If I could change some things about college basketball...

[KZRider]

- A defender's freedom to grab and push and hand check would stop.

- An offensive player's freedom to initiate contact and have the defender called for a foul would stop.

- A rebounder's freedom to push an opponent out of the way and jump over backs would stop.

- Moving screens would stop.

- A referee's freedom to perform badly without public scrutiny would stop.

 

I say this because I dislike thug basketball and that is what is being rewarded in the current scheme of things.

Edited March 23 by KZRider

[tcp]

these things tend to go in cycles...the ncaa is a reactionary institution....it's primary purpose is to protect itself and perpetuate its authority and influence. This is pretty much poli sci 401. As all pendulums do, when this one reaches it's zenith, it begings the long trip back and we do this all over again....

 

there were some impressively low scores this year, and that always creates issues with so-called casual fans who, ostensibly, prefer offense over defense (in every sport, btw). And as these scores dip, the NCAA will look t the stats on viewership and popularity and adjust again by doing half the things you mention. 

 

in some ways, the best coaches are the ones that have a really good crystal ball and can see trends....

[Huskerpapa]

Hmm.

 

 

[Navin R. Johnson]

I posted this in the official media thread, but since this was dusted off, I will place it here as well.  The talk of expansion for the tournament of course revolves around money.  The big conferences want more teams in and the mid majors don't want to lose their automatic bid and are afraid they will all be thrown in the play in games.  If it expands, which I think is going to happen, I still think you go with 96 teams and eliminate the NIT and give a bye to the top 32 teams in the added first round.

 

 

[kldm64]

The one thing I would change is take away the opportunity to call a time out when you are trying to inbound the ball.  I hate it when you can call a timeout before the 5 second count.  To me, you should be able to inbound the ball or it's a turnover.  How about rewarding the defense and not just allowing the playing to inbound to turn to the ref and call a timeout.  That would definitely change many endings to games.

[Vinny]

You get four timeouts and inbound the ball what, 50 times? If you want to use those very valuable timeouts to save a turnover, fine. You’ll have 46 other chances to not get it inbounded in time.

[Cazzie22]

1 hour ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

I posted this in the official media thread, but since this was dusted off, I will place it here as well.  The talk of expansion for the tournament of course revolves around money.  The big conferences want more teams in and the mid majors don't want to lose their automatic bid and are afraid they will all be thrown in the play in games.  If it expands, which I think is going to happen, I still think you go with 96 teams and eliminate the NIT and give a bye to the top 32 teams in the added first round.

 

 

The Power Conferences are threatening to bolt because they don’t like the Automatic Bids of the minor conferences and want a larger share of the pie.  The tournament is the Cash Cow of the NCAA and the will bow to the big boys not to lose it.  I think the tournament is fine now but it appears more teams are coming.  

[HuskerFever]

1 hour ago, Cazzie22 said:

The Power Conferences are threatening to bolt because they don’t like the Automatic Bids of the minor conferences and want a larger share of the pie.  The tournament is the Cash Cow of the NCAA and the will bow to the big boys not to lose it.  I think the tournament is fine now but it appears more teams are coming.  

 

FOX wants a piece of the March basketball pie too. They're trying to build out a postseason tournament themselves. So this could be more of a reaction to capture more of the fringe teams and dilute the product that FOX was trying to build.

[LincecumFan]

I really dislike how when you're down by 3, it's under 10 seconds left in the game and you have the ball, and the other team purposely fouls so you won't get the opportunity to make a three pointer to tie the game. IMHO if the foul is obviously deliberate the team in possession should get 3 free throws.

Edited June 20 by LincecumFan

[Red Rum]

Elam Ending, lets do it!

[GhostOfJoeMcCray]

2 hours ago, LincecumFan said:

I really dislike how when you're down by 3, it's under 10 seconds left in the game and you have the ball, and the other team purposely fouls so you won't get the opportunity to make a three pointer to tie the game. IMHO if the foul is obviously deliberate the team in possession should get 3 free throws.

 

Interesting thought. I also hate fouling at the end of games to drag out the inevitable. If every foul under 30 seconds remaining resulted in 3 free throws no matter what, it would stop the intentional fouling before the team can shoot a 3. The whole "foul them before they can shoot a 3 to tie" thing kills the end of games and I don't think it should be an option. Every foul under 30 seconds being 3 free throws would end that. 

Edited June 20 by GhostOfJoeMcCray

[Vinny]

3 hours ago, LincecumFan said:

I really dislike how when you're down by 3, it's under 10 seconds left in the game and you have the ball, and the other team purposely fouls so you won't get the opportunity to make a three pointer to tie the game. IMHO if the foul is obviously deliberate the team in possession should get 3 free throws.

