West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Sports & Entertainment => Topic started by: Now_Im_Not_Banned on October 04, 2006, 09:07:09 PM
-
NBA confident ball is better despite Shaq's blasts (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2612127)
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
-
u got a pic of the new ball?
-
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.
-
I bet this wont last long at all before they bring the old ball back.
exactly what I'm thinking
-
shaq is just scared, the new ball is easier to handle, but i wouldnt mind seeing the old ones instead
-
oh I feel so sorry for the multi-millionaires that don't like the new ball
-
they say its lighter in weight and wont absorb any sweat. whats wrong with that?
Im sure they'll get used to it.
-
Everyone Hates SHAQ (But No One's Bitching As Much As NOW_I_KNOW) ;) :kiss2:
haha jk
-
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
-
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
-
(http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/basketball/nba/specials/preview/2006/10/02/bc.bkn.shaq.newball.ap/p1_100206_ball_getty.jpg)
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.
-
(http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/basketball/nba/specials/preview/2006/10/02/bc.bkn.shaq.newball.ap/p1_100206_ball_getty.jpg)
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.
-
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
-
lmao @ Nowitzki
-
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.
-
^^^ ya sure, but they are losers for coming off like little women about it
waaa, lemme complain about this shit... they need to sack it up, if they're so good at basketball they can adjust
-
I'd be willing to bet Kidd hit it on the head, it's all about $$$...
Jason Kidd-
They probably couldn't sell it. It was an indoor ball. Not too many kids play inside. A lot of kids play outside, so maybe that was the reason. They put a lot of money into this ball, so I don't know If they'll change it. We can complain about the rule changes, but we still have to go out there and play.
-
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMNNN @ the number of players who complained about it!!!
-
I'd be willing to bet Kidd hit it on the head, it's all about $$$...
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.
at least this guy's acting like a male
-
Only in America.
-
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.
Man they play with this fucking ball in Europe.
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0009JODGY.01-A2QUBZRFQD7A2Q._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
Nobody bitched when they chosed it. And yes, it's horrible too. You guys in the States should relax more and actually start to pratice more. Shaq complaining about a ball is the real joke!!! He can't even make 1/10 FT and he's bitching about the ball?? That guy is totally stupid!! Work on your FT %, fool! You don't have the right to speak about the ball, you can't even handle it. I hate it when those american players acts like hollywood superstars. Get the fucking ball and play!!
They changed the ball in soccer too in 2004. It was horrible. When you shoot from outside it goes left and then right, alone. It's like a crazy-ball. But nobody acted so immature when they announced it. They just accepted it and played. Damn, it's a ball!!
Richardson is the real man.
-
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.
-
Q&A with Stu Jackson (http://www.nba.com/jackson_ball_interview.html)
New York, Oct. 6 -- NBA Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson answered questions regarding the new Spalding NBA game ball.
Q: Who was involved in the decision to introduce a new Spalding Official NBA Game Ball?
Stu Jackson: Spalding has been working and doing a great deal of research in the past several years on a new ball product, which they presented as a new and better basketball, potentially for the NBA. After doing extensive testing ourselves, we made the decision to utilize this new ball in our game.
Q: Why was the change made?
Jackson: The change was made because we have a better product and a better ball. The playing of our game and the integrity of our game is something that we take very seriously and having the ability to put a better ball into our game was an easy decision to make.
Q: Was the decision at all based on money?
Jackson: It was not based on money at all. It was not motivated by the desire to increase game ball sales. In actuality, game balls have comprised a tiny fraction of Spalding’s basketball business and really represent less than 1 percent of their unit sales.
Q: What makes this ball better than the leather ball?
Jackson: This ball has a better feel, a better grip. The composite material is more consistent over time in terms of maintaining a consistent color and maintaining a consistent feel. The players will experience a consistency in balls from arena to arena. And the life span of this ball is longer than a leather ball.
Q: What’s your response to some player complaints that the ball gets slippery when wet?
Jackson: This composite ball gets slippery when it’s wet as did the leather balls. They got slippery when wet also. When both the leather ball and this composite ball are wet, this composite ball is less slippery than the leather ball when it’s wet. So balls getting wet is always something that will exist in our game, but because we have a better product, we have a ball now that gets less wet than the ball before.
