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I pretty consistently talk about the things I don’t like about college basketball at the moment, and the head coach at my alma mater recently talked about ways to fix college basketball. Seems that might be something I should break down in detail, huh?
Move from halves to quarters
Cuonzo Martin said that he would love to see men’s hoops move to 10-minute quarters like the women’s game did not too long ago.
In the men’s game, it takes seven fouls in a half to put your opponent in the bonus (one-and-one) and 10 fouls in a half to put your opponent in the double bonus (two free-throws).
In the women’s game, it takes five fouls in a quarter to put your opponent in the bonus (in this case, two free-throws).
For viewers, quarters also reduce one TV timeout per half. The women have three: at the 5-minute mark of each quarter and between the quarters. The men have four, at the 16-, 12-, 8- and 4-minute marks.
If nothing else, this would mean that the refs’ whole “gotta call 17 fouls in the first four minutes of the second half to show everyone we’re in control” routine would only have an impact on the third quarter and wouldn’t mean both teams are in the double bonus for the last 12 minutes of the game. That would be outstanding, even though I haven’t found myself complaining about that phenomenon quite as much this season.
Expanding from five fouls to six
To help the flow of the game, Cuonzo says he wouldn't mind the college game going to six fouls, four quarters and/or a shorter shot clock.
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) January 9, 2018
Cuonzo: "When you spend the money our fans spend when they can watch at home, you want to make sure you entertain them."
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) January 9, 2018
Now, when you’ve got a star freshman like Jeremiah Tilmon, who often finds himself in foul trouble, it’s easy for someone to accuse you of being biased on an issue like this. Of course you would like for this potential stud to be on the court more.
I honestly don’t have an opinion either way on this one.
Shortening the shot clock
I will say that I think the 30-second shot clock has had a positive aesthetic effect, even if it maybe results in a few more “oh crap, gotta shoot” 3s here or there. For the most part, teams are handling it. And as Missouri and others are proving, you can still move really slowly if you want to.
Martin, purveyor of the No. 325 offense in terms of Adj. Tempo, said he wouldn’t mind further shrinking the shot clock. I ... guess that’s fine? At some point you maybe reach diminishing returns, but it would certainly impact the tempo.
The quarters thing would be pretty exciting, if nothing else. The other two things, I’m less sure about. Quarters wouldn’t simply be “let’s add a break halfway through the half.” The change would have an impact on the bonus, and it would save refs from themselves to at least a tiny degree. Let’s do it.
More Links:
- Mid-three-star running back Devin Brumfield of Covington, La., recently decommitted from Texas Tech, and he talked to PowerMizzou about wanting to visit Columbia.
- Easy road trip: No. 12 Mizzou Women’s Hoops trounced Vanderbilt in Nashville last night. The Tigers got a combined 36 points from sophomores Amber Smith and Jordan Chavis and built a 72-47 lead after three quarters before allowing VU to cut the final score to a more respectable 81-70. They’re now a cool 15-2 on the year, 3-1 in the SEC.
- Sophie Cunningham’s on the midseason Wooden Award list. Lord, I would hope so. Meanwhile, Smith’s move from post to guard — a rarity — has worked as well as anyone could have hoped.
- No. 4 Mizzou Wrestling made very short work of Buffalo on Thursday afternoon, winning 37-8. Daniel Lewis recorded his 13th pin fall of the season. It is just the third time Mizzou has begun a season 13-0.
My Mannnnn!! @JEierman141 https://t.co/JyJK8Q0njF
— Drew Lock (@DrewLock23) January 12, 2018
- “Wherever a Matheny kid goes, expectations follow.”
- If Mizzou Softball and Baseball are starting, that means Mizzou Gymnastics is firing up quickly as well. The Tigers, ranked 17th in the preseason, will kick off the season at No. 23 Auburn tonight. It’s “St. Louis or bust” for Mizzou this year.
- Mizzou Track & Field’s first indoor session of 2018 comes up this weekend in Fayetteville. Karissa is coming to win all your races.