Much like the RZA is the abbot of the Wu Tang Clan, Henry Abbott is the abbot of the ballersphere.
And, along with four other “thoughts that won’t change basketball forever,” he has an idea on how teams can try to gain a few extra possessions.
Here’s the set-up.
Another little conundrum to do with possessions. By the definition that is commonly used, both teams have the same number of possessions in a game. My team has it, then your team has it, and back and forth.
Except … not exactly.
At the end of quarters, things can get a tad uneven, because at the beginning of the next quarter, the possession goes to a team that is predetermined. (A team wins the jump ball at the beginning of the game, and thus earns the ball to begin the first and fourth quarters. The other team gets it to begin the second and third.)
Which means that there are extra possessions up for grabs at the end of quarters. Whoever has it last in any quarter has gained a possession they might have never had.
So … if the other team has the ball with 23 seconds left to close a quarter, should you foul to get the ball back? You get a free possession out of the deal, which almost never happens.
The Spurs have done this from time to time, and I can see the point of it.
Of course, it’s not really a free possession, though. That’s the thing. You’re sending somebody to the line to get that possession. So, you’re giving up somewhere between zero and two points, and getting another foul on one of your guys. There’s a lot of figuring to do there. Depends who you foul, how well they are shooting, and how likely you think you are, in that moment, to make a bucket.
So…
Should you foul or should you not foul?
Here’s what I would do, if I were an NBA coach: I’d train my team to play a special brand of psycho defense. This is defense where you don’t care if you get called for a foul. Bumping, screaming, slapping, banging, poking … Five guys should bring it crazy hard (except when somebody is shooting — which is nearly impossible to predict in the NBA and is the downfall of my plan) when the other team has the ball in the waning moments of a quarter. You get called for a foul, so what? That’s your semi-intentional foul, and you get a possession for it. But if you don’t get called for a foul? Against that defense, I don’t like the other teams’ chances. Besides, I bet it’s great for your team to practice that kind of defense anyway. Good for everyone on the court, offense and defense, to get used to that brand of intensity.
Of his non-revolutionary ideas, this was the one I found most interesting. But the other four are decent as well. Check em out.
The sharpest motherfucka in the whole Clan. He always on point, razorsharp...with the first cup, with the bullets, whateva -- and he train like a pro.
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