Limiting defense offends veteran talent

Fromteh Sidelines
   By Ted Diskant

With the return of the NBA this week, sports fans shouldn't expect to see Anthony Mason fight ing for position in the low post or Charles Barkley backing in his defender. John Stockton's ability to guard perimeter players could be a thing of the past. You thought that you finally understood the illegal defense rule? Think again.

TOM MIHALEK/NEWSMAKERS Allen Iverson, one of the fastest young stars of the NBA, should benefit from new, revised defense rules.

In response to the post-shot clock low of 91 points per game averaged during last year's strike-shortened season, the NBA has implemented a slew of new rules aimed at making hands-off defense the norm while increasing scoring and fast-break opportunities. Preseason results would suggest that the new rules have met their goal, with scoring up more than six percent from last season. But the increase has come at a cost. Preseason games have averaged nearly 57 fouls per game, a staggering increase from the 44.4 whistles blown per game during the 1999 regular season.

The most dramatic of the many changes is the crackdown on forearm checking above the free throw line unless the offensive player initiates the contact. With the goal of quickening the pace of play, the new rule makes faster young guards like Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson essentially unstoppable en route to the basket. Similarly, the new illegal defense rule, which allows teams to basically do as they wish on the ball side of the court, should lead teams to double- and triple-team star postplayers like Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone. That should discourage squads that traditionally turn to their big men from relying too heavily on the half-court offense, forcing them instead to try and score more off of fast-break opportunities. Without a scorer in the post to dump the ball to, explosive guards are more likely to push the ball up the floor and drive to the basket. New rules limit the amount of time that players like Barkley can back their way into the paint without passing or shooting and also reset the shot clock to 12 seconds instead of 24 after certain infractions.

The league's intentions are clear: by putting more emphasis on the razzle-dazzle, fast-break offense, the NBA's youth movement can truly shine. Players like Marbury, Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett are walking highlight reels, and yet not one of them has led his team to anythin close to a championship. Marbury's impressive 22 points and nine assists per game mean nothing considering the Nets' defense allowed nearly 96 points per game last season, one of the highest figures in the NBA. But rather than forcing young stars like Marbury to learn to play team defense, the league has simply decided that defense, like a college degree, isn't really necessary in the NBA.

But if these new rules seem extreme, it is only because they are just the most recent—and most desperate—measures of a decade-long attempt to increase scoring. Despite the illegal defense rule and the 1994 overhaul of the one-on-one defense, it is Tim Duncan—a hard player on both ends of the floor—who will enter this season with a championship ring. While Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal helped the Lakers score nearly 100 points per game, they were no match for the Spurs' defense, giving up only 84.7 points per game. As shown in recent years, defense does win championships.

As a life-long Knicks fan, I am bound to object to any plan that threatens the physical style of defense that I have grown up watching. But it is the life-long NBA fan in me that objects to the league's dismantling of the play of some of basketball's all-time greats—in favor of the market-driven play of younger stars. Rather than the Stockton and Malone tandem, the NBA wants us to embrace Bryant and O'Neal. When the NBA prohibits players like Barkley and Mark Jackson from backing their way into the paint for extended periods of time, they are prohibiting the style of play Magic Johnson made famous. True NBA veterans did not get to where they are now without having to learn both to play and to score against defense. What makes Reggie Miller so phenomenal is the fact that he can still break free and drill a three-point shot after battling Allan Houston or John Starks for 40 minutes. He can fall back on defense and make sure they don't do the exact same thing to him.

Scoring really isn't the issue to NBA Commissioner David Stern. Rather, these rules are meant to create a game, he says, "where terrific athletes get a chance to shine." But terrific athletes shouldn't get to take half of the game off. Fast-paced offense is an enjoyable part of the game. But it is just that, a part. The NBA may be letting its young stars off the hook for now, but come June, we'll see who is playing for the ring.

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