Commentators say the funniest things.
 

I could not pass on this one.

Doris Burke said, "There are too many charges in college basketball." Then she went onto say, "Officials need to call the game as the rules instruct them to."

All of this was after the fact when the officials in the UConn-WVU game there was a clear pass and crash where a player was knocked to the floor.

I know John Adams just dropped his head if he heard that live. ;)

Peace

The contact was incidental.

The funny thing...announcers are saying the exact same thing at the NBA level. The pass and crash (which elicited the comment JRut is mentioning) is always good for the "too many charges" comment.

Not according to John Adams.

Peace

Rutledge,

I know I was just having a little fun with you. :p I understood where you was coming from.

On around the horn on Monday 3/5, Bob Ryan even suggested that the rule change for a charge during his "winner's rant".
Around The Horn: 3/5 - ESPN
At 21:12 starts his rant. "Bogus Rule".
He brings up Duke v NC with 8 offensive fouls in the first half. He also brings up the Harvard play that we all agreed was PC at the end of the game.
I almost shouted at my iPod when listening to this, but I didn't want to be as crazy as this guy.

Bob Ryan also said he wants to do away with the three-point line on a previous episode of Around The Horn.

One more reason I do not pay him much attention. ;)

Peace

Not absolutely sure, you might confirm this, didn't she back up this statement with, among other things, "because Mike Krzyzewski said so"?

She actually referenced Jay Bilas and other commentators as her back up. No evidence that they were calling to many by a Supervisor of Officials or John Adams (which would have at least made some credibility to her comment). No, just off the hip and then moved on like she was right. Kind of funny but sad at the same time.

Peace

Vitale said the same thing during the Carolian-Duke game. So all poor Doris is doing is mimicing others.

I thought most of the charging calls in the game were correct. But there were a couple of plays where the defender moved after the shooter left the floor. ZThey tells me they aren't officiating the defense.

Only a matter of time till there is a 4 point line....

For whatever reason A LOT of commentators I've paid attention to the last two years have bemoaned the amount of charges called during NCAAM and NBA games.

Including announcers that I somewhat like, Bilas, Chris Mullin, a few others.

I'm not sure what it is but for some reason they think offensive players should be able to run over defenders with LGP. As someone whose D was much better than his offense when he played and more importantly as an official who understands, or tries to understand the rules, I think if anything there are still too few charges called.

I was watching when Burke said that too and almost fell off my couch. I said to myself - out loud ;) - basically she's telling us kids should lose a method of playing defense and offensive players should be able to trample defenders on the way to the basket.

It's bad enough basic traveling violations aren't called at the men's D-I level (the topic of another thread) which makes playing defense that much harder. Now you want to take away drawing charges too? If there were eight PCs in the first half of Duke/NC maybe the offensive players needed to come up with a new plan?

One commentator I do like when it comes to stuff like this is Len Elmore. He's more than willing to call a foul a foul - and vice versa - probably because he was a good defender even in the NBA.

I agree that there are more PC fouls in today game (NBA-HS) than there were even a decade ago when I was playing. That said I don't chalk that up to changes in officiating, rather changes in defensive strategy.

Defenders are much smarter than they were 15 years ago. They understand the rule better and they use it to their advantage. Ten years ago I went a whole season without seeing a pass and crash, or a defender trying to draw a charge on a back to the basket post player with a ball on the block. Today its common place. Virtually every team now has a "charge specialist". Someone who actively looks to take charges on defense. Sometimes to the point that they are more concerned drawing charges than they are defending a basket.

As officials I don't think there is much we can do other than enforce the rules as written