Ok WTF is up with point guards letting the ball roll down court after they inbound it

[Euroleague]

Stick to facts about Arkansas, kid.

Piss of ******.

[Kblaze8855]

Nah. Ive seen plenty of people reach for it over the years and ive yet to see it stolen. Not in a real game at least. I think maybe someone got to it in a rookie game once....

Its not rolling where its 50/50. The guy letting it roll always stays in position to grab it quickly. Especially since its usually done in close games. Who wants to look like a fool by getting it stolen?

Plus...when its a Paul, Rondo, Barkley, Rose, or someone like that who can make you look like a fool when you are in good position...guys dont want to reach and get put on a highlight. Its usually an end of the clock situation where the other players are gonna stay in place trying to space the floor. You reach...guy gets the ball first and blows by you...hes got a wide open shot or hes got a teammate likely open for 3.

Better to just stand back and play straight up defense. At least if you are playing it safe in a tight game.

[nathanjizzle]

its called not gambling trying to steal the ball. because if you go for it and the guy picks it up and gets past you than you have a 4 on 5 situation.

[Euroleague]

Nah. Ive seen plenty of people reach for it over the years and ive yet to see it stolen. Not in a real game at least. I think maybe someone got to it in a rookie game once....

Its not rolling where its 50/50. The guy letting it roll always stays in position to grab it quickly. Especially since its usually done in close games. Who wants to look like a fool by getting it stolen?

Plus...when its a Paul, Rondo, Barkley, Rose, or someone like that who can make you look like a fool when you are in good position...guys dont want to reach and get put on a highlight. Its usually an end of the clock situation where the other players are gonna stay in place trying to space the floor. You reach...guy gets the ball first and blows by you...hes got a wide open shot or hes got a teammate likely open for 3.

Better to just stand back and play straight up defense. At least if you are playing it safe in a tight game.

The reason they can't steal is because they play 30-40 feet off the ball. All they have to do is run up as soon as they see it rolled in. But that would require an actual logic reasoning center in the brain of the defending team's players.

[ninephive]

And then of course if you're the Celtics at home you can just inbound it to yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiYzjt-rTdk

[demons2005]

I hate to seem like i'm harping on one player but the recent upsurge in this tactic is, like with flopping, because of the Clippers starting PG. For years now he's been doing it to a degree noone has done and for very ambiguous purposes. How can you explain doing this almost every time down the floor some games? To me it's not a "basketball play." It's a way to kill game clock at the expense of actual basketball. If you do it in the middle of a quarter the shotclock stays still but the game clock rolls on. I honestly think he does it so much just to get in the heads of his oponenets. I have seen someone steal it from him once which was awesome.

[Kblaze8855]

I hate to seem like i'm harping on one player

No you dont. And if you did care it would only be because your endless hating makes people disregard your opinion.

but the recent upsurge in this tactic is, like with flopping, because of the Clippers starting PG. For years now he's been doing it to a degree noone has done and for very ambiguous purposes. How can you explain doing this almost every time down the floor some games?

For one...you made that up. Chris paul probably plays 55-70 posessions of offense a game and there is no way in hell hes even approaching doing it a quarter of the time in any game.

And how could it be explained if he did? The shot clock not starting till you are near halfcourt gives you several more seconds to find a good shot. It would make perfect sense to do it every time if you could pull it off. The difference between 13 seconds to run a play and 18-19 is huge. shitty bailout shots would drop a lot.

[Alan]

Euroleague, no-one in their right mind will keep the ball rolling or even attempt it if the defender is close or applying full court pressure. It takes under a second for a player to pick up the ball, but a lot more for the defender to go after it.

[Rake2204]

Gameclock, yes.. not the shotclock

I'd have to see proof suggesting the game clock does not actually begin when the ball is touched because I don't believe that to be true. I've been watching folks roll the ball inbound for a long time, I really feel like at some point at least one official would have said, "Hey, you know, the game clock should start before he touches it, like the rules say." As it is, I don't think that's what the rules state and I think both the shot clock and game clock hold still until its physically touched. Elsewise, what happens on a bounce pass inbound? Teams are punished because the clock begins mid-pass?

