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Steve Clifford wants the NBA to change its late-game ball advancement policy
Nothing good happens in an NBA game until the final two minutes, but the final two minutes of an NBA game are too darn long. The league can’t really win with its stereotypes sometimes, but to the NBA’s credit it continually is looking for new ways to balance keeping its teams, players, coaches and advertising partners just as happy as it’s ardent (or otherwise) fans.
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The league currently has a rule that allows teams to move the ball up to the frontcourt in the final two minutes of a game following the securing of a possession and a timeout. This encourages teams to better set up a play closer to the basket in order to save basketball time, but it extends the game (with the timeout and subsequent TV breaks) in real time.
Hornets coach Steve Clifford thinks the league should lose the rule, and the timeouts that come with it.
From Steve Aschburner at NBA.com, via Dan Feldman at Pro Basketball Talk:
For Charlotte’s Steve Clifford, the ability in the final two minutes of a game to advance the ball without requiring a timeout to be called could speed up the action. That has been used on a trial basis in the D League and in Summer League, and several coaches felt it worked well.
“The game is at an all-time high in popularity, but a lot of people complain about the last two minutes,” Clifford said. “I think it would add a different dimension but it would also be a good thing in addressing our biggest issue.”
Not that the coaches would be willing to lose any of their timeouts, though. They just wouldn’t save them specifically for that purpose.
It’s very noble of Clifford to want to fall on his proverbial sword in response to the ongoing frustrations regarding the too-long end of close NBA games. Even considering, as Aschburner pointed out, that the coaches wouldn’t be forced to give up any of their precious timeouts in a situation like this.
The “solution” to this “problem” would probably come in the form of the league outlawing the rule as it is, rather than just the timeout aspect of it, forcing teams to cut out all the timeout calls by making them take the ball out from where they secured it.
However, the whole point of moving the ball up to half court following a timeout is to enhance the watchability of the sport. To make things more entertaining, by making it easier for teams to run half-court sets that set up clutch plays and potential buzzer-beaters. The whole point is to add intrigue.
NCAA rules force teams to take the ball out full court, and while Danny Ainge, Tyus Edney and Kris Jenkins can speak to the heart-stopping thrill of nailing a game-winning shot after working coast-to-coast, the NBA far outpaces the NCAA in terms of buzzer-beaters in ways that can’t be argued away with references to better talent and better coaching.
The NBA gives teams a better chance to create your nightly viral clip by pushing the ball into the frontcourt. The difference is akin to NCAA football referee crews stopping the clock after first downs down the stretch of games (ostensibly to allow the chains to be moved), giving teams a chance to regroup without losing precious seconds in a comeback attempt. The added wrinkle, which the NFL does not allow but should, leaves teams in with a chance; always good for viewership.
It’s also worth suggestion the idea that NBA coaches, control freaks to the bitter end, would probably use just as many timeouts down the stretch even without the benefit of a 47-foot jump to the other end of the floor.
Teams are still going to hoard timeouts for the final seconds in order to draw up plays, whether they start under their own basket, or in the opposing team’s frontcourt. A half court set will simply be replaced by a practiced full court set, and the late-game length of a close contest will likely be just as long.
Which isn’t a problem. If you’re still complaining about the length of a basketball, baseball or football game, there’s something wrong up there. What would you rather be doing with your time, reading a damn book?
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
