LAWRENCE, Kan. — A shorter shot clock and fewer timeouts. Less hand-checking and physical play. All designed to speed up the game of men’s college basketball, encourage scoring and make it more aesthetically pleasing.
The rule changes implemented this season were the most dramatic to hit the sport since the introduction of the 3-point arc, and they were accompanied by a seismic shift in how the game was to be officiated.
But the great irony has been this: Men’s college basketball now looks very much like it did 20 years ago — an elegant, free-flowing game rather than a rough-and-tumble sport.
“The rules changes are supposed to improve the game,” Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith said, “but also give players more freedom to express themselves and play the game the way we wanted it played.
“We’re in an entertainment field as well as an educational field,” he added.
There’s not much entertainment in a low-scoring, foul-filled game.
Field-goal percentages have been on the decline for years. Possessions too. Scoring dropped to 67 points on average last season, the lowest since the 1950s. Attendance plummeted right along with it, hurting the pocketbooks of many athletic departments.
That’s why the NCAA men’s basketball rules committee — made up of coaches, athletic directors, conference administrators and NCAA officials — brought about a slew of reforms this season. Most notable was changing the shot clock for the first time since before the 1993-94 season, when it went from 45 seconds to 35 seconds. It’s now 30 seconds. The committee also expanded the restricted area in the paint, and eliminated one timeout by each team in the second half to help plodding games to a conclusion. Six weeks into the season, the changes seem to have worked.
Scoring has increased by more than six points per team for each game, while teams have gotten about four more possessions and taken nearly five more field-goal attempts. According to the NCAA, about 75 percent of those additional points have been due to improved pace of play.
