Everyone Hates The New NBA Game Ball (But No One's Bitching As Much As Shaq).

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

NBA confident ball is better despite Shaq's blasts

NEW YORK -- The NBA is convinced it is playing with a better basketball this season -- no matter what Shaquille O'Neal thinks.

The old leather balls are being replaced by a microfiber composite model, the league's first change in 35 years, and O'Neal isn't impressed. The Miami Heat star blasted the ball Monday, criticizing not only the product but whoever was involved in the decision to use it.

One of those people, executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson, defended the ball Tuesday.

"Sure you hear some comments that aren't as positive as the overwhelming majority of people that we tested the ball with," Jackson said in a phone interview. "That's going to happen. Everyone that handles the ball loves the grip and the feel of the ball."

Not O'Neal, who said the ball, "Feels like one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store, indoor-outdoor balls."

Both O'Neal and Dwyane Wade griped about the ball's slick grip when wet, and two-time reigning MVP Steve Nash said the ball has a tacky feel that's making shooting and certain types of passes tricky.

"I certainly won't have to lick my fingers. The ball sticks to your hand. It's a big transition. It's extremely sticky," Nash said Tuesday in a conference call from the Phoenix Suns' training camp in Italy.

The ball looks noticeably different, too: Manufactured by Spalding, it features only two interlocking panels -- imagine a pair of hands with the fingers laced together -- rather than the eight panels found on traditional basketballs.

Nash said it will be a difficult transition, but sounded as though he expected players to figure it out.

"We do have a month to get it going," he said. "Right now I would say that the basketball sticks to the floor, it sticks to the backboard. It is different."

Jackson said no matter what the players say, the new ball's grip is an improvement, even when wet.

"If you moisturize a leather ball, it also feels very slick," he said. "But this new ball has a better grip when it's wet than a leather ball."

Players have already had plenty of exposure to the new ball, which was sent to all teams after the All-Star break and to all players over the summer.

Most players were probably exposed to it even before that. The ball was used in events at the last two All-Star games, which O'Neal played in, and was tested in summer league and D-League play. It is also used at the amateur levels, so most players grow up using it.

"It's a better ball," Jackson said. "But as a product matter, composite balls are used in every league throughout the world. And they've been used in every level of play over the last 10 years domestically in the NCAA and also in high school."

Jackson said O'Neal would not be fined for his outburst, in which he said that the person who decided to change the ball "needs his college degree revoked." But he did say that the change would not have been made if there were many similar complaints when the ball was tested.

"We would have pulled the ball," Jackson said.

Of seven Heat players interviewed about the new ball at the team's media day Monday and after practice Tuesday, not one preferred it to the old leather model. Certainly not Shaq, who took a spinning jump hook in the lane, about six feet from the basket. But the ball slipped in his hand and went straight up in the air -- without moving toward the hoop at all.

It was one of three times Shaq lost the handle in a span of about 15 minutes.

"I'm right with him," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "I think it's horrible. ... It really does feel like an indoor-outdoor ball. We'll see how it works. Maybe they'll learn to love it, I don't know."




I agree...The ball not only looks worse, but 99% of the feedback I've heard, from Shaq to Kwame, has been negative. Dunno what the hell they felt a need to change the ball for. I predict they will change it back to the old ball by next season...PeACe

[Black_Smoke]

u got a pic of the new ball?

[WC Iz Active]

yeah the new game ball sucks.  I knew Shaq hated it and I just saw a interview with Jermaine O'Neal and he basically said the ball was horrible to, I bet this wont last long at all before they bring the old ball back.

[GangstaBoogy]

I bet this wont last long at all before they bring the old ball back.

exactly what I'm thinking

[J Bananas]

shaq is just scared, the new ball is easier to handle, but i wouldnt mind seeing the old ones instead

[WestCoasta]

oh I feel so sorry for the multi-millionaires that don't like the new ball

[PLANT]

they say its lighter in weight and wont absorb any sweat.   whats wrong with that?

Im sure they'll get used to it.

[E. J. Rizo]

Everyone Hates SHAQ (But No One's Bitching As Much As NOW_I_KNOW) 














haha jk

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

shaq is just scared, the new ball is easier to handle, but i wouldnt mind seeing the old ones instead

According to most, it's not easier to handle, just has a stickier grip (almost like a rubber indoor-outdoor ball)...Kwame Brown, who has as much trouble as the next guy handeling the ball, said it was harder to hold on to and that it got really slippery when wet as well...PeACe

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

they say its lighter in weight and wont absorb any sweat.   whats wrong with that?

Im sure they'll get used to it.

