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53n206
11-15-2013, 08:42 AM
Smaller, faster defenses who can hand check may be at a disadvantage when compared with the taller offenses who rely on establishing position and passing inside.

jimsumner
11-15-2013, 11:52 AM
Smaller, faster defenses who can hand check may be at a disadvantage when compared with the taller offenses who rely on establishing position and passing inside.

I suspect foot speed, positioning and communication will continue to be at a premium.

You play defense with your feet, an ancient adage that applies to lots of sports, basketball among them.

gus
11-15-2013, 12:46 PM
I suspect foot speed, positioning and communication will continue to be at a premium.

You play defense with your feet, an ancient adage that applies to lots of sports, basketball among them.

The "old" rules favored taller teams too. We are talking about basketball after all.

Henderson
11-15-2013, 01:28 PM
The "old" rules favored taller teams too. We are talking about basketball after all.

Agreed. The old verities of college basketball (including those mentioned by Jim) haven't changed, just the way the game will be called. The new interpretations (they are not new rules) will favor offense over defense, but in no particular way that necessarily favors one style of offense over another.

The risks faced by every team:

1. They won't adapt. Those teams that don't adapt will not succeed.
2. The game won't be consistently called.
3. Different games will be called differently.
4. Their lack of depth will be tested if they don't adjust quickly.
5. Poor foul shooting. Until teams adjust, there will be a lot of trips to the line, and even those that do adjust will be going to the line a lot against teams that have not.

For Duke, I feel confident where we come out on #1 and #4. We can't control #2 or #3, but let's face it: always a risk even under the "old interpretations." #5 scares me.

P.S. There's a pattern in most games whereby the number of fouls called on the two teams are equalized by refs. That's how they escape criticism that they've unfairly distributed whistles. So teams that have adjusted could get called for non-fouls just to even things out. That puts smart teams (not short teams) at kind of a disadvantage.

rsvman
11-15-2013, 01:38 PM
The really old rules HIGHLY favored taller teams. When there was no advantage to a long shot over a short one, the adage was to get as close to the basket as possible before shooting. Teams with tall players had a huge advantage.

If anything, I'd say the "new rules" might actually favor shorter, faster teams over taller teams. Tall guys don't generally move as well, and if the refs aren't going to call any charges, and if they're not going to respect defensive verticality, how is a tall guy going to stop a driving offensive player other than blocking the shot (which also carries the risk of having a foul called).