Notice NCAA tournament blatant disregard for 6-foot closely guarded distance?
 

I've noticed repeatedly that in order to maintain the closely guarded count, the defender has to be almost on top of the offensive player. If he's 4-6' away, officials almost exclusively give the "safe" sign. Seems like no one has any interest in adhering to this rule.

This isn't exclusive to the tournament, not from what I've seen anyways.

This calls for a congressional inquiry. Or...dare I say it...maybe even a poll!

Blatant disregard or a slower, more educated start to begin the count?

Nobody is tuning in to see c/g calls...
Honestly, I've noticed in the HS game that we begin many counts that only get to one. Why waste energy on 3 or 4 seperate counts that only get to 1 in each possession??
Once we figure out what plays the offense is running & where the ball is going next, its easier to referee c/g, illegal screens, etc.


On 3/30 7:08pm MST Mr. Adams said:
"With the exception of probably the end of 3 games, I think the officiating in the NCAA tournament has been pretty terrific."

I would also say that a closely guarded count is not as important in the college game compared to high school since a shot clock is implemented. In high school, its importance is a lot higher (in non-shot clock states), since it's one of the few avenues for a team to combat keep-away ball. In college...play 35 seconds (too long IMO but that's another story)/30 seconds of good defense and you'll have an opportunity to rebound a miss, force a turnover or inbound after a make.

Plus, isn't the rule three feet, not six feet anyways?

Title IX ...
 

NCAAW or NCAAM ???

While holding the ball in f/c or b/c.

NCAA-M is six feet and in the frontcourt while a player is dribbling or holding the ball. NCAA-W it's 3 feet, backcourt or frontcourt and only when holding the ball.

Ah ok, my bad.

Yikes! This forum is usually focused on making rulings by the book, not based on what people tune in to see. Nobody is tuning in to see 3-seconds violations or fouls 94-feet from the basket with 0.7 seconds left. That doesn't mean they don't get called.

But that's really my observation. It certainly looks as if officials have been told not to make this kind of call. I also agree it's less necessary in college than NFHS due to the shot clock, but it's still a NCAA-M rule. If they're not going to call it, change the distance like NCAA-W or do away with it?

And it's not a comment about the quality of the officiating overall, just something I noticed on this situation specifically.

"Safe" sign?

One of my pet peeves with the FED rules is that we're supposed to be enforcing the six foot rule when a defender is just standing within six feet of the ball handler even if he's looking at the ceiling and picking his nose. To me, the term "closely guarded" means the defender is actually "guarding" the guy.

Now, I realize it would be virtually impossible to have the rule changed to only be enforced if, in the opinion of the official, the defender was actually putting some defensive pressure on the ball handler, so I don't have a good suggestion on how to change the rule, unless it's to just zap it.

I do agree with those of you who feel that if you have a shot clock, there's no need to have a 10 second back court rule, so maybe we can include the five second rule in that same argument.

I don't agree.

It is a lot easier for an offense to play keep-away if they can stay in the backcourt for the entire shotclock. The 10 count forces the team to get the ball over halfcourt by 10....which, if they can't, gives the defense an opportunity to force a turnover. It reduces the size of the court the offense has to work with. Take away the 10, and you shift the balance of play a little more in favor of the offense. You could certainly debate whether that is a good thing or not or even whether the effect is enough to even matter.

I'd agree with this.....regardless of the reason or excuse.