basketball fix'n's

Now that the hockey season is effectively over, I really wish I could watch and enjoy the basketball playoffs. But I can't. I can't sit through a tedious game that drags on and is ultimately determined by the referees. After listening to bill simmons' b.s. report giving several quality suggestions to fix hockey with no recent knowlege of the game, I figured I could give it a try for basketball. Without resorting to trampolines and hoops of fire (which would be seriously badass), here are my 5 easy-bake measures to fix the game of basketball.

1. Timeout rules: Between time-outs and intentional fouls, the last minute of a basketball game can run 10 or 15 minutes. Instead of 6 full and 1 -20 second time out PER HALF, make it 2 full and 3-20 second time outs per half. 20 seconds is more than enough time to draw up a play, and while advertisers might not like it, every single other person ever will. Also, no more time-outs during play. Frantic action is what creates epic plays. The same way a quarterback can't call a timeout when he's under pressure, the same way a hockey player can't call a timeout to get a faceoff in the offensive zone, and the same way baseball...okay, bad example. But the NBA needs timeout reform. With Stern's recent comment that they might institute MORE timeouts in the form of a challenge system for fouls at the end of the game, the league is moving in the completely wrong direction. Which brings me to:

2. Referees and fouls: The NBA has the consistantly worst-rated refereeing of any major sport. Watching some old Jordan games, the games flowed back and forth. Now, fouls or violations are called on almost every posession. There were 61 fouls called in Game 3 of the Dallas-Denver game, and a non-call that may have cost the Mavs their season. So how to change it?
Step 1: Increase the penalty for diving. Right now, the NBA occasionally fines players for diving. That hasn't worked. If a player dives, kick him out of the game. If its caught on tape after the game instead, suspend him for a game.
Step 2: Any intentional foul outside of the 2 minute mark of the end of the game gets three foul shots. As clever a nickname as it was, Hack-a-Shaq and strategies like it have a similar effect on ruining the game's flow.
Step 3: Decrease the foul-out limit from 6 to 5, like in college. If players have less margin for error, they foul less.
Step 4: Start calling travelling again. For all the badassness of four-step windmill dunks, its taken the focus off of ball-movement and put it onto individuality. There's a reason the dunk-contest is an All-Star sideshow and basketball is basketball.
These reforms might sound harsh, especially diving infractions, but the game has lost its flow, and the only way to bring it back is to cut the whistles and stoppages. Less eagerness to foul also means more room for stars to be stars. Two points is two points on the scoresheet, but to a fan, a passing play to create a layup is much more exciting then well-crafted free-throw form.

3. More playoff beards.

4. Cut the number of games. This suggestion has been talked about before, and probably will never happen. Less games means less revenue for the team and for the players. But lets face it: each Conference has its clear winners and losers, and nothing more is decided in 82 games than would be in 60. This year would have been much more efficient if we had determined the winner by a Lakers-Cavs-Celtics tourny in November. The NBA: where predictability happens.

5. Which brings me to my last point. Scrap the "where amazing happens" and bring in whatever the basketball equivalent of this is:



Any other ideas?