BUENA VISTA LAKE, Fla. – The first exhibition games of the NBA reboot will go a little faster than usual.
The NBA is changing the rules for those initial matchups, going with 10-minute quarters instead of the usual 12 minutes. The change is due to several reasons, including not wanting to tax players’ bodies excessively after they have been out of play for more than four months, and because some teams are still not fully successful at Walt Disney World due to the coronavirus. and other problems.
“This is a different situation,” said Dallas coach Rick Carlisle on Saturday. “In all areas, really. … I think there is some space to do different things. “
The shows start with a list of four games on Wednesday and continue until July 28th. Each team will play three shows and the last two for each club will have the traditional 12-minute quarters. The plans foresee that all 33 exhibitions are broadcast by a combination of local TV, national TV, NBA TV or NBA League Pass.
The league is still working on some specific details for the first few games, although giving the teams the opportunity to wear uniforms or training equipment. Most of the teams, starting on Saturday, were still planning to wear the usual uniforms of the regular season for all three shows: the new shirts with the messages of social justice will not debut until the seed games that count start on July 30th.
Other modifications for exhibition games may include the use of more than three referees in a rotating system, although this also remains under discussion.
It seems that the players had not been told that the first few shows will go faster.
“I don’t know yet,” said Oklahoma City guard Chris Paul, president of the National Basketball Players Association. “So, I’ll find out.”
The performances will be played as normal games – the score and statistics will be maintained and will be a possibility for the states’ crews of the league who have been hired to work for Disney for three months to resolve any knots in the system.
The Miami coach, Erik Spoelstra, said he had a different view than that typical of pre-season matchups. For the first time, he is talking to the coaches of the teams that the Heat will face – Luke Walton of Sacramento and Quin Snyder of Utah – to see if there are specific situations that the clubs want to work on in those games.
Spoelstra simply came across Snyder in the lobby of a Disney hotel and from there arose the idea of a team that would help another in the exhibitions. Heat and Jazz won’t play in a seeding game and they can’t meet in a game that counts at Disney until the NBA finals.
“You have to accelerate so much before you get to that regular eight-game season. … We will approach this way and probably play everyone, but we will certainly work on some things and also do some evaluation, “said Spoelstra.
The exhibits will help break the monotony of the practice, said Denver coach Michael Malone, but stressed that player health will come first in those games.
“The # 1 thing for me is that we can overcome these three scrimmages in a healthy way and not be able to put the kids in a position where they are overworked, playing too many minutes and injuring us,” said Malone. “I think the vast majority of the 22 teams will approach the same way.”
