A Bigger Court Needed? More refs?

[raspsa]

What do you think of Van Gundy's suggestion to widen the sidelines by about 12 inches and similarly move the endline back to accommodate today's larger, more athletic players? Personally, I don't like it.

I'm curious though if adding a 4th ref would make a difference in the quality of calls. Might be worth trying for a few weeks.

[exstatic]

Four bad refs are no better than three bad refs. The L needs to totally clean house and get rid of most of the refs now on staff.

[JamStone]

all for widening the sidelines. don't know about the baselines though. but, giving an extra 6 inches on each side of the corner 3-pointer would help avoid those careless step-outs all the time. would also help offenses as it would be a little harder to apply strong traps in the halfcourt corners.

[FromWayDowntown]

Four bad refs are no better than three bad refs. The L needs to totally clean house and get rid of most of the refs now on staff.

It's interesting to me that the league has already, apparently, started moving towards more accountability with officials. Two guys who have been getting 2nd round and conference finals games for the last few years -- Derrick Stafford and Bill Spooner -- haven't worked this post-season since the First Round. Last year, Ron Garretson, who had officiated in the Finals every year between 1998 and 2005, didn't get a Finals game. It's incremental, but it does appear that the league is making some movement towards making officials more and more accountable by removing them from later playoff rounds and injecting some new blood into those games. It's at least a start.

[sa_butta]

all for widening the sidelines. don't know about the baselines though. but, giving an extra 6 inches on each side of the corner 3-pointer would help avoid those careless step-outs all the time. .It must be hard to stay in bounds for NBA players with size 18 shoes. I would be for widening the corner 3's.

[phyzik]

lets add trampolines and buzz-saw's that pop out of the floor too!!

Look, Im not totally against changes, I just think why try and fix something that isnt broken, it just leads to more, unforseable, problems.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

nvmd

[Tigole Bitties]

say goodbye to Bruce's corner threes

[td4mvp21]

The problem with refs is that they are human. They can't be perfect and will most likely never be able to be fair.

[Fabbs]

Offcourt assistant refs should absolutely be used.
On impossible (in real time) out of bounds plays, same replay that we see instantaneously at home should be piped into a sideline or booth ref. He then immediately fires the call to the court and move on. If inconclusive after a quick look on camera, it goes back to the oncourt refs and move it on, just like now. Teams or players who want to hold up play and question the replay camera ref are given a -20 point deduction if proven wrong. Flunky camera refs who cheat/ are inept are suspended for a year on 1st offense.

3 seconds could easily be patrolled by off court refs.
Bunny hop travels, etc if off courters see it they should be allowed to make the correct call. For the whiners who say no one could get away with anything, you could not be more wrong. Those who are not good enough to play without bunnyhops and constant travelling would be hozed. In the most recent Suns-Spurs series Stoudamire does 6-7 bunnyhops a game. So do some Spurs occasionally like Tony. The players who are good enough would adjust.

[Beno Udrih]

During the last two minutes of each quarter, instant replay should be available. But more like college football not the NFL. They should have an official sit court side reviewing each questionable play. The coaches or any one else can't challenge, just the official. Since the last two minutes of each quarter there's always stoppage in play anyways.

[raspsa]

I like the system in Formula 1.. OK, feel free to file a complaint but if found to be unwarranted/unjustified, you have to pay a very hefty fine..

[ManuTastic]

Widening and lengthening the court a bit makes sense; guys are just bigger now than when Naismith hung the peach baskets up.
Not sure what to do about the suckass refs, besides get rid of them and get new ones.

[Manu Pacquiao]

I think thy should widen up the sidelines a foot or so. Proportionally, the court dimensions of a FIBA standard basketball court has got about 3 feet or so from the corner 3 line to the sidecourt. It also seems to have a deeper baseline. But it has a shorter length, from baseline to baseline compared to the NBA court dimensions.

I think that's why the international teams play really good drive and kick-out plays, because of a deeper baseline area. More options and more floor area to utilize.

[boutons_]

There was proposal to widen the court 4 feet a couple years ago. One objection was that it would remove a row of the most expensive seats the length the court on both sides, too much revenue to lose.

[Jimcs50]

What makes the court seem too narrow is that the 3-pt line has been moved so far away, that thee is not much room betw the line and the out of bounds line. If you are standing there to shoot the 3, and decide to drive instead, you almost always risk the chance to stepping back and out, when you start your drive....it happens a lot. I think moving the sideline about 10-12 inches would solve the problem, w/o changing any courtside seating.