Warriors head coach Steve Kerr believes the league needs to make changes to limit offensive players from "completely manipulating the rules."
Ahead of the Golden State Warriors' Friday night game against the Toronto Raptors, Steve Kerr said the NBA has gone too far in giving offensive players an advantage.
I think there needs to be a universal rule: no nonsense is allowed. It's true. That's what happened," Cole said. "I can watch the video with you and show you that a guy dribbles from a high post pick-and-roll, the defender tries to get through (the pick-and-roll), and the ball carrier jumps backwards and the referee blows for a foul. What are we doing? Can you imagine blowing such a foul on a street court? That would lead to a fight. We have to go back to what basketball is. ”
Last year, the Sacramento Kings broke the NBA record for scoring efficiency, averaging 118 per 100 offensive attempts per game6 points. This year, five teams — the Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers — have crossed that threshold as of Friday night's game.
The Warriors won four championships in seven seasons starting in 2014-15. They have a dynamic offense averaging 110 per 100 offensive attempts per game4 points, second only to the Clippers. This year, with the exception of the bottom four, all teams scored more efficiently.
Starting with the 2015 championship, Golden State has ranked in the offensive rating for five consecutive seasons.
II. I.
One, third and first. With shots from Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and ultimately Kevin Durant, the league struggled to adapt to the space the Warriors created.
At the same time, players in the NBA, such as James Harden and Trae Young, among others, began to care less about scoring directly and only tried to score at the free throw line.
It's the players who create the advantage that calls a foul," Kerr said. "But we have this saying – illegal defending positions. Sometimes a person will rush straight past the defender and the referee will blow a foul on the defender. [The referee] will say, 'This is an illegal defensive position' and the referee has to blow for the penalty.
This is their criterion and the way they blow the punishment. Like I said, the referees were outstanding. It's just that we have to recognize what's going on. I think it's been about a decade and the offensive players have been very smart, they've seen what's going on, they're completely manipulating the rules to keep themselves afloat. ”
Over the past few years, the league has made some efforts, including reducing the types of actions that result in shooting fouls rather than ordinary fouls. The league also eliminated free throws that actively create fouls — when the ball carrier makes contact with a defender through an unnatural motion — although such fouls will still be whistled.
Kerr noted that in his final season as a player, in 2002-03, his San Antonio Spurs won the NBA Finals with a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Nets in six games. Only twice in that series did a team score more than 90 points.
It's too bad. The original intention of the alliance is good, and we are in a good position"Cole said. "But you have to always look forward and balance the factors. We have to give the defence more chances. The first is not to condone the attacking players and not to make excuses for their misdeeds on the field. ”