Vol. 1 No. 6 — October 2nd, 2019

Welcome to the sixth edition of the Rathbun Roundball Report, Subscriber First Name!

As basketball season starts to ramp up with training camp, if there’s a team or story that you have a question about, send it in! You could be featured in next week’s issue and have it answered!

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Thank you for subscribing and let’s get to this week’s stories.

The NBA’s New Rules

Getting ready for the start of the exhibition season, and I wanted to bring you all up to date on a few new rules and one major experiment.

The NBA G League last week announced an experimental rule change for the 2019-20 season regarding the number of free throws a player will attempt when he goes to the free throw line.

Under the new experimental NBA G League rule, one free throw worth one, two or three points will be awarded in the event of any foul that would typically result in one, two or three free throws being shot under standard NBA rules. 

The experimental free throw rule will not apply during the last two minutes of the fourth quarter or the entirety of any overtime period.

The research and development arm of the NBA, the NBA G League routinely tests experimental rules and procedures.  This season, the NBA implemented the Coach’s Challenge, which was first tested in the NBA G League in the 2014-15 season.

Whoa! Do you feel that this has gone too far? Messing with the integrity of the game?

One aspect of the experiment brought this question forward: if the shooter is fouled attempting a three-point shot, shouldn’t he shoot his “free throws” from the spot of the foul (23-feet) rather than from 15-feet at the foul line?

Something to think about!

Email me at bob@bobrathbun.com and let me know what you think!

Instant Replay Re-work

The NBA Board of Governors last July unanimously approved two changes to the instant replay rules.

The first change is the introduction of a Coach’s Challenge to trigger instant replay review of a limited set of matters.  A version of the Coach’s Challenge that has been in effect in the NBA G League for the last two seasons and is being used at MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2019 will be adopted in the NBA on a one-year trial basis during the 2019-20 season.

The second change enables the NBA Replay Center (in addition to the on-court referees) to trigger instant replay in certain circumstances.  This process, which was successfully tested at MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2018 and is being used again at this year’s event, will be implemented for the 2019-20 NBA season.

“These initiatives further strengthen our officiating program and help referees make the right call,” said NBA President, League Operations Byron Spruell.  “Giving head coaches a voice will enhance the confidence in our replay process among teams and fans and add a new, exciting strategic element to our game.  Enabling the NBA Replay Center to trigger instant replay will improve game flow and provide real-time awareness of any adjustments to the score.”

Key features of the Coach’s Challenge:

Each team is entitled to one challenge in the game (regardless of whether the challenge is successful).

A team can use its challenge in the following instances: a called personal foul charged to its own team; a called out-of-bounds violation; or a called goal-tending or basket interference violation.

A team can use its challenge on a called personal foul at any point in the game.

In the last two minutes of the fourth period or the last two minutes of overtime, a called out-of-bounds violation or called goal-tending/basket interference violation will not be allowed to challenge and instead will be exclusively triggered by on-court referees.

To initiate a challenge, a team must immediately call a legal timeout and the head coach must immediately signal for a challenge by twirling his/her finger toward the referees.

If a team attempts to challenge an event with no remaining timeouts, the team is charged an excessive timeout, for which the penalty is a technical foul, and no challenge will take place.

If a team calls a timeout to challenge an event that may not be reviewed, the team will be charged a timeout but retain its challenge.

As with other replay reviews, in order to overturn the event as called on the floor, there must be clear and conclusive visual evidence that the call was incorrect.

I’m interested to see how often this will be utilized by the head coaches this season.

Unlike football or baseball, where one score can make a great impact, one foul call in a 200-possession NBA game would seemingly change little. Especially in the first three quarters.

As noted above, with the game on the line in the last two minutes, the officials already automatically review any goal-tending or out of bounds call. So, there would be no use for a coaches challenge there.

But isn’t this what the pre-season is for? I’ll be keeping a close watch for you to see if this has a any sort of major impact!

The Hawks first exhibition game is coming up next Monday, October 7th against New Orleans. The game will be broadcast on FOX Sports Southeast and nationally on NBA-TV.

I’m excited to get back to work. Bring on the new season!

From Around the Camps

Rod Walker, New Orleans Times-Picayune on Zion Williamson:

Zion Williamson is just as fascinated with New Orleans as New Orleans is fascinated with him.

He's been here just three months, but the city has already sucked him in, loving him back just the way Drew Brees warned him the city would if he loved it first.

It didn't take Williamson long.

"I walk up and down the street and I see these kids with buckets making some of the best beats I ever heard," said the New Orleans Pelicans rookie forward. "They are 12 and 13 and I'm like 'nobody really even knows about this.' Stuff like that gives the city a lot of spirit."

Mike Singer, Denver Post on Nuggets’ Michael Porter, Jr.

Aside from growing as a player and watching the way Nuggets veterans Gary Harris and Paul Millsap conduct themselves, Porter recently decided to delete all of his social media accounts.

“Without social media, you have all the time in the world,” Porter said. “And with that, you’re not getting all the praise and you’re not getting all the hate. Like that can be emotional … People always having access to you and always knowing what you’re doing, it kind of gets taxing a little bit. Being in Denver, it’s cool just to go up to the mountains and just be a regular person.”

Having had so much time away from the court in the last two years, Porter said he’s found social media to be detrimental to his personal life.

“I sleep better, I read more books now because you just have more time on your hands and you’re more involved in normal stuff,” he said. “I’m happier because you’re not always on your phone looking at what other people are doing, you’re just always in the moment. So, it’s cool for me.”

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