Vitale: Rule changes should improve the game

[Halldan1]

• 

Recently, the NCAA men's basketball rules committee has proposed a package of proposals and officiating directives to significantly improve the pace of play, better balance offense with defense and reduce the physicality in the sport.

Last season, most fans and commentators agreed there was a major need to improve the sport.

One big rule change, which I have been asking for over the years, would be to reduce the shot clock from 35 seconds down to 30 seconds. The shot clock period was last reduced for the 1993-94 season, when the clock was reduced from 45 seconds to 35.

This will force coaches and teams to run their offense in a more efficient manner. It will be interesting to see how this works. Some teams will adjust to the rule and fare well. Others may force up bad shots.

I also believe that the 30-second rule will favor the better teams, meaning fewer Cinderella story upsets, less David vs. Goliath, baby!

The committee also voted to remove one team timeout in the second half and strictly focus on resuming play more quickly after a timeout, which would now include a delay of game warning when a team does not comply. It would also bring a one-shot technical foul on subsequent violations.

I like this because there were so many times when a coach would call a timeout before the media stoppage and the game would be at a lull. This should help the athletes stay in some rhythm.

The committee has approved experimentation to add one foul per player for the 2016 postseason and will investigate interested events. It also makes sense because fans are there to watch the players play, not serve as assistant coaches on the bench when they pick up two early fouls.

The other key areas the committee will focus on in the upcoming season are:

• Perimeter defense, particularly on the dribbler and strictly enforcing the directives put in before the 2013-14 season.

• Physicality in post play.

• Screening, particularly moving screens and requiring that the screener be stationary.

• Block/charge plays.

• Allowing greater freedom of movement for players without the ball.

• Allowing officials to use the monitor to review a potential shot clock violation on made field goals throughout the entire game.

• Making Class B technical fouls (e.g., hanging on the rim, delaying the resumption of play, etc.) one-shot technical fouls. Two shots are now granted for these types of technical fouls.

• Eliminating the five-second closely guarded rule while dribbling the ball.

• Removing the prohibition on dunking in pregame warmups.

To continue the focus on reducing the number of collisions at the basket, the committee approved the expansion of the restricted area arc from the current 3 feet to 4 feet. This arc would be effective in 2015-16 for Division I. I think this is a vital move because the dimensions of the court have not changed for many years, yet athletes are bigger, stronger and faster, leading to more physical play. This should help a little bit with the congestion in the lane, giving big men a greater opportunity. It should also help spacing on the floor.

This will help the game, but it is not going to make everything perfect. Players still have to learn fundamentals, learn the importance of knowing the clock and score and the value of good shot selection. The 30-second clock may hurt some teams that don't understand shot selection. Those squads will have to learn quickly.

http://espn.go.com/espn/dickvitale/story/_/id/12963659/proposed-rules-make-game-better

 

[cernjSHU]

I agree with Vitale that the 30-second clock will help the so-called "better" or more athletic team.

I do not like the elimination of the 5-second closely guarded rule.
I think this emphasis on freedom of movement will result in more whistles which is bad for the game. Do you remember how unwatchable it was the first couple of games of the season two years ago?

The Timeout situation needed to be addressed. This is the number one reason why the game has no flow.

 

[hallball]

I agree with Vitale that the 30-second clock will help the so-called "better" or more athletic team.

I do not like the elimination of the 5-second closely guarded rule.
I think this emphasis on freedom of movement will result in more whistles which is bad for the game. Do you remember how unwatchable it was the first couple of games of the season two years ago?

The Timeout situation needed to be addressed. This is the number one reason why the game has no flow.

Agreed on the 5 second rule. Especially if they are going to call the hand check tighter like they did very early in the year. The big problem with the 5 second rule is that "closely guarded" has become an unattainable standard, in conflict with the rules. Unless the NCAA has a different standard, "closely guarded" is supposed to be 6 feet. Almost every official seems to require no more than an arm's length, which is really about 3 feet. Call it at 6 feet and there willnot be a big issue with hand checking. It would require the offense to move the ball. It would give an effective defense to the isolation game. And most importantly, it would reward a kid for moving his feet on defense.

