Half the teams run around for 20 seconds before doing anything on offense. 24 seconds is plenty of time to set up a decent offensive set. I'm sick of watching PG's dribble away a the top of the key until the shot clock reads 15 seconds every possession, including our own Ennis.
The answer isn't as simple as a shorter shot clock. In 89-90, with a 45 second shot clock, we averaged 81 per game, and that was only good for 49th in the country. The year before we averaged 89 and there were 14 teams that averaged more than us. If it was as simple as changing the shot clock, we'd be scoring more now, but it's not. The thing hurting the college game is talents like Derrick Coleman and Billy Owens are one and done now, and there's nothing that can change that on the college end.
Can't argue with that. Of course we didn't play the 2-3 zone as exclusively back then. We let our opponents run too much time off the clock when we're on defense. Need to press more next year to pick up the pace of games. I hate watching Syracuse consistently play in the 50's. It's dreadful and not prototypical Syracuse basketball.
I agree that we need to do more to control the pace. That's on JB to coach for that and develop enough of a bench for that. You rarely hear Pitino talk about a lack of depth preventing him from using the press, and if our length and athleticism is what makes our zone so good, it should also allow us to have a good press.
So Ennis should have been quite comfortable running a faster pace all season.
It's probably more that he was told to run the team slow. He played on the Canadian national team with FIBA rules without a problem.
Part of me thinks JB is content playing the same pace over and over and letting the zone control the game. He knows he'll be in every game, barring a barrage of 3's, and thinks his players more often than not will make enough plays on the offensive end. Do we really think he would press more often, or toss in a few possessions of man, or routinely shake up the pace of games? I don't know. Maybe occasionally, but without better offensive threats, we're going to see more of what we've been seeing.
I think extending the line would only make things worse. Kids would still be practicing 3 point shooting and routinely chucking them up when open, only then it'd be a much more difficult shot to make.
Yes, college basketball is in a bad state. As far as players go, for the marquee teams, I hardly knew you. Most traditional rivalries are gone and will not be replaced. Players have more important things on their minds, like debuting for paycheck. Sad to say, the power conferences are the ones that are most broken and the mid-majors are healthiest.
