NCAAM Potential Rules Changes

[Altor]

Didn't they try the "held ball goes to the defense" rule several years ago?

It seems to me that it went over so well that there was a movement among coaches to get the rule rescinded mid-season.

[so cal lurker]

Originally Posted by Altor

Didn't they try the "held ball goes to the defense" rule several years ago?

It seems to me that it went over so well that there was a movement among coaches to get the rule rescinded mid-season.

As I recall, the rule was inspired by an NCAA tournament game (when alternating possession was fairly new) in which Stanford made a great defensive play while trying to come back in the final seconds, only to have the alternating possession go the other way, effectively ending the game. (Quite long back--I believe in the Mark Madsen era at Stanford.)

And yes, as I recall, the result was a mess--particularly where there was a defender grabbed the ball away (thereby instantly becoming the attacker) and the person who lost the ball (now the defender) forced a held ball. As I recall, the rule was one-and-done.

If we really hate the impact of alternating possession arrow in end game (which I do), a better path would be to either abolish it entirely or go back to jump balls in the final two minutes.

[Stat-Man]

Originally Posted by Altor

Didn't they try the "held ball goes to the defense" rule several years ago?

It seems to me that it went over so well that there was a movement among coaches to get the rule rescinded mid-season.

I remember that rule being used either as an actual change or experimentally in the NCAA-M rules about 20+ years ago. In theory, it was a good idea, but it only worked when team control existed. When A1 and B1 created a held ball situation on a rebound, for example, there was no team control to determine who got the ball, so those instances still had to use the AP arrow. Needless to say, the rule was gone for the following season.


I agree the rest of these rules seem gimmicky. I also think these proposals are geared more towards preparing NCAA Division 1 athletes for pro ball than anything else.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Stat-Man

I remember that rule being used either as an actual change or experimentally in the NCAA-M rules about 20+ years ago. In theory, it was a good idea, but it only worked when team control existed. When A1 and B1 created a held ball situation on a rebound, for example, there was no team control to determine who got the ball, so those instances still had to use the AP arrow. Needless to say, the rule was gone for the following season.


I agree the rest of these rules seem gimmicky. I also think these proposals are geared more towards preparing NCAA Division 1 athletes for pro ball than anything else.

It was a mess. The problem was deciding who got control "first" on a loose ball. It was essentially a coin toss a lot of the time. It was an unmitigated disaster ...almost as bad as requiring LGP on upward motion was.

[Altor]

Rather than the proposed rule change, it would make things easier to change the rule to give the held ball to the team that's in their backcourt. It probably gives it to the team intended by the proposed rule 90% of the time, and keeps officials from having to adjudicate who was in possession in that split second before the held ball.

There would have to be some clarifications issued regarding held balls where players were on either side of mid-court. But, I'd guess those plays are few and far between.

[ilyazhito]

Why not just go back to jump balls and avoid this mess? Jumpers can't encroach onto the other jumper's side of the circle, non-jumpers have to give space to other non-jumpers, and can leave but not come onto the circle. It'll spice games up by having a player actually contest possession, and not have possession be random.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

Why not just go back to jump balls and avoid this mess?

Why is Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. posting under ilyazhito's username?

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

Jumpers can't encroach onto the other jumper's side of the circle, non-jumpers have to give space to other non-jumpers, and can leave but not come onto the circle.

You're conveniently leaving out a lot of of the jump ball rules. Whippersnapper officials should be thankful that only one (usually) jump ball happens in modern basketball game (unlike ancient times). Luckily these anachronistic microbursts of mayhem are over so quickly that players, coaches, fans (and some officials) are unaware that any illegal activity (often difficult to spot in a two person game) has occurred (except for the most blatant violations: jumper touching ball on way up, jumper touching ball three times, jumper catching ball, etc.).

[ilyazhito]

I only gave a few examples because I didn't want to spend an entire post listing out all of the possible jump ball rules. My point was that a jump ball would make possessions valuable and not random the way that the alternating possession arrow or giving the ball to the defense does. Thee are also situations with uncertain possession that cannot be resolved by giving the ball to the defense (e.g. shot lodged between the rim and backboard) because there is no team in control, and hence no defense. A jump ball will be able to resolve those situations.