Fed up college basketball fan (not about BC loss, but long)...

[Knicks411]

Yep, that's why I think it's too quick and dirty to trust much. Your quick possessions wouldn't change, just the ones that go longer than whatever you switch the shot clock to.

Also, the change wouldn't be the same across the board. I'm sure our possessions, at least compared to this year, might jump by as many as 15% since we have a lot of games with teams really working the clock against us.

Either way, I find it impossible to believe that teams wouldn't adjust right away to the change in clock. Here's something I've found myself doing the last year or so; watch a random (IE non SU, so you don't have a rooting interest) and notice how many possessions you see teams pass the ball around the perimeter and not even try and score. Or even worse, just have their PG dribble out there. Sometimes you have the ball on the perimeter and guys coming off screens, movign away from the ball, that's fine. But there are tons of possessions with literally nothing happening for the first 10 seconds in the half court. The more we can get away from that, the better.

 

[Quazzum69]

No one has mentioned the insane amount of "official" stoppages of play that disrupt any flow to the game (fouls are a big part of this, too). Unless I am at the game, I cannot watch it without recording and skipping the commercials.

How can anyone enjoy watching an hour of commercials interwoven with an hour of free throws?

 

[LennX6]

I have to agree. It is great to win but this Syracuse team hasn't been too entertaining or exciting to watch...

I disagree, Jerami Grant is good for 2-3 holy s a game, and Ennis, despite last night ( he was merely average for the first time this year, think about that) .
The games provide the excitement.

 

[LennX6]

No one has mentioned the insane amount of "official" stoppages of play that disrupt any flow to the game (fouls are a big part of this, too). Unless I am at the game, I cannot watch it without recording and skipping the commercials.

How can anyone enjoy watching an hour of commercials interwoven with an hour of free throws?

And replays that increase toward the end of games. Nothing kills momentum like those and at the worst time.

 

[longislandcuse]

Imagine how beast our zone would be with a 24 second shot clock..

Something needs to be done. Shorten the shot clock or move the 3 point line back. CBB is turning into a mess, the way some of these teams "play" isnt even basketball, it might as well be called College Keep Away.

 

[LennX6]

Imagine how beast our zone would be with a 24 second shot clock..

Something needs to be done. Shorten the shot clock or move the 3 point line back. CBB is turning into a mess, the way some of these teams "play" isnt even basketball, it might as well be called College Keep Away.

Imagine that, changing the shot clock to 24 sec and watch offense go DOWN. Never thought of it till you mentioned it, perhaps that's why it hasn't been done yet. On the other hand theoretically it would pack more action into the end of the game possibly adding 20 sec of available action.

 

[Knicks411]

A jump to 24 would certainly have to increase scoring i think, just based on volume, but efficiency would have to go way down, I think.

On the other hand theoretically it would pack more action into the end of the game possibly adding 20 sec of available action.

Yeah, in the NBA teams wait a lot longer at the end of games before needing to play the foul game.

 

[Marsh01]

3. Over-saturation
ESPN, ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN3, CBS, CBS Sports, YES, B10 Network, WLNY, MSG, MSG+, FS1

Nearly every night of the week, college basketball games are being played on these networks simultaneously. And even if you chose not to watch these games, you are bombarded with promos and the like for upcoming "action". And since their are so many games on at the same time, the pool of talented announcers and analysts has gotten so thin that my mute button is almost permanently pressed in.

Also, the ESPN hype machine has gotten out of control. When Duke, Kansas, or Kentucky play, the sidebar and highlights neglect the team as a whole and for the most part focus solely on Parker, Wiggins, and Randle, respectively.

-------

Some people may say that you can never have too much of a good thing. Yet, when it comes to college basketball I feel like a child who has eaten so much candy that he has gotten one heck of a stomach ache.

I cant even begin to say how much I disagree with this point. I would pay $1000 a month if I could get every sports channel out there.

I am like a kid on Christmas Eve every night of the week. I literally have 10-15 games a night I can watch at my disposal. You are also forgetting the BiG, Pac 12 network. Thank god for all of these channels. Last night after the Duke game I was going to pack it in for the night and then remembered that Gonzaga/BYU was on. 2 hours later I hit the pillow.

I dont care or pay attention to the announcers, the promos the sidebars or any of that crap. I just watch games. Lots of them and I cant wait for March. NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT. I live for it and I will wear out the couch cushions and then once its all over...its golf season.

I love this time of year.

 

[jvbj01]

3. Over-saturation
ESPN, ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN3, CBS, CBS Sports, YES, B10 Network, WLNY, MSG, MSG+, FS1

Nearly every night of the week, college basketball games are being played on these networks simultaneously. And even if you chose not to watch these games, you are bombarded with promos and the like for upcoming "action". And since their are so many games on at the same time, the pool of talented announcers and analysts has gotten so thin that my mute button is almost permanently pressed in..

