Elam Ending for the NBA?

Adam Silver and others have said, that they'd keep an eye on the progress of the Elam Ending in basketball as something that could be considered in the future.

For those of you that don't know what it is or haven't watched The Basketball Tournament it a pretty straight forward way of ending games. Teams play the game as normal then at the first stoppage in play after the four minutes remaining in the game mark, the clock is switched off. The Winning score is set at whatever the leading team's score is plus 8 points. So if the Lakers had 93 points and the Celtics had 89 for example, the first team to 101 would win. The shot clock remains on but the game clock is turned off. In practical use what has happened is the teams play it straight up the rest of the way. No stalling on the offense by the Lakers and no intentional fouling by the Celtics. Every game ends either on a made basket or free throw.

At first, I thought like many of you this is a pretty wonky idea. However, after watching several games of TBT the past couple of weeks I think this is an idea whose time may have come. I don't see the NBA or NCAA implementing it anytime soon for various reason which has nothing to do with actual basketball, but I think it would be great.

Yeah, first time I saw it I was thinking, "Geez, that is gimmicky." But it has kind of grown me. We are programmed to associate the ends of games with clocks expiring, but I like the outside the box thinking with this one.

I haven’t watched TBT, but I actually don’t think this is a horrible idea. I don’t see the need for it. I have no issue with how basketball games end now, but I wouldn’t hate this.

It would definitely change the end of basketball games and probably 20 to 30 minutes off the duration of a game.

Haven't thought thru the defensive strategies against the inferior FT shooting ball handler in this end game situation. Does he become more of a liability to the offensive team, less, or it depends? Just thinking that there are a new myriad of strategies that a coach could consider other than just Hack-a-Shaq.

It would definitely change the end of basketball games and probably 20 to 30 minutes off the duration of a game.

If Sumoroyal is right we certainly won't see it in the world of televised games. Need those laborious TV time outs to kill team momentum but bring in $$$$.

How much would such a rule change affect Vegas?

How much would such a rule change affect Vegas?

I wouldn't think much, there would be less fouling at the end of the game so scores may be slightly lower. But if Golden State is up 12 with 4 minutes to go, they are just 3 shots from winning. The other team would need to outscore them 20 to 7 the rest of the way to win. The guy that came up with this said his studies found very little difference in the outcome of the game, just that it would no longer be a free throw shooting contest and take 30 minutes to play out. This would also end OT, there would be no more OT.

Strategy question...would it not be in your best interest to call a timeout, if you're ahead AND have the ball, once you get inside the 4-minute mark? Basically you create the break that causes the "ending" to start being implemented. That way, you'd be assured of having the first possession in it.

Also, what happens if a foul occurs that creates the break? Do the free throws get counted before the end score is calculated, or do they get put towards the 8 points needed (assuming you're the leading team)?

Strategy question...would it not be in your best interest to call a timeout, if you're ahead AND have the ball, once you get inside the 4-minute mark? Basically you create the break that causes the "ending" to start being implemented. That way, you'd be assured of having the first possession in it.

 

Also, what happens if a foul occurs that creates the break? Do the free throws get counted before the end score is calculated, or do they get put towards the 8 points needed (assuming you're the leading team)?

If the foul stops the clock under 4:00, the points ending points are calculated before the FT's. So, if the winning team is shooting, they go from needing eight points to only needing six after the free throws.

I like the idea. I hate the fouling nonsense at the end of games and all the timeouts.

I am also quite confident this will never be adopted in College Basketball or the NBA. It would affect the bottom line.

And in the NBA ten reviews in the last two minutes.

It would definitely change the end of basketball games and probably 20 to 30 minutes off the duration of a game.

If Sumoroyal is right we certainly won't see it in the world of televised games. Need those laborious TV time outs to kill team momentum but bring in $$$$.

I feel like this is more of an issue in college basketball than the NBA.

It's not a horrible idea, but IMO, there's nothing broken with the way they do it now, so why try to fix it. I'm not sure this would make the game any better. I am not opposed to change in any way, but I don't care for change for the sake of change.

My only problem with current OT rules are that OT's are too long. I wish OT's were no longer than 2 minutes instead of 5. I would be OK with 1 minute OT's. I just don't see the reason for 5 minute OT's.