Chapter 274 The Revolution of Basketball
Chen Qiang proposed the eight-second rule, which made Ferris fall into thinking.
The eight-second rule was originally a 10-second rule, and the evolution of this rule also took a long time. In 1960, this rule was the last three minutes of the game. The offensive team had to make the ball into the frontcourt within 10 seconds after getting the ball; in 1972 it was changed to get the ball into the frontcourt within 10 seconds after getting the ball in the backcourt; and in 2003, the 10-second rule was changed to the eight-second rule. Therefore, many old fans should remember that basketballs in the past passed half of the game within 10 seconds.
The purpose of formulating this rule is to encourage basketball to move forward as soon as possible, thereby speeding up the pace of the game.
In basketball in ancient times, players could hold the ball in the backcourt without limit, or even pass the ball back to the backcourt. This is like the current football sport. Midfielders held the ball back and forth for a long time, then passed the ball back to the defender, or even returned the ball to the goalkeeper. At that time, they wanted to change the ball, either wait for the opponent to shoot but fail to grab the rebound, or use the five-second rule to defend the opponent for five seconds. If they encounter such a slutty opponent who always stays in the backcourt, they can only use the five-second rule to create a tight defense to cause the ball to change.
From the perspective of modern basketball, if you don’t double-team it will be difficult for players to create a five-second violation for each player to defend one. However, in early basketball, the players’ level was relatively poor and the passing rhythm was very slow, so it is easy to cause a five-second violation if you defend one.
Pushing the ball to the frontcourt within eight seconds will obviously increase the rhythm of basketball. Even the tycoon Fred Zorner, who doesn't know much about basketball, can understand this rule.
In a game, ten people play a ball. If the activity space is reduced by half, there will inevitably be more intense confrontation. An eight-second rule will forcefully reduce the activity space by half. This will definitely speed up the overall rhythm of the basketball and the game will also appear more intense.
Basketball is ultimately a sport of time and space. Whether it is compressing time or compressing space, it will inevitably increase the rhythm of basketball. The previous proposal of Chen Qiang to expand the range of the three-second zone is to make a fuss about space. Now, the eight-second rule proposed by Chen Qiang seems to be limiting time on the surface, but in fact it is also compressing space.
However, it is absolutely not enough to just make a fuss in space. Chen Qiang needs to make a fuss in time to modify basketball rules.
So before anyone could ask questions about the eight-second rule, Chen Qiang continued: "Next, please see my fourth rule modification, adding the offensive 24-second offensive rule. When the team obtains new ball rights in the game, or when the ball is legally touched by the player on the field during throwing, the 24-second timer will start. The team with the ball rights must complete the shot within 24 seconds after obtaining the ball. Otherwise, it will be judged as a 24-second violation and the serving rights will be awarded to the opponent."
As soon as Chen Qiang's words fell, everyone present showed horror expressions. Compared with the previous expansion of the three-second zone, the five-second violation rules and the eight-second violations into the frontcourt, the 24-second offensive violation is really a shock.
"Mr. Chen, what are the criteria for determining 'complete shot' you said?" someone asked.
"First, before the end of 24 seconds, the ball must leave the player's hand; second, after the ball leaves the player's hand, the ball must contact the rebound." Chen Qiang replied.
"If the ball took the ball 24 seconds ago but entered the basket in 24 seconds, would it be considered a scoring?" someone asked again.
"Of course, the score must be calculated." Chen Qiang smiled slightly, then said, "Don't you think it's very exciting to take action in zero seconds and then look forward to whether the ball can be hit into the basket?"
"Shot in zero seconds? This is indeed a very exciting word. I can probably imagine that kind of scene." The man paused and asked, "Then if he completed the shot but did not score a goal, how should he calculate the time?"
"Whoever grabs the rebound will be the right to the ball, and then recalculate the offensive time of 24 seconds, and only until the shot is completed again, or the ball is converted." Chen Qiang replied.