What's wrong with it being lighter in weight? Maybe the fact that all the players have been playing with a real leather ball their whole career that has always weighed the same. Why change the weight? The fact that it doesn't absorb sweat is probably what makes it so slippery when wet...PeACe

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Shaq-
It's the worst decision some expert, whoever did it, made. The NBA's been around how long? A hundred years? Fifty years? So to change it now, whoever that person is needs his college degree revoked. Feels like one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store, indoor-outdoor balls. I look for shooting percentages to be way down and turnovers to be way up, because when the ball gets wet you can't really control it. Whoever did that needs to be fired. It was terrible, a terrible decision. Awful. I might get fined for saying that, but so what?

Chris Bosh-
Hey, good (that Shaq doesn't like). It's cool, it's kind of similar to the FIBA ball. It doesn't bounce as high, so a bounce pass on the fast break could be a bit different. It bounces off the rim a little bit more, it's a little bit more sticky, so guys are going to be able to make better plays around the basket, because they'll be able to grab it a little bit more.

Morris Peterson-
I don't have a problem with it. 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.

Steve Nash-
It's very difficult for us, It's almost like you have to relearn how to make your plays because this ball sticks to your hand whereas the old ball slid in your hand nicely and it had a nice little touch off the floor and the backboard. This ball just grips the floor and grips the backboard so you have to change your game. You make moves in traffic and the ball gets stuck in parts of your hands and your wrist where normally it slides and you get it back the way you want it. Now, even if it's in your hand, it sticks and you can't get rid of it sometimes. It's a really difficult ball to play with. I certainly won't have to lick my fingers. The ball sticks to your hand. It's a big transition. It's extremely sticky.

TJ Ford-
I'll have to get used to it. We played with it all summer and got a good feel for it, but I was loving the old basketball. It's a change and you have to go with a change. As long as they go through the hoop, it's all good.

Michael Doleac-
I don't like it, because it's different. You get used to something, you don't want to change it. But in three years, we'll probably all look back and not be able to imagine playing with anything else.

Dwyane Wade-
Now I've got to make another adjustment (after adjusting to the FIBA ball) with a ball that I haven't shot with at all and it's going to be a challenge. That means it's going to take a lot of late nights for me, I'll tell you that, to get really adjusted to the ball because I have no choice. The biggest complaint is the slippage factor. Hopefully over time, you'll hear nothing about it and we'll all stop complaining. But I think rebounds are going to go up this year. All around the league, I think there's going to be a lot of bricks thrown up there early on.

Kwame Brown-
I hate the new ball. Oh my God. The last ball, it would get a little play on the rim. This ball, if it touches the rim, it’s coming out. It’s squirting right off the rim. The only difference about the ball is you can grip the ball a little better when it’s dry. When it gets wet, it gets a little heavier and lot more slippery than the other ball.

Carmelo Anthony-
I don't like it at all. It feels like an outside ball I used to play with back in the day on the outside court. But we have no choice but to get used to it.

Joe Smith-
I kind of agree with everything Shaq says. Once it gets wet, it gets slick. It's a totally different feel that's going to take some getting used to. I think the more and more we get into the season, there are going to be more complaints.

Eduardo Najera-
You can grip (the new ball) a lot better than the old ball. I think it's better overall. It's not as hard as the other one was.

Earl Boykins-
When it's going in and I'm shooting well, I like it. When I'm not shooting well, I don't like it.

Raja Bell-
It sucks. This ball isn't even a cousin of the one we played with. In every way, the ball is totally different. It is round and we've got to put it out of our minds. It's proven to be a streaky ball.

Marcus Banks-
This ball sticks all the time. We've got to learn to like it.

Shawn Marion-
Everybody hates that ball. It seems like it's more for an outdoor ball than indoor. It doesn't even feel like a NBA ball.

Mike D'Antonio-
They (the Suns) complain just every time they touch it. If they don't have it in their hands, they don't complain about it. It's normal because it's a change. Basketball players in general don't like change - dress code, balls, arenas, what time the bus leaves. Everybody is a creature of habit, especially basketball players. It's going to take awhile to get used to it. I guarantee you if they use this ball for two years, they'd all be complaining if they change back.

Ilgauskas-
I don't like it. I'm not big on change, and I didn't think there was anything wrong with the old ball. It would've been nice of whoever made that decision that they would've included the players because we are the ones working with that ball.

Rasheed Wallace-
It's Terrible. I don't know why they did it. The thing that upsets me about it is, that's a major part of playing, and you can't just change it without getting the players' opinions on the ball before you change it. Steve Nash, Paul Pierce, Amare Stoudemire, Jermaine O'Neal, Shawn Marion and Kobe Bryant agree with me. They say this micro-fiber thing is better? Nah, give me that old-fashioned cowhide.

Jerry Stackhouse-
As a kid growing up through high school and then college, you dream about playing with that leather NBA basketball. This new ball is the one I played with in the back yard when I was 12. Nobody that ever played the game would want to change that ball. Nobody. Not Michael Jordan. Not Dr. J. Nobody. It's still round, so we'll have to make it work.

Devin Harris-
Once the ball gets wet, it's going to go everywhere. People going up for layups here are having the ball slip out. I think there's going to be more turnovers and lower shooting percentages. If they can keep the ball from getting wet, moving balls in and out so it can stay dry, that might work.