Q: Some players have said that the new ball has a better grip. How do you think the grip improvement will influence the game?
Jackson: The better grip on the ball will affect the game positively. If the ball is easier to handle, it’s easier to pass, it’s easier to receive and it’s easier to shoot the basketball. So it’s going to affect the game very positively.
Q: A lot of athletes are very superstitious about their equipment. Do you think that some of the early complaints are basically a result of that?
Jackson: I don’t know concretely if it’s due to superstition, but any time a new rule is implemented into the NBA or a new piece of equipment or a new technology, there is always a transition and adjustment period by players and coaches and anyone involved with the game. In this instance, with the new composite ball, it’s not different. I firmly believe that as the players continue to play with the ball and adjust to the new feel and the new grip, in time they’re going to understand that this is a much better product than they played with before.
Q: We know that every league in the world plays with a composite ball of some sort. Why do you think the change has received all this attention?
Jackson: Again, everywhere on the globe the game is played with a composite ball. And the reason is that composite material maintains a level of consistency in play and over the lifespan of the ball. Aside from the fact that it has a better grip and a better feel, it’s just a better ball and the transition to a composite ball for us at the NBA is not unlike the same transition the NCAA went to when they had leather balls and went to composite. It takes an adjustment and we’re undergoing that adjustment as well. But in the end we’ve got a better product to play with in our game.
-
LMAO @ Sam Cassell
-
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
how do you think these players got these multimillion dollar, quarter of a billion dollar contracts? they don't get them straight out of highschool. they have to put up big numbers and make big plays. and if they feel that they are being put at a disadvantage to do this by implementing a ball that is of lesser quality. then they have every right 'cry'. the nba is a PROFESSIONAL organization. you wouldn't implement a lesser tax software at an accounting firm such as Price WaterHouse. same with this game ball, these are all professional atheletes, who are expected to dress up in three piece suits when not playing. As an employer of these Professionals shouldn't you provide them with the best possible tools to do their job?
i've messed around with this ball and all i can say is, i see no real difference between this and one of those balls they have you play with when you're a kid at PE. unless the ball is dried up after every posession, the 'superior grip' is useless, like all the players before said once it's wet it's like handling an beach ball.
like jason kid said, it's a way for the nba to sell more merchanidise. also i can see why they made the ball lighter, they think it's going to make it easier for shots to go in from long distance and such. time will only tell if they're wrong about this.
overall though, the new ball is junk
-
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
how do you think these players got these multimillion dollar, quarter of a billion dollar contracts? they don't get them straight out of highschool. they have to put up big numbers and make big plays. and if they feel that they are being put at a disadvantage to do this by implementing a ball that is of lesser quality. then they have every right 'cry'. the nba is a PROFESSIONAL organization. you wouldn't implement a lesser tax software at an accounting firm such as Price WaterHouse. same with this game ball, these are all professional atheletes, who are expected to dress up in three piece suits when not playing. As an employer of these Professionals shouldn't you provide them with the best possible tools to do their job?
i've messed around with this ball and all i can say is, i see no real difference between this and one of those balls they have you play with when you're a kid at PE. unless the ball is dried up after every posession, the 'superior grip' is useless, like all the players before said once it's wet it's like handling an beach ball.
like jason kid said, it's a way for the nba to sell more merchanidise. also i can see why they made the ball lighter, they think it's going to make it easier for shots to go in from long distance and such. time will only tell if they're wrong about this.
overall though, the new ball is junk
I agree...So who thinks the old ball will be back and who doesn't?
-
NBA testing new ball; leather still an option (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2617527)
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.
"But the game is uppermost in our mind."
Stern went on to insist that the technology behind the new synthetic ball is sound.
"Spalding came to us and said they had a technology that will improve the ball," he said. "They said that we are the only sport, professional or college, the last sport using leather and that they had a way to improve it.
"They came to us several years ago and we said we would have to see the technology working … they wanted to launch it one year ago, but we said no. We used it in the D-League, used it in the summer league, had players test it individually and, a year later, they said they had improved it even more.
"We said, 'OK, let's go.' So that's what we did."