I remember a day when I would have to follow the team by reading a daily newspaper. I also would have to wait until Saturday or Sunday and hope to see Syracuse on National TV, if they were playing a high profile opponent. As far as I am concerned, the more the better. I was the kid who had Easter candy two months later. If you get a bellyache from too much basketball, turn off the tube.

 

[Bornorange]

I cant even begin to say how much I disagree with this point. I would pay $1000 a month if I could get every sports channel out there.

I am like a kid on Christmas Eve every night of the week. I literally have 10-15 games a night I can watch at my disposal. You are also forgetting the BiG, Pac 12 network. Thank god for all of these channels. Last night after the Duke game I was going to pack it in for the night and then remembered that Gonzaga/BYU was on. 2 hours later I hit the pillow.

I dont care or pay attention to the announcers, the promos the sidebars or any of that crap. I just watch games. Lots of them and I cant wait for March. NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT. I live for it and I will wear out the couch cushions and then once its all over...its golf season.

I love this time of year.

Ok Mr. Cantgetenough will you help me with my bracket this year?
I just can not find the time to watch those west coast teams.

 

[Marsh01]

Ok Mr. Cantgetenough will you help me with my bracket this year?
I just can not find the time to watch those west coast teams.

Here is a tip...never get suckered into New Mexico. I take the bait every year and never learn my lesson.

 

[orange2win]

I think it was JT 1, decades ago, who first came up with this stall strategy as a way to stifle the JBs zone. Now every two bit team is using this strategy against us. Fast break points, size advantage, individual superior talent, etc. are all neutered from the contest. It is the big equalizer for the underprivileged.

That is why I, and a host others on this site over the years, here have lamented at JBs rigid use of the zone. As soon as they start this nonsense we should be switching to man to man and run right over them. Once we start crushing them, then we switch back to our patented zone.

 

[OrangeSky]

never thought about the trapping aspect. i'm against 24 seconds just because i think it's too short (although most NBA teams have started moving the ball better and stopped all the iso snoozefest). in college, you'd just end up tossing it to fair and hoping for the best

(as opposed to the current 35 second clock where we uhh just end up tossing it fair and hoping for the best)

Maybe a dumb idea, but-what about 24 seconds, but start after the ball crosses the 1/2 court line. Trapping and pressing won't have an effect on the shot clock and would speed up the game and hopefully increase scoring.

 

[Orangezoo]

I think 2 things would help a lot. The first is the reduced shot clock to 30 seconds as has been debated liberally already. The second is push back the 3 pt line. This would seperate those who truly are marskmen from deep. It also would help spacing on offense.

 

[Orangezoo]

Maybe a dumb idea, but-what about 24 seconds, but start after the ball crosses the 1/2 court line. Trapping and pressing won't have an effect on the shot clock and would speed up the game and hopefully increase scoring.

only issue here is that the shot clock sometimes acts as a backup for the main clock and is synched up as such so it would be tough when you get clock errors etc.

 

[orangehomer]

in response to the OP, a couple things:

first, I became a much happier sports fan a few years ago when I started avoiding all things espn except for actual games. sportscenter, the radio, analysis shows, all the other crap I don't watch read or listen to any of it, just actual games and I usually turn it to a different game at halftime because I can't stand the in-studio guys either. I think the problem is that they are constantly trying to put these sporting games into some kind of greater social context and the vast majority of it is nonsense.

second, in regard to college basketball specifically, I think the strength of the sport is also the weakness, which is the ncaa tournament. the tourney is very exciting, and by contrast makes the rest of the season comparatively dull for any but the very small niche of sports fans that actually watch college basketball all season. the season is 5 months long, and all that ends up mattering is the last month, so all these guys on tv basically have 4 months or airtime to fill about games that are essentially only being played for seeding in march for a tourney that only 1/5th of the teams will even play in, and only 10 or 12 teams out of 300+ have a realistic chance of winning. so it ends up that you have fans of 100's of teams that are left with ambiguity in terms of defining what was a successful season. was it enough to just make the tournament? sweet sixteen? what if you were a team in a small conference that went undefeated through the league and lost in the conference tournament and need the auto-bid? was it still a good season?

so back to espn, I think to be a college fan is to enjoy the moments and the kids, rather than to get wrapped up in the constant obsession with some sort of historical context for every upset or trying to decide how "meaningful" a win is when really the whole thing is supposed to be for fun and the vast majority of people don't care and even the people who did care will probably forget by next year anyway.

 

[thebigeast44]

I miss Loyola Marymount under Paul Westhead - I'd love to see a team play like that again.

 

[anomander]

If you are looking for a fun, entertaining, fast paced college game check out Umass vs VCU, on ESPN2 right now.

I am in the same boat as you in terms of the quality of the current product being extremely poor. It's just not that entertaining anymore. They really need to knock the shot clock down to 28, or 30 like the women. If that happens not sure what happens with zone defenses? The best move Boheim ever made was switching to an all zone defense. He realized that teams just couldn't shoot the ball anymore. With the smaller court, and recruiting long athletes he gave himself an advantage over basically everyone. Simply genius