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As someone of you may know the NBA has revised their definition of what a traveling violation is and now "NBA players will be able to take two steps before they have to stop, pass or shoot this season."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4563546

So I guess after it was decided it was too hard on Lebron to call him for his "crab dribble," they changed the rules so he can basically waltz into the lane without ever taking a dribble. The article also notes that this is the first time any league at any level has allowed two steps. I'm OK with two-step violations when players are going up for a fast-break dunk to make it more spectacular but you know there's gonna be guys who are going to take full advantage of this rule change and add a 3rd step in there just as there were certain players who add a 2nd step to the one-step rule.

What's the go? Is this even basketball anymore? From the hand-checking rule addition to this two-step travel rule, is this really basketball anymore?

It has been an unwritten rule for so many years. There really wasn't any need for it to be changed, players were already occasionally adding that 3rd step in anyways from time to time so I don't see that changing. You see it in every league, especially on lay-ups where a player takes two steps. I actually think (well, I know it used to) in the FIBA rule book they call it a 1 and a half step, which basically meant you were allowed to take 2 steps once you had picked up the dribble as long as you passed or shot as soon as you took those steps, otherwise it would have been a travel if you just stood there with the ball.

Never Fear 33 Is Here wrote:It has been an unwritten rule for so many years. There really wasn't any need for it to be changed, players were already occasionally adding that 3rd step in anyways from time to time so I don't see that changing.

This is how I've always felt. I always think it's crazy, even at the college level, how many steps they let them get away with. I even don't find it uncommon to see 3 1/2 or even 4 steps if the refs aren't paying close enough attention (or if it's a superstar )

As a matter of fact, I always laugh when they call traveling in college or NBA..I agree though lilfishi, they are just letting players get away with being sloppy with ballhandling skills. It's also yet another area where I feel superstars are given an unfair advantage (much like foul calls)

Funny thing is, with travelling and even with other aspects of the game, you can often catch referees out by just being "confident" in what you do. If you stop or anything like that, you will often get caught out. I don't think I have ever pulled a post move where I haven't travelled.

OK probably not that bad, but you get the picture.

Never Fear 33 Is Here wrote:I don't think I have ever pulled a post move where I haven't travelled.

I'm more of a layup/teardrop kinda guy than a post move kinda guy. I guess you could also call it being a p***y

No, its cause I play PG pretty much..but yeah, if I'm cutting into the lane while going up, I'll take an extra 1/2 step plenty of times.

I guess it's how the game has evolved. More scoring, less defense, slightly less focus on fundamentals

Miklo wrote:

Never Fear 33 Is Here wrote:I don't think I have ever pulled a post move where I haven't travelled.

I'm more of a layup/teardrop kinda guy than a post move kinda guy. I guess you could also call it being a p***y

No, its cause I play PG pretty much..but yeah, if I'm cutting into the lane while going up, I'll take an extra 1/2 step plenty of times.

I guess it's how the game has evolved. More scoring, less defense, slightly less focus on fundamentals

Haha, yeah definitely more of a slasher/penetrator myself................hmmmmm maybe that is why I travel so much in the post?!

It is true that refs do let 2-3 steps go sometimes, they are called superstar calls. In a way this rule does "even the field" a bit, in that your average player gets to do what Dwade and Lebron get to do without getting called now.

I just want to see guys get called for violation when a violation is committed. The rule had always either been 1 or 1 and a half step and given that rule, guys were still sneaking in 2-3 step combos. Now the rule changed to 2 steps, you just know guys are going to take full advantage and pull out that 3-4 step combo. But since as most understand it, it's normally one step and the 1/2 step is usually employed if you are in the act of shooting or passing but changing it to 2 steps really open a whole new avenue for moves. It just makes the game a lot easier if you have that extra half step to decide what you wanna do if you don't pass or shoot after picking up the ball, if you know what I mean.

I'm not a big fan of rule changes, especially to the fundamentals to the game. It's probably just me.

3 and a half steps

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/top_p ... top10.nba/

Starting at 1 min 20 secs, and is replayed ac ouple times

Perfect example of what ALL superstars do constantly

^^^Nice Dunk by Griff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D9Z1wAwQtM

Aint nothin wrong with that!

ROFL, that is terrible.

To be honest, I always thought the NBA allowed a 2-3 step travelling rule. That was before I ever looked at the rules, and only took what I saw from games.

I'm with lilfishi on this. I hate to see fundamental changes to the rules of the game. I'm sure, like many have said, that that extra step is going to be abused by some players. It takes away the idea that these players really are the best basketball players in the world.

rsavaj wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D9Z1wAwQtM

Aint nothin wrong with that!

LOL

All this will do is eliminate all the petty travel calls that annoyed everyone the last 2 seasons when refs started really calling it too often.

anyone here have the old language of the rule? i always thought it was pretty clear that you could take two steps off the dribble so long as you were shooting or passing off the second step. i watch a lot of nba tho so i am biased but i really think this thread is useless w/out comparing the old and the new langauge of the rules.