"It's become a deluded game -- a non-skilled game," said Newell, a former assistant coach of the Seattle SuperSonics and a recent head coach of China's Jilin Northeast Tigers. "It's all about players banging their chests and promoting themselves. The pure essence of execution is gone."
So, like any coach under pressure, Newell dug deep into his playbook and came up with an idea that just might work: raising the rims.
According to the coach, players have become too big and too athletic for regulation-sized baskets, which are 10 feet tall.
By raising the hoops to 11 feet, Newell says he could help basketball return to its glory days, giving fans a sport that places greater emphasis on skills like passing, jump shooting and dribbling. . .
A sport with fewer dunks and more jump shots might not sound exciting, but it has supporters, including Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce.
"The athletes today are crazy," he wrote on his Boston.com blog. "You see the way guys are jumping these days. I would raise the rim three inches. Then, you have to learn the art of the jump shot. You'll have to know how to play this game a little bit better then. Raising the rim, you'll see improved play. You'll see increasing fundamentals. I'm telling you."
"The athletes today are crazy," he wrote on his Boston.com blog. "You see the way guys are jumping these days. I would raise the rim three inches. Then, you have to learn the art of the jump shot. You'll have to know how to play this game a little bit better then. Raising the rim, you'll see improved play. You'll see increasing fundamentals. I'm telling you."
When I was reading this article I started laughing out loud at this Tom Newell guy. Like, you were the assistant coach of the Supersonics and that franchise ended up being buried alive and the remains were shipped to Oklahoma. The NBA without dunks would just be completely fucking stupid and it would be as unentertaining as women's basketball. Isn't that pretty much what separates the two? So I'm thinking to myself, this guy is a public embarrassment to the city of Seattle (like they need any more of that). Then they throw this curveball at me. Paul Pierce agrees with him? Wait wait wait. Paul Pierce thinks the NBA should raise the hoops to 11 feet? Now I'm pinching myself instead of laughing. To make sure this is real life. So my brain has been royally fucked and I'm in a state of cognitive dissonance. I thought this idea was utterly foolish. Then Paul Pierce agreed with it. And I don't think Paul Pierce is utterly foolish. None of this makes sense. I need help from the fans. Is raising the hoops to 11 feet the dumbest idea ever or is it actually okay because Pierce liked it?
Vote 1 for that shit is dumber than Canada or vote 5 for Pierce is right, that would be a cool little twist.
If Al Gore knew this blog was a possibility, he never would have invented the internet.
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