Before 1954, the NBA did not have a 24-second offensive violation, which is the main reason for the slow pace of basketball games.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the impact of not having a 24-second offensive violation was not very big. After all, the players' defense level was relatively poor at that time, and professional players' defense was not as good as that of later high school students. It was like when we played jungle balls, the defense was basically just a good example. With such a game intensity, even without the offensive time limit, we could easily score points.
However, after World War II, the level of players began to improve continuously. Especially after the establishment of the NBA, the large-scale professional league has greatly improved the US basketball skills and tactics level. The players' defensive level is getting better and better, and the coach's tactical level is getting higher and higher. At this time, the impact of 24-second offensive violations is revealed.
At that time, there were often 30 to 30 to 30 to 40 in many games. If a team could score 50, it would be smooth to attack. In the future, in the same 48 minutes of the game, it would be normal for the NBA team to get 120 to 30 in a game.
In a NBA game in 1950, Fort Wayne Pistons played against the Minneapolis Lakers. The final score between the two sides was 19-18, which was also the lowest score in NBA history. The reason was that the Pistons were afraid of the Lakers' legendary center George McCann, so they kept passing the ball all the time during the game, and there was no offensive time limit, which eventually led to such a low score.
Just imagine, in a 48-minute game, the two teams combined only had 37 points. This is still an NBA-level team. How ugly is such a game! In the future, people will think that this is playing rugby.
Similar situations were not an exception in the United States at that time. At that time, many fans would throw things on the field when watching the game because the game was too big and procrastinating. The players always passed the ball back and forth without attacking. The fans were really angry. This was probably like today's football hooligan smashing players with mineral water bottles.
It is also because there is no offensive time limit that basketball offense at that time will be extra cautious and must pursue the most likely offensive method. Unless there is an opportunity to shoot an open space near the basket, players would rather reorganize the offense.
For example, in 1932, in a game between the University of Missouri and the University of Kansas, the University of Missouri once controlled the ball for 11 minutes in a row, and simply passed the ball around and did not attack. In the end, the players of the University of Kansas simply stood there and watched the University of Missouri pass the ball. It would be strange if the audience didn't scold them if they watched it!
The NBA before 1954 was so boring that many people even thought that the game rhythm of golf that had been swinging for a long time was faster than that of basketball, which also led to no one watching the NBA game. So the NBA had to make reforms and formulated 24-second offensive rules.
According to the calculations of the NBA League at that time, if you did not deliberately waste time or delay the game, a team could shoot about 60 goals in a game, and two teams would have 120 goals, which means that a total of 120 pitches will be made in a game. Dividing the 48-minute game time by 120 times is 24 seconds, which is also the origin of the 24-second offensive violation.
In the future, 24 seconds is enough to organize two to three attacks, but the offensive skills and tactics of basketball players at that time were not as sharp as those of later generations, so 24 seconds was only enough to conduct one attack.
The emergence of the 24-second offensive violation rule raised the pace of basketball's game to a higher level, and the Celtics became the first team in NBA history to score 100 points. The emergence of this rule also saved NBA and saved the sport of basketball.
In comparison, FIBA only added the rules of offensive time limit in 1957, but FIBA set a 30-second offensive violation. It was not until 2003 that FIBA changed the 30-second offensive violation to a 24-second offensive violation.
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The rule of the 24-second offensive violation is undoubtedly one of the most amazing innovations in basketball. Everyone present can see that once the basketball adopts the 24-second offensive violation, the basketball will no longer have the situation where the ball holder keeps passing the ball. The time limit will force the ball holder to attack as soon as possible, and the more attacks, it will obviously greatly increase the viewing of the game.
Several stadium owners thought that Chen Qiang's rule was very reasonable and they had no reason to oppose Chen Qiang. Rochester Royals and Baltimore Bullets, because they were both teams invested by Chen Qiang, would not object to Chen Qiang. So the one who finally spoke was still Ferris of the Buffalo Buffalo.
Ferris thought carefully, and then said, "Mr. Chen, I can understand your original intention of revising the five-second violation rule, requiring eight seconds to bring the ball to the frontcourt, and setting the 24-second offensive time. You hope to promote the attack of the ball as soon as possible by compressing space and reducing time, so as to create more intense confrontation, speed up the pace of the game, and make the game more exciting. But I think such a rule modification may be contrary to your wishes."