The change from traditional leather to a synthetic ball, the first such change made by the NBA in 35 years, has been greeted with almost universal criticism by players after a week of training camp.
Complaints have centered not only upon the ball becoming slippery, but also a "sticky" texture when dry and its tendency to wear out more quickly than the old-style ball, making it likely that more than one ball will have to be used in many games.
-
NBA's New Ball Might Not Last Much Longer (http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-nbaball11oct11,1,5934184.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-nba-lakers)
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
October 11, 2006
Is the new NBA ball close to getting bounced out of the game?
As more players voice complaints about its slippery grip, the NBA has decided to take a closer look, a move welcomed by many Lakers.
"I'm not surprised," forward Lamar Odom said, nodding in the direction of a rack of the new balls. "I think Mr. [David] Stern likes everything uniform. As you can see, all those balls look exactly the same. They're cute.
"Other balls, they change color [when wet], they have different flavors, but you can depend on those things. When [the new ones] get wet, guys perspire on them, they get real slippery."
The NBA changed the ball for the first time in 35 years, using a micro-fiber composite instead of the traditional leather because of what it said was a "superior grip and feel."
Most players simply feel irritated.
Shaquille O'Neal compared the new ball to a cheap toy-store type. Steve Nash wasn't thrilled, either. Kobe Bryant used a more politically correct analogy, saying he would prefer to stay "old school" with the leather ball. Odom recently predicted that games would be won or lost this season because of the ball, by a fumbled pass or muffed layup.
No doubt hearing the rebellion from his New York City office, Commissioner Stern said the league would examine alternate possibilities, if necessary. In other words, old school might become cool again.
"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," Stern told reporters last weekend before an exhibition game in Paris.
Stern also revealed the brief history of the new ball.
"Spalding came to us and said they had a technology that will improve the ball," he said. "They said that we are the only sport, professional or college, the last sport using leather and that they had a way to improve it.
"They came to us several years ago and we said we would have to see the technology working. They wanted to launch it one year ago, but we said no. We used it in the [Development] League, used it in the summer league, had players test it individually and, a year later, they said they had improved it even more. We said, 'OK, let's go.' "
-
Spalding defends its new NBA basketball (http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=161747)
By Jay Fitzgerald
Boston Herald General Economics Reporter
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 - Updated: 04:34 PM EST
With Shaquille O’Neal and others grumbling about its new basketball, Spalding yesterday denied it threw up a synthetic air ball.
National Basketball Association players are bemoaning Spalding’s new ball as slippery and inferior to the old leather ball they’ve dribbled and shot with for decades.
To much fanfare, Springfield-based Spalding and the NBA announced earlier this year that the league would switch this season to a new microfiber-composite basketball - with fewer grooves - from the classic leather-covered ball of yore.
But some NBA players, now gearing up for the upcoming 2006-2007 season, are harshly criticizing the official new NBA game ball as hard to handle when wet from sweat - and weird to shoot without as many grooves.
Shaq has already said the league should fire whoever came up with the idea to replace the leather-bound basketball.
“Terrible,” Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace was quoted as saying.
The Celtic’s Paul Pierce, though, has defended the ball, saying he used it this summer and has adjusted to its small differences. Then again, Pierce has endorsement ties to Spalding.
“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, Celtics point guard Sebastian Telfair said last night. “It just doesn’t feel smooth coming off your fingertips when you shoot.”
The complaining has been loud enough for NBA commissioner David Stern to say this past weekend that the league will closely monitor the situation and, if the complaints prove true, might go back to the original leather.
That has folks in Springfield scrambling.
Asked if there’s a possibility the leather ball might be brought back, Spalding marketing chief Dan Touhey said, “I don’t think that will be necessary.”
“Players don’t like change,” said Touhey, insisting the new ball is better and actually less slippery. The ball was tested in summer leagues by NBA players - and developed over the past two years.
College and high-school teams regularly used microfiber-composite balls - and NBA players just need time to adjust, he said.
“It’s a far superior ball,” said Touhey, who estimated Spalding, a unit of the Russell Corp., spent hundreds of thousands of dollars developing the product.
