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WTF
They thought about making another ball?
They have to stop
NBA halts plans for developing reworked composite ball
By Ric Bucher
ESPN The Magazine
The NBA will use leather basketballs in its developmental league next season, temporarily ending its attempts to reintroduce a composite ball at the NBA level, a league official has confirmed.
"We are committed to leather for the foreseeable future," said league spokesman Tim Frank. "We just realized leather is what our guys wanted."
That means Spalding will remain one of two companies manufacturing a leather basketball. Molten also produces a ball for FIBA that is made of a different type of leather than the NBA ball.
Most college and high school conferences, as well as some foreign and international leagues, use balls made of synthetic material because they're less expensive to produce and provide more consistency from ball to ball.
The NBA introduced a composite ball at the start of the 2006-07 season, but after complaints from players that the balls became slick from perspiration and left tiny cuts on their fingertips, the league returned to leather in January 2007.
The league hoped to develop a composite ball that met its players' approval, and to that end, according to sources, experimented with three different types of composite balls in the
D-League last season.
It also formed a committee of top NBA players to test the new versions and offer their input, something that was not done the first time.
The production cost for Spalding, the company that makes the league's official ball, was one reason the league looked to switch to a composite material. The plan now is to develop a two-paneled ball, rather than the current eight-panel model.
The two-panel design was used on the composite ball and did not raise any complaints. Spalding is supposedly hoping that the feature can be used as a marketing tool.
The D League will begin next season using an eight-paneled leather ball and then switch to a two-paneled version sometime around midseason, Frank said.
WTF
They thought about making another ball?
They have to stop
Two panel ball? How can players easily grip the ball for a good rotation on shots?
The idea of a two panel ball is just stupid.
The reason players get good grip on the ball (besides their huge hands) is because of the eight panels on the current ball.
Even if they are planning on using it in the D-League first to try it out, that would be stupid.
What if they get used to that ball, then get called up to the NBA? Then it would not be comfortable for them, and they'd have to get used to the leather ball again.
This just causes way too many problems.
The two panel design is probably the same as the other composite ball they used for half the season. And nobody complained about the design, just the way it felt.
yeah it was in the article I just missed it.
What's wrong with these dumbasses in the league office? Two failed composites and now plans for a two-paneled ball? Is there something so glaringly wrong with the current model that they're this melodramatically bent on replacing it? They're morons, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
It cuts cost and the balls are actually better. The players are just drama queens who don't want things to change. Stern shoulda stuck with the old new ball and told the players to deal with it. But just like with everything else, Stern completely mishandled it.
Ummm.... did you forget the old new balls that would get stuck between the rim and the backboard?
Did you forget the weird bounces, the ball that would just lay flat on the rim?
I just noticed Pistons < Spurs posted this already. Sorry.
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104465
Don't see the big deal in the NBA trying new things. All sports continue to make changes to equipment and rules and everything else to see if there's something better. If not, then scrap the idea. But, there's nothing wrong with them doing research to see if they can do something to improve things.
im sure the players are happy about this.
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