Jason Terry-
I feel just like everybody else -- they stink. Everybody's against change. I've worked out with it all summer long, and I've grown accustomed to losing the ball out of bounds a couple times. It's going to happen. Dirk had two or three layups [in practice], and they just popped right out of his hands.

Josh Howard-
I have no problem with it, a ball is a ball. Once you get going in that groove, it still goes in. And I got smaller hands, and this one is easier for me to palm.

Dirk Nowitzki-
*Thumbs Down*

Vince Carter-
It's a different ball. It's not leather. A leather ball, when it gets wet, it's a little different. But I'm not [complaining] about it.

Jason Kidd-
They probably couldn't sell it. It was an indoor ball. Not too many kids play inside. A lot of kids play outside, so maybe that was the reason. They put a lot of money into this ball, so I don't know If they'll change it. We can complain about the rule changes, but we still have to go out there and play.

Lawrence Frank-
The ball issues will take care of themselves. If they keep the ball in, then that's what we're playing with. So we're not going to make an excuse because of a ball. If that's the ball, we'll play with it, we'll do everything we can with that ball to win the game.

Jarret Jack-
I love it -- love it. A lot of guys who've been in the league for a while, they're used to a real leather ball. This is almost like a college ball to me. I'm more used to it. The new balls are much more consistent. Leather balls aren't always uniform. In Utah, they pump their balls real hard, so the ball can be real slick and bounce real hard off the backboard. Ask anybody about Utah's ball. Anybody. They will pump the ball real hard so you can have a hard miss, and they can start the fastbreak easy.
 
Joel Przybilla-
I like it because I can palm it. I got small hands, and I could barely palm the old ball, and this one is a little more sticky.

Steve Kerr-
When the league designed the new ball last year, I was invited – along with Reggie Miller and Mark Jackson – to shoot around and dribble with it at Madison Square Garden. All three of us really liked the ball. It's a new design and it is made of composite leather rather than true leather. The result is a much more consistent feel to each ball. The old NBA ball was subject to a lot of variances because the leather was a little different on each one. Some balls broke in well, and others didn't. Some were a little lopsided. All of them took a week or so to get a feel for. The new ball is ready to play with right away because it has a broken-in feel to it. It is also more durable. In short, I think the ball will be great for the league and it's going to be a good seller in sporting goods stores, too – unlike the old ball.

Sam Cassell-
Let me see
*grabs the basketball and rubs it*
It's round...
*dribbled a couple of times*
It bounces...
I LOVE that muthafucka!

Kobe Bryant-
I'm old school, so I love the old-school ball. We had to adjust to it last year when we played with it in the All-Star game and it got slippery. It was tough to kind of grip it or get control of it. It was really slippery when we were playing with it. It's just a ball. Growing up, I played with all kinds of balls. I rolled up tape and used tape as a basketball. I played with a sock. I think I can play with this one. At the end of the day, a ball is a ball. Just go out there and play with it. We'll be fine. I don't even think it's that big of a deal.

Lamar Odom-
By the second or third quarter in an NBA game, guys perspire a lot. Once that ball gets wet, it just kind of slips out of your hand. I guarantee you in the beginning of the season we'll see a game probably lost on maybe just a simple pass, a guy trying to catch the ball — boom. A guy going in for a layup by himself — 3, 2, 1 — the ball will probably slip right out of his hand. For guys like me who had to play in the park and shovel snow (and) played with a handball, a tennis ball, it doesn't make a difference.

Bruce Bowen-
If you shoot flat shots, it's going to bounce off the rim long. You may not get a bounce that's as kind. But for shooters, they know how to make the adjustments and get a little more air on the ball.

Sebastian Telfair-
It’s like the old outdoor-indoor ball you played with when you were on the playground. It’s grippy - I like that about it. It just doesn’t feel smooth coming off your fingertips when you shoot.

[Citizen-Y]

Jarret Jack-
I love it -- love it. A lot of guys who've been in the league for a while, they're used to a real leather ball. This is almost like a college ball to me. I'm more used to it.Tthe new balls are much more consistent. Leather balls aren't always uniform. In Utah, they pump their balls real hard, so the ball can be real slick and bounce real hard off the backboard. Ask anybody about Utah's ball. Anybody. They will pump the ball real hard so you can have a hard miss, and they can start the fastbreak easy.
 

Fucking Utah.

[WestCoasta]

my god these dudes are BITCHES


why doesn't a bench player making $5 million averaging 1 point and 0.3 rebounds a game step up next and cry about it

[GangstaBoogy]

lmao @ Nowitzki

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

my god these dudes are BITCHES


why doesn't a bench player making $5 million averaging 1 point and 0.3 rebounds a game step up next and cry about it

They're the ones working with the ball, they didn't even have a say in the change...They have a right to voice their opinion about it.