Bryce Drew smiled. Elton Brand grimaced. And Tim Floyd philosophized.
That’s the summary of the Bulls’ reaction to Thursday’s news that the NBA Board of Governors had approved four rules changes that will take effect next season. The biggest is the elimination of illegal-defense guidelines, which will allow teams to play zone defenses for the first time in league history.
“If they’re trying to score more points and make the league more exciting, why would you have a zone?” asked power forward Brand, who said his game has changed drastically since he hasn’t had to face the zones he routinely saw in college at Duke. “That would slow the game down, if we’re packed in and not letting guys penetrate.
“It’s going to be tough, especially for post players. I’ve been trying to expand my game regardless. I guess I’ll have to keep facing up and keep shooting those jumpers.”
There will be a defensive three-second rule barring players from remaining in the lane for longer than that span unless they’re within an arm’s length of an offensive player. And teams will have eight seconds instead of 10 to cross midcourt with the ball.
League officials acknowledge that both these changes are paramount to the success of the first change. In other words, fluid zone defenses–zones with man-to-man principles–are the goal.
Floyd, a man-to-man adherent who nonetheless favors the changes, doesn’t believe true zones will be used much at all.
“The more you play zone, the worse your man-to-man defense gets,” he said. “When you play zone, you typically don’t rebound very well because you’re blocking out an area. You typically don’t contest shots as well, so there are more open looks.
“Also, I think now there will be more transition baskets because teams aren’t going to want to play against a packed-in defense. I think the assumption that scoring will be dramatically affected and the assumption that teams are going to sit back in a zone for 48 minutes is wrong.”
That said, the changes only can help extend the careers of players such as Drew and A.J. Guyton, shooters who represent a dying breed.
“When do we start?” joked Drew, who will be a free agent after this season.
Said Floyd: “Obviously, you’re going to need skilled big guys who can step out on the floor and make shots and pass it. But this is not going to eliminate Shaq [Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal]. Great players can play against anything. . . . You’re still going to have to have guys who can drive it, athletic guys.”
The rules might have helped the Bulls this season. As the league’s youngest team, the Bulls struggled against screen-and-rolls all season. Whether the changes help them next season remains to be seen, although Floyd said triangle-offense creator Tex Winter believes that offense can be used against a zone.
“I think it will help basketball as a whole, not just at our level but at the lower levels too,” Floyd said. “So much of what goes on there is dictated by what they see at our level. You’re not seeing a lot of guys who can shoot the ball very well right now because everything is a drive or an isolation or a three-pointer. Nobody’s addressed hitting the midrange shots.
