PARIS (George Eddy's International Show) - I am really psyched up about the new NBA season which is a month away after reading that the league is going to crack down on travelling, groin hits, overly-long referee review and the Hack-a-somebody tactic.

I've been harping on these subjects for years and it makes me feel vindicated! The NBA has already all but eliminated the back-breaking 4 games in 5 days phenomenon while also reducing back to backs. A recent study has shown that road back-to-backs produce 3.5 times more player injuries than the other games. This is great news and shows Adam Silver and the league are taking constructive criticism to heart.

The inconsistent way travelling violations are called has become a real problem in the NBA where taking three steps before a fastbreak dunk are common place as well as ball-handlers changing their pivot foot several times in order to get some separation from pressure defense.

Groin hits probably cost the Golden State Warriors the title last June when Draymond Green crossed the line one too many times and was suspended from a deciding Game 5 at home in the NBA Finals when LeBron James prodded him into over-reacting at the end of Game 4 which the Warriros won to go up 3-1! They were confortably in the driver's seat in the series but one "ball-breaking" play too many turned the series around.

Stop with the flailing arms and legs to make contact with your adversary, already. This ressembles flopping and is bad for the game and the NBA is smart to crack down on it in the same way.

I would also like to see increased severity concerning defenders who slide their feet under a jump shooter because the resulting ankle sprains or worse could be reduced.

Another major advance will be the reduced number of times the game referees will go and consult the video monitors to review a replay. Hallelujah, because this long, drawn-out process is just as boring as watching DeAndre Jordan brick free throws. It kills the rythmn of a game, especially in the closing moments when there are already too many time-outs and free throws to put up with! It's easy to understand why the NFL put a time limit on ref review in football and letting the NBA replay official (who has only that task to worry about) make more decisions himself is quite intelligent and a much quicker process.

The most controversial change concerns, of course, the Hack-a-Shaq fouls and many NBA coaches were staunchly against any change to the rule. As Shaquille O'Neal accompagnies Allen Iverson into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, let's consider this new rule an hommage to his great career! Everyone agrees that the problem only touches about 5 to 10 players who are notoriously bad free throw shooters and they should work on improving their percentages but the NBA is, above all, sports entertainment and there is nothing very entertaining about watching Jordan or Andre Drummond shoot 37 free throws in one game! That's a lot more like sadistic punishment than entertainment.

The problem was getting worse each season as more coaches used the tactic to bog down an opponent's rythmn on offense while accumulating some cheap possessions. As with replay review, it kills the game's rhythm and lowers the level of play which lowers the quality of the spectacle proposed. Now, with teams getting one free throw while retaining possession in the last two minutes of EACH quarter instead of just the fourth quarter and in overtime, these types of "away from the ball" fouls will be reduced considerably. It was getting also dangerous to see players jumping on each other to make sure the refs saw the foul and this type of play will be sanctionned by a flagrant foul from now on.

There will still be plenty of opportunities to foul a poor free throw shooter when he HAS the ball and I believe that fans fill arenas to watch the players play more than to watch coaches impress us with their sense of tactics! All of this leads me to think that the league is in a good place right now because they have got their priorities in order.

Let the pre-season begin!

George Eddy

FIBA

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