The NBA was already playing fast. The league’s overall pace in recent seasons has reached its highest point since the 1980s, but it still wasn’t fast enough.
One small strategy was to slow it down and deprive fans of the sport’s most exciting plays. It’s a take foul. Players throughout the league were intentionally fouling players to stall fast breaks and neutralize open-court opportunities. That’s why the NBA introduced a new rule this season penalizing take fouls. After just over three weeks of play, the rules have already achieved their intended effect and seamlessly fit into the accepted status quo as a welcome addition.
In conversations during the first few weeks of the new season, players and coaches expressed almost unanimous approval.
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said, “I think it’s good for the game. I think it’s what the fans pay to see. They pay to see fast-paced basketball.” .”
During the 2017-18 season, the team committed a total average of 0.32 take fouls per game (excluding intentional fouls at the end of a game). ESPN’s Kevin PeltonHowever, take fouls (also known as ‘Euro fouls’ due to their presence in international matches) have fallen out of favor as they spread throughout the league. In just four seasons he’s 332%.
“It was time [take fouls] 76ers forward Georges Niang said. “The game was deadlocked. The men were taking fouls as soon as they lost the ball. It was like they were playing tag, trying to get past the other man on the fast break.”
As such, the new rules introduced from the G League, which have been in effect since 2018-19, added penalties designed to make players think twice before stopping transition attacks on intentional fouls. Now, instead of just taking the ball on the sideline after a foul (as is the case with other common fouls), the hacked team can pick any player and he will get one free him. throw and then receive possession. Now Pelton writes: (The league averaged 1.08 points per possession after a nonshooting foul last season, and technically he shot 81% on his free throws: 1.08 + 0.81 = 1.89). A foul is no longer worth it.
Defenders are responding well, and the NBA is back to its low-take foul counts before its recent rise. Across his three weeks of the 2022-23 regular season, an analysis of NBA.com play-by-play data revealed that the team committed 0.33 transition take fouls per game combined.
That volume suggests the rule is working as intended. As with secondary results, the team is averaging his 14.4 haste points per game so far this season, according to NBA Advanced Stats. It’s not a huge leap, but it’s the best number in his first three weeks of the season going back at least a decade. Over the past 10 seasons, teams in this period have averaged 13.1 haste points per game for him.
Additionally, according to Cleaning the Glass, teams are averaging 1.26 points per play across all transition plays. This is the highest migration efficiency of any season in the CtG database.
Nearly eliminating take fouls doesn’t just help teams change fast-break opportunities more easily. It may also inspire them to go full speed ahead and look for faster break opportunities in the first place. “So you have to take advantage of it.”
It’s still early days, so there are still some issues that need to be worked out as the season unfolds. Players must be consciously reminded that they can no longer simply reach out and stop haste. On certain nights he watches an NBA game and finds that defenders start charging for fouls only to turn back to remember the new rules. “Sometimes I want to flip the ball and grab someone, but I have to think about it,” Halliburton admitted.
There was also some disagreement about what constitutes a take foul and what constitutes a normal reach. Kyle Lowry and Anthony Edwards collected technical fouls and claimed take foul rulings. Several coaches have also complained about recent calls to players. For example, after Joel Embiid was penalized for a take foul in a recent game against the Raptors, Doc Rivers claimed: I love rules. I hate that it is such a judgment call.
“I think it’s going to take time for all of us to adjust,” Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff predicted.
Bickerstaff’s new star guard Donovan Mitchell was whistled for a take foul early in the Cavaliers’ second game of the season in Chicago, but Bickerstaff said he thought Mitchell “played the ball.” Stated. Mitchell later agreed, saying he was trying to steal legally, but he also admitted that it would take a while to break the practice of automatic take fouls.
“I came from an organization that was doing it all the time. We were probably leading the league,” Mitchell said with a laugh. I scored a foul. Nearly 2 per game— Mitchell occupy 31 2nd in the league alone. Now, with the Cavaliers, he leads the league so far this season, but he has only two total take fouls.
Mitchell was one of several players who said stopping an opponent’s transition opportunity wasn’t the only reason he fouled in the past. Also, they were able to breathe a sigh of relief when the referee reset the play from the sidelines. “If you’re tired and need a break, you definitely want to take fouls. We’ve done a lot of that in Utah,” Mitchell said. That sneaky strategy is no longer worth it.
There is some early evidence that players are already adapting, albeit from a small sample. October’s games averaged 0.37 fouls, but so far in November, that number has dropped to 0.27 per game. Since Oct. 26, no game has had multiple take fouls.
Overall, the rules seem well-designed and take into account closing some potential loopholes from the start. This rule applies even if the attacking team has not yet started to advance the ball onto the court. Many of his fouls this season have been whistling when a player inadvertently made contact while chasing a loose ball or a long rebound, but it was the defender who started the transition opportunity. It’s a price to prevent fouling to stop before.
This rule also applies to fouls committed against opponents Any An attacking player, even if he’s not a ball-handler.This clarification was suggested by Mike Conley in take a penalty away from the ball last month.
However, one possible loophole remains, and some of the advantages of the rule may be lost if a player becomes able to successfully disguise the intent of a take foul. This means that “legal play on the ball remains a common personal foul, regardless of whether the foul occurred during fastbreak play, and enhanced penalties under the new rules will not be enforced.” Because no.as a league press release I explained the changes.
In other words, there is still room for skill and gamesmanship when trying to slow down an opponent’s haste. [the strategy] As long as you go get the ball,” Dragic said, adding, “You know what every player in the NBA is like. You try to find those loopholes.
Dragic has a nuanced view of the new rules. shortly– More than unanimous. As the veteran point guard said with a smile, “I’m from Europe, so I’m divided. If you go down in transition and get fouled, it’s a smart play.”
Yet he acknowledges that the rule makes sense to the spirit of the sport and appreciates its ability to encourage aggressive production. A teammate with a locker next to Dragic agreed.
“When everyone was [committing take fouls], stop playing, the fans don’t want to come here and see it,” said Bulls winger Javonte Green. But he doesn’t like the new rules just for entertainment products, he added. So we can go out and get a quick bucket.
Statistics through Tuesday.
