Your Observations about NCAA D1 Basketball

[deanvogs]

I think the biggest problem is they let the game get so physical that they can't get it out of the game now. Look at what WVU does all over the basketball court, same with MSU or Wisconsin. The simply chest up to the offensive player all over the court. Officials reward the more physical teams, as they let the game be played as physical as the most physical team on the court wants it to be played.

Go watch some you tube videos of the Hawks in the 80's, watch BJ, Roy and Horton play. Here is the youtube of the #1 vs #5 teams in the country at that time. I'd bet that 3A Iowa high school basketball is allowed to be played 2x more physical than they let them play in the 80's. Fast forward to the start of the game at 6:30 mark. In the first minutes you have a 3 second call, as 5 second call (no longer around), touch fouls called, and the game is well under control by the refs.

 

[99topdawg]

Obviously his motion was already moving backwards. He's not going to be in the latter position in 1/2 second. No travel. His left foot not planted when he caught the ball.

He planted his left foot after he caught the ball and then hopped again. Twitter is lighting up about it...and then how much Roy cheats, which is ironic, coming from a Calipari coached team.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Traveling and palming (carrying) the ball aren't called. The game would look very different if they were.

 

[99topdawg]

Traveling and palming (carrying) the ball aren't called. The game would look very different if they were.

Totally agree. It's turning into the NBA. As for the last shot for UNC, there's no way they would call it a travel, because they just don't call it by the rules anymore. Carrying is ridiculous.

 

[SteveGarvey1]

With the exception of the Iowa game vs. TCU, you make your threes you win the game. It's become a game of lining up behind the 3 point line and shooting or dribble-driving if the defense comes out to closely guard the 3 line.

And the no calls for traveling is out of control. Saw a S. Carolina guy take four steps yesterday with no call.

 

[HawkGold]

The game has just changed no longer do teams work inside out, they work outside in. There is no need to have a mid range game, the 15-18 ft jump shot is a bad shot now. I realize Pemsl missed that 15 footer against TCU, if Pemsl/Cook never get a mid range jump shot I wouldn't be heart broken about it.

On the flip side, you are correct Pemsl/Cook are solid offensive post players, but on the defensive end they have to learn how to play away from the basket, out in space on the perimeter. Big men now are out on the perimeter, when guarding them Pemsl/Cook have to understand defensive rotation and switches.

1. Officiating hasn't changed as far as consistency. There has always been ticky-tack fouls, phantom fouls, guys getting bulled over no calls, changes in calls from half to half.

I will make Wild guess and say it's because humans -- not robots -- are the referees.

And I am willing to bet the teams on the court make more stupid plays and unforced errors than refs missing a call.

I couldn't ref because I would call carrying and traveling too much and especially the Euro step which looks like traveling every time I see it.

2. The expanding attack of the 3 point shot to spots 3 and 4 has revolutionized the game. In the first generation or two it was basically just the guards taking those shots and/or efficiently taking 3 pointers. Threes and Fours have become as efficient as guards. This has led to some teams putting "postionless" lineups on the floor.

Teams can win games not only without winning the turnover or board stats in a game, but can win while having much lesser numbers in a game.

3. The review rules at the end of games are atrocious and simply unfair. During reviews, Timeouts are given to teams that have burned their timeouts. Reviews are taking far too long.

Solution: during reviews, lineups on the floor must stand within the free throw circle opposite their bench and coaches inside their bench box.

Since timeouts are limited to one minute, reviews are limited to one minute (45 seconds to allow time to set up floor). If a call can't be over-turned in 45 seconds with super slo-mo HD monitors, then I'll give the refs a fist bump: good call. Move on.

4. 8pm Weekday start times for games is ridiculous. Ban the 8pm local starts. Start times no later than 7pm local time. There are all kinds of mountain and west coast universities that can fill up the late night programming of ESPN. Stop it!

5. The HC-hating and the (anti-)"fan" minority of D1 social media is outlandish. These snowflakes are really bitter about how much they sucked at HS or college ball so in order to validate, they eviscerate players and coaches, and themselves of reasoning -- logic incontext.

"Winning Championships" is all that matters and if you disagree then you are not a true fan and have a loser mentality.

The 3 from the 3 is nothing new.

So then eviscerating these fans on social media is thus OK? Snowflakes?

