Pro basketball now a speed sport?

[tandfman]

Yes, according to the Wall Street Journal. Interesting article says they've changed the rules to make the game faster.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124156522945489389.html

[gh]

I'd be quite happy to see both basketball and hockey played 4-on-4; the players have evolved beyond the confines of the original playing surfaces.

[Pego]

Agreed, in hockey particularly.

[jhc68]

I agree, five big-body NBA players occupy too much space on the court. Four players would open up the game and create more interesting match-ups.

And it's a great idea for hockey with this variation: Four guys for each team skate around trying to score or play defense, the other two guys for each team could just fight each other.

[paulthefan]

I'd be quite happy to see both basketball and hockey played 4-on-4; the players have evolved beyond the confines of the original playing surfaces.

great idea.

[bijanc]

Four on the Floor

While it might create space, four-on-four basketball would require a scrap of every pattern, half-court strategy, defensive set, and position diagram developed since the days of Clair Bee and Phog Allen, given that the teams would have 20% less personnel on the floor at a given time. Coaches would thus never submit to it, as players have learned to either be one of, or prep for, a pivot player, two cornerpersons, and two guards since the late 1890's. Every press, screen is predicated on an odd number of athletes per side.

Be tough to run a triangle offense w/ four players.

[acquiredtaste7]

I've played my share of 4-on-4 fullcourt games. They are essentially a continuous fastbreak the whole time. Exhausting, but fun! If the NBA did it, centers would become obsolete, and every shot would either be a 3-pointer or a dunk.

[Bruce Kritzler]

How about raising the basket to 11' ?
Wasn't the original idea to have the basket 4' above tallest players?

[Jnathletics]

How about raising the basket to 11' ?
Wasn't the original idea to have the basket 4' above tallest players?

Might as well make it 12' then as Yao is 7'6", and Manute is 7'7.

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/yao_ming/

Sun Ming Ming – 2.36m (7'9") – Tallest Basketball player.
Kenny George – 2.34m (7'8") – Tallest American basketball player.
Manute Bol – 2.31m (7'7") – Retired Sudanese professional basketball player. Tied as tallest player in National Basketball Association (NBA) history.
Gheorghe MureÅŸan – 2.31m (7'7") – Retired Romanian professional basketball player. Tied as tallest player in NBA history.
Yao Ming – 2.29m (7'6")[17] – Tallest current NBA player.