What the F has happened to offense in college basketball?

[Alsacs]

We all know Syracuse struggles to score but Wisconsin-Marquette is 44-38 with 1:30 left in the game.

What has happened to offense? I know SWC posted in the JB show thread he wants the shot clock reduced but what can be done to fix offense?

 

[two3zone]

It has been pretty pathetic. It seems like there is no middle ground either, teams are either lighting it up or just awful.

 

[pearl31]

seems like every game I watch these days is a rock fight. Even a team like Wisconsin, that's very experienced and supposed to be one of the most efficient offensive teams out there, is struggling to reach 50.
It really is something. I think a big part of it is that the players not as good as players used to be. They're supreme athletes but just not very good basketball players for the most part.

 

[two3zone]

seems like every game I watch these days is a rock fight. Even a team like Wisconsin, that's very experienced and supposed to be one of the most efficient offensive teams out there, is struggling to reach 50.
It really is something. I think a big part of it is that the players not as good as players used to be. They're supreme athletes but just not very good basketball players for the most part.

I think that's a lot of it, I also think that the game has really slowed down as well, cutting down on fast break scoring. Teams just don't seem to run anymore.

 

[longislandcuse]

Shot clock HAS to be reduced.

One and done gives teams zero cohesion and creates a sport where, by the time a big time player becomes big time, they're off to the NBA.

CBB is borderline unwatchable with all the whistles and teams dribbling the air out of the ball. If I wasn't a Syracuse fan I wouldn't watch the sport at all aside from the NCAA Tournament.

 

[Cusefan0307]

http://regressing.deadspin.com/this-will-probably-be-the-slowest-college-basketball-se-1665098691

Shot clock, rules, and officiating suck!

 

[CU44SE]

AAU basketball!!!! It's all about 1 on 1 and not team ball. Its look at me, and trying to get hyped up. Then it's go to college for a year, show you belong and then leave after a year and go pro. It's a broken system all thanks to AAU ball.

 

[supp]

We all know Syracuse struggles to score but Wisconsin-Marquette is 44-38 with 1:30 left in the game.

What has happened to offense? I know SWC posted in the JB show thread he wants the shot clock reduced but what can be done to fix offense?

The refs tried to call all the hand-checking a couple of seasons ago but they seem to have given up on that. Make it a less physical game and we'll have higher scores.

 

[pfister1]

Shot clock HAS to be reduced.

One and done gives teams zero cohesion and creates a sport where, by the time a big time player becomes big time, they're off to the NBA.

CBB is borderline unwatchable with all the whistles and teams dribbling the air out of the ball. If I wasn