Score Up, Score Down
Sometimes when my hands are dry, I pull a Steve Nash. You know, I lick my fingers. Get a little saliva on there and I feel a lot better - but that won’t be Nash’s trademark anymore. Apparently, the new game ball is so sticky that Nash will no longer have to touch his taste buds.
There seem to be far more negative reactions to the composite ball than positive. Players and coaches are saying the ball feels cheap and there’ll be a transitional period. Some go as far as saying it will lower shooting percentages and increase turnovers. As an occasional betting man, that got me thinking. Are we going to see some low scoring games this season? Can we bet on some serious ‘under’ totals especially early on when the players are still adapting? Maybe there’s some money out there to be made.
My bet is that everyone gets used to it sooner rather than later. According to Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson, composite balls are used in every league throughout the world and have been used in American high schools and the NCAA for the last 10 years. Players like Shaq are having trouble now, but how long can an NBA player struggle because of a ball?
NBA Says New Ball is Better [The Ledger]
Private: Score Up, Score Down
Sometimes when my hands are dry, I pull a Steve Nash. You know, I lick my fingers. Get a little saliva on there and I feel a lot better - but that won’t be Nash’s trademark anymore. Apparently, the new game ball is so sticky that Nash will no longer have to touch his taste buds.
There seem to be far more negative reactions to the composite ball than positive. Players and coaches are saying the ball feels cheap and there’ll be a transitional period. Some go as far as saying it will lower shooting percentages and increase turnovers. As an occasional betting man, that got me thinking. Are we going to see some low scoring games this season? Can we bet on some serious ‘under’ totals especially early on when the players are still adapting? Maybe there’s some money out there to be made.
My bet is that everyone gets used to it sooner rather than later. According to Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson, composite balls are used in every league throughout the world and have been used in American high schools and the NCAA for the last 10 years. Players like Shaq are having trouble now, but how long can an NBA player struggle because of a ball?
NBA Says New Ball is Better [The Ledger]
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The Basketball Jones is a NBA blog and podcast, written and recorded five times a week by J.E. Skeets, Tas Melas and Jason Doyle. Comments, questions and cold hard cash are always welcome and much appreciated. Contact us.
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They’ll get over it. Shaq just wants an excuse for his slow start as he tries to get back into playing shape at the beginning of the season.
Yo Skeets, did ya see what yo boy ‘Toine Walker had to say about that new ball? This quoted from the Stein piece on ESPN:
Miami’s Antoine Walker raised another concern earlier this week, saying, “The problem with this ball is that it wears down very easily and that’s not good. During the course of a game, if a guy is 10-for-10 in the first half and now you’ve got to switch to another ball, that makes a difference. We should have stayed with the old ball. It was better. Those old balls last a long time and you could play with them when they got old. These balls, once they get slippery, it’s going to be difficult.”
Can you believe this muhfuggin’ shit? I guess dude wasn’t taklin’ about himself, right? Yeah… right
yeah, 10-10 for bricks.