In 2019, the Golden State Warriors became the best offense in NBA history with a offensive rating of 115.9 points per 100 possessions. Five years later, that mark has fallen to 36th place. The league is experiencing an offensive explosion that is making almost all records obsolete, to the point that the offices are beginning to consider intervening in some way.
“It is an issue that we are studying,” acknowledged Joe Dumars, executive vice president of basketball operations. «We have not reached any conclusion, but we are collecting a lot of data and a lot of videos but to be able to analyze the situation in depth and determine if we really have a problem. But obviously we are not going to make crazy changes just because of a couple of anecdotal situations.
There is much that has been debated lately about this situation and many reasons that explain this situation. There is more and more talent, new players have such a wide shooting range that the spaces are much larger, advanced statistics have eliminated inefficient shots… But at the same time, it seems obvious that there are things that the league can do to find a greater balance between attack and defense.
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Luka Doncic recently acknowledged in his interview with JJ Redick that the existence of the three defensive seconds made it much easier to score in the NBA than in FIBA. This rule forces centers to leave the zone with certain frequency and frees up spaces for the penetrators, and although it made sense at the time to avoid crowding in the paint, it can feel somewhat anachronistic with the spacing current. On the other hand, the way in which many attackers force contacts to provoke fouls makes things more complicated for defenders, who often see with imposingness how a personal injury is pointed out to them practically for existing.
The point is that we have already seen the NBA try to take certain measures that in practice are revealed to be non-existent. A few years ago it was said that it was going to be emphasized that certain contacts caused by the attacker, such as feinting the shot and, once the defender jumps, diving against him to cause the impact, were going to be signaled as a foul in attack. And this happened quite frequently for two weeks and since then it has been whistled once a month.
It seems then that if the league wants a real change it will have to achieve it from a regulatory change, not from a change in referee interpretation of those that are announced every preseason and that no one remembers after a few years.
(Cover photo: Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
2024-02-28 14:00:00
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