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[gabefarkas]

http://www.nba.com/news/blackbox_060628.html?loc=bullet

[HoopStudies]

[Dan Rosenbaum]

With what I think was the new basketball, I was able to palm the ball and flip it up to the basket back-handed (palm facing the ground). I have always been able to palm the ball, but this was amazing.

[bchaikin]

in terry pluto's Loose Balls (1990) about the old ABA (1967-1976), it talks about the first season of the league and the red, white, and blue ball used. it mentions that a number of players complained about the ball being slippery early on that first season, but as steve jones (aba veteran and long time nba commentator) surmised, it was because all of the balls were in fact new, and that typically in the nba balls that had been used for awhile were chosen for game balls. guess we'll see during this upcoming exhibition season if these new ones are thought by players to be too slippery too...

[Mark]

Will "beter grip" mean NBA players will be able to go into a one handed dunk scoring move off the dribble in traffic with more security? Is a squeeze enough? Alley oop passing and finishing now a little easier?

Will rebounds be sticker to the first hand that touches it? Advantage defense?

Tip put backs and dunk shooting %s likely to go up?

Stickiness hurt or help 'long practicing might not like change' "pure shooters" more or less than scorers or not as patterned and perfectionist their way shooters?

Potential impacts on passing, receiving, dribbling, loose ball situations.

Quickier to be into shooting motion and release because of quicker grip control? More 3 pointers? Or do you have to consciously apply a light touch?

How similar in feel to college ball? Do rookies have less adjustment than in past and is that a slight uptick for their stock?

Are small hands for a big man now less of a liability? Are big hands a bigger advantage or can too big be a problem as reported with Rondo for his shot?

Ball behavior on the rim? Back board?


Some of these may come into play, others not. But near 200 possessions in a game and 82 games I expect some impact. I havent felt the ball yet to know if it is a big deal, but if the difference is instantly noticeable to those who have, it might do more than they thought. If there are micro but meaningful impacts the teams /player that recognize them and adjust fastest and best might gain a slight edge.

[HoopStudies]

Good questions, but I think the new ball feels a lot like the best of the old balls, which were usually the ones that players chose for a game. I think I remember that Gary Payton liked a slicker one, which messed other people up more than it messed him up. So that inconsistency would upset some people. But I don't expect to see much difference from it.
_________________
Dean Oliver
Author, Basketball on Paper
The postings are my own & don't necess represent positions, strategies or opinions of employers.

[Mark]

Since the topic was brought up I thought I'd catalogue the possible impacts and then watch for any signs of them. Maybe it ends ups a non-issue. The condition of the ball does matter as well as you note.

[Mark]

Yahoo article with negative reactions to ball from Heat players.
http://tinyurl.com/ln6vu
And later in another article Riley backs Shaq up: "I'm right with him," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "I think it's horrible..."

Article in original post said all players got a new ball earlier this summer but wonder how many took advantage of the time to really get use to it. Wade hadn't but he had something of an excuse with WC and Fiba ball.


Didnt really hear any commotion about it coming out of summer legue but few media reps play attention to that. A good amount of negative reaction to any change is to be expected. It would be a modest problem if an impact lasted more than a few weeks, more serious if it lasted beyond a season.

"Steve Nash said the ball has a tacky feel that's making shooting and certain types of passes tricky." Maybe there will be a middle ground like with the old ball. Break it in some, keep it dry. If it is more uniform, maybe they could substitute a completely dry ball instead of just wiping it for a common towel? Maybe they might also look at special treated moisture wipes or dehumidifiers.

And I'd look into changing the rims too to try to reduce damage to fingers on dunks. Maybe apply a polymer coating to the outside or light padding to reduce shock impact while maintaining equivalent dimensions.

[Mark]

"There is no question the ball is different. Its dimensions are the same, but the feel of the cover is not. And the ball reacts differently, too, say a couple of local physicists.

Jim Horwitz is chair of the physics department at UT-Arlington, and Kaushik De is the project leader and a physics professor at UTA. They were asked by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to do a study about the differences between composite and leather balls.

What the physicists found was that the new ball, when dropped from a height of five feet, bounced an average of four inches lower than the old ball. In addition, the synthetic ball was much slower to absorb moisture, a key complaint among players who seem to be constantly losing their grip on the new spheroid in the preseason.

"When water came in contact with both balls, the leather ball absorbed it more quickly and was more easily gripped," Horwitz says. "We suspect that will be the biggest difference in the physical characteristics of the balls."

Horwitz and De are not being paid by Cuban, and their research is ongoing. They plan to research with friction tests how the ball reacts to hardwood flooring and human skin, as well as spin control.

Another complaint of players is that the ball does not react the same off the backboard, making bank shots more adventurous.

from dallasnews.com
http://tinyurl.com/y4wpcm

[Mike G]

I guess I've never really thought about what happens to 'moisture' when it gets on the ball. If it's absorbed, the ball must get heavier. And all along, I've thought those sweaty, humid days just made the ball FEEL heavier, because your energy is sapped.

It makes perfect sense, though. And I think it's a heavy argument in favor of the old ball. Whatever advantages might be found in a non-absorbing ball, once it is wet those advantages are gone.
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39% of all statistics are wrong

[Climate]

Are they using this new ball for the preseason games?

That would be an easyway to gather info on the new ball.

[Mark]

Yes it was in summer league and now is being used in preseason.

[gabefarkas]