Updated: September 9, 2010, 10:18 AM ET FIBA discusses rules changes By Chris Sheridan ESPN.com ISTANBUL -- The secretary general of FIBA, the governing body of international basketball, would like to see the NBA change its goaltending rules to allow players to knock the ball off the rim. The official, Patrick Baumann, made the comment during a lunch meeting with eight selected American and European journalists Thursday before the final two quarterfinal games at the FIBA World Championship. FIBA rules allow players to knock the ball off the rim after it touches the cylinder, whereas in the NBA that would constitute a goaltending violation. Baumann also said the chances of Great Britain being awarded a spot in the 12-team field for the 2012 Olympics will be made next March during a meeting of the FIBA executive committee, but will be contingent in large part on the British Basketball Federation's road map toward building the growth of the sport for the long term. FIBA will be instituting two rules changes at the conclusion of this tournament, abandoning the trapezoid lane in favor of an NBA-sized rectangular lane, and moving the 3-point line back by a half-meter (19½ inches) from its current distance of 20 feet, 6.1 inches. Baumann said the next rule change FIBA wants to institute is widening the court by 50 centimeters on each side, in large part to create additional room for players to attempt 3-point shots from the corners. FIBA courts are slightly smaller than NBA courts, measuring 91 feet, 10 inches long (compared to 94 feet in the NBA) and 49 feet, 2½ inches wide (versus 50 feet in the NBA). But Baumann, along with outgoing FIBA president Bob Elphinston of Australia and incoming president Yvan Mainini of France, said they are opposed to any changes in the number of timeouts (FIBA allows two per team in the first half and three in the second half, plus one in each overtime period) or the length of the game -- 40 minutes, as opposed to 48 in the NBA. Baumann also said FIBA will continue to push the International Olympic committee to expand the field from 12 to 16 for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, along with making a push for adding 3-on-3 basketball as a separate competition. FIBA has been trying for eight years to increase the size of the field, but has met resistance from the IOC, which wants to retain a limit of 10,500 athletes at the Olympic Games. Two sports, baseball and softball, have been dropped from the Olympics for 2012, while two other sports, golf and seven-man rugby, have been added. "We think it makes perfect sense -- 16 for '16," Baumann said, adding that having four groups of four teams would actually shorten the amount of time needed to play the Olympic tournament by two days. "We're trying to enlarge the quality of the countries to play at the highest level, so that we have a more competitive field." "There's a lot of politics in this environment," Baumann added. "But if you look around the world and get the statistics of what's the most popular sport in the age group 14-18, it's basketball across all genders. I don't think we have an issue on gaining hearts and minds; we do have a problem in turning those hearts and minds into the level of the structure that supports having 16 teams."
I really don't like the FIBA goal-tending rule. It's really a disadvantage to the shorter Asian teams. Instead of asking the NBA to change their rule, FIBA should change back to the NBA goal-tending rule. I think these committee people must have too much spare time to keep changing these kind of minor things. Does it make a big difference by moving the 3-pt lines 1/2 meters in or making the court 2 feet longer?
One more game for the U.S. squad.. ..in the meanwhile.. Showboatin'..& annihilating.. USA vs. Angola (R16) [video=youtube;kqvS_tYRVOU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqvS_tYRVOU[/video] [video=youtube;_57AAMW7CDw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_57AAMW7CDw[/video] Rim-rocking.. USA vs. Russia (QF) [video=youtube;N9N-3Y_VdIk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9N-3Y_VdIk[/video] [video=youtube;T22U9HGLEfs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T22U9HGLEfs[/video] the Kevin Durant Show.. USA vs. Lithuania (SF) [video=youtube;mmLx45icH-4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmLx45icH-4[/video] [video=youtube;8e8Wz8ZsdLA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e8Wz8ZsdLA[/video] ..up next, the host Turkey..
