Upsetting changes

Sporting News, The, Nov 29, 1993 by Andy Katz

The presidents of NCAA schools took the initiative during the late 1980s to alter college basketball. They made dramatic changes in the academic requirements, recruiting rules, staff size and scholarship limits. Creating a national contender became even more challenging for coaches. Yet the game itself remained the same.

This season, there are rules changes that will change the game. Ten seconds have been taken off the shot clock, reducing it to 35 seconds, to speed up the game. Having made a change that favors the defense, it was decided to help the offense. So, the closely guarded rule was rescinded. No longer does a dribbler have to give up the ball within five seconds of being closely guarded.

Teams are feeling their way. But it's safe to say there will be more shots but lower shooting percentages as players force attempts as the clock winds down. There will be at least some pressure coming up the court, more zone defenses with bursts of pressure. There will be less passing as the player with the ball just keeps dribbling.

And there will be fewer upsets.

The last major change in the rules came in 1986, when the 3-point field goal was added, pulling the game farther from the basket. That change came one year after the 45-second clock was introduced, a move that ended stalling. Those were the biggest changes since 1977, when the ban on dunking was rescinded, part of the acknowledgement that the game was going higher -- into the air.

Yes, the game is going faster, higher, farther. But is it being forced?

The latest changes -- as well as the decision to stop the clock after baskets in the final minute of regulation and overtime -- were made shortly after last season by the NCAA men's basketball rules committee, which is made up of six Division I coaches, plus three from Division Il and three from Division III. It takes a vote of eight to change a rule, says Alabama-Birmingham's Gene Bartow, the committee's chairman last season.

Coaches are upset not only that major changes were made, but also that they were made by so small a group.

"Why alter a product that is at its height?" says Princeton's Pete Carril, who for 25 seasons has had his teams drain the shot clock like no other. "What was wrong with the game in the first place?"

Other coaches are pushing the power buttons of change even quicker, hoping the college game becomes the leader in drawing basketball under one set of rules.

"If I were a fan, I wouldn't want to go to a game and watch passing," says Arkansas' Nolan Richardson, a proponent of the up-tempo system. "It might look pretty to watch passing, but I'd rather see basketball where there is scoring, more than watching nine passes a possession."

Even as the season starts, coaches are adjusting to the new rules. But there is no consensus on how.

"I think you're going to see some innovative things from coaches come out of these rule changes," Duke's Mike Krzyzewski says. "I'm anxious to see how many ways people will play with these rules. I see a lot of different strategies."

Carril says the diversity of the game will be lost, that teams will be forced to play up-tempo.

The new rules are a direct hit on teams that play a ball-control, half-court offense.

St. Louis' Charlie Spoonhour says he recruited for a half-court game. The rules changes will put his team at a disadvantage. "Cutting 10 seconds a possession is a big difference," Spoonhour says. "There was no need for change -- 45 seconds was adequate. In the NBA, there are four or five set plays, but at the end of each play is a talented player. That's not the case on many college teams."

And yet some coaches want even more changes. Richardson can't wait until college basketball moves to a 30-second shot clock, pushes the 3-point line back nine inches from its current 19 feet, 9 inches to the international distance, and widens the lane four inches to equal the NBA's (12 feet by 19 feet).

"We used to call it ghetto ball," Richardson says. "That's the way I like to play -- speed it up. Basketball is so exciting, and that's why people like to watch it more than any other sport."

Former UCLA coach John Wooden, a legend who won 10 NCAA titles from 1964-75, cautions against what might disappear as the game moves to an even faster pace.

"As a purist of the game, I can say there is far too much showmanship today," Wooden says. "I think it all rests with the dunk. When they took it out (from 1967-68 to 1976-77) it made Lewis (Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) a better player because he became a better shooter. I know it draws more fans but I think team play has been lost.

It is agreed that the rules will have an adverse effect on the college game as we know it.

"More possessions -- like in the NBA -- usually translates into the most talented teams winning," Cincinnati Coach Bob Huggins says.

Huggins against speeding up the game? Isn't he the coach who trapped New Mexico State into a devastating 92-55 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season? As a purist, Huggins says he thinks the rules changes are bad for the game.