Euroleague, no-one in their right mind will keep the ball rolling or even attempt it if the defender is close or applying full court pressure. It takes under a second for a player to pick up the ball, but a lot more for the defender to go after it.

Righto. It's not an arbitrary decision on the part of the ballhandler. Many times, defenses will apply light backcourt pressure. During those moments, the offense knows full well rolling the ball inbound would not be wise. Other times, teams will score and immediately retreat on defense into a half court defensive set. At these moments, rolling the ball becomes a viable option and due to the ease with which the offensive player could simply pick the ball up, it wouldn't make much sense for a defender to rush into the back court at full speed.

The reason they can't steal is because they play 30-40 feet off the ball. All they have to do is run up as soon as they see it rolled in. But that would require an actual logic reasoning center in the brain of the defending team's players.

Considering players only induce the roll-in when a defense has dropped entirely back I must ask, do you believe it's realistic for a defender to sprint nearly half of the floor and steal the ball before the offensive point guard has a chance to notice the defense sprinting at them to pick up the roll? And surely, defenses could always try to full-court pressure opposing teams in hopes of cutting down on roll-ins, but I think everyone recognizes that'd be a ton of extra work for little payoff in a 48-minute NBA basketball game.

Was a bad rule change. Need to change it back to the clock starting when the ball is inbounded. The rolling of the ball is lame!

Again, I must ask, when do you believe this rule was changed? I'm attempting to relent from drawing conclusions, but you seemed to make your statement in a manner suggesting the rule was altered just recently. As long as I've been watching basketball, which isn't insanely long (though it is over 20 years), I've never known the rule to be different. Beginning the clock the moment the ball leaves an inbounder's hands or the moment it first touches the floor would seem so arbitrary and limiting. Again though, starting the clock only when the ball touches a player's hands is not a new concept, not at all.

I'm not sure how this topic went three pages. Interesting to see what I feel to be a relatively simple concept stretched to such a length. To suggest stealing the roll is as simple as sprinting and diving reminds me of my friend in high school who thought he'd solved boxing. We'd explain he was going to get his face just absolutely beat in and he'd say, "Well then I'll just put my hands up here" (covering his face). We'd counter by telling him he was just going to get punched in the stomach over and over again and he'd say, "Well then I'll just put my hands down there." Basically, I feel as though some folks here are similarly oversimplifying the concept at play.

[Kblaze8855]

Are people generally aware that the game clock doesnt stop for made shots till the last minute of the first 3 quarters and last 2 minutes in the 4th and OT?

And when it stops it doesnt start till touched.

[gengiskhan]

I was just watching the Grizzlies/Clippers game and it's not the first time I've seen it but this was ****ing stupid. The guy on the Grizzlies let the ball roll halfway down the ****ing court before he picked it up. I know it's so the clock won't start until he picks it up but would someone from the other team at least try and run up and steal the ball?

No full court press. No 90 feet defensive pressure of today's garbage defensive era is responsible for that.

Can you imagine any team rolling the ball till the half court even in reg sea against 90s bulls,pistons,knicks,rockets etc.

[Rake2204]

No full court press. No 90 feet defensive pressure of today's garbage defensive era is responsible for that.

Can you imagine any team rolling the ball till the half court even in reg sea against 90s bulls,pistons,knicks,rockets etc.

I think the rarity of the roll-in back then had more to do with the move itself not being in vogue. I don't think it had to do with the defense. Teams, even the Pistons, did not pressure the length of the floor for all 48 minutes. There still would have been times and places for the roll-in if teams chose to take advantage.

I think it's similar to the Euor-step in the fact that it's something that's always existed in the game of basketball, just it's become more prominent as time has wore on.

[bagelred]

Just read the title. didn't need to read more. Agree. Such stupidity to let ball roll....how much time do you save? a second? The risk of traveling/stolen/etc. is just too great to save a second.

It's like the drivers speeding on the highway. Do they realize they are barely saving any time and risk of a ticket/higher insurance rates/accident/more gas usage/etc. goes up?

Had to bring it back to social commentary.

[dunksby]

OP is dumb as spit.

[Scholar]

I love it when casual basketball fans ask questions, such as the OP's, and then go on as though the players don't know what they're doing. Yeah, you're definitely right. You know better than the guy getting paid millions to play the game that you apparently know better.