NCAA Hand-Checking Article - USAToday
 

It's interesting that the official in the 2nd picture (Pat Driscoll?) is wearing a HS shirt.

Freedom of movement is the name of the game.

Yep, learn to play defense and move your feet. "Don't give me no lines and keep your hands to yourself."

Here's a novel idea: How about players moving their feet on defense?

Because I'm feeling nostalgic take a look at any part of these two clips. I know the game was different in the '80s and '90s - especially with more zone defense - but these games involve four of the most aggressive teams in those decades and they managed to play without putting their hands all over their opponents. When they used their hands the wrong way, the whistle blew.


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Not really. What's interesting is the amount fouls bring called in scrimmages and exhibitions and coaches are complaining. They make the rules

That's the other part of the equation. I can only speak for the NCAAW side but I believe there was one, maybe two, officials involved in the rules summit in the spring. Everyone else was a coach, AD or some other administrator. We don't make the rules, we just enforce 'em.

Um, is this a new rule, or just a newly emphasized enforcement? Seems to me, jamming the dribbler was always a foul, by rule, even if it wasn't called consistently.

Translation: I hate the way other teams are getting away with muggings and it must stop. But now it's affecting my team who is just playing good hard defense.

No real need to disagree with me BNR, people do find different things more interesting than others :)

Totally agree. Plus they could switch on picks.

Wow, there is zero contact in those videos. And the benches are really far off the court.

Teams knew this was coming. They'll adjust in a few games once they realize and then it won't be an issue anymore. Or at least they should adjust if they're smart.

Also it must be noted that in those old videos, ball handlers are not forcing their way to the basket either. Not only did the defense change, the offensive style changed too. Defenders are not right next to the ball handler and the ball handlers are not trying to go to the basket and are shooting more jumpers as well. Different game played all together.

Peace

All of the coaches want the hand checking called a foul.....on the OTHER team!

Wtf is a "high school" shirt?

Seems like the directive is that the wide insert shirt can be worn as long as all members of the crew wear the same shirt.

Did I miss something saying that the wide insert shirt is now the official shirt?

I am sure this was an old picture used to show a famous coach in a stock picture.

And to many of us that is a high school shirt because in my state as an example we cannot wear the wide insert shirt. And it is also marketed by the major dealers as a "college shirt."

Peace

It’s all about a change in attitude. I spoke with an NCAAW official last week who said he heard an assistant coach yell “Bump the cutters!” during a scrimmage. The official told the coach, “Um, you do realize when you do that you’re telling us a foul is about to happen, right?” Of course, if we could hear something like that in years past and not expect someone to be fouled within the next ten seconds - and call it - that’s on us.

The marching orders for all my college scrimmages has been "blow the whistle!", so then can be ready for it in the regular season.

I have worked 3 men's college games and 2 scrimmages so far. I haven't had a game yet where there were less than 45 free throws. Scoring wasn't noticeably up from games I worked last season, there are a lot of bad free throw shooters at the college level. On the other hand, game time is significantly longer and absolutely no flow. Eventually this might work, but I think the adjustment period is going to be longer than the people who wanted the game called this way thought it was going to be. These players have been using their hands to play defense since they were in junior high, they are not going to stop that fast. In the meantime, the game is going to be boring as hell to watch from the fans perspective.

Yeah every year the POE are whistled a ton during scrimmages and exhibition games. This continues into the season for the most part, but usually regresses to the mean by the time conference games come around.

Once the players adjust to the new rules and calls we are making (presuming we are calling things consistently and often) the game flow should become much better. I agree with you about the middle school games. I did a MS tournament this week after doing lots of HS games and none of the MS kids could get in Legal Guarding Position or maintain Verticality to save their life. That's where I think we should start, not wait for some "trickle down" to happen.

Sometimes they "bump" legally, and sometimes they miss in the attempt to bump illegally. :)

but I agree, it's nice when the coach tells us where to look to see if there's a foul.

Scoring seems to be up in the NCAAW /JuCo / NAIA games I've done. The first half is usually pretty rough, but the second is better as they adjust. The players just need to remember the adjustment from game to game. ;)

This has to be a misinterpretation
 

"And Self is worried about how best to defend a ball screen because the only way to go over the screen is to 'jam the dribbler, which now would be a foul'"

:eek:

In my games this year, the guys have adjusted in the second half. Almost every first half has no flow and feels terrible. Second half, much better flow.

