July 13, 2016

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle:

A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.

posted by huddle to general at 07:00 AM - 10 comments

The NBA's ineffectual anti-hacking rule will now be somewhat more effectual:

The current rule for away-from-the-play fouls applicable to the last two minutes of the fourth period (and last two minutes of any overtime) pursuant to which the fouled team is awarded one free throw and retains possession of the ball will be extended to the last two minutes of each period.

posted by Etrigan at 01:44 PM on July 13, 2016

I just had a realization, and I don't know if this is common knowledge and I'm just slow, or what...but the ESPYs are always on the day after the MLB All-Star Game...is that because it's the only day where absolutely nothing else is going on in the Big 4?

posted by MeatSaber at 09:39 PM on July 13, 2016

The NBA's ineffectual anti-hacking rule

I was watching the Las Vegas Summer League (Dallas vs Milwaukee), and Mark Cuban was being interviewed by the play-by-play and analyst. One of the topics was the rule. Cuban's take was for teams not to play someone who can't hit free throws, or for players learn to make free throws. My humble (well, maybe a little humble) opinion is that free throw shooting is an NBA skill. If you don't have it, your team should suffer the consequences.

posted by Howard_T at 12:11 AM on July 14, 2016

The current rule for away-from-the-play fouls applicable to the last two minutes of the fourth period (and last two minutes of any overtime) pursuant to which the fouled team is awarded one free throw and retains possession of the ball will be extended to the last two minutes of each period.

This is a pretty good rule, actually. Yes, I like it. Maybe that will cut down on the stoppage of play every two freakin' seconds.

posted by NoMich at 08:57 AM on July 14, 2016

Cuban's take was for teams not to play someone who can't hit free throws, or for players learn to make free throws. My humble (well, maybe a little humble) opinion is that free throw shooting is an NBA skill. If you don't have it, your team should suffer the consequences.

Take fouls out of the game, then. There should be a very, very small number of times when "committing a foul" or "drawing a penalty" is in any way advantageous to the team/player that's doing it (I'm okay with the occasional intentional penalty in football to back a kick up a little, for instance). Not every damn game.

posted by Etrigan at 11:57 AM on July 14, 2016

the ESPYs are always on the day after the MLB All-Star Game...is that because it's the only day where absolutely nothing else is going on in the Big 4?

Yep.

(The day before is the only other day of the year that no MLB, NBA, NFL, or NHL games are played, but the Home Run Derby etc. are typically held.)

posted by Etrigan at 11:58 AM on July 14, 2016

With the new 4 day break for the All-Star game, we now have today (Thursday) as another hour long sports show that will feature important things like:

- We care about the NBA summer league!
- Silly interviews we've been keeping in reserve!
- Best/worst/weirdest plays of the first half!
- Obscure free agents have been signed in NBA/NHL/NFL!
- Let's speculate about MLB's "second half".

posted by grum@work at 12:04 PM on July 14, 2016

We care about the NBA summer league!

Hey, as a Celtics fan that's my Dream Time. You take that back.

posted by yerfatma at 02:22 PM on July 14, 2016

Slooow newz...that's why it was announced yesterday that Tom Brady's latest petition to have the deflation case heard by a full panel of judges has been denied and the 4 game suspension stands. Wham, bam, bing, bang, boo...

What, nobody cares about that anymore?

OK, how about the rumor claiming that Garoppolo is being fitted with hidden bionic limb enhancements in a secret underground triage center? And that he's being force fed from the McDaniels Dollar Menu three times a day.

The needle's still not moving? Well, how about those bold new Buffalo helmets and uniforms? Bound to strike fear and consternation into the hearts of any opponent. Oh...that's the...University of Buffalo. Never mind.

posted by beaverboard at 02:37 PM on July 14, 2016

There should be a very, very small number of times when "committing a foul" or "drawing a penalty" is in any way advantageous to the team/player that's doing it

When the players your opponent has on the floor each is able to hit a good percentage of their free throws (let's throw 70% as a benchmark), any advantage the fouling team gains is slight. The team being fouled yields the advantage by playing those whose free throw shooting is below par. Playing the game well, at least well enough in one area to deny an advantage, makes rule changes unnecessary.

posted by Howard_T at 06:35 PM on July 14, 2016

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