As part of its NBA deal, Spalding provides the league with about 2,200 balls a year. The new ball costs about 5 percent less to make, but the NBA has said the old leather balls took longer to break in than synthetic-covered ones.
-
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/sports/basketball/15777841.htm
The ball slipped out of Garnett's right hand during a dunk attempt in the first quarter. Forward Mark Madsen, who watched in disbelief, was quick to blame the new synthetic ball.
-
It's obvious the new ball is slippery. Look at how many steals every is getting. Didn't Stoudemire just get 5?
-
It's obvious the new ball is slippery. Look at how many steals every is getting. Didn't Stoudemire just get 5?
I have a feeling that leather will be back, maybe not by the regular season, but I'm seeing too much "sloppiness" with this ball to keep it...
-
LMAO @ Sam Cassell
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!
^LMAO!!!
-
Coming to grips with new NBA ball
Players don't understand reason for new ball, but league says they'll have to learn to handle it (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/101806dnsponbaball.33d4071.html)
02:57 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 18, 2006
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
It took Dirk Nowitzki to come up with a positive spin on the NBA's new basketball, which has been ripped by players coast to coast.
The Mavericks' star zeroed in on the synthetic ball's consistent feel as a selling point.
"If it's played with for two months or if it's brand new, it feels bad," Nowitzki says. "So at least they accomplished that."
And so it goes for the NBA. Whether it's physicists doing comparative research on the new ball or players giving it the ultimate test of how it feels, reacts and plays during a game, the league's change from leather to a microfiber composite ball – pleather, if you will – has created a controversy that has only just begun.
The storm may grow so severe, commissioner David Stern could reconsider the wisdom of the change, although a return to the old ball isn't likely this season.
The league decided during the summer to ditch the leather ball it had been using for 35 years. Spalding produced a synthetic ball that has been met with rave reviews by the league office and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
But by those who actually play the game? Not so much.
"I'm dying to get the feel of that old leather ball back," Mavericks point guard Anthony Johnson says. "I go to sleep every night dreaming that we'll have that leather ball back sooner or later. Until then, I'll just keep my fingers crossed."
The NBA has been aggressive in its defense of the new ball, which may end up becoming Stern's new Coke. He may yet have to go back to Coke Classic.
The biggest questions: Why change the ball? Was it broke?
'Ready to play'
Stu Jackson, the NBA's president of operations, says the league believes the composite ball is a better product than the leather version. That it has a better grip and feel, a longer lifespan and will perform the same from arena to arena and game to game.
Players, Jackson says, should try to get used to the ball rather than belabor any perceived faults.
"Our plan is to play with this ball in the '06-07 season, subject to continual testing," he says. "We take the game very seriously, and we saw a chance to improve the game with a product that is better than the old ball. The feedback is something we welcome and have solicited. That's not an issue."
Neither is the monetary aspect. Official game-ball sales constitute less than 1 percent of Spalding's revenue. Spalding researchers claim that the ball is superior and, most important, more consistent than the leather predecessor.
The NBA's new synthetic ball has been met with rave reviews by the league office and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. But not by those who actually play the game. After about 50 preseason games, shooting and free throw percentages and the number of turnovers were only marginally different from the same period last season, according to Jackson.
"The years of testing we've done have produced a more consistent, more durable ball that levels the playing field for all players and teams," says Dan Touhey, Spalding's vice president for marketing and research development.
"The leather ball had been around for ages, and it was a good ball. But if you looked at a rack of 12 leather balls, you'd have balls that were in 12 different stages. They were like infielders' gloves. They had to be broken in before you could use them. The new ball is ready to play when it arrives and provides a better grip."
Touhey said the company has done grip tests that reinforce that claim. Those tests also show that a leather ball will pick up as much as 70 grams of water weight during a game because of the way it absorbs sweat. Touhey said the surface of the new ball resists moisture.
'A definite difference'
There is no question the ball is different. Its dimensions are the same, but the feel of the cover is not. And the ball reacts differently, too, say a couple of local physicists.
Jim Horwitz is chair of the physics department at UT-Arlington, and Kaushik De is the project leader and a physics professor at UTA. They were asked by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to do a study about the differences between composite and leather balls.