Although with that said, scoring isn't up from last year in my games.

2 games into the season and this is exactly how mine have gone as well.

What I have been seeing is when the perimeter defender gets beaten, more help-side defenders are trying to take a charge. The C & L must pick up that help-side defender on those drives.

I've worked 2 scrimmages and 1 exhibition, not one charge call yet. Both rule changes are a great advantage for the offense.

Excerpts from AP article, Nov. 13
 

(AP) "When they're going to call fouls, you've got to be able to play without fouling," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said.

"Obviously there's a lot of fouls and no rhythm," (Kansas Head Coach Bill Self) said after his fifth-ranked Jayhawks beat No. 4 Duke 94-83. "I believe the first game was a lot like that, too, at least in the second half. To be honest, I don't like it, but hopefully players will learn to adjust and coaches will do a better job. It just takes away all aggressiveness defensively. At least it does with us."

"I think the officials are doing what they're supposed to do," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Everyone just has to keep adjusting. Too much is being said about it. Start playing the way we're supposed to play.

(UConn Women's Head Coach Geno Auriemma said) "If players are smart, they'll adjust to it. I tell our guys, 'Either stay in your stance and stay in the game, or come out of your stance and come out of the game. Those are your choices, dude. That's it."

Scoring peaked at 70.7 points for the women in 1982-83 and has been on a steady decline ever since. The points of emphasis seem to be working early as points are up. Teams are averaging just over 70 points, which is eight more than last season's record low and the highest since the 1990-91 season.

Men's teams are averaging 76.0 points through the first few days, an increase from last season's 67.5 - which was the lowest in men's basketball since 1952.

From an Article on VA vs VCU (11/12)
 

But this was the second game for both, the first against top-flight competition. Add college basketball's new freedom-of-movement rules and the defenses coached superbly by Virginia's Tony Bennett and VCU's Shaka Smart, and a game in the 50s is inevitable.

Virginia was 19-of-33 from the line, but VCU was worse at 6-of-15. Both teams were saddled with foul trouble, forcing the coaches to tinker with rotations.

The veteran ACC officiating crew of Jamie Luckie, Mike Eades and Tony Greene whistled 27 first-half fouls, 21 thereafter. That's one foul every 50 seconds for the evening.

“The officials are charged with calling some (new) points of emphasis,” Bennett said. “It's hard. … I think they're doing the best they can in that situation.”

The Z-Man ...
 

... says Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, also known as "Coach Zone".

Not to paint all NCAAM's officials with the same brush but I think they're going to have more issues than those of us on the NCAAW's side. We've had these guidelines, we just got out of the habit of enforcing them. More importantly, the players have known the guidelines for a while and generally adhered to them.

Meantime, as I write this I'm watching the replay of Michigan State/Kentucky and it's as though the players can't help themselves in terms of putting their hands on the ball handler. They know they're not supposed to do it but they don't look like they know how to play defense any other way.

With all due respect we have had these guidelines too for years and ever since John Adams took over his post it was really emphasized. The game has change previously, but all the participants were complaining. Also the Men's game is played completely differently then the women's game as well. I am not saying everything is going to be smooth or continue, but games are already taking a lot longer because everyone appears to be calling these initiatives. These were once guidelines, now they are rules. Harder to ignore.

This kind of proves my point. The game is played a lot differently and players previously would try to control the ball handler with their arms. It was always a rough thing to decide when an advantage is taken. That style of defense was taught at all levels except the NBA to be honest.

Peace

Sorry, Jeff, I hope it didn’t sound as though I was trying to knock NCAAM’s officials in the previous post and if it did my apologies. Also, thanks for reminding me about John Adams. He’s definitely been diligent about turning things around. Just wondering, do you think it’ll be harder for the men’s officials to adjust or the coaches/players? I know even on my side of the game some officials, especially those higher on the food chain, have said it’s rough to turn back the clock.


