10-06-2006, 01:36 AM
Despite Shaq's complaints, NBA says new ball is better
By BRIAN MAHONEY, AP Basketball Writer
October 4, 2006
NEW YORK (AP) -- Some of the NBA's biggest stars say the new game ball is too sticky when dry, too slippery when wet, and too -- well, not the old one.
The league is convinced it's better, no matter what the likes of Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade or Steve Nash have to say about it.
"Sure, you hear some comments that aren't as positive as the overwhelming majority of people that we tested the ball with," Stu Jackson, executive vice president of basketball operations, said Tuesday. "That's going to happen. Everyone that handles the ball loves the grip and the feel of the ball."
Not Shaq, who said the ball "feels like one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store, indoor-outdoor balls."
The NBA's old leather balls are being replaced this season by a microfiber composite model, the league's first change in 35 years. O'Neal blasted the ball Monday, criticizing not only the product, but whoever was involved in the decision to use it.
Both O'Neal and Wade griped about the ball's slick grip when wet, and two-time reigning MVP Steve Nash said the ball has a tacky feel that makes shooting and certain types of passes tricky.
"I certainly won't have to lick my fingers. The ball sticks to your hand. It's a big transition. It's extremely sticky," Nash said Tuesday in a conference call from the Phoenix Suns' training camp in Italy.
The ball looks noticeably different, too: Manufactured by Spalding, it features only two interlocking panels -- sort of like a pair of hands with the fingers laced together -- rather than the eight panels found on traditional basketballs.
Nash said it will be a difficult transition, but sounded as though he expected players to figure out how to use it.
"We do have a month to get it going," he said. "Right now I would say that the basketball sticks to the floor, it sticks to the backboard. It is different."
Jackson said no matter what the players say, the new ball's grip is an improvement, even when wet.
"If you moisturize a leather ball, it also feels very slick," he said. "But this new ball has a better grip when it's wet than a leather ball."
Players have already had plenty of exposure to the new ball, which was sent to all teams after the All-Star break and to players during the summer.
Most players were probably exposed to it even before that. The ball was used in events at the last two All-Star games, which O'Neal played in, and was tested in summer league and D-League play. It is also used at the amateur levels, so most players grow up using it.
"It's a better ball," Jackson said. "But as a product matter, composite balls are used in every league throughout the world. And they've been used in every level of play over the last 10 years domestically in the NCAA and also in high school."
Jackson said O'Neal would not be fined for his outburst, in which he said that the person who decided to change the ball "needs his college degree revoked." But he did say that the change would not have been made if there were many similar complaints when the ball was tested.
"We would have pulled the ball," Jackson said.
Of seven Heat players interviewed about the new ball at the team's media day Monday and after practice Tuesday, not one preferred it to the old leather model. Certainly not Shaq, who took a spinning jump hook in the lane during practice, about six feet from the basket. But the ball slipped in his hand and went straight up in the air -- without moving toward the hoop at all.
It was one of three times Shaq lost the handle in a span of about 15 minutes.
"I'm right with him," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "I think it's horrible. ... It really does feel like an indoor-outdoor ball. We'll see how it works. Maybe they'll learn to love it, I don't know."
By BRIAN MAHONEY, AP Basketball Writer
October 4, 2006
NEW YORK (AP) -- Some of the NBA's biggest stars say the new game ball is too sticky when dry, too slippery when wet, and too -- well, not the old one.
The league is convinced it's better, no matter what the likes of Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade or Steve Nash have to say about it.
"Sure, you hear some comments that aren't as positive as the overwhelming majority of people that we tested the ball with," Stu Jackson, executive vice president of basketball operations, said Tuesday. "That's going to happen. Everyone that handles the ball loves the grip and the feel of the ball."
Not Shaq, who said the ball "feels like one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store, indoor-outdoor balls."
The NBA's old leather balls are being replaced this season by a microfiber composite model, the league's first change in 35 years. O'Neal blasted the ball Monday, criticizing not only the product, but whoever was involved in the decision to use it.
Both O'Neal and Wade griped about the ball's slick grip when wet, and two-time reigning MVP Steve Nash said the ball has a tacky feel that makes shooting and certain types of passes tricky.
"I certainly won't have to lick my fingers. The ball sticks to your hand. It's a big transition. It's extremely sticky," Nash said Tuesday in a conference call from the Phoenix Suns' training camp in Italy.
The ball looks noticeably different, too: Manufactured by Spalding, it features only two interlocking panels -- sort of like a pair of hands with the fingers laced together -- rather than the eight panels found on traditional basketballs.
Nash said it will be a difficult transition, but sounded as though he expected players to figure out how to use it.
"We do have a month to get it going," he said. "Right now I would say that the basketball sticks to the floor, it sticks to the backboard. It is different."
Jackson said no matter what the players say, the new ball's grip is an improvement, even when wet.
"If you moisturize a leather ball, it also feels very slick," he said. "But this new ball has a better grip when it's wet than a leather ball."
Players have already had plenty of exposure to the new ball, which was sent to all teams after the All-Star break and to players during the summer.
Most players were probably exposed to it even before that. The ball was used in events at the last two All-Star games, which O'Neal played in, and was tested in summer league and D-League play. It is also used at the amateur levels, so most players grow up using it.
"It's a better ball," Jackson said. "But as a product matter, composite balls are used in every league throughout the world. And they've been used in every level of play over the last 10 years domestically in the NCAA and also in high school."
Jackson said O'Neal would not be fined for his outburst, in which he said that the person who decided to change the ball "needs his college degree revoked." But he did say that the change would not have been made if there were many similar complaints when the ball was tested.
"We would have pulled the ball," Jackson said.
Of seven Heat players interviewed about the new ball at the team's media day Monday and after practice Tuesday, not one preferred it to the old leather model. Certainly not Shaq, who took a spinning jump hook in the lane during practice, about six feet from the basket. But the ball slipped in his hand and went straight up in the air -- without moving toward the hoop at all.
It was one of three times Shaq lost the handle in a span of about 15 minutes.
"I'm right with him," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "I think it's horrible. ... It really does feel like an indoor-outdoor ball. We'll see how it works. Maybe they'll learn to love it, I don't know."
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