What the physicists found was that the new ball, when dropped from a height of five feet, bounced an average of four inches lower than the old ball. In addition, the synthetic ball was much slower to absorb moisture, a key complaint among players who seem to be constantly losing their grip on the new spheroid in the preseason.
"When water came in contact with both balls, the leather ball absorbed it more quickly and was more easily gripped," Horwitz says. "We suspect that will be the biggest difference in the physical characteristics of the balls."
Horwitz and De are not being paid by Cuban, and their research is ongoing. They plan to research with friction tests how the ball reacts to hardwood flooring and human skin, as well as spin control.
Another complaint of players is that the ball does not react the same off the backboard, making bank shots more adventurous.
Touhey acknowledges that the ball reacts differently when coming off the backboard, but that college, WNBA and NBDL players all have adapted to the changes quickly. The NCAA has used composite balls in its tournaments for the last four seasons.
"I was curious what the facts are," Cuban said of his idea to have local researchers test the ball. "Rather than speculating, I asked the profs to actually do a test, to give us real data. The results support there is a definite difference."
The NBA, of course, tested the ball many times over. It was used in the All-Star Game last season. Even then, it was met with near-universal disapproval.
"I don't like them at all," Nowitzki says. "I said that last year in the All-Star Game. I think we even shot the 3-point contest with them [Nowitzki won that event].
"A lot of the players have the same problem. It's too sticky. And when it's wet, it's slippery."
Not everybody hates the new ball. PETA officials have applauded the NBA's move as another triumph for animal rights activists.
"For us, it's a really exciting victory," says PETA spokesman Dan Shannon. "It's another step forward in technology that has allowed us to replace an animal product with a synthetic.
"A lot of industries are going to more humane products."
Of course, if Stern rescinds the decision to use the ball (and the door has been left open) it'd whip up a firestorm from the animal rights group. According to PETA's Web site, "it takes the skin of a whole cow to make just four basketballs."
It should be noted, Touhey says, that "not a single cow will live because we changed to a composite ball." The company acquired leather from meat producers that had already removed the skin.
'We'll get used to it'
In the long run, ballgate might end up being little more than a tempest in a teapot. NBA players were upset a year ago when the league enacted a dress code. Now, it's an accepted part of the league.
However, what the players wear and what they dribble on the court are radically different issues.
"We'll get used to everything, I guess," says Nowitzki. "I don't know if it's going to affect shooting or turnovers. We'll have to see. We all know this league is about business, too. I think we're all professionals, and we'll get used to it."
Approximate dimensions: 9.5 inches in diameter, 567 to 602 weight in grams, 29.5 inches in circumference
-
FUCK STERN AND THE REST OF HIS PUPPETS!! The players dont like the new ball hence they are the ones playing in the games. BRING BACK THE OLD BALL!!
-
Players say change isn't good for game (http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061019/SPORTS/610190341/1002/SPORTS)
BY JOHN DENTON
FLORIDA TODAY Post a Comment View All Comments
ORLANDO - Imagine if the gear shifts on that forklift were flip-flopped or the keyboard on that work computer were suddenly jumbled into an all-new configuration.
Imagine going through those changes in your daily job and you can get a slight glimpse into the frazzled psyche of many NBA players these days.
For just the second time in its 60-year history and the first time in 36 seasons, the NBA has changed its basketball. Out is the familiar brownish-orange leather basketball palmed in arenas throughout the country by Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. In its place is a bright orange, microfiber composite ball that is identical to its predecessor in only its shape.
Spalding, provider of NBA balls since 1983, boasts in a release that the new version has "better grip, feel and consistency" than the one in play for the past four decades.
But there are plenty of players in the NBA who vehemently disagree with that assessment. Boiled down, their complaints are as such: The ball is too sticky when dry and too slippery when wet.
Changing the ball, when there was no outcry from anyone not affiliated with People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals, has already thrown some NBA players for a loop. In many of their eyes, this is akin to the PGA cutting 6 inches off Tiger Woods' putter, baseball whittling down Albert Pujols' bat or the NFL stripping the laces off Peyton Manning's footballs.
Protest is usually a reflex reaction to change, but this riff isn't likely to die down anytime soon. Change the off-the-court dress code, change the length of shorts or even the length of the court, but not the ball, Atlanta star shooting guard Joe Johnson said.
