Credit where credit is due….To the NBA

One of my favorite reads every couple of days is Blog Maverick - www.blogmaverick.com.
It is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban's, (almost)daily blog. Like him or not (and I do) Cuban is usally right on with his thoughts commments. Or at least he and I just agree. Here is what he says,

"Thank you David Stern. Thank you Ronnie Nunn. Thank you Stu Jackson. Because of the initiative and action taken by the NBA to call the game by the rules as written, we have the seen the game become much more free flowing, and as a result the scoring is way, way up , reversing a long trend of decline.

I know that Ronnie Nunn and Stu Jackson put in a lot of hours going through tape, coming to the realization, correctly so, that contact on the perimeter slows down play, impacts shooting percentage and gives the defense an advantage that shouldnt be there.

I know there are some playground purists that think the league 'should let them play'. Suggesting that if there isnt a turnover or blood caused by contact that its ok. Honestly, there is no commentary in all of NBA punditry that is stupider. The ironic thing is that those same people who call out for 'let them play', are usually the same ones who consider themselves basketball purists.

Well guess what guys. Playing basketball 'the right way', to quote Larry Browns now popular phrase, means a defender should be in a defensive stance, moving his feet, arms extended, keeping his man in front of him. Playing defense the right way is not compensating for lack of defensive desire or skill by bumping , pushing, grabbing and stiff-arming. A defender does these things to compensate for lack of ability to keep up with the offensive player. There isnt a single instance of defensive contact that isnt an effort to impede an offensive player and gain an advantage."...read the rest here, and I'd suggest that you visit often.