NBA Cuts Down on Rough Stuff

NEW YORK — Rules changes designed to reduce physical play and improve the flow of the game were approved Friday by the NBA’s Board of Governors.

The changes, which didn’t pass unanimously, will be in place for the start of exhibition games Oct. 10 and regular season games Nov. 2.

The changes include:

* Tighter interpretation of foul rules, especially physical play away from the ball. A crackdown is expected on excessive banging in the low post and defenders clutching and grabbing to hinder an offensive player running through screens.

* Prohibition on forearm checking, except below the free-throw line, in what amounts to a total arms-off policy for defenders.

* A five-second rule limiting the amount of time an offensive player with his back to the basket can control the ball below the free-throw line before he must pass, shoot or pick up his dribble. Previously, players could stay isolated and dribble down the shot clock--a move favored by Houston’s Charles Barkley and Indiana’s Mark Jackson.

* Resetting the shot clock to 14 seconds instead of 24 on certain stoppages of play--personal fouls that do not result in free throws, kicked and punched balls and a team’s first illegal defense violation.

* An exemption from illegal defense rules for players positioned on the strong side of the court.

The hope is the changes will also increase scoring, which dropped to 91 points a game last season, lowest since the shot clock was introduced in 1954-55.

The changes were recommended in June by a special committee and implemented during summer league play, resulting in a dramatic increase in the number of fouls called. Players and coaches complained that fouls were being called for the slightest contact.

The Charlotte Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers combined for 103 fouls in an Atlanta Summer Shootout game, and the Hornets and Orlando Magic committed 107 in a game.

“They’re trying to make the game more sissified,” Hornet power forward Anthony Mason said in New York last week.