Semi-OT: Basketball Powerplay and other elements from hockey

[Rocky5000]

While I was reading about the whole Donaghy fiasco and refereeing, one writer said that hockey seemed to have much better officiating. However, the more I thought about it, it wasn't so much that the officials were more skilled, it was that hockey just has more efficient rules.

So that got me thinking what elements of hockey could be adopted to improve the NBA game? Two things that I think would be cool to see, are the adoption of more penalties resulting in "faceoffs", and the implementation of a Powerplay.

The equivalent of a faceoff in basketball is a jumpball, but it's very rarely used in the NBA. The one NBA situation that I think would be best suited for a jumpball stoppage is the charge/block/flop situation. Rather than having the refs guess one way or the other, have the two guys jump the ball up. This gives the offensive team the advantage of being able to setup the offense around the jump ball, and the defensive player isn't automatically rewarded with possession in the event of drawing a charge, which more often than not involves some degree of flopping. "Loose ball fouls" could also resulting in jump balls. Usually these are just the result of a player showing hustle.

I also think that the Powerplay would be awesome to see implemented in the NBA. I see it basically working like this, if you commit a foul, you have to sit out the rest of that defensive possession(however long is left on the Shotclock) and play 4 on 5. Once again, the offensive player isn't automatically rewarded for running into people, or being slapped at, with two shots from the stripe, but he does give his team the possibility to score as much as 3 points on an open shot.

If it is an -AND-1 foul, I'd have the fouling team play one man down on the next offensive possession. This rule would also removes the foul and chase, and could make games more exciting towards the end. In my mind, the foul shot is the least exciting element of basketball and only serves to remove the team element from the game.
Why should Dwayne wade end up with 30 free shots for intentionally bumping into people, and why should teams be able to jump on top of Shaq again and again? If your center fouls Shaq, now your PF has to try to stop him. If he fouls him, it's 5 on 3 and you're pretty much screwed.

ALSO we could get rid of having players foul out and the need for them to sit out parts of games. Just make a players 6th foul something like a 1 min. powerplay. Now the stars can stay in the game longer. You could even take it so far that penalty shots-um foul shots-, only happen in the event of flagrants and technical fouls.

Of course, these ideas are totally wacky and highly unlikely to ever be implemented, but I'm going to try them out this weekend and see how it works...although jump balls are always extremely hard to get right in pickup games.

[BehindTheBushes]

Hockey just has better officiating..... and those are some weird rules I think it would slow the game down and be even more frusturating then a wrong call

[bruno sundov]

Can we change guys on the fly to. Maybe Posey can run in for Pierce on D!!!

The rules in the NBA do need adjusting not the actual game itself.