Official Detroit Pistons thread

[Futureshock]

Or they could have a hard cap with the refs no longer calling the "superstar" call.

[OR Lion]

Salaries really have gotten out of control in professional sports. I really don't have a problem with pro athletes making millions of dollars, even tens of millions of dollars. They should. But these contracts have gotten so huge that it's somewhat of a turn off. That being said, if players don't get the money, then the owners do and that's even more distasteful.

[chemiclord]

The Hack-A-Player strategy finally takes a much needed and sensible hit.

[jaadam4]

Yeah I liked what they did with that

[ghandi]

It didnt seem like much of a change to me other than the final two minutes of the quarter...Did I miss something else?

[nhwbrooklyn]

Seemed like mostly inconsequential changes to me.

They 'fixed' the pre-entry pass foul... but with something that will probably cause other problems where they're giving teams basically a technical free throw for a ticky-tack foul call.

The duplication of final 2 minutes rule for every quarter probably is pointless as teams have figured out how to foul Drummond anytime he gets near the ball and becomes 'part of the play'. SVG didn't bring Drummond back in for the final 2 minutes for a reason.

And there isn't anything new to stop the tactic of just fouling Drummond anytime the Pistons have some offensive momentum. Boston does this very effectively and I think you'll see more and more teams do this.

Drummond needs to shoot better and if he doesn't then SVG should probably let the other teams foul Drummond as much as possible to force Silver's hand on making a real fix.

[The King]

You can't foul prior to the inbounds pass and can no longer jump on guys backs to foul them.

[The King]

One shot and the ball is huge, though. That's the same as a technical foul. It should prevent a lot of hacking.

[Futureshock]

It didnt seem like much of a change to me other than the final two minutes of the quarter...Did I miss something else?

I agree. I don't see much changing. Just WHEN they foul. If they wanted it to truly change they should have made if fouling the same person more then 4 consecutive times on 5 possessions a FT (by a person of the fouled team's choosing) and the ball. Or something like that. Team's can get into the penalty within seconds and spend the majority of the quarter hacking. Is that basketball now-a-days?

Seems like the equivalent of NFL teams sending some JAG to hit the opposing QB after the whistle or on a running play.

[jaadam4]

SVG thinks they could have done more too.

[froot loops]

I'm correct on Durant to Golden State. Silver can say what he wants but he will reap the benefits. It is the way the NBA has been since the 80s.

[Forsh]

Fouling away from the ball isn't basketball. The rule (if in the penalty) should either be 1 shot plus possession OR any player on the floor can shoot the 2 FT ... at all times

[froot loops]

I agree, at some point the hack a Shaq morphed. Generally Shaq was fouled when he got the ball. He was a superlative finisher, fouling a player instead of letting him score around the bucket is a legit basketball strategy. They did foul him away from the ball but not as blatantly. If it was used sparingly like that, then maybe you don't change the rule but the last season was absolutely ridiculous. Coaches were sending in bench warmers to commit 5 fouls in the first minute to get a team in the penalty. They instructed players to jump on someone's back to get a foul or fouling the inbounds passer. That is not legit.

The free throw is supposed to be used as a deterrent for a team fouling a player. It was not supposed to be weapon against a player who is a poor free throw shooter and that is what it has become. I don't get what Cuban is talking about, it's stupid. If you foul a poor free throw shooter in the flow of the game that is fine, but they went too far last year. And I can bet had he got DeAndre Jordan, he wouldn't be as vociferous.

[nhwbrooklyn]

Bottom line, watching 60 free throws isn't fun basketball to watch and the NBA and every other basketball league knows this. We'll see what happens this season.

[Kstat]

NBA teams want a competitive advantage. There's a chance any of them could face the Pistons or clippers or hawks in the playoffs next season. The owners care far less about good basketball than they do winning games.