In your logic pointing out weaknesses and giving reasonable assessment...you eviscerate. Nice...

 

[DDThompson]

The 3 from the 3 is nothing new.

So then eviscerating these fans on social media is thus OK? Snowflakes?

In your logic pointing out weaknesses and giving reasonable assessment...you eviscerate. Nice...

You know that saying about throwing a rock into a passel of hogs and the one that squeals.

That's the one you intended to hit.

 

[trj]

The 3 from the 3 is nothing new.

So then eviscerating these fans on social media is thus OK? Snowflakes?

In your logic pointing out weaknesses and giving reasonable assessment...you eviscerate. Nice...

Is this some lame attempt to point out an alleged "hypocrisy "?

Coming from a guy who questioned Rob's credibility based on garbage ......absolute garbage .

You are a piece of work, brutha........Piece of work.

 

[BryceC]

End of game plays, IE when teams have the ball for a last shot have been absolutely atrocious this year. ISU has been really bad at it, but we've seen a ton of it this year.

The tournament is always more physical. That Florida/SC game yesterday, and the Baylor/SC game before it were just absurd. I watched the first 3 plays of the BU/SC game and I knew BU was going to lose. They can't handle a team that physical if they aren't going to call fouls.

Overall officials made some pretty bad call this year but I don't think it's any worse than it ever has been. Crystal clear HD tv's and replays show us very well who screwed up. It wasn't always so easy to tell.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

End of game plays, IE when teams have the ball for a last shot have been absolutely atrocious this year. ISU has been really bad at it, but we've seen a ton of it this year.
.

This has really been bad. The idea of not leaving any time on the clock has been way over emphasized. It's not nearly as important as getting a good shot (and maybe a chance at a tip in) and scoring.

 

[ChosenChildren]

I agree with a lot of what you said but not so much regarding the defense. The young guys have a lot of work to do there.

I don't know what stats go into defensive efficiency but I do know that Iowa's points per possession defensive rank was 200th in the nation. Thats about as accurate of a
defensive stat as you're going to get.

Iowa was #123 in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom. What are you smoking, saying they were #200?

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Agree on end of game situations. Most of the time, it amounts to one player holding the ball, running down the clock, and then hoisting a 3, regardless of whether the game is tied or whatever. The game has devolved into either shooting 3's, or players thinking they have to take it all the way to the rim. Translation: The mid-range game is dead.

Officiating remains inconsistent. Either call every ticky-tack foul, or let the players play. How will it ever get cleaned up if some games it's called one way, and other games it's the opposite? I personally prefer to let the players play and just call the obvious stuff. I don't want to watch a FT shooting contest. That's not basketball. It's boring.

Teams don't generally run and gun the way they used to. It's become more of a half-court, defense-oriented game. There are exceptions, of course, but generally college hoops is not as entertaining (to me) as it used to be. I mainly watch Big 10 hoops though, so maybe it's just a conference thing, but Big 10 hoops generally makes my eyes bleed. People talk about shortening the shot clock, but there was just as much offense, if not more, back in the 80's with a 45 second shot clock. The game has changed IMO, it's not really a shot clock problem.

 

[Xerxes]

Iowa was #123 in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom. What are you smoking, saying they were #200?

I didn't say they were #200 in defensive efficiency. I don't know what numbers are calculated there.

I said they ranked 200th in points per possession defense because that's exactly where they rank.

 

[PCHawk]

Iowa was #123 in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom. What are you smoking, saying they were #200?

The good thing is, they were ranked way worse 10 games into the year. So the last 20 or so, they ranked better than that just to get back to the 123 ranking they ended with.

 

[ibahawkeye]

With the exception of the Iowa game vs. TCU, you make your threes you win the game. It's become a game of lining up behind the 3 point line and shooting or dribble-driving if the defense comes out to closely guard the 3 line.

And the no calls for traveling is out of control. Saw a S. Carolina guy take four steps yesterday with no call.

What the typical fan doesn't realize is the trail official gets beat down the floor on the long pass. So the camera angle shows the South Carolina guy catch the ball and control it and take the additional steps.

However, from the officials angle, he can't see the ball as the opponents back is facing him so he couldn't for certain know when control was established. It's a much tougher call than many realize and you'd much rather let a travel go than call one that wasn't there.

 

[MisterLucky]

Traveling and palming (carrying) the ball aren't called. The game would look very different if they were.

