I don't like that fact that a bunch old corporate guys who prolly never set foot on a basketball court keep degrading the game of basketball. First they impliment sissy fouls so the game could be soft, now they change the freakin ball without the players (the ones who reel in the $$$) consent. There should be a rule before they make a drastic change in the NBA, it should be voted on by the League & Players Association first. Anywayz, is there a chance that the "new" ball can be tossed out before training camp is over?
i think since most teams are doing two-a-days at training camp that they should do one practice with the new ball and one with the old and one with the old ball and then let the Players Association vote on it. They're the money makers anyway and I don't see why the leage execs. get to change it.
Not everyone hates the ball. It's just that the ones who don't like it have been more vocal about it. More grip is definitely better than less. I think it's more of an issue of familiarity anyways, in a year or so the players will be used to it and then the complaints will disappear too.
I don't see it changing. I pretty much agree with what Locke said though. This is the first change in 35 years for the ball, so a lot of the experienced players, like Shaq, aren't going to be accustomed to it as quickly as some of the younger players. I think once people adjust to it, they won't care so much, but, it's just a matter of adjusting. Like I said, once you use one thing for so long, it's hard to switch to another thing.
I don't understand why Shaq, of all people, is making such a big deal about it. It's not like he's his team primary ball-handler, or he relies on his shooting touch to be effective. As long as he can catch and dunk the ball, he'll be just fine.
I also don't believe that the League would have pushed this ball through without testing it with players. I mean, what were the last couple All-Star Games? And I'm sure they got feedback from various players before they pushed it through.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I also don't believe that the League would have pushed this ball through without testing it with players. I mean, what were the last couple All-Star Games? And I'm sure they got feedback from various players before they pushed it through.</div> Exactly, why not consult with the players before making a decision like that. The league has no interest in the intregity of the game, all they wanna do is cater to corporate america. It's sad, because in a few years players are gonna start going over seas to find a career. Then the NBA won't hold the best players anymore because the league is just worried about $$$ instead of the game of basketball.
<div class="quote_poster">Rock4life Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Exactly, why not consult with the players before making a decision like that. The league has no interest in the intregity of the game, all they wanna do is cater to corporate america. It's sad, because in a few years players are gonna start going over seas to find a career. Then the NBA won't hold the best players anymore because the league is just worried about $$$ instead of the game of basketball.</div> They gave the players plenty of time to test the ball and express their opinion on it. Most of the players just blew it off, and now with the season about to start we hear them pissing and moaning about it. Stu Jackson said, if players initially voiced their concerns they would never have went through with the change. So the players can blame themselves for the new change taking place.
<div class="quote_poster">Rock4life Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Exactly, why not consult with the players before making a decision like that. The league has no interest in the intregity of the game, all they wanna do is cater to corporate america. It's sad, because in a few years players are gonna start going over seas to find a career. Then the NBA won't hold the best players anymore because the league is just worried about $$$ instead of the game of basketball.</div> Supposedly Spalding actually urged the NBA to change the ball from leather to composite because the leather they used was getting more expensive and more difficult to acquire. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">NBA sources told ESPN.com that Spalding urged the NBA to switch to a composite model because it was having trouble securing the "consistent" leather needed to keep manufacturing the ball that has been used for decades. ... It remains to be seen if the widespread outcry against the new ball will prompt the league office to consider switching back to leather before the regular season opens Oct. 31. But that seems highly unlikely, given the stance shared by NBA commissioner David Stern in Spain on Thursday. "Every organization plays with a synthetic ball -- high school, college, FIBA and the like -- and so the time of the synthetic ball is here," Stern said of his league.</div> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2614312 Stern has a good point, I think that after a while there won't be any difference at all, the ball is just different, not inferior. Like Stern said every other pro and college league uses a composite ball and "99%" of players grew up using a composite ball. It might take a while to get used to but once the transition is made it should be forgotten quickly.
<div class="quote_poster">Run BJM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Supposedly Spalding actually urged the NBA to change the ball from leather to composite because the leather they used was getting more expensive and more difficult to acquire. </div> I don't know how leather is acquired and processed, but if millions of cows are killed for hamburgers every year, couldn't Spalding make a deal with McDonalds or something?
