What are the new foul rules in the NBA and what has been their impact so far? Taking a detailed look at the stats behind
Throughout the history of the NBA, the league has done a fantastic job of looking for new ways to improve the quality of the game. Over recent years, the league has looked into everything, including new tournament formats and implementing instant replays. This year, the NBA faced a popular controversy that fans wanted to see changed.
The NBA style of play has had a couple of interesting developments progress throughout recent years. The majority of these topics of conversation have involved what referees call fouls. In the last couple of years, the league has seen a number of talented offensive players use the NBA's rules to create a sizeable advantage when it comes to creating fouls to their advantage. It had become a notable problem that the league needed to quickly make a change to, as many believed it was ruining the quality of play throughout the league.
Rule
During the offseason, the NBA made the announcement that they had installed a number of rule changes heading into the 2021-22 NBA season. These rule changes would focus on discouraging offensive players from making "overt, abrupt or abnormal non-basketball moves." With the new rule in place, players can no longer take advantage of this "flaw" and it will instead give the defense recognition of a good play instead of punishing them for ideal positioning. Let's take a further look at how this rule has already specifically impacted the game.
Explanation
Although the rule has caused some confusion when it comes to its overall meaning, this is a clear breakdown of what it means. NBA referees will no longer reward offensive players who launch themselves into defenders. When interviewed on The Crossover NBA Show, Vice President of referee development Monty McCutchen went on to say that there's a specific area in which the NBA is trying to target when it comes to the "new" rule.
"We're not trying to take away every pump fake. We are trying to take away a pump fake that then leads to an abnormal launch angle that the defender never would've hit the offensive player had this offensive player not taken this abnormal launch angle.
The clip below is a perfect example of what the league is trying to prevent when it comes to an offensive player launching himself into a defender at an abnormal angle. A number of savvy NBA players have used pump fakes over the years to get a defender to jump in the air before leaning forward and creating contact. This has given a number of players the ability to get to the free throw line, potentially being rewarded with three free throw attempts.
The non-basketball move highlighted in this segment shows a shooter launching or leaning into a defender at an abnormal angle. https://t.co/4bChPtIHWI
Another situation in which this updated rule has made a drastic impact is if a defender is trailing the ball-handler. In the past, we've seen a number of players who have stopped and allowed the defender to catch up and basically hit the player with their momentum.
Here is an example of a non-basketball move where the offensive player veers off his path into the defender in an abrupt manner. https://t.co/E5rSgCETAr
A number of players have used this tactic when it comes to picking up fouls on opponents on a nightly basis. Instead of calling this now, most referees are even calling this an offensive foul, as there's simply no way for the defender at times to be able to stop themselves from being at a disadvantage.
Impact So Far
The impact of this new rule has been substantial throughout the entire NBA. A majority of fans, and even players, have applauded the NBA for the improvement in the quality of play. Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was asked recently what his opinion was about the new rules and he raved about what it's done to the game.
“You can 100 percent feel it...Because you don’t have guys doing the garbage to try and draw fouls anymore. I think this game was turning into, ‘who can draw the most fouls?’ Nobody wants to watch that, and you definitely don’t want to play in a game like that. So you can feel the difference out there for sure. It’s just more pure basketball, and that’s great for our game.”
But some notable players across the league have also struggled to adjust to the new rules set in place. Brooklyn Nets star James Harden was a player who was absolutely sensational when it came to putting defenders in a position where he could create fouls and get to the free throw line. Since the new rules were installed, Harden has struggled with his production to start the year. He's currently averaging 18.6 points per game, but is also only averaging 5.3 free throw attempts per game. The last time Harden averaged below 7.0 free throw attempts per game was during the 2011-12 season.
It hasn't just impacted individuals as well, as the league has seen a drop in offensive explosions compared to previous seasons. According to Basketball-Reference.com, the average NBA offensive rating is currently at 106.2. Last year, that number was at 112.3. The current number is the lowest mark since the 2014-15 season. If you dig a bit deeper, you can see that points per game have also dropped from 112.1 last season to currently 107.6. There's no doubt that the season is still young and the numbers could bounce back once the rest of the league finally get's used to the "different" style of play. For now, it looks as if it's going to take some time for the entire league to get used to the new update in rules.
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