You're right. There would be NO game if they tried to call all of the palming. The game would grind to a halt and just be one change of possession after another. Travelling can and should be called. It just amazes me when you see some game deciding calls not made.

 

[Iahwk06]

Watching quite a few games Fran needs to show his guys that its ok to shoot a 10 to 15 footer. I feel like we can make a layup, dunk and 3 pointers but the mid range jumper is something we are missing. South Carolina perimeter D is pretty damn good, seemed like most passes the defender was right there. Iowa seems a step slow compared to these elite teams.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Traveling has become the "standard". Poor officiating and worse, biased officiating, has also become "standard". Both of those can affect "end of game" play greatly. Players now are left with the confusion of "do-I-or-don't-I-foul-the-guy-now?" Worse, certain teams get better calls than others. That MUST change. However, it won't until the corruption at the top (i.e., the offices of the NCAA) is brought out and severely curtailed.

Cases in point: the SC travels; the TCU travel against the Hawks (Good Lord, that was a four-stepper!); the NW-Gonzaga goaltending debacle; the Arizona-St. Mary's debacle later that day--that's just officiating.

"Intentional" foul/late-game/missed foul/technical foul issues: Baer's ridiculously called "flagrant" against TCU; the confusion for the Vanderbilt against NW (it's one thing to "mess up", but that was due in part to all the foul-at-the-end stuff we continually see); the thuggery some teams are allowed, while others get called for over-the-back when the supposed offender was UNDER-the-back of a player whose jersey has "Kansas", "Kentucky", "Carolina" or "Spartans" written across it; the subsequent technical foul Chris Collins got assessed against Gonzaga after the blown goaltending call

"Integrity" and "Corruption"--This one is simple: for the second year in a row, UNC is in the Final Four. The NCAA is punishing the state of North Carolina for bathroom laws...but can't seem to get it in gear on UNCs academic scandal? There COULD be a positive here, though. What, you may ask, could be a "positive"? I'll say it: should the Hawks have to play Duke, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest or any other North Carolina-based team in future NCAA tournaments --and you damn well know they will-- those teams will have to settle with playing the Hawks in SOUTH Carolina, Georgia or Virginia. They can't put us against Duke in the second round in Raleigh. Yay for that, I guess.

 

[ChosenChildren]

I didn't say they were #200 in defensive efficiency. I don't know what numbers are calculated there.

I said they ranked 200th in points per possession defense because that's exactly where they rank.

They may have been #200 in points given up per game. That would make sense, since Iowa plays at a very fast tempo.

Points per possession defense is "defensive efficiency."

 

[DBQHAWK85]

I think the biggest problem is they let the game get so physical that they can't get it out of the game now. Look at what WVU does all over the basketball court, same with MSU or Wisconsin. The simply chest up to the offensive player all over the court. Officials reward the more physical teams, as they let the game be played as physical as the most physical team on the court wants it to be played.

Go watch some you tube videos of the Hawks in the 80's, watch BJ, Roy and Horton play. Here is the youtube of the #1 vs #5 teams in the country at that time. I'd bet that 3A Iowa high school basketball is allowed to be played 2x more physical than they let them play in the 80's. Fast forward to the start of the game at 6:30 mark. In the first minutes you have a 3 second call, as 5 second call (no longer around), touch fouls called, and the game is well under control by the refs.

One hundred percent correct. IMHO... Refs worry more about the final foul tally than making correct calls too. Everyone knows and hears that refs could call a foul every trip down the court and they use that as a justification for bad refereeing. The unintended consequences of that is that it favors aggressive teams doubly because when they get a lopsided foul count the refs shift focus to try and even up the calls so it doesn't look like they are favoring a team. BUT that actually helps the aggressive team twice because they start calling tick tack fouls on the less aggressive team and let the more aggressive team get away with more physical play until the fouls even out.

If you coach your team to play super aggressive sooner or later in the game the refs will adjust so it doesn't look like they are being unfair. THE REFS END UP BEING FORCED TO MAKE THE GAME MORE PHYSICAL BY THE COACH AND TEAM THAT PLAYS VERY PHYSICAL!!!! A FOUL SHOULD ALWAYS BE A FOUL REGARDLESS OF HOW LOPSIDED THE TOTAL FOUL TALLY STANDS!