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

And here's Dan Dakich's contribution, after a player slides on the floor and takes out an opponent's legs: "You can't call a foul on that, the ball was loose!"

...sigh...

I've said this before, but the NBA rules are written to favor the offense and encourage high scoring games and allow for dunks. This is because the NBA executives and TV people believe that high scoring games sell more tickets and generate a larger viewing audience.
Want specific examples? -- The "upward motion" wording of the NBA's block/charge rule, the adding of the restricted area around the basket, the more liberal continuous motion rule.

This mentality filters down to the NCAA and HS levels, where in many cases the concepts aren't supported by the actual rules. How much did we hear about the defender being under the basket before the NCAA put in a rule with an imaginary area and then added the arc, and we still hear that complaint at the HS level.

The HS rules are still the more balanced between offense and defense. The NCAA is moving more toward the entertainment show that the NBA puts on.

Actually the purpose of the rule was/is safety. The RA is in place to prevent unnecessary contact under the basket that was only intended to get a cheap foul or create contact that would ordinarily not take place. Actually I think the rule does just that and either makes the defender come out further from the basket to take a charge or they let the shooter go to the basket without a crash. I rarely see anyone in the HS game that tries to get a charge under the basket regardless of what the rule says.

Peace

I agree. I never thought parking oneself just in front of the landing spot was good defense.

That or forces the defender to actually try and defend the shot by blocking it. I've never had a problem with the rule, and I think it's working out alright at the NCAA level.

John Adams commented on this a few weeks ago in a video bulletin. I am just repeating his take and what they commented on what was the purpose of this rule change.

Peace

Those of us who officiate girls' high school ball in NYS will be using the RA next season since we use modified NCAA rules.

This is just my own opinion, but I don't think that's what they are thinking. I think that they believe the pass/crash or a secondary defender taking a charge are "cheap" fouls. They believe that those defenders aren't really playing defense, they're only trying to draw contact and should not be rewarded for playing like that.

Most of those people don't even know what LGP is, so that's not what they're thinking about. Again, just my own thoughts.

Ah a favorite argument of local coaches. I called a foul in a freshman game this season when a player jumped on the back of her prone opponent while trying to go after a loose ball.

Her coached wanted to know why that was a foul and I accidently said what I was thinking when I asked him if he really needed an answer to that question? Oops...

I am curious to know how it turns out, please keep us updated.

So am I ;) especially since I'm pretty sure none of the schools will have RAs on their courts, meaning we'll have to guess-timate on those calls. Fun times.

Nothing a little athletic tape can't fix. :eek:

Ask This Old BillyMac ...
 

Floor tape. When athletic tape is removed it pulls up the floor's finish.

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...Facepalm-1.jpg

I even used a little emoticon dude...

Your rule book doesn't say "in the event of a loose ball, anarchy shall ensue"?? :D

Actually that is what we had to deal with at the lower level college ball. Funny by January every court had a RA down. We called the best of our ability and guessed and if they did not like it we told them, "Well you do not have a RA." It stopped a lot of complaining. ;)

Peace