Quote:
Originally posted by Malcolm Tucker
The game is still the same!!
The rules do not make the game. The skill of the players is what makes it the spectacle that it is.
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This is one of my favorite arguments...I mean, discussion topics. Actually, philosophically, the rules DO make the game. Without rules, there can be no game. And as the rules change, the game changes. Look at the differences between say, rugby and American football. Rules are the biggest difference, since the skills required are very similar. But because the rules are different, they are considered different games. Same principle applies to baseball and cricket.
Now the differences described above between FIBA and NCAA are relatively minor, so that both games are still called basketball, and teams can compete against each other with a minimum of adjustment. But there could some day be enough differences that you'd have two different games called basketball, and say, Fee-ball or something.
What you say about the skill of the players making the spectacle is true, but the spectacle is not the game. It may be that most people pay to see the spectacle and don't care about the game, (as many refs and some ex-fans claim about the NBA) but the game is still defined and indeed brought into existence by the rules, not by the spectacle. Think Harlem Globetrotters here. Great spectacle, great entertainment, nothing wrong at all, no criticism, but not a game. The game is created by the rules.