International basketball is changing, again

So the United States of America has reasserted their dominance at this year’s Olympics, and guess what follows? The International Basketball Association, FIBA, has decided to change the rules of international competitions following the 2010 World Championships. One would naturally assume the new rules would make it even tougher for the USA to win gold. Surprisingly, that is not the case! The new rules will actually help the Americans continue their dominance. So what are the changes?

The new rules will make these competitions look a lot more like the NBA game. Finally gone, is that annoying trapezoid. The lane will now be your normal rectangle that you’d see in any NBA or NCAA arena. The other change is the 3-point line. FIBA has decided to move the arc back to 22 feet and 1 inch, now that is not quite as deep as the NBA but it will make it harder then the current 20 foot 5 inch that the Olympics used. So how will these changes affect the game?

It’s definitely going to make this more of a post-up game. The former international design encouraged outside shooting, and defensive post help. A guard could easily jump down to help double a big man, and still get back to the arc to cover on a kick out. Now its going to make it a little harder for that 6’1 point guard to do both.

“Post-ups are a little bit harder,” Chris Bosh, a center on the United States team, said in Beijing. “In the N.B.A., you can be a little more patient. Here, if you get it in the post, you have to be aware of guards collapsing and trying to swipe down on you to steal the ball.”

FIBA decided to move the arc because of the frequency of shots. In the international game players frequently dial up from long range, and the percentage of shots made is exceptionally high when you compare it to the NBA. And no its not because the international players are better outside shooters. In 1984, the percentage of three point shots was only 14%, now? That number is about 40% with players making about 40% of those shots. “The board felt that’s no longer now an exceptional shot,” Patrick Baumann, secretary general of FIBA, said. “It felt something needed to be done.”

It will be nice to watch an international game now and have it look like the game we’re used to watching day in and day out. Will it help the Americans? Initially yes, but probably not for to long. The change will be minimal for most international teams, as their star players already participate in the NBA and know the rectangle and deeper three point line. Once the rest of the teams adapt to the new style that advantage is gone. So really by the 2012 Olympic games that advantage will probably be negated.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas of Lithuania, a center for the Cavaliers, predicted that players around the world “will adjust pretty quickly” to the new lane.

The New York Times has a much more detailed article regarding these international changes.

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Tags: NBA