 

[PiratePride]

• Removing the prohibition on dunking in pregame warmups.


SWEEEET.... Georgia Brown

 

[Halldan1]

Coaches not worried about switch to 30-second shot clock

• Associated Press

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. -- John Calipari bluntly downplayed the effect a shorter shot clock might have on college basketball.

"Thirty seconds is not going to have an impact on the game," the Kentucky coach said.

Roy Williams echoed that sentiment, if a bit less forcefully, and John Beilein figures the adjustment should be easy enough.

At a golf event Monday that included some of the game's most successful coaches, the reaction to a reduced shot clock was tame. The NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee has recommended shortening the shot clock from 35 to 30 seconds, a change that still has to be approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Committee.

John Calipari says he doesn't believe that a 30-second shot clock will have a major effect on college basketball. Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

No big deal, said Williams.

"I wouldn't mind it being even shorter," he said. "To me, the difference from 35 and 30 is very small. When I first became a head coach, we had a 45-second shot clock and it went to 35, and that changed it a little bit. I don't know that going from 35 to 30 is going to change it very much."

The NCAA is trying to speed up the game and boost scoring, and the 30-second shot clock was tried out during the NIT, CBI and CIT postseason tournaments. Possessions per game went up 1.02 and offensive efficiency was up 0.6 points per 100 possessions, according to basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy.

Williams' North Carolina teams have been among the most fast-paced in the country, so it's easy to understand why he is fine with a shorter shot clock. Beilein's teams, on the other hand, have employed a more methodical approach. At Michigan, he has produced some tremendously efficient offensive teams, but the Wolverines are willing to be patient.

Now they might have to shoot a bit sooner.

"We went to Europe last year and we played with 24 seconds, and it really didn't affect us very much," Beilein said. "It is something we'll just have to adjust to. I think we'll have to practice for a while to really get it."

The shot clock hasn't been reduced since dropping from 45 to 35 seconds in 1993-94. That was Beilein's second season as the coach at Canisius.

"We were outmanned at Canisius, and we shortened the game with the 45-second clock," he said. "It does give teams that might be undermanned a little bit better spot at 45. Now 35 to 30, I don't know if there will be a big difference."

Calipari is convinced there won't be. Pomeroy's website ranks teams in terms of possession length at both the offensive and defensive end -- the No. 1 team having the shortest possessions, while teams outside the top 300 had the longest. Kentucky ranked 98th on offense and 327th on defense last season, which suggests that opposing offenses were comfortable slowing the game down against the talented Wildcats.

But Calipari said even the most methodical teams should be able to operate the same way with a 30-second shot clock.

"Let's just talk Wisconsin," he said, referencing the team that ended Kentucky's unbeaten run in the national semifinals this year. "They were one of the slower teams, their efficiency was really good, so they scored on a high percentage; they were a good defensive team. But their average seconds per possession, and they were one of the slowest teams, 22 seconds. And if they're the slowest team, you could go to the 24-second clock and it would be fine."

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo isn't so sure about that. He is fine with the shot clock at 30 seconds but isn't eager to reduce it to 24.

"I think if we're going to prepare our guys for the NBA, then we might as well go to NBA rules -- except for the 24-second clock," Izzo said. "I just don't think that college guys would be able to handle that. Thirty is fine."

Calipari's bigger concern is physical play.

"We have rules that are in the books. Just call the foul," he said.

Oakland coach Greg Kampe organized the event, which also included coaches Sean Miller, Steve Alford, Rick Barnes, Bob Huggins and Josh Pastner. An online auction was set up, with bidders winning a chance to attend a private dinner with the coaches as well as a round of golf at Oakland Hills Country Club with the coach he or she bid on. The event raised over $160,000 for the American Cancer Society.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...ketball-coaches-nonplussed-shorter-shot-clock

 

[Section112]

I laugh every time I hear someone say this should benefit the better teams?? Maybe the most athletic team isn't always the better team? I think the team that plays the best basketball within the rules is usually the better team and athleticism is a part of that but not all. Makes me laugh every time I see these so called basketball gurus spew the same garbage. The system is all in favor of the power conferences now and they have lots of shills like Dickie V carrying their flag for them.