NBA reduces number of timeouts in latest efforts to speed up game flow

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/nba-reduces-number-timeouts-latest-efforts-speed-game-flow-192403755.html



NBA reduces number of timeouts in latest efforts to speed up game flow



Ben Rohrbach,Ball Don't Lie


17 hours ago


NBA approves rules changes




In the NBA’s latest efforts to speed up play, the league announced Wednesday it reduced the number of timeouts per game in addition to implementing two more potential time-saving rule changes.

The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved a reduction in the maximum number of timeouts per game from 18 to 14, according to the league’s press release. Additionally, the NBA eliminated the under-nine-minute television timeouts in the second and fourth quarters and reduced the number of timeouts allowed in both the final three minutes of regulation and overtime from three to two.


There are also no more “full” or “20-second” timeouts, which actually took 90 and 60 seconds, respectively. All timeouts are now 75 seconds, and each team enters a game with seven apiece.

Coaches from Phil Jackson to Brad Stevens have long argued for the elimination of some mandatory timeouts, but the reduction of late-game timeouts could haunt a strategist like Stevens. Still, this should help appease those fans who complain about the constant breaks in play at the end of games.

“These changes will help us fulfill our goal of improving game flow and pace of play,” NBA president of league operations Byron Spruell said in a statement. “Fewer stoppages and less time without action, especially at the end of a game, will further enhance the viewing experience for our fans.”

On top of the timeout changes, the Board of Governors also approved a pair of rules in hopes of speeding up game flow. Delay-of-game penalties will now be assessed if A) teams are not prepared to play exactly 15 minutes after the end of the second quarter or B) players step outside the 3-point line between free throws. After an initial warning, each successive penalty will result in a technical foul.

The NBA has taken smaller steps to speed up the game in recent years, urging scorekeepers to blow horns more often to prevent timeouts from running too long and implementing a 90-second clock between introductions and tipoff to cut down on pregame rituals. The league also experimented with reducing the actual game time from 48 to 44 minutes (11-minute quarters) during the 2014 preseason.

The reduction of timeouts in 2017-18 suggests the NBA is serious about addressing what commissioner Adam Silver suggested was a need to address “short attention spans,” especially among “millennials.”


As with any rule change, this one does not come without concerns. The league has also made strides toward increasing rest for players, starting the season two weeks earlier than usual in an attempt to eliminate back-to-back games, and even then teams remain concerned about the grind of an 82-game schedule. By speeding up the pace of play, the NBA is also further limiting the players’ rest during games.

Increasing the importance of depth and conditioning aren’t necessarily bad things, and rule changes are rarely met with unanimous support from executives, coaches, players and fans, but all in all, it’s hard to argue speeding up the flow of free throws and late-game scenarios is a net negative for the game.

In addition to those changes, Silver also announced in a news conference from Las Vegas on Wednesday that the season will begin on Oct. 17, and the trade deadline will be pushed up to Feb. 8.



bob


.

They need more changes

How about letting teams continue to play when the defensive team has caused a 24 second violation?

If they get possession they should be able to go on offense immediately.

dboss

How about starting the time clock when the ball leaves the hand of the inbounder instead of when another player touches it? That would eliminate the play where they roll the ball almost to half court before a player picks it up and time starts.

gyso

Personally I'd rather see them call violations as written like travel and palming than worry about cutting the length of the game.

Also the reviews to tell weather a foul should be a flagrant take too damn long too.  Should not take that long to figure these out.

beat

beat,

I agree, flagrant foul calls take too long. There should be a designated non-floor official that is ready at a moments notice to review any and all calls the minute a floor ref makes a signal.

gyso

I agree changes are needed, personally i'd like a no blood no foul rule.

The adjusting and limiting of the timeouts is a great move by the NBA.  The other suggestions made by the posters before me are also good thoughts although I may have to worry about the "no blood, no foul" concept.

There is nothing worse in an NBA game for me than having the clock stopped every 9 seconds at the end of the fourth quarter in a close game.  Such situations turn out to be 9 seconds of play and then at least 30 seconds of commercials for the last two (or three) minutes.

Now if MLB could do something about the speed of their game?  How about only three catcher visits to the mound per game and only three visits per game by any coach to the mound?

I'm ok with "no blood, no foul" as long as it's also "no weapons".


bob


.

Bob,

The "no blood, no foul" is how old guys like us grew up playing. Of course, fouls in the NBA were a lot stronger back in the day as well.

But today, with these young kids growing up around so much violence there would be no guarantees that they would not have weapons strapped or taped to them somewhere.

A little more serious, the league wants more and more offense and really cannot afford to have the players who are providing this offense to be injured all the time. Teams cannot have their $30M dollar players heading to surgery or to the disabled list either.