"When it's dry, it's very sticky and when it's wet, it's slick," Johnson said prior to Atlanta's game against the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night. "For a shooter, the ball doesn't roll off your fingertips like the other ball did. It's uncomfortable. Everybody hates it. The dress code is one thing, but the ball? (Dang)!"
Each NBA player was mailed a new ball last summer when the league made the switch official in June, but it has done little to temper the furor. Star players across the NBA have come out almost universally opposing it. Shaquille O'Neal referred to it having the feel of "one of those cheap balls you buy at the toy store."
Not even a dunker like New Jersey's Vince Carter likes the ball, predicting that "it's going to be a problem," and adding that "it's like playing with a bowling ball."
And don't even get NBA bad boy Rasheed Wallace started about the new ball. Wallace has gotten a technical foul for disputing practically everything in the NBA, but fuming about the ball is a new one to him.
"It's terrible. I don't know why they did it," Wallace told The Detroit Free-Press. "Good Lord, don't let it get wet. They try to say it's a better ball, microfibers and this and that. It's terrible. Give me that good old-fashion cowhide."
There is a hope shared by many that because of the league-wide outcry from coaches, like Chicago's Scott Skiles, and players like Kobe Bryant and O'Neal that the NBA will change back before the start of the regular season on Oct. 31. But NBA Commissioner David Stern has given no such indication the league is about to do that, citing that composite balls are used at the high school, college and international levels of basketball.
Magic small forward Hedo Turkoglu, one of the league's top 3-point shooters, grew up playing with a similar composite ball in Turkey and says he has no problems with the switch. But the light-hearted Turkoglu did reserve the right to change his mind if he endures a prolonged shooting slump this season.
"Some guys are used to the other ball, but when you are a great shooter like me it doesn't matter," Turkoglu said as he broke out in laughter. "It's kind of slippery, that's true and you can't hide that.
"I'm not having a lot of problems, but if I'm missing shots I'm just going to blame it on the ball."
The NBA debuted the new balls in the past two midseason all-star games and in the free-agent summer leagues before announcing the full-time switch last June. And the perks were immediately noticeable: The balls don't have to be broken in, they remain the same color and they are softer to the touch.
Like with changing the off-the-court dress code and banning the compression leggings made popular last season by Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, changing the ball was a right the NBA could impose unilaterally without consulting the NBA Players Association. Switching something as important as the ball without more input has galled many players, said Magic forward and Players Association treasurer Pat Garrity.
"Players in general, I've heard it from a number of guys, they're upset that they didn't have a lot of input," said Garrity. "They demoed it in the all-star game, but by in large, it caught a lot of people by surprise."
Many dunkers, like Orlando's Dwight Howard, who led the NBA in stuffs last season with 214, have said they have no problem with the ball because its stickiness helps them easily palm the ball.
Ball-handlers and shooters, however, have a dramatically different take. Because the ball is allegedly too sticky when dry, guards say it tends to stick to their hands and they are unable to make certain passes or dribbles as they have in the past.
And some shooters have complained that because of the stickiness and the new channeling, they are unable to spin the ball in their hands to line up the laces.
"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," two-time MVP Steve Nash told reporters in Phoenix. "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 hand 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."
Orlando point guard Jameer Nelson isn't happy with the deadness of the ball, claiming that because it is softe, it doesn't bounce as high or as true every time. But he said the players had better get used to the new ball because it isn't likely to change anytime soon. Time will tell, he said, whether or not the change was a good one for the NBA.
"You have to adjust. If they want to change the length of the court we'd have to get used to that," Nelson said. "It's going to take an adjustment time and either the shooting percentages will go down or go up. Turnovers are going to go up or down. We'll find out at the end of the year."
All about the ball
A look at the history of the basketball, from the introduction to the newest ball.
1894: Dr. James Naismith asks A.G. Spalding & Bros. to develop the first basketball.
1937: Laces were removed from Spalding basketballs.
1983: Spalding's full-grain leather ball became the official ball of the National Basketball Association.
2006: Spalding and the NBA introduce the new official game ball with Cross Traxxion technology. -- NBA.com