"Mr. Ferris, please speak." Chen Qiang really wanted to hear Ferris's opinion. After all, this person has also made outstanding contributions in the history of NBA development and has also entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in the future.
Ferris continued: "Increasing the range of the three-second zone will lead to the offensive side further away from the basket, which is obviously more beneficial to the defense; modifying the five-second violation rule will make the ball change easier, and the defense can use excellent defense to obtain the ball, which is also beneficial to the defense;
Pushing the ball to the frontcourt in eight seconds is equivalent to artificially compressing the player's space for activities. We all know that the offensive side wants to create space, while the defensive side needs to compress space. The smaller the space is compressed, the more beneficial the defense side is, so taking the ball to the frontcourt in eight seconds is actually more defensive;
As for the rules of the 24-second offensive violation, although it encourages the attack, it is also urging the attack to promote the attack! With only 24 seconds, the offensive side's attack will be more hasty. This hasty attack will also greatly reduce the success rate of the offensive and also reduce the difficulty of defense.
Therefore, the modification of these rules is biased towards the defensive side, weakening the offensive side, which will make the offensive side more timid and difficult to make exciting and smooth attacks. I think the audience will definitely not like to watch games that don’t score goals for a long time.”
Chen Qiang nodded slightly, and then said: "In almost all sports, the offensive side has the initiative. The offensiver can choose when to launch an offensive and how to launch an offensive. The defenders are more passive in response. They must respond after the offensive side starts to take action. Therefore, the rules of the game in almost all sports are more inclined to the defensive side, so that the game will be evenly matched and not one-sided. I think you can definitely understand this."
Chen Qiang paused, giving everyone some time to digest, and then continued: "I admit that my rules modifications are indeed biased towards the defensive side under the current basketball system, but basketball is a confrontational sport after all, and the offensive side and the defensive side are not constant. Whoever has the ball rights is the offensive side, and when the ball rights change, the roles of both sides will also change. Therefore, even if the rules are more biased towards the defensive side, it will not affect the fairness of the game, because both sides can enjoy the benefits of the rules."
Chen Qiang originally wanted to pause for a while and let everyone digest these contents, but Ferris couldn't wait to say: "Mr. Chen, I understand what you said, but what I just proposed, such a rule modification will make the offense difficult. No audience wants to watch a game without scoring for a long time. What you said cannot solve the problem I raised."
"Mr. Ferris, you may not have noticed the premise of what I said just now. I just said that it is under the current basketball system, so I think that while modifying the basketball rules, the entire sports system of basketball must be modified! Or in other words, we force the basketball system to reform by modifying the basketball rules! Teams, players and coaches must adapt to the new basketball system. Players need to master new basketball skills, and coaches must also study new basketball tactics." Chen Qiang explained.
Ferris nodded and then spoke: "Mr. Chen, basketball has been around for fifty years. It is not easy to reform the entire basketball system. Since you proposed to reform basketball, have you already found a direction?"
"Of course." Chen Qiang nodded, then said, "I can reveal to you something first. Under the new basketball rules I have set, jump shots will be one of the most common ways to score."
"Mr. Chen, this is not new at all. Under the current rules, jump shots are also the main scoring method." Ferris shook his head and said.
"Now, jump shots are always standing near the basket, and some even stand directly under the basket. The jump shot I mentioned is standing outside the three-second zone." Chen Qiang replied.
"Is it on the free throw line outside the three-second zone? Isn't that similar to the free throw?" Ferris obviously didn't understand what Chen Qiang meant.
"But no one interferes with the free throws, and the jump shot is different." Chen Qiang smiled slightly and then continued to explain: "Mr. Ferris, don't forget that my rules have modified the range of the three-second zone. What I said is the jump shot outside the three-second zone, which is closest to the basket, is also 3.6 meters."
"Are you talking about a long-distance jump shot? It's very difficult to shoot the ball in that distance!" Ferris showed a surprised expression.
Chapter completed!