Joe Dzuback is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report after Wednesday night’s game between Seton Hall and Kent State. On paper the proposed revision to the blocking rule, along with a handful of tweaks to the rules governing legal hand checks and use of the arms by defenders, seemed the best way to reverse the ongoing problem of declining points per game. The Rules Committee reasoned that tolerating more physical contact had given the defender a subtle but impactful bias that contributed to the recent trend of fewer points scored by both teams. By mandating the defender had to be in the defensive position before the ball-handler began his upward motion (as opposed to leaving the ground, as previously enforced), the Rules Committee hoped to give the referees a longer time frame — and therefore a better chance — to make the correct block/charge call. By mandating officials more consistently call hand-check violations, the Rules Committee hoped scorers would have more freedom to create shots and force defenders to work harder to maintain position by moving their feet in front of the ball-handler, rather than using their hands and arms to slow him down.

Seton Hall and coach Kevin Willard, like the rest of college hoops, have had to adjust to the new rules. (Getty)

Depending on the coach, the changes would enhance scoring opportunities and open up the game (e.g., John Calipari — “But we’re all wondering whether they will make the same calls in January, February and March that they make in November and December,” per Jeff Goodman’s October 14 article at ESPN) or throw sand into the overall flow (e.g., Larry Brown — “I think it will be terrible… There’s no doubt in my mind that they’re trying to do the right thing and their intentions are good, but I don’t think this is the solution. This is going to ruin the flow of the game,” per an early November ESPN article by Dana O’Neil) and turn the game into a Parade to the Free Throw Line. More scoring? Sure, but those extra points come at a price – longer games with more interruptions. Read the rest of this entry »

Ken Pomeroy has an interesting post on his website concerning the early effect of the enforcement of new rules regarding contact by the defender. He acknowledges that the sample size is very small, but he basically compared all the Division I games last weekend with a similar number of games to start last season. Scoring is up by about 4.5 points per team while tempo has only increased by about one possession per team. Therefore almost all of the scoring increase is because of an increase in fouls called, which has resulted in nearly nine more free throw attempts per game. With the number of possessions and field goal attempts remaining steady, the tradeoff has come in fewer turnovers, specifically those caused by steals. Overall, it appears that officials are calling fouls for defensive contact that last year resulted in steals.

Karl Hess and Other Officials are Working with Players on New Rules (Photo: flickr.com)

Many coaches have expressed concerns with the new rules, mostly regarding consistent enforcement. That is a reasonable worry since college basketball has no organized governance structure over officials during the regular season, with assignments made by individual conferences. There is, however, a national element with respect to the NCAA Tournament. Those officiating assignments are made by NCAA director of men’s basketball officiating, John Adams, who sounds like a supporter of the new rules. On Monday’s ESPN College Basketball Podcast, Tom Izzo and Bill Self both expressed concerns with how officials will call fouls. There was even a suggestion that the NCAA might want to make an example of the new officiating style by calling the Champions Classic games closely and putting all the stars on the bench with foul trouble. Last night’s games totaled 46 and 53 fouls, respectively, a high number (the season average thus far is 42) but not completely off kilter. And really only Michigan State’s Adreian Payne spent much of crunch time in foul trouble (Duke’s Jabari Parker fouled out late, but Kansas had already surged ahead at that point). John Calipari had a different take, basically echoing what Jay Bilas has been saying: “If you don’t want fouls to be called on you, then just don’t foul.” Sounds simple enough.

Read the rest of this entry »

College basketball opened play over the weekend and we got our first glimpse at the 10 Big East teams this season. Now that we’ve seen each team in action, here are some initial takeaways from a few of them.

PROVIDENCE – 100% COTTON

Bryce Cotton (Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports)

Bryce Cotton led all Big East players in scoring last year and he will have an opportunity to repeat the feat this season. But if Providence wants to take the next step into the NCAA Tournament, it will need to find some consistent support for him. In the Friars’ Friday night win against Boston College, Cotton was his usual self, deftly finding his way into the paint and finishing over much bigger defenders, but he struggled from the perimeter. Last year he averaged more than eight three-point attempts per game but limited himself to just four against the Eagles. His ratio of 3FGA to FTA will be a telling statistic this season in his personal development. However, the well-dressed Ed Cooley needs to find his star some help. With Kris Dunn sidelined by a shoulder injury and two freshman wings (Brandon Austin and Rodney Bullock) suspended, it was again the Cotton show.  If the Friars want to improve upon their .500 finish in conference play last season, they will need those players back to create a depth that was lacking in their season-opening win.

GEORGETOWN – HEART & SEOUL

Georgetown opened its season practically across the world in South Korea against Oregon and it was UCLA transfer Josh Smith who stole the show in a loss. The big man showed off an array of post moves and had his way in the paint against the smaller Ducks. Georgetown was ice cold from deep and still had chances late against a ranked team, albeit one missing a couple of key players. Assuming the Hoyas shoot better in future big games (and realistically, they could not shoot much worse), Josh Smith’s presence will make an enormous difference and put Georgetown in contention for a Big East title.

Read the rest of this entry »