{"id":773817,"date":"2023-02-22T11:41:09","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T16:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/?p=773817"},"modified":"2023-05-15T15:54:42","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T19:54:42","slug":"g-league-rules-242","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/the-magazine\/g-league-rules-242\/","title":{"rendered":"How the NBA G League is at the Forefront of Basketball Innovation, from Player Development to Testing New Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The score is 106-105.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the fourth quarter of a game between the Capital City Go-Go and the Santa Cruz Warriors at the 2022 AT&T Winter Showcase, an annual scouting event held in Las Vegas. Capital City leads, but Santa Cruz is on an 11-0 run. The game clock reads\u2026well, there is no game clock. Just a shot clock, which ticks below 12 seconds. Go-Go guard Kris Dunn fakes a pass, drives hard to the basket and springs toward the rim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDunn, penetrating, for the win\u2026\u201d exclaims the announcer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former No. 5 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft kisses a tough layup off the glass. 108-105. Game, Capital City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That probably sounds\u2026strange. To uninformed fans watching on television, it probably looked strange, too. During this year\u2019s Winter Showcase, the G League conducted one of its biggest experiments yet: incorporating Final Target Scores, which may be known by many in the basketball world as the \u201cElam Ending,\u201d a concept conceived by Ball State University professor Nick Elam and made popular by the summer competition, The Basketball Tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the new G League guidelines, the clock was turned off after three quarters, and all games were played until one team reached a \u201ctarget score\u201d of 25 points added to the leading team\u2019s total. Capital City was ahead of Santa Cruz 82-77 as the fourth quarter began, which meant that the first team to 107 would win the contest. Dunn\u2019s layup sealed the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt makes it competitive,\u201d Dunn told SLAM afterward, when asked about the target score format. \u201cYou don\u2019t see any time on there, so it\u2019s a little different, a little off. But I think over the last few days\u2014with the target score\u2014there have been a lot of close games. I think that brings the energy in the building when it\u2019s close, so I like it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The G League is also using a target score for its overtime periods this season\u2014instead of being timed, extra sessions are a race to seven points. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like that the league experiments with this kind of stuff,\u201d says play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Danna, who has been calling G League games for more than a decade. \u201cThis is what it\u2019s here for. Nothing is going to be perfect the first time around.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its founding in 2001, the G League has served as a laboratory for the NBA\u2014a testing ground for various ideas that could enhance the game. Danna has seen the league introduce several new rules through the years\u2014some radical, some minor. Recently added NBA regulations such as the transition take foul, coach\u2019s challenge and 14-second shot clock reset were all first evaluated at the G League level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThroughout the calendar year, not just the season, we\u2019re always throwing stuff on the wall to see what sticks,\u201d says Malik Rose, Head of Basketball Operations for the G League. \u201cWe\u2019re always thinking about ways that we can improve the game. You hear Commissioner [Adam] Silver talking about innovation, innovation, innovation\u2014that goes into it. So we\u2019re in constant communication with [the NBA] throughout the year. Some rules are instituted to solve a problem at the NBA level, and some rules are tested to see if we can improve the game in some way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, many of the G League experiments don\u2019t make it to the NBA, lasting only a few seasons. The international goaltending rule\u2014where the ball is live as soon as it hits the rim, even if it\u2019s above the cylinder\u2014was in place from 2010-15 but never gained enough traction to get \u201ccalled up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other unique rules have become staples of the current G League game, even if it\u2019s difficult to imagine them ever reaching the NBA. In 2019, the G League instituted the one free-throw rule, which stipulates that only one free throw be taken in all situations during the first 46 minutes of a game. So if Dunn is fouled shooting a three-pointer in the second quarter, he takes one free throw worth 3 points. In the final two minutes, standard NBA free-throw rules apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all the inventive reforms explored in the G League (for the 2004-05 season, the league even tested a rule where three-pointers counted as only 2 points until the last three minutes of each quarter), \u201ctarget score\u201d ranks among the most ambitious. Ahead of the Winter Showcase, teams had to adjust their strategies. Players had to shift their mindsets. Fourth quarters at the event felt more intense and competitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt becomes a possession game, especially when it\u2019s a close game in that fourth quarter,\u201d says Tyler Cook, a forward on the Salt Lake City Stars. \u201cLiterally, every single possession matters, even more so than I feel like it does in the regular game format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do situational games a lot in practice\u2014it just feels like that,\u201d Cook continues. \u201cBecause every single possession, you\u2019re so used to looking up at the clock and checking for how much time you have left, but it\u2019s really just about the score and trying to figure out how to get just one stop at a time and get a great shot every single time down. It adds a different feel to it, and it just makes you focus on every single possession more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It also forced coaches to reconsider substitution methods\u2014if a player usually checks in at the eight-minute mark, when should he be called upon during a target-score fourth quarter?\u2014and develop new game plans. What plays do you draw up when you\u2019re three points away from the target score? What about six points? And how do you defend on the opposing side of those situations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe best part about it is that we\u2019re all sort of learning on the fly here, so everyone is trying out different strategies,\u201d Billy Campbell, General Manager of Basketball Operations for the Birmingham Squadron, said at the Showcase. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like a lot of game theory. If we do this, then what happens on the other end?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creative format received mixed reviews from players and staff. It did have the effect of eliminating the intentional fouling that happens late in NBA games, when teams are trying to claw their way back without time running off the clock. Showcase games were generally faster\u2014instead of 12 minutes, the average fourth quarter took just 10:22 to play\u2014and often more dramatic than typical G League contests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy personal impression is that it\u2019s done what it\u2019s supposed to do\u2014create exciting finishes,\u201d says Rose. Every contest ended with a game-winner, from step-back three-pointers to breakaway dunks. It was 97-97 in the Showcase championship, with a target score of 99, when Ontario Clippers guard Xavier Moon nailed a midrange jumper to secure the $100,000 prize for his team. Some squads were able to mount improbable comebacks: the Rio Grande Valley Vipers erased a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter, storming back to grab a 125-119 victory over the Iowa Wolves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like [the target score] because no team is ever mathematically out of the game,\u201d Danna says. \u201cYou could be down 20 with 40 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, you\u2019re not going to win\u20140.0% chance. But teams can go on 21-0 runs in this league. A 20-point lead really isn\u2019t much in this league. So it gives the other team hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether or not the NBA will integrate a target-score format in settings beyond the NBA All-Star Game (where it\u2019s been utilized since 2020) remains unclear, but the extensive testing being done in the G League suggests that the concept is under serious consideration for a larger role. It is one of numerous topics that continue to be discussed at league offices, including adding a second Coach\u2019s Challenge, as executives mull the future of the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at a lot of stuff,\u201d Rose tells SLAM. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No ideas are too trivial\u2014or too extreme\u2014when it comes to improving the game. So Rose and his team will just keep throwing stuff at the wall. And let\u2019s see what sticks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Photos via Getty Images. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The score is 106-105. It\u2019s the fourth quarter of a game between the Capital City Go-Go and the Santa Cruz Warriors at the 2022 AT&T Winter Showcase, an annual scouting event held in Las Vegas. Capital City leads, but Santa Cruz is on an 11-0 run. The game clock reads\u2026well, there is no game clock. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":773901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49435],"tags":[62525,28816,6416,878,63931,12499,64897,62785],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-773817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-magazine","tag-feature-1","tag-g-league","tag-kris-dunn","tag-malik-rose","tag-salt-lake-city-stars","tag-santa-cruz-warriors","tag-slam-242","tag-tyler-cook"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/257"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773817"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":774025,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773817\/revisions\/774025"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773817"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=773817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}