<div class="quote_poster">SkiptoMyLue11 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I don't know how leather is acquired and processed, but if millions of cows are killed for hamburgers every year, couldn't Spalding make a deal with McDonalds or something?</div> They don't just throw on any old leather on there I guess: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Spalding's struggles to keep finding the specific leather used for the NBA model.</div> There's alot of information on it in the article I posted in my previous post.
<div class="quote_poster">Moo2K4 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I don't see it changing. I pretty much agree with what Locke said though. This is the first change in 35 years for the ball, so a lot of the experienced players, like Shaq, aren't going to be accustomed to it as quickly as some of the younger players. I think once people adjust to it, they won't care so much, but, it's just a matter of adjusting. Like I said, once you use one thing for so long, it's hard to switch to another thing.</div> Exactly, its like if you were a carpenter, and you used a hand saw your entire career, then one day you were forced to switch to a powersaw, it will take some time to adjust to such changes. I think by midway through the season, the players will have come around to the idea of the new ball, once they've had some time to play with it, and "map it out".
I dont like the new ball considering some of the best players hate it. But they will get used to it...
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">In January 2006, PETA contacted the National Basketball Association (NBA) and requested that it switch from leather basketballs to cruelty-free synthetic balls, like those already in use in the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Women's National Basketball Association. Along with the request, PETA sent information on how the leather industry tortures and kills millions of cows, including the fact that it takes the skin of an entire cow to make just four basketballs. The report also detailed how leather production destroys the environment and endangers human health through the use of toxic chemicals. In June 2006, the NBA announced that it would switch to synthetic basketballs beginning with its 2006/2007 season.</div> http://www.peta.org/about/victories.asp
Nice find Durvasa, I wonder if PETA will give Shaq a red paint bath since he's been so vocal about his dislike towards the new ball.
i dont think they will change back, looks like once they make a decision they dont usually go back on it
<u>Stern: NBA testing new ball; leather still an option</u> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">PARIS -- David Stern has flown across the Atlantic on an NBA Europe Live tour that will have taken him to five countries by the middle of next week, but the league's commissioner has been unable to escape the raging controversy about the new basketball introduced this season. Speaking to reporters in Paris before Sunday's exhibition game between the San Antonio Spurs and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Stern conceded for the first time that reverting to the old leather ball is a possibility if the rigorous testing he has just ordered validates the widespread complaints about the ball -- particularly its tendency to become slippery when wet. "We have sent out the most stringent testing crew to see what there is to the issue," Stern said when asked if returning to leather was under consideration. "Right now our plans are to stay the course, but we will monitor it and if we find there is something to it and it is a serious issue, we will take the appropriate steps because the most important thing to us is the game. "We have gone out and done tests. We have wet both balls. When the [old] leather ball is wet at the end of the game, it is very slippery. "But with the new ball, all you have got to do is put in a new ball because they [Spalding's new microfiber composite balls] are all the same, all the time. One of the benefits Spalding stressed to us is that it is a better ball, it has a more modern approach to the grip that would endure.</div> Link Well, there's some hope for people who want the old ball back. Personally, I think they should try the ball through-out preseason at first to see how it affects the players' game. It has been proven in the D-League and summer league and they've said it has improved. Spalding's been talking about how it is nowadays with not enough good leather to go around. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Spalding urged the NBA to switch to a composite model because it was having trouble securing the "consistent" leather needed to keep manufacturing the ball that has been used for decades.</div>
I read an article somewhere [I'm trying to find it so I can show, but no luck so far] and Mo Pete said that the League sent the new ball to him in the summer; so they probably sent it to all the players, and if they did in the summer, than they definately had time to adjust. Mo Pete said he had, already, from practicing with it in the offseason. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Raptors veteran Morris Peterson unwrapped the ball and started working with it weeks ago. "I don't have a problem with it," said Peterson. "You've just got to get used to it. A ball is a ball, I've played with worse balls, I've played with balls with no leather on them, I grew up playing with everything. I don't care what kind of basketball, if we played with a volleyball I'd be happy."</div> http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs...l=1112274690734 The first article I read had more info, but I can't find it!