WC Gold medal back to U.S. soil..and automatic berth to the 2012 London Olympics.. ..coach K, first U.S. coach to win both WC and OG Gold..congrats and see you guys in 2 yrs! Finally after 16 yrs.. USA vs. Turkey (Final) [video=youtube;4zVaeklYXDs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zVaeklYXDs[/video]
No Kobe and no LeBron? No problem! Kevin Durant is the man! KD is the face of this decade imo. Talkin' 'bout bringin' it home, finally!
Come and get it.. ..will another team dethrone the current back-2-back NBA champs or will the Black Mamba gets and ties Air Jordan for his 6th NBA title??.. ..and yes, here's a fun video as we usher in a new BIG NBA season http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YcPjxU6Kp4 [video=youtube;4YcPjxU6Kp4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YcPjxU6Kp4[/video]
Once again I'm hoping (against hope) for an injury-free season for my beloved Blazers. C'mon boys, let's do some damage this year!
Celts aren't too old, if they were then they wouldn't even figure in the running for king of the East! Lakes threepeat attempt? I don't know but KB24 is definitely slowing down...saw him at practice, the spring in his step (leap and getting to the basket has finally revved off a bit...not a good sign) and the smooth pivot for a reverse is now a bit tipsy. Will see how he progresses as the season move on. Which means, all eyes are set on how well the Heat does!
Gasol is 7', Fisher is 6'1, Kobe looks more like 6'4 or 6'5 instead of 6'7 in the picture in post #286.
All 3 games were on TV last night. Watched parts of the Mia v Bos one and one half of the Pho v Por game. All 4 teams looked rusty (as expected). The Big 3 for Mia looked more like the Medium 3. Por outscored Pho 30-11 in the 4th quarter to win comfortably. Nash had an uncharacteristic 9 tunovers.
..maybe Pau was wearing a couple of high-heels shoes?.. for the doubters, check out the pics below to prove Kobe is not 6'4.. TNT has it. They've been doing it for several yrs already. But check the schedule cos they won't show every game every single day. http://www.tnt.tv/sports/nba/ 1 out of 82 games.. I'd expect MIA to gel even more as the season progresses. And i'd be suprised if Miami continue to struggle like they did in their game vs. Boston.. As for the Sunnies, Nash doesn't have that dominant big man in the middle anymore. It's a new style of offense.
Or Pau is actually 7'3 and Fisher is actually 6'3, or LBJ is 6'5 and MJ is 6'3. But no matter how tall he is, he is still the most talented players right now.
..dude, go to post #286, play the video and see the 3rd player in the video sequence.. or.. ..check the picture below the video and see the pasty-white playa..
Go Celts Go. Miami is perhaps just, erm, ''h-e-a-t''? Sunny's Nash should be headed to collaborate with Amare S mid season or next season while he's still as much as the Energizer Bunny he is that keeps on hopping and hopping and hopping (substitute hop for run and gun)!
Riley needs a pat in the head! He thought copying the Celts big 3 formula is a sure way to success...maybe, maybe not. Yep, Pat's trio is much younger than the trio the Celts built a few years back. Nonetheless, just in yesteryears when twin towers spells success and is much copied...it is/was proven that only a few can make it all the way!
Oden to miss another full season (i think his basketball career is basically over).. ..bad news..I think Oden's basketball career is over...and Roy's health is also suspect.. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AhB2LhbVRoRGnYgLxAF3LBA5nYcB?slug=ap-trailblazers-oden Blazers C Oden will have another knee surgery PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)—For the third time in four years, Greg Oden’s(notes) knees have betrayed him. The Portland Trail Blazers hastily called a press conference Wednesday night to announce that Oden, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, will miss the season after he has microfracture surgery on his left knee.
Not only his face looks like a 70 years old man, his knees also look like a pair of 70 years old knees. So sad, I really enjoy watching him when he dominated college basketball as a freshman especially single-handed battled the big 3 from Florida (all 1st round draft pick?) in the final. Hope he can really take a long break and come back.
