Partially inspired by The excellent HoopIdea series from TrueHoopCollege Basketball Nation humbly presents Change the Game, a weekly discussion about the game we love and ways to improve it. And nothing is out of the question.
Look for CtG every Friday for the predictable offseason. To share your thoughts or submit a topic for discussion, reply to me on Twitter, @eamonnbrennanwith the hashtag “#CtG”.
Our first topic: the disaster that is the collegiate block call. For Fran Fraschilla’s take on the subject, Click here. For mine, read on…
For me and people like me – people who want to see great college basketball players make great college basketball plays; that is, the fans – 2011-2012 was a tough season to digest.
The block charge, always a difficult dynamic in the game, has become a nighttime scourge. It got so bad that by the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, at least half of my unrelated tweets were about bad blocked calls. Most of them were in FRUSTRATED ALL CAPS. (True story: When I proposed this idea to my editor, Brett, he said, “Well, judging by your Twitter feed in March, that’s certainly an issue you’re passionate about.”)
Why has block charging been worse than ever? Progress. Last season was the first in the NCAA with a restricted area around the basket, and the referees clearly struggled to adapt. Ironically, this was a step back from 2011, when referees were essentially asked to pretend there was a restricted area painted on the field. At least by then, officials were monitoring the entire game, or trying to. In 2012, with the arc on the ground, referees often only looked at the arc. As long as the defender’s feet were outside the lines, it was a charge. Otherwise, it wasn’t.
So a rule designed to open up the tough college game has made it even more physical, giving the defense an inherent advantage on almost every drive or post possession. Add in occasional flops, as well as countless legitimate offensive fouls, and it felt like each A potentially exciting play at the rim would end with a whistle, one way or another. It was stifling.
Encouragingly, the NCAA has also noticed the problem. This week, the NCAA men’s basketball committee recommended various rule changes. Most immediately notable – the one with which the NCAA directed its publication – covered the banning of those stupid, slippery sponsor stickers, a policy that any sane human being can support. But at the very bottom, after the subheadings “Sportsmanship” and “Instructor Comments,” is a section called “Advice for Male Officials.” It contains the following requirements approved by the committee:
Before the offensive player (with the ball) takes off, the defender must have both feet on the ground, face the opponent and be still to initiate a charge. Otherwise, it should be a blocking fault.
Secondary defenders (helping defenders) who advance or move to the side are also on offense and must block fouls.
Contact “across the chest” does not constitute de facto evidence for a charge. The rule in its entirety must be considered before determining a foul.
In some cases, it seems like a defender is rewarded just for being outside the arc, without considering other aspects of the rules.
These are very good prescriptions! (The last one is more of an observation, but it’s accurate.) If approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Committee and implemented as written, they will help referees restore the balance of block calls toward the offense, or at least somewhere closer to the middle than what we saw last season. That’s a good thing.
But I wonder: shouldn’t we think more radically about the call for bulk billing in general?
I think we should do it. John Gasaway from Basketball Prospectus is with me, and indirectly talked about it in his annual Perfecting the Sport column this spring:
At some point, college basketball officiating – maybe basketball, period – got seriously derailed from what happens in sister team sports where movement and goals are like lacrosse, football and hockey. (In other words, the sports that Dr. Naismith was modeling when he invented this one.) Only in basketball can contact that does not visibly alter the movement of the alleged victim constitute a violation. Call it a fault, call it a nickel dimer, by any name it has to go. If a defender has his hands up and moves laterally, he should not be called for a foul unless he sticks his leg out and trips the player he is protecting. And the fact that I even have to state the following shows that there is a problem: a player who stands with his hands above his head, by definition, is not fouling anyone, even if the big star of the other team jumps on him. Not every instance of players coming into contact necessarily constitutes a violation. Let them play.
John’s idea: “Fouls should be limited to obvious charges and cases in which defenders are clearly reaching and obstructing. Otherwise, let them play.” I agree. The first place this should apply is in bulk billing. And that should apply equally to offense and defense.
The defensive purists will cringe at this, but I’m just going to come out and say it: I hate costs.
Before you panic, I admit that there is something beautiful about a player reading a rotation and sliding his feet from side to side in time to get back up and gain the upper hand; there is something deeply satisfying about a player’s desire to sacrifice his body to his team. Or maybe I just like it when the audience gets really excited. (Lots of fist-pumping, clapping, and helping the player…everyone likes that kind of thing.)
But why is support considered a basketball play? Especially if a player simply establishes position and waits for the offense to hit him? Why shouldn’t we require defensive players to play with the ball, or at least have their hands in the air when receiving contact? What if we completely rethought the way players are asked to defend themselves in basketball? What if we made it more like a pickup?
In pickup basketball, there are no fees. This almost never happens. When this is the case, the supplier is usually the subject of much laughter. Who takes control of the basketball pickup? Check the top, man. Stop this thing. Play defense.
This has not been properly encouraged in the college game. Most of the time, when a defensive player leaves his feet – even if he stays upright, in his own space, and receives contact rather than creating it – he will be called for a foul. The players understood it. Why wouldn’t they take a chance and take matters into their own hands? The risk-reward ratio is completely unbalanced.
It boils down to this: Defenders should do something more than carve out a spot three inches in front of the restricted area and wait for a penetrating player to come flying into the lane. They should be forced to play on the ball, not on the body. They should be forced to play defense: real, real, you’re trying to score and I’m trying to stop you on defense. If a defender stands up and waits for contact, the referee should either blow the whistle (preferably) or call a foul (if absolutely necessary). It’s hard to argue that the outcome wouldn’t be a lot more like basketball.
In exchange — because you can’t suddenly make the game that much easier for the offense, lest defensive coaches everywhere panic — offensive players shouldn’t be able to commit the kind of tick-tock fouls we see all the time in the college game. Block fees are not just a peripheral problem; players are whistled for all kinds of body contact away from the hoop, during drives, pull-ups and head feints. These calls must also be transmitted. Players should be allowed to use their bodies to defend themselves both away from and around the hoop. As John wrote, contact shouldn’t always mean foul.
Under the current block-loading paradigm, the recommendations of the men’s basketball rules committee are good. If implemented well, they will be considered essential adjustments.
And that’s the key word: adjustments. I think we need to go further. We need to start thinking about bulk billing calls in a completely different way. We need to realign the incentives for players on the field. We must discourage any game that strengths the referee must make a decision. We need to encourage players to play as if the officials were not there, and not require such use of their imagination to do so. We must do everything possible to return basketball to its purer, less whistle-prone origins. We have to let the game breathe.
This is much easier said than done. And I’m sure many people will disagree. But it’s clear that something needs to be done, and the NCAA agrees.
So, instead of taking small steps, let’s take leaps. Basketball is a better game than the way it is currently officiated. The sooner we remember it, the sooner we work to fix it, the better – and more entertaining – the game can be.
At least, that’s how I see it. Let’s hear your thoughts and ideas in the comments and on Twitter. Go!
