Wednesday, June 3, 2009
NCAA Takes on Charging, Promptly Flops
It's that time of year in college basketball. All the nets have been cut down, the late signing period has wrapped up and college basketball's best talent is getting put through the motions by NBA scouts. This is the time of year when the brass of college basketball get together and deliberate rule changes. Some rules you may remember are the experimental jump ball, wider lanes and last season's extended three-point line.
This year NCAA officials have decided to cut back on flopping by adopting the NBA's rule that players beneath the basket cannot draw charges.
Except with one small difference: The NCAA isn't actually going to put any additional markings on the floor. The hardwood at the RBC Center, Smith Center and Cameron Indoor Stadium will be unchanged. Referees will have to make all the calls without any handy visual aids.
The NCAA finally got the policy correct: Legislating against drawing charges so close to the basket will make college basektball more fun to watch. However, they have dropped the ball on the bureaucratic side of the issue. A rule that is in practice a good idea will simply be another hassle for officials. Not only will they have to make the presently difficult charge/ blocking foul distinction, now they need to be able to use an imaginary line to help distinguish the two. According to the News & Observer's report, the NCAA will be unable to add a line for at least four more years.
The best case scenario is that the rule will eventually be fully in place, line and all. However, the present situation is an unfortunate compromise that will hopefully not last the promised four years.
Comments (3)
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Interesting tidbit on the shot clock from Bill Simmons' article (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090528&sportCat=nba), the inventor worked backwards from the number of shots that he wanted to see each team take in an NBA game (60 per team) to determine how long the shot clock should be. For college it only equates to about 35 required shots per game for each team. Anyways, I don't think the rule change will alter much. It will likely create some hesitation when a secondary defender decides to slide over and help immediately beneath the basket. Since there is no line on the floor I can only imagine the officials citing the rule in the most clear cut instances.
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The rule if official now. I'm just hopeful they follow up with the arc in the next few seasons. They are instituting this now so there is no waiting period... but I have a feeling it will be a while before the NCAA catches up to the NBA.
I don't mind the existing rule at all. It's real clear. If the defensive player establishes position first, and the man on O is out of control, it's charging. I don't care where it is. Of course, I don't like the shot clock much, and it took a while to get the 3pt line. The NCAA only makes rules to benefit big schools in big conferences. The shot clock: instituted after 'Nova beat Georgetown in 1985, and after Princeton almost beat Georgetown in the first round in, I think, 1988. Let me know when real basketball comes back to the colleges. Until then, there's hockey, baseball, football....
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