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Yea or nay Vote on rule changes scheduled for April 12
NEW YORK (AP) -- NBA teams will vote April 12 on a package of rules changes, including allowing zone defenses for the first time. One proposal already has been dropped: changing goaltending rules to let players touch the ball while it is on the rim. With scoring down and teams increasingly relying on isolation plays, the league's Board of Governors discussed five possible rule shifts at a meeting last week.
The proposals still on the table: Those four will be considered as a package, so either all will be accepted or none will. The vote will be conducted by conference call; the measures need approval from 20 of the 29 teams. Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, who headed the committee that drew up the suggestions, said a straw poll at the Board of Governors meeting indicated 22 teams would approve the changes. He's talked to coaches, general managers and players since to gauge support. "I'm aware that there's not 100 percent agreement," Colangelo said Wednesday. "I've been around this game for 3 1/2 decades, and there's never been agreement. Some people are just not very happy about change, and this is a considerable change." The idea is to discourage teams from gearing offenses toward 2-on-2 or 1-on-1 isolation plays in which a majority of a team's players stand idle on the weak side to draw their defenders away from the ball. That strategy has helped drain points over the past decade, with scoring down about three points per team per game from last season. The goaltending guideline didn't last long, but Colangelo said it could be brought back and tested during summer league games. "There have been enough reservations from various sources about that rule," Colangelo said. "One of the major things we've heard is it's fine in international ball because it only happens a couple of times a game, but our athletes play so much above the rim it could have a real impact. It takes away some of the drama of a ball that hangs up there and has a chance to go in."
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