Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Things I'll change when I take David Stern's job

Every sport has rules that sometimes make me scratch my head. I'm certain there have to be solutions that can't totally affect the outcome of a game considering every play matters. So I'm Commissioner of the NBA for the day, and these are some of the things I would change:
No player can foul completely out of the game. You should have the players you want to decide a game available to you unless they get ejected. Instead, let's just say after six fouls anyone they foul gets 3 free throws. This way its a win win for both teams. His teams has him available for offense and the opposing team has the opportunity to get 3 free shots if he's clumsy.
The NBA must have a penalty box. Lately every fight in the NBA has been blown a little out of proportion, so I propose we make the NBA like hockey where an occasional fight is part of the game. Let the two players have at it for 30 uninterrupted seconds then put them in the penalty box for 3 minutes. At least this way the fans and the media won't be so outraged when a fight occurs because they'll know it could happen in every game.
When a team is over the foul limit, the other team gets a one and one free throw attempt if the player was not in the act of shooting. This works in college and I think its a good idea. I don't think you should automatically be rewarded two free shots if you weren't shooting the ball. You have to make the first one to get a chance at the second one. Its only fair, considering you weren't shooting in the first place.
If a player is airborne and the defender slides under him, it can NEVER be a charge!!! This one irritates me the most. What is the airborne player supposed to do to avoid hitting the defender at this point? I don't know too many people who can stop completely in mid air just to avoid some dude who slid under him!
The season would be shortened to 62 games. Its just too long.
Every playoff series with the exception of the Conference Finals and The Finals would be a best of 3 series. The players and coaches would have to be on top of their game every night as opposed to having game after game after game to play competitively. As it stands now, none of the players or coaches fret after a loss. If you are only afforded one loss that would pick up the intensity enormously and make every game competitive.
Finally, players and coaches would not be fined or suspended for criticizing the officials if it is blatantly obvious they are doing a horrible job. I'm not going to deprive NBA players of their first amendment rights. If you think the officiating was exceptionally bad, you should be able to say so. The officials should be held accountable if they are not doing a good job. Having said all that, the losing team will always feel like they got the short end of the officiating stick.
These are just a few things that this woman would like to see changed in the NBA. Its easy for me to focus on these things because Stern already took care of the most important matter. He made sure the players would be dressed appropriately when arriving at the arena. Way to tackle the big problems Dave!

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