Antoine Walker for 4?

[snowmanny]

I like the thing where Larry Bird bets the Knicks trainer $5 he will bank in a three point shot during the course of the game, does it in the third quarter, and then runs by the NY bench waving five fingers at the poor sap while a befuddled Marv Albert declares that Bird was way off on his shot but got lucky. Can we just bring that back?  Way better than a four point shot.

 

[Jer]

Bank shots worth an extra point!

 

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

I agree with the 11 feet rims but that will never happen.  The NBA has too much money tied into the slam dunk.
 
As for inbounding the ball instead of foul shots, most rec leagues do this and I can tell you that it will make games really boring because teams simply won't be able to come back from a deficit. 

 

[wutang112878]

What empirics?
 
In the 3 seasons where the line was moved in, teams averaged 107.53 points per 100 possessions, which controls for pace. In the season before, it was 106.3 and the season after, it was 105, for an average of 105.65. If you want to do a three year rolling average, the number is the same (105.63 with the line out). In other words, teams were scoring about 2 points per 100 possessions more with the line in.
 
Maybe that's just random, but a quick glance at efficiency suggests teams were scoring more during that period, even controlling for pace.

 
I guess it depends on what you wanted to fix. 
 
At first glance I thought that during the shortened 3 period, 3pt attempts went up and scoring went up which makes sense.  Its somewhat interesting is that when 3pt attempts went back down the 3pt FG% hardly went down. 
 
But digging a little deeper, scoring went up because 3s were a better shot and they took more, but in addition you got better 2pt shooting as well. When the 3pt line moved in the 2pt FG% actually went up and then dropped again once the line was moved out.  And the spread between the 3pt FG% converted to a 2pt FG% was basically the same, so 3s were basically always an equally better shot than 2s. 
 
So they really got more artificially inflated scoring via more 3s but also the added benefit of better 2pt shooting which would suggest there was indeed better spacing.
 
 

NBA

Year	Ortg	3pt FGA	3pt FG%	3pt FG% converted to 2pt FG%	2pt FG%	Spread
1992/1993	108	734	34%	50%	49%	1.6%
1993/1994	106.3	811	33%	50%	48%	1.8%
1994/1995	108.3	1255	36%	54%	49%	4.7%
1995/1996	107.6	1316	37%	55%	49%	6.5%
1996/1997	106.7	1377	36%	54%	48%	6.0%
1997/1998	105	1043	35%	52%	47%	4.7%
1998/1999	ShortSeason	ShortSeason	Short Season	Short Season	Short Season	Short Season
1999/2000	104.1	1125	35%	53%	47%	6.2%
2000/2001	103	1124	35%	53%	46%	6.9%
2001/2002	104.5	1209	35%	53%	47%	6.6%
2002/2003	103.6	1203	35%	52%	46%	6.2%
2003/2004	102.9	1224	35%	52%	46%	6.1%

 

[zenter]

If part of the goal of proposed changes is to make the midrange shot more valuable, let's lower the value of close shots, since 3s aren't the only thing taking away from midrange usage. Create a semicircle around the hoop at a 6-foot radius. Any shots taken from within the radius are worth 1 point. Breakaway/fastbreak dunks are 2 points of the guy takes off outside the range, or if they are alley-oops.
 
There. Solved.

 

[Devizier]

The post game has virtually disappeared from the league. I think "addressing" that issue is correcting problems that came up ten years ago.
 
A bigger issue is that the league is turning more and more into a three point bombers affair and that's really boring to me. I hate college basketball, and I don't want the NBA to resemble it.

 

[CreightonGubanich]

I love the direction NBA offenses have gone. The post game is still important, but teams use it as much to create offense elsewhere as to actually score out of the post. Guys like LeBron, Wesley Matthews, and Carmelo are formidable post-up guys. It's no long behemoths bullying their way to the basket; the post-up game rewards big men who can pass, and there are more now than ever. Of course, it's still primarily a pick-and-roll game, but I think that's a positive - it rewards smart playmakers, and you see a whole lot of different styles showcased, from Tyson Chandler's assaults on the rim, to KG's pick-and-pop, to Steph Curry creating his own shot.
 
And the power forward post up game is still a weapon; Al Jefferson is an automatic double team every time he gets the ball down low. The key is being able to make other teams pay for that approach. 

 

[Brickowski]

If you want to speed up the game and see more elegant offensive play, stop calling cheap fouls on the defense.  In today's NBA, when a star player drives the lane and misses, he's going to get a call 90% of the time.  And shooters who barely touched by the defender's fingertip fall backwards like they've been hit by a train and get free throws, 4-point plays etc.   It's just as easy to score by putting on a good act as it is by running interesting plays and passing the ball.