The NBA's new balls

[PDittie]

The composite microfiber basketball adopted for use in the NBA this season has been greeted with scorn by many star players.

"I think the new ball is terrible," said Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal. "It's the worst decision some expert, whoever did it, made. ... The NBA's been around how long? A hundred years? Fifty years? So to change it now, whoever that person is needs his college degree revoked. It's a terrible decision."

Last week, the NBA Players Association filed a labor grievance against the league regarding the use of the new ball (as well as the "zero-tolerance" referee's whistle policy).

Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander's newly ex-wife Nanci, an avid animal-rights activist, could be responsible for the league's switch to the synthetic game ball, according to talk show host Joe McDonnell of AM 570 KLAC in Los Angeles.

As far as a hot rumor goes this certainly qualifies, and "word on the street" is that Nanci Alexander was able to convince her good friend, David Stern's wife Dianne Bock, into selling him on replacing the leather ball.

The leather trade is indeed brutal.

This showdown appears likely to be resolved by expensive litigation (or at least the threat thereof).

[Longhorn]

1. Funny thing is, they were saying during the Spurs game last night

that, so far, the balls seem to be bouncing in the shooter's favor -- that balls that would normally bounce off the rim or the board are going in. I guess we'll see. :shrug:

[spoony]

2. David Stern is such an ass

And that's about the kindest word I can think of for him. The way he tries to reign in and exterminate individual characters and personalities in the game (dress code, techs for facial expressions) has been horrendous. Not to mention engineering the rules to promote a certain style of play he considers more profitable.

He's the worst commissioner of any major sport I've seen in my lifetime.

[PDittie]

3. He's quite the dictator, all right

And the NBA is quite, shall I say ... socialist, with the wage caps and the dress code and the "do-not-dare-criticize-the-officials" policy (of course I meant 'socialist' in a bad way here; I would prefer a bit more socialism in my government personally, starting with healthcare -- but that's a digression).

Here's the Commish yesterday about his balls:

“I won’t make a spirited defense with respect to the ball,” Stern said. “In hindsight, we could have done a better job. I take responsibility for that.”

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. you aught to meet Gary Bettman then

[Muddy75]

12. He's bad, but that jackass running the NHL is the worst...n/t

[Captain Hilts]

13. Stern is just trying to make them look/act more professional. Lower the thug/spoiled brat quotient.

[Scurrilous]

5. NBA getting rid of microfiber ball

<snip>

"An NBA source confirmed to FOXSports.com that the league has decided to scrap the new microfiber basketball and will return to the traditional leather ball shortly after the New Year.

"They had no idea that there would be such a firestorm of issues," the source said. "Because the players had so many problems with their hands and concerns about holding on to the ball, it made much more sense to return to the ball, I would assume there is some regret for not checking with the players in the first place."

David Stern admitted as much last week in a New York Times article, saying he should have sought more input from the players before making the switch. He also said he would address player criticisms with the ball's manufacturer, Spalding.

Last week, Players Association executive director Billy Hunter filed a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board over the league not conferring with the Players Association before changing to the new ball."

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6260212

[PDittie]

6. "No idea that there would be such a firestorm of issues"

Like the fact that it becomes slippery when wet, sticks to the rim and actually dries out players' hands to the point that they suffer cuts on their fingers from using it. Although you don't hear from them as much, several players actually like using the new ball, so they'll have to learn to get accustomed to the leather version again.

Paul Pierce of the Celtics was the player representative when the new ball was introduced in a press conference last summer, and he predicted turnovers would be down this season because of the two-piece plastic model.

:rofl:

[northzax]

7. and yet-

every other league in the world somehow manages to use the ball. I guess the Belgians are just tougher than our guys are.

And, by the way, ball related turnovers are down, shooting percentage is up. must just be bad defense.

[PDittie]

8. The Truth predicted that

turnovers would go down.

He didn't predict that the ball gets slippery when wet, gets lodged between rim and backboard more often and actually dries out players' hands to the point they suffer cuts on their fingers (Steve Nash).

Clippers coach Dunleavy said it won't bounce up in a straight line, that playing the new ball was like playing in the old Boston Garden with all its dead spots.

Of course, PETA is going to be pissed with this flip-flop.

[northzax]

9. yes, you've mentioned that

now how about addressing the fact that every other league in the world uses a non-leather ball? Steve Nash, who you cited here, has argued that he is now used to the ball and doesn't think a mid-season switch is a good idea. Yes, it was a botched plan by the NBA to not get enough player input into the decision, but I guarantee you that every single player in the NBA grew up playing with non-leather balls, they use non-leather balls in international competition (hey, maybe that's why the all-NBA team can't win internationally? cuts!)

sure, some buyin from the players would have been nice, but come on, this is ridiculous.

[democracyindanger]

10. Big difference between

"non-leather" and "microfiber." Sure, we've all played with synthetic leather rocks, but this microfiber thing is completely different.

[PDittie]

11. sorry for repeating myself

"Every other league in the world uses a non-leather ball."

[americanstranger]

14. A big part of the players' grievance

was that even though the league sent every player a ball when the change was decided upon, they didn't solicit the opinions of the players while testing it.

The people they gave it to to test-shoot it were two retired players - Reggie Miller and Steve Kerr. From what I heard, Reggie and Kerr got to shoot with the new ball for an hour one day at MSG. The decision to go with the new ball was pretty much strictly based on feedback from two retired players - and I'm pretty sure that Reggie would be happy putting up shots with a volleyball or soccer ball. :)

I think that a big reason for the 'outrage' (if you can call it that) over the new ball is that it amounted to a unilateral decision by Stern, getting pretty much no input whatsoever from the players.

(I was talking to a friend the other day about this whole thing, and my friend had a great line - 'Who handled the whole thing with the new ball - Halliburton??')

- as

[greenbriar]

15. the ball was cutting the players hands

and causing problems