant fouls and make them regular fouls.

[biggs]

Bad idea. The problem for big men is neither the 3pt line nor "Jordan rules". It is changes in how they can be defended down low. The lane is more clogged when big men get the ball.

But if you change rules to give them more space down low, then we have the opposite problem where Shaq is just unstoppable and that team dominates instead of Curry's team.

When players dominate, deal with it. No matter what the rules are, there will be players with certain elite skills that will be perfectly fit for those rules and will tear up the league. This is normal and not a problem.

Hand checking was horrible, lazy defense. That never should have been a thing and got banned because teams went crazy with it in the 90s. It led to the ugliest basketball of all time, nothing like the game before or after.

I think the league today has become as ugly as it was in the late 90s early 00s.

I am sick of every team running 100+ pick and rolls and game and trying to hoist up 20-30 long distance shots instead of trying to get closer to the basket. I am annoyed that players are less rounded than before yet able to achieve huge success if they can just shoot from distance, handle the ball in PnR and finish around the basket (like Harden).

I know many will disagree but to me the quality of the league has been lowering for the last several years and this is one of the weakest eras of the NBA of the last 30-40 years.

I actually totally agree with you. The NBA as a product has sucked as of late, and now that it's even more of a two team league we have even less to look forward to.

Thanks you Silver for creating this mess

[dark_lord]

i didn't like the fact they moved the 3pt line forward several years ago.  Should have kept it where it was during the bird era

[dannyboy35]

It IS sad definitely that we've lost the back to the basket game.

[dannyboy35]

Oh man that was horrid when they moved the line in. It's why I can't watch college hoops. Well plus the shady coaches and drop off in talent.

[Kuberski33]

The game is too much of a 3 point contest right now and pivot play is long gone.  While I agree that that game is more exciting right now, there are way too many 3's being taken.  I'd like to see them try eliminating that corner 3 because that's the easiest 3 point shot. I'm all for widening and lengthening the court but its probably not feasible with a lot of the current arena's.

They need to get the Dr. J/Dominique/Jordan drives to the hoop back in the game.  Those were all great scorers to watch back in the day - granted Jordan could just as easily pull up and hit the jumper - but I'd much rather watch someone like that who was a great scorer vs the current SF's that basically take the 3 and nothing else.

Steph Curry as good as he is, is a product of the current rules.  He'd have been average in any other era - and a total non factor back in the hand check era, but those days are gladly long gone.

[Big333223]

I started watching the NBA in the early 00's so while I can't say much about the Jordan era (other than to say it looks like an awful lot of iso to me) I can say, unequivocally, that NBA basketball is the best it's been since I started watching. Changing the old illegal defense rules has made the 3 point more important and broken the game open for more movement and a more exciting product. I don't see any reason to move the 3 point lne back.

However...

I'd like to see the court expanded a little bit so the corner 3 is just as long of a shot as the 3 pointer from the top of the key. I think that's a little inequality that shifts the game in a weird direction that I don't like. It puts a premium on a skill that isn't as related to basketball as it is to court design.

Widening the court would also give even more room for players to drive the lane or post up.

[kozlodoev]

I'd like to see the court expanded a little bit so the corner 3 is just as long of a shot as the 3 pointer from the top of the key. I think that's a little inequality that shifts the game in a weird direction that I don't like. It puts a premium on a skill that isn't as related to basketball as it is to court design.

I'm not sure. I've always thought that it is harder to make a shot when you don't see the backboard. Certainly seems basketball-related to me.

[Big333223]

I'd like to see the court expanded a little bit so the corner 3 is just as long of a shot as the 3 pointer from the top of the key. I think that's a little inequality that shifts the game in a weird direction that I don't like. It puts a premium on a skill that isn't as related to basketball as it is to court design.

I'm not sure. I've always thought that it is harder to make a shot when you don't see the backboard. Certainly seems basketball-related to me.

That is basketball related but that's nto what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is that the corner 3 is closer to the rim and easier to amke so you get these layers who become "corner 3" specialists and that area of the court becomes more important, not for basketball reasons, for court design reasons. Expanding the court a little bit and making that corner 3 as difficult to hit as one from any other spot (or even more difficult, as you point out) would open things up even more and take the focus off those corners.