One thing women – either officials or players – remind us about on my side is the guidelines work because a larger number of women don’t deal with rough play very well, mainly due to socialization (i,e., boys grow up looking for ways to beat each other up, girls don’t). One of my assignors – a woman – told us, “Guys look for contact…but what’s the first thing a girl says when there’s contact: Get off me!” The closest I come to working an NCAAM game is higher-level BV. NFHS rules are more restrictive but those guys seem shocked when there’s a call that doesn’t involve someone getting shoved all over the place.

In response to your question, Jetmet, I think it is going to be much harder for the players/coaches to adjust than the officials. As officials, we don't have to change much at all. We have always seen the contact with the hands and arms. In the past, we had to use some judgment to decide if that was affecting the play or not. Now we just have to call what we see. I think this is a minor adjustment. The players and coaches have to completely rethink and rework how they have been playing or coaching defense for years. Pretty much every aspect of how they guard ball handlers needs to be changed. This is much more drastic than what we as officials have to change.

I think the commentary previously in this thread about the MSU-KY game is spot-on. The players literally often looked incredulous about many of the fouls they were being called for, as though they're mostly unaware of what they're doing that's being penalized. I think it's going to take a lot of film breakdown to analyze and personally see what they're doing and being called for before it starts to click for them in practice and in games.

I worked a preseason D1 men's intrasquad scrimmage, and the HC was A) asking us to call it as tightly as the POE's/preseason video stated, and B) frequently stopping the game to insert coaching points on how to play (primarily perimeter) defense without violating.

I think it's just going to take a lot of proactive work with their teams by the coaching staffs, consistent enforcement by the officials (which, by watching the games on TV last night, is happening so far), and HC's not throwing the officials or the POE's under the bus in pressers and on-court interviews.

It's certainly having a positive effect on how those guys play defense, though. Lots of hands up. I personally love it.

Like anything else in life, people hate change at first, but eventually they realize the change is for the better. In this case, players will learn to play the game the correct way, and at that point the number of fouls per game will go down. Basketball won't turn into a "foul shooting contest."

I don't know who it was but there was one guy on that crew that was driving me batty. He just had to quadruple tweet just about everything and over sell even basic calls. It made it look like it was his first time there.

The crew was Mike Kitts, Pat Driscoll and Ted Valentine. I think Driscoll is the one you're talking about.

You are correct. I knew the other two but didn't know his name/face.

I watched my first live D1 game of the year over the weekend. If NCAA officials call the entire season like that game, it is going to be an awful year to watch basketball. I am completely in favor of cleaning up hand checks, but this was unbelievable. They absolutely refused to call an offensive foul. One ball handler (Who was not airborne) ran over a defensive player who was camped in the lane, block was called. Several different times defenders would maintain position in the lane and stay vertical, while dribblers would initiate contact and jump into the defender, only to have the defender called for a block. Eventually both teams just started putting their heads down and driving to the basket because the defenders would just get out of the way in fear of being called for a foul if ANY contact occured. There were 63 fouls total, with 88 free throws being shot. 2.5 hours total with no overtime.

Did the NCAA tell officials to quit using judgment and just call a foul on the defense when any contact occurs? That's what it looked like to me.

Yes, this is exactly what they told us....get used to it:rolleyes:

No, the NCAA-Mens coordinator has not told officials that; but I would agree some officials seem to be calling it that way.

The NCAA did just release a video highlighting a couple of correctly called PC fouls.

Is it possible to link those videos?

Sure, fork over the $100 to join the NCAA arbiter site and you can have unlimited access to those videos and more.

Is that every year? If it was a one-time fee I'd do that right now.

Every year.

I would rather watch the game the old way than watch 88 free throws be shot, and I was on board with cleaning up the game and calling hand checks.

After players adapt to the way games are being called, hopefully there won't be that many more FT attempts.

Exactly. It was obvious that the adjustment period was going to be ugly. The result should be a better game once that period has passed. Sometimes you just have to go through a bit of pain to get where you want to go.

I watched some of the games on TV last night (Oklahoma St/Memphis, Arizona/Rhode Island) and there were plays in those games that would have easily been fouls in the game I watched over the weekend. It just seems like some of the NCAA officials have taken the instructions a bit too far and too literal and some games will suffer for it.

As for the "players adjusting": The players in the game I watched had adjusted. There were defenders with LGP that simply got ran into by ball handlers and were called for fouls. I just had a hard time defending the officials when I talked to other people who were at the game who complained about it.