This could get hairy. Sometimes you’re behind and want to foul right away and it’s deliberate. The refs know it’s deliberate, and they call it right away. You can’t call the game different for teams that are winning vs losing.

[LincecumFan]

On 6/20/2024 at 2:44 PM, Vinny said:

This could get hairy. Sometimes you’re behind and want to foul right away and it’s deliberate. The refs know it’s deliberate, and they call it right away. You can’t call the game different for teams that are winning vs losing.

Point well taken. I guess there is no "one size fits all" solution.

[Navin R. Johnson]

For all sports, replay that takes more than 30 seconds.  If it is not obvious after 30, go with what the officials called.  For basketball I hate when a defender knocks the ball out of an offensive player's hand and it goes out of bounds and they say the offensive player touched it last.  The defender caused the ball to go out of bounds.  Give it to the offensive player.

 

Also when a shot is so bad it gets lodged between the rim and the back board and they call it a jump.  The ball should to to the other team if the shot was that bad. (unless it was tipped by the other team, which rarely happens)

[Huskerpapa]

1.  Remove rules and violations from the rule book that are no longer called.

2.  Leverage technology whenever and wherever possible in governing the game.

3.  Consider leveraging one, rather than three referees.

4.  Players call the game/fouls/violations.  Using technology, have severe consequences if the player calling the infraction is wrong.

5.  Eliminate free throws.  Give automatic points on a violation or foul.

6.  Eliminate the lane area and free throw line.

7.  Raise the rim for all genders and ages to 11 feet.

8.  Instead of just the three point line; have a one point arc, a two point arc, and a three and four point arc.

[Vinny]

1 hour ago, Huskerpapa said:

1.  Remove rules and violations from the rule book that are no longer called.

2.  Leverage technology whenever and wherever possible in governing the game.

3.  Consider leveraging one, rather than three referees.

4.  Players call the game/fouls/violations.  Using technology, have severe consequences if the player calling the infraction is wrong.

5.  Eliminate free throws.  Give automatic points on a violation or foul.

6.  Eliminate the lane area and free throw line.

7.  Raise the rim for all genders and ages to 11 feet.

8.  Instead of just the three point line; have a one point arc, a two point arc, and a three and four point arc.

This reminds me of one of Hunter S. Thompsons articles he wrote for ESPN.com back in the early 00’s. His suggestions for improving baseball: allow steroids, eliminate the pitcher and have a machine pump 100mph fastballs down the pipe and let everyone tee off.

[Huskerpapa]

21 minutes ago, Vinny said:

This reminds me of one of Hunter S. Thompsons articles he wrote for ESPN.com back in the early 00’s. His suggestions for improving baseball: allow steroids, eliminate the pitcher and have a machine pump 100mph fastballs down the pipe and let everyone tee off.

Hunter S. Thompson
Page 2 columnist

Hi, folks. My name is Thompson, and I don't have much space for this high-speed presentation, so let's get started and see how tight we can make it. My job is to devise a whole new set of rules and concepts to shorten the time it takes to play a game of Major League BASEBALL, or any other kind.

 

 

Everybody agrees that Baseball games Must be shortened, but nobody is really Working on it. ... And meanwhile, the games get longer and longer. The good old "meat in the seats" argument won't work after midnight, when the seats are mainly Empty, and TV networks get nasty when they start having to refund money to advertisers when the ratings sink lower and lower. Pro wrestling and golf are bigger draws than baseball games. ... I have not been to a live baseball game in 20 years, and I hope I Never see another one. Not even the New Rules would drag me back to the Ballpark -- but I am a Doctor of Wisdom, a professional man, and some of my friends in the Business have asked me to have a look at this problem, which I have, and this is my solution, for good or ill.

 

I am keenly aware of the angst and bitter squabbling that will erupt when somebody tries to screw with the National Pastime. ... But it must be done, and if I don't do it somebody else will. So here's the plan.

 

ELIMINATE THE PITCHER: This will knock at least one hour off the length of a game, which is now up to 3:42. One World Series game took five hours and 20 minutes, which is unacceptable to everybody except the Pitchers. Yes. ... So we will ELIMINATE THE PITCHERS, and they won't be missed. Pitchers, as a group, are pampered little swine with too much money and no real effect on the game except to drag it out and interrupt the action.

 

	“	Not even the New Rules would drag me back to the Ballpark -- but I am a Doctor of Wisdom, a professional man, and some of my friends in the Business have asked me to have a look at this problem, which I have, and this is my solution, for good or ill. ”
		— HST

 

LIMIT ALL GAMES TO THREE (3) HOURS: Like football and basketball and hockey, the Baseball game will end at a fixed time. THE SCORE, at that moment, WILL BE FINAL, based on an accumulation of TOTAL BASES IN 3 hours.

