Quote:
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Originally Posted by Snaqwells
"The worst basketball rule on any level is the NCAA's alternating possession on a held-ball situation. The only reason why this abomination exists is because the refs aren't capable of properly implementing the tosses for jump balls."
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This is a much quoted explanation, but according to Red Auerbach, he started the movement for alternate possession because Kareem Abdul Jabbar never lost a tip-off, and he was sick of the Lakers getting two extra possessions a game. He started complaining that the referees couldn't toss the ball up consistantly and people bought it.
The real reason this took off is that the game was getting longer due to TV timeouts and the powers that be welcomed ways to shorten the game.