Is the NBA floor wider as well as longer, than the college floor? I would think that widening the pro floor would require the players to move more and make it easier to have an exciting, entertaining game.

I'm also wondering if you see any pattern to how the size of the floor affects a game? I mean, do hs boys' play a better game on a bigger floor? Do hs girls? Does it benefit JV players to play on a smaller floor?

This is just an academic question, maybe a little objective discussion?

I have heard that larger courts favor a good transition/fast break team. With that logic small courts might favor good defensive teams.

It sounds reasonable, though many urban myths do too.

Of course a wider floor would change the game.

I've done games at camps where you have had very good teams playing on two across court floors, probably 65 X 47 feet, and it ain't pretty.

Making the NBA court wider would increase spacing, putting an emphasis on moving the ball and cutting.

I can speak from some experience here, on both sides of the ball.

My high school alma mater has a very small floor. When I played, we ran an extremely effective full-court press. It was harder to run this press on the bigger floors, especially the college floors of the playoffs. It changes the game for the players.

From an officiating perpsective, I love the bigger floors. Granted, in the summer time, I want the small floors for those 5-6 games in a day, but over all, it is much easier to officiate on the larger floors because the angles are so much better.

I agree with this. Except that freshmen and sophomore girls teams still tend to bunch up under the basket, especially in a rebounding situation.

FED: 50 feet, optimal width
NCAA: 50 feet, optimal width
NBA: 50 feet, optimal width.

FED: 84 feet, optimal length
NCAA: 94 feet, optimal length
NBA: 94 feet, optimal length.

Thanks, Mr. Fact-Man. Care to express an opinion? What would it do to the NBA game to widen the floor? What about the college game?

I think they ought to do what the Native Americans did when they played the first versions of lacrosse. No OOB at all. That'd open up the offenses. And we wouldn't get yelled at for missing a close OOB call.

Just the facts, ma'am.

It seems like changing the size (and/or shape) of the lane would affect the game more than the size of the overall floor. Especially for those jr. high girls that tend to bunch up in the lane. I know there's a difference in rink sizes between, I believe, international hockey and the NHL, with the international rink being larger. (Help me out here people from the GWN.) I know it helps open up the game more, and there seems to be more action without all the forechecking seen in the NHL. I'm not sure if basketball is at that level yet, even in the NBA, where changing the size of the whole floor would affect the game that much. I know personally I would be dead set against anything that would force me to run more.

Hey, I kinda like that idea. It would put the fans in play, and people diving into the bleachers might be just as much fun as watching America's Funniest Videos.

When I was in college (yea, it was back in the Mesozoic!) women's lacrosse still wasn't using boundary lines. THey played, "To the natural bounds of the field used." our home field had a tree well within bounds, and that was just fine. Iguess they don't use that field any more, but it was certainly interesting back then!

I think a 60 ft width floor would be great in the NBA. Especially since they have the bigger 3 point arc. They can make it a true arc around the floor. Lacrosse on a 3 mile field with no OOB is a great game as well. I still think Soccer should be an indoor sport. The outdoor game has too little scoring.

Widen the playing area, remove seats and lose revenue.

I did one of those streetball games this year.

This could well be one of the best theoretical topics even posted on this forum.

From seeing and working games on both size courts, I have come to the conclusion that the game is vastly different on a 94-foot floor than it is on the 84-foot court.

I don't believe that it is good for HS teams to play on the 84-footer all season long and then have to change to the 94-footer in the playoffs or state title game.

For the record, I do believe that it is a better basketball game on the longer floor, and I enjoy officiating on it much more too.

I'm pressed for time now, but will return at a later time and expound upon this.