 

ALL BASE-RUNNERS MAY RUN TO ANY BASE (but not backward) -- First to Third, Second to Home, etc. And with NO PITCHER in the game, this frantic scrambling across the infield will be Feasible and Tempting.

 

ALL "PITCHING", by the way, will be done by a fine-tuned PITCHING MACHINE that pops up out of the mound, delivers a remote-controlled "pitch" at the batter, and then drops back out of sight, to free up the whole infield for running. ... If a batter hits a home run with the bases loaded, for instance, his team will score 16 total bases (or 16 points). But, if it's 3 up and 3 down in an inning, that team will score Zero points.

 

Think of 22-5, perhaps, or 88-55. Yes sir, we will have Huge scores and constant speedy action for three straight hours.

 

The heroes of the game will be CATCHERS, not Pitchers. The CATCHER will dominate the game and be the highest-paid player. ... With no Pitcher and no Mound to disrupt the flow, runners on base will be moving at the crack of the bat, and it will be the catcher's job to shut them down or pick them off whenever possible. Foot-speed and a bazooka throwing arm will be paramount. ... There will be no more of this bull about Bullpens and Managers scratching their heads on TV for hours on end, no more lame pick-off throws to first, no more waving off signs and agonized close-ups while pop fouls bounce off the roof.

 

No, there will be no such thing as a base on balls. Each batter will get five "pitches" from the robot -- only FIVE (5) and if he doesn't get a hit by then, he is Out. ... And the CATCHER will control the kind of drop or curve or speed he wants the machine to throw. And it will obey.

 

Those damn pitching machines can put a Slider past you at 98 miles an hour five times in a row, with no problem. They can throw hideous wavering knuckleballs and half-moon curves -- all depending and according to what the CATCHER wants to dial up on his remote-control unit. He can even order that the batter be whacked in the ribs by a 102-mph fastball, although that will cost his team TWO (2) bases, instead of one. And you won't want to have some poor Cuban drilled in the ribs when you're nursing a 31-30 lead.

 

OK, folks, that's it for now. I am already late, and I have written too many words -- but the Concept is sound, I think, and there is a clear and desperate Need for it. ...

 

Next spring ESPN will put my theories to the test by sponsoring a series of "New Rules" baseball games in New York, Chicago, Omaha and Seattle, among others. ...Tickets will be sold and big-time sports talent will be employed. The success or failure of these Games will determine the fate of Baseball in America.

 

Purists will bitch and whine, but so what? Purists will Always bitch and whine. That is their function. Res Ipsa Loquitor.

 

HST, 11-6-2000

[Cazzie22]

Eliminate the Euro Step.

Call traveling.

Pivot foot cannot be changed.

 

If these rules were enforced we would really enforced we would see who the skilled players are that can adapt.

[Chuck Taylor]

15 hours ago, Cazzie22 said:

Eliminate the Euro Step.

 

How would you do that? It's a two-step layup, with change of direction, so the refs (called incompetent by most here) would have another impossible judgment call.

 

Better question: why? Because it looks funny?

 

 

[49r]

I would change this:

 

 

[Cazzie22]

6 hours ago, Chuck Taylor said:

How would you do that? It's a two-step layup, with change of direction, so the refs (called incompetent by most here) would have another impossible judgment call.

 

Better question: why? Because it looks funny?

 

 

The player should have one full step and must release the ball before completing the 2nd step.  Two stepping is a great Texas Dance but it’s traveling in my opinion.

[Chuck Taylor]

The ball's still in Bob Cousy's hands as he completes the second step. 

[LincecumFan]

Watching MLB and the EURO2024, I think it would be fun to see every D1 team play an exhibition game where there's no substitutions. Once a player is taken out of the game they can not return. Would be interesting to see how that rule changes the game.

[HuscurAdam]

On 6/22/2024 at 3:04 PM, Navin R. Johnson said:

For all sports, replay that takes more than 30 seconds.  If it is not obvious after 30, go with what the officials called.  For basketball I hate when a defender knocks the ball out of an offensive player's hand and it goes out of bounds and they say the offensive player touched it last.  The defender caused the ball to go out of bounds.  Give it to the offensive player.

 

1000% agree on this, except I would make it 10 seconds. Replay should only be used to correct obvious and egregious errors. if you can't tell in 10 seconds what the correct call is, whatever was called should stand. I hate how frequent/long replays disrupt the flow of games just to determine whose fingernail grazed the ball last. 

[Navin R. Johnson]

3 hours ago, HuscurAdam said:

 

1000% agree on this, except I would make it 10 seconds. Replay should only be used to correct obvious and egregious errors. if you can't tell in 10 seconds what the correct call is, whatever was called should stand. I hate how frequent/long replays disrupt the flow of games just to determine whose fingernail grazed the ball last. 

 

Yup.  After watching MLB games this season I think it has become worse.  I can't believe how many times the replay umpires get it wrong.