WASHINGTON - Denver Nuggets scoring machine Carmelo Anthony is delighted the NBA has decided to scrap its experiment with a new basketball but, like many players and coaches, he has some concerns about the timing.

New NBA basketballs sit in a rack prior to the game between the Orlando Magic and the Portland Trail Blazers in Portland, Oregon December 1, 2006. The players' association filed an unfair labor practice charge against the NBA on Friday concerning the new ball which is made from a microfiber composite this season instead of leather. [Reuters]

"The new ball is, well, challenging," Anthony, the NBA's leading scorer, said flashing a wide grin. "It was like a furball. It's real, real light. So when you think the shot is good, you might shoot an airball.

"You have to adjust every time you shoot."

Related Readings: NBA players force return to leather ball  Stern: Introduction of ball mishandled

NBA Commissioner David Stern realized he double-dribbled by introducing a new composite ball this season and nearly three weeks ago announced the league would revert to its longstanding leather basketball on January 1.

The move drew near-unanimous applause from the players. Returning to the leather ball in midseason may not be easy, however.

"It's going to be tough," Anthony told Reuters in a locker room interview. "People fail to realize, we have to adjust back to the old ball. It's going to be weird. But at this point, we got what we wanted, so we'll have to roll with it."

Anthony, who has a 31.6 average, will have more time to adjust than most while he sits out the remainder of his 15-game suspension for fighting. He returns to the court on January 22.

BAD TIMING

Memphis Grizzlies All-Star forward Pau Gasol, the MVP of the world basketball championship, is not comfortable with the timing of the switch.

"If a mistake has already been made, you've got to go through the whole year," the Spaniard said. "It's just hard to switch back to the old ball. I just find it a little shaky.

"But the decision has been made and we have to accept it."

Pat Riley, coach of NBA champion Miami Heat, also has reservations about the midseason change. But Riley, who played nine seasons in the NBA, said it would not affect the standings.

"Everybody's doing the same thing, so nobody gets an edge," he said. "If they forced one to do it, that would be different."

When Stern announced on December 11 that the NBA was bouncing its well hyped microfibre composite ball, the commissioner acknowledged he was bowing to the players' complaints.

"Our players' response to this particular composite ball has been consistently negative and we are acting accordingly," he said.

"Although testing performed by (ball maker) Spalding and the NBA demonstrated that the new composite basketball was more consistent than leather and statistically there has been an improvement in shooting, scoring, and ball-related turnovers, the most important statistic is the view of our players."

FRICTION BURNS

And how the players hated the new ball.

Twice MVP Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns said it gave him friction burns. New Jersey Nets' Jason Kidd complained it gave him something akin to paper cuts.

And outspoken Heat center Shaquille O'Neal compared it to the "cheap balls that you buy at the toy store."

Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas, averaging nearly 31 points a game and arguably the league's best player in December, welcomes the switch back, but concedes the composite ball had its advantages.

"The new ball is a shooters' ball, like the stuff that rolls in - it's not going to do that with the old ball," he said.

"But I don't want anybody to have a question mark on my scoring ability with the new ball compared to the old one. Records have been broken with the old ball. Give me the old ball."