FIBA changing three point line and key
 

For those who care (not you Mark), FIBA will making some changes to the key and the three point line to make it closer to the NBA game.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/...e=NBAHeadlines

All kidding aside (well, mostly anyway), it certainly makes sense. However the story indicates that while they're matching the key configuration starting in 2 years, the three point line will have an "intermediate" change for about another 10 years before they match. If they're going to change it in 2 years part-way, why don't they just make the final change then? I guess it's to get players acclimated in increments.

Wouldn't it be nice if the entire set of rules matched, not just the floor configuration. Is it a big deal? No. But it might increase the popularity of the international game in this country without a negative effect elsewhere.

And did you notice - no FEEBLE jokes!

If I'd been told there was going to be conformity on the lane, I'd've guessed it would've been the NBA changing to a trapezoid.

This is great news!!!

Basketball in Ontario below college was Federation all around. Athletes going through all levels (including college) could now play as many as 3 different rule sets (Fed, NCCA, FIBA) - many times all 3 within a 1 year span. This made it tougher for referees to be consistent and for athletes to play to their capacity.

I've long been an advocate for Ontario to go with one ruleset - the best option being FIBA. Club ball went to FIBA 2 years ago, and with women's college ball already at FIBA, the men's followed suit this past year. This has left HS ball as the only non-FIBA rules to be used. The HS PSO and HSs alike have stated that changing to a diagonal key is part of the reason to resist changing to FIBA. Now, they will have less to worry about - since the HS are painted for rectangular keys. Ok, so maybe the key is smaller than the NBA sized key, but so what?

Oh No ...
 

No more trapezoid jokes ???

http://re3.yt-thm-a02.yimg.com/image/25/m4/2983113474

Only when discussing the shape of Billy Packer's head.

Interesting how these trends go. In the USA & Canada, the YMCA were AFAIK the original maintainers of the rules, getting them from Naismith, and then the AAU took over from them. But soon the NCAA became the real movers of the USA-Canada rules they were theoretically co-maintaining with AAU, and they just swept away AIAW's basketball rules when NCAA took over the women's intercollegiate game itself from AIAW. So it'd be interesting if internationally the NBA started to similarly move FIBA.

Robert

An Abundance Of Abbreviations Or Acronyms ...