Basketball is at its best with the continual flow, back & forth, up & down the court, layups, 3 pts, dunks, mid-range shots, defensive steals, slick passes, rebounds all taking place. The game excels in those situations. Unfortunately, from what I observe, the last 4 minutes of many college/high school games have become a free throw tournament. From my perspective, this constant parade of players to the free-throw line is damaging the game. Fouls were designed to be a penalty on the defender…not an advantage. I’d like to suggest some modifications to some of the rules on free throws & time clock….both areas that have already been changed frequently in the past. I really don’t know the exact best alternative…..so here on some possibilities to rectify the “foul instantly” mode that dominates…and bores…everyone watching the last part of the game. These pertain to NCAA level…not the pros. Your thoughts on any of these suggestions….
….currently, it’s 1&1 on the 7th foul on non-shooting fouls (in mens game) & 2 shots on the 10th foul. One approach would be on the 12th foul, 1 shot & get the ball back. On 14th, 2 shots & get the ball back. On these possessions due to excessive fouls possessions, the shot clock would be 20 seconds, not 30. Maybe by shortening the shot clock, teams wouldn’t feel so compelled to foul to get the ball back quickly?
…or, once a team has been fouled 12+ times a half, the COACH can decide to shoot 2 FT or keep the ball.
….or… another approach, in the last 3 minutes of each half, each team gets 2 fouls…after that, the team that gets the choice of the 2 options listed above. For years the NBA had a special set of foul rules for the last 2 minutes of each half so that idea does has precedent .
…Or… consider the current adjustment used by NCAA women’s games currently. There are 4 quarters (NOT 2 halves) with 2 shots on the 5th foul of a quarter automatically and each foul beyond. Starting fresh each quarter DOES seem to help regain some momentum in the flow of the game. Maybe consider, on the 7th foul of each quarter implementing some of the suggestions listed above. Find some way to Stay off the Line!
…or….make the shot clock 20 seconds for the last 3 or 4 minutes of each half with only 1 timeout. Right now college basketball is being pulled down by the last few minutes of each game(like the 4 corners offense did in its day)….the final 4 minutes SHOULD be the BEST, most exciting part of the game. Something has to be done.
Some other data on NCAA-Bk….
…for the last 20 years, the national collegiate free throw average has been hovering around 68% ..app 2 of 3.
…the NCAA introduced the 45-second shot for 85-86 season. Probably as a reaction to the 4 corners offense that teams were beginning to use throughout much of the game and was damaging the game. Shot clock became 35 second in 93-94 and 30 seconds in 2015-16 season. So changing it again is not radical change.
…Currently, the NCAA-b men’s team averaging the fewest fouls/game is Notre Dame—12.1/game! St Louis U is #247 committing an average of 18.7 fouls/game. Mizzou is #303 @ 19.7 fouls/game. These numbers, for ALL teams ,will rise noticeably from this point onward. In the early season, Cupcake games had fewer close games (more fouls in close games) and the wide difference on the scoreboards seems to help officials overlook some of those “touch” fouls(as they should).
….Which teams seem to get the most “friendly” HOME officials? Syracuse is called for 13.6 foul/game @ home and 19.0 fouls/game when on the road. Illinois is 13.4 fouls/game-HOME & 19.8 fouls/game-Road. More consistent–SLU is 17.9 fouls/game-HOME & 19.2 on the road.
…on the money line….bball commercials could be shown in the ½ or ¼ page while FT shooter takes shot and is walking to take his shot….I realize that we can’t get away from those necessary money-making commercials but the split screen approach would also help keep the flow of the game by reducing “media” Timeouts(at 16, 12,8,4 min mark of each half). Further, I think more people would see those split-screen ads…during timeouts, many viewers…if they’re like me…run out of the room to get more food, drink or other necessary reasons.
…the lines & lines of hockey fans really enjoyed the All-Star events & game. Setting an NHL record for over 30,000 tickets sold for the fan-fest, energy & exuberance throughout all the events & game, tremendous receptions for the Blues (of course), retired Blues, former Blues, StL hockey products, Charles Glenn. It was a very memorable event for all the Lou’s hockey fans…and for the NHL (don’t think that they didn’t notice)
…..Going between the lines…..to no one’s surprise, the Cards passed on Marcel Ozuna. He had approached the Cards in June to begin negotiating. MO turned him down….then, key signal from Birds. Ozuna’s agent REALLY miscalculated the market of OZ…..the Cards offered him $17.9m which he turned down. Then after weeks of negotiating, Ozuna signs for $18m with the Braves….that’s right $.1m more…..now….in the world of most people…that’s a lot of money…but in the world of MLB’s monopoly money type salaries…it’s a almost an insult…unless you have no other offers Ozuna is listed as the #32 MLB OF in pre-season ratings for 2020 by 1 publication. His rating has dropped in each of the last 2 years. Also, I don’t know where it shows up but….many teams… almost all of them…ran mercilessly on him for extra bases last summer. His arm is a really liability defensively. Apparently, Oz did have some multi-year offers but chose the 1 & done approach with this signing. It almost makes me think that the Cards were lucky that he turned down their offer. The runway is now clear for the young-guns to fly away for StL.
…..Line-up–According to MLB.com’s depth chart the Cards have the same C, 1b, 2b, SS, RF as last year. But, this site shows Tommy Edman as the 3B! I was under the understanding that he was slotted in to be our “stunt” man…1 day here, 1 day there, a 3rd day, yet another place. Maybe….maybe…the Cards have sent signals to Crap… oops… Carp that he MUST produce more…or else. Cont’ on depth chart….Tyler O’Neill-LF & Harrison Bader-CF are listed alongside RF Fowler as the outfield. 26 year old, Austin Dean..just acquired from the Marlins, after they basically “cut” him, is slotted as a backup OF. 24 year old Dustin Williams is also listed in the same way. Lane Thomas is the only familiar name on the OF backup list..at least to me. Dylan Carlson isn’t listed. Don’t Worry, he’ll be up in June …the day after it doesn’t become a full year on his arbitration time. The Cards will say, “he’s being sent down to “work on” this or that in March. I do think that if a player comes up AFTER that magical date if he plays “x” number of game or “x” number of plate appearances, it WOULD become a full year towards his arbitration. Now…that depth chart just doesn’t look that strong to me.
….a scary line…for Blues fans…despite their very strong play…..only 1 team has repeated as Stanley Cup champions this millennium. Pittsburgh won back-back with Sydney Crosby as their feature player. One thought about that stat is that a star demands so MUCH money, that he drains the resources of the team to fortify the 3rd/4th lines with good players. Now, the Blackhawks DID snatch the Cup 3x in 6 years recently. HOPE!!
…off the side-lines now…..retirement of Eli Manning….probably always be remembered as Peyton’s younger bro….he DID win two Super Bowls—both of which were major upsets; played all 14 years for the same team (very rare these days); He was on good Super bowl teams and on bad teams; He was the back-up this year.. probably 1st time in his career… that probably convinced him that it was time to go admirably. Manning is 7th in NFL history with 57,023 passing yards, 366 TD passes and 4,895 completions. He finished with a 117-117 record as a starter in the regular season. I hear Arch Manning is on track to be the 3rd generation Manning QB.
…jumping into the line for contending teams– Cincy Reds have upgraded their rotation this off-season. The rotation of Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo, Trevor Bauer, Anthony DeSclafani and Wade Miley is a huge leap upward.
…an outside lines announcement from Mizzou….generally, the announcement of the assistant FB coaches staff is bland & routine. This year however, new Head Coach Eli Drinkwitz raised a few eyebrows with his staff. Coach Drink, the Head Coach will be the Off Coordinator also. Unusual, but….shows some self confidence in HIS own skills. Remaining part of O-Staff—Rush Hamdan-QB/WR; Chris Luper-RB; Marcus Johnson-O/line;Casey Woods-TE/recruiting coordinator. On the Defensive side—some confusion. Coach Drink announced that Brick Haley will remain as D-Line coach. MU LB’ers have D.J.Smith as their coach. Ryan Walters is D-C & in charge of safeties. Charlie Harbison is slated to handle the “defensive backs”. David Gibbs is going to coach “the secondary”. I’m sure it’s clear to Coach Drink…but not to me…or maybe anyone else 