11-foot rims?

Posted Monday, June 18, 2007, at 9:31 AM

An exhibition game in Seattle on Saturday featured just that. Organized by former NBA assistant coach Tom Newell, he wanted to see how players responded to the additional foot in height.

Not surprisingly, it had a big impact on inside play.

Here's how the AP reporter described it.

Perhaps the biggest impact was on the interior players. No longer could centers like (6-11 Brayden) Billbe catch the ball on the low block, turn and simply extend their arms and lay the ball over the rim.
With the taller rim, if their positioning was too deep, the shot angle was nearly impossible. When they turned, an upward shot was needed. The feel a big man has for their position on the floor was completely altered.

Jim Harrick was one of the coaches for the exhibition. "I think this will open the professional league's eyes, where they may experiment with it, give it a serious look."

It wouldn't be the first time a rule change has had a significant impact. Widening the lane, time restrictions, adding the three-point shot are all changes the NBA has made over the years. This one strikes me, however, as a seminal change that makes all the others pale in comparison.

But if baseball can lower its mound, why can't basketball raise its rim?

What do you think -- good idea or not?

Comments
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[Show most recent comments first]

That is a terrible idea. Pretty soon basketball will turn into a version of MTV's Rock n' Jock.

-- Posted by ecmo on Mon, Jun 18, 2007, at 10:14 AM

Instead of raising the rim, I think that any shot within 8 feet (for example)should be devalued to one point, while the addition of a 4 point line (maybe 5 feet beyond the 3 point line) would make for more interesting play.

-- Posted by Hugh M Bean on Mon, Jun 18, 2007, at 10:37 AM

Bad idea. The real shooters in the league will also have to adjust and we all know how few of them there are. The problem in the NBA is everyone plays selective defense. If regular season games were played like they are in the playoffs, or if players gave the same efforts that they do in college, I would watch a lot more than I do. Changing the height might alter a few things, but it also would take away from the entertainment factor of dunks. Come on, Spud Webb would never get up to 11 feet.

-- Posted by themovieman13 on Mon, Jun 18, 2007, at 11:02 AM

If people truly wanted to watch basketball with less of an emphasis on athleticism & dunking then it would be reflected in the popularity of the WNBA.

The big men might have been thrown off their angles by seeing an 11 foot rim for the first time, but I doubt the interior play would be much different after they got used to it. Really what the NBA needs isn't a taller rim but more room to move around. Given the size of modern players they really need to widen the court by another 10 feet or so. That would open up more passing lanes & give player more space in the corners to either shoot or drive to the hoop. Of course the NBA would never do that because it would cut into their revenue from floor seats.

-- Posted by Nil on Mon, Jun 18, 2007, at 12:06 PM

I didn't realize the game needed fixing. If they want to try gimmicks like that they should have a whole different game (remember the XFL?) rather than changing the rules. And has it been run by Al Sharpton yet? Somebody would undoubtedly claim that it's racist since white guys can't jump anyway.

-- Posted by CapeRacer on Mon, Jun 18, 2007, at 12:55 PM

-- Posted by richiro33 on Mon, Jun 18, 2007, at 1:35 PM

Its a dumb idea. The scoring in the NBA is already down this would just cause fg% to drop dramatically. The defense would still be bad only there would be more missed shots, boring, and more rebounds.

-- Posted by richiro33 on Mon, Jun 18, 2007, at 1:36 PM

Bad idea. There is nothing wrong with the game of basketball, except maybe eliminating the 3-point line in high school and maybe college. Baseball is the one that needs fixing. Fences need to be moved back, wild card needs to be eliminated. The game needs to be changed to how it was through the 70s and 80s.

-- Posted by semohoops on Mon, Jun 18, 2007, at 3:39 PM