Why don't they do a full court press in the NBA?

[vslice02]

How long has the ruling been 8 seconds in the back court?

2001 - part of the NBA's efforts to increase scoring. Most of the 8-second violations I've seen were from guards just being stupid - rather than from backcourt pressure. I remember seeing Deron get 2-3 of those during his time in Utah and Sam Cassell got one in a critical playoff game against the Suns. They get used to walking the ball up and lose track of time.

 

[carolinajazz]

With only 8 seconds in the back court, why don' they do it?

Will someone with some basketball experience please explain?

.....with only 24 seconds on the shot clock....why don't more athletic types play some ball denial on the so called hot shot shooters? That's the REAL question to ask!

 

[billyshelby]

The way to break the press is to get the ball to the middle of the court. Formation is a simple five dot on a die formation. Press will have three defenders behind the middle dot. Get the ball to the middle dot and you now have a 3 on 2 advantage. Reason it works in the college ranks is that the middle guy is a big and not a good ball handler and decision maker. Jazz had Malone as the middle dot, who could handle the ball enough, was in control enough, and good enough passer to handle the 3 on 2.

One on one full court pressure is more apt to get a turnover in the NBA than a press.

That's an good angle, though there are plenty of situations in the NBA with a very vulnerable 'middle dot.' The problem as I see it is once a quality NBA point has the ball in his hands, the press becomes a liability. In college, most PG's can be a liability with enough pressure.

The key is denying the pro PG the ball or alternately trapping him to force the ball out of his hands -- the 'dot' as you're talking about. I doubt a press could work very effectively against starting units. But if you have the right guys and a practiced system, it could be a weapon. Not Paul Westhead madness, but something to throw at a team to break rhythm.

But I like the wrinkle of a one on one press as well. I'm a big believer that keeping teams off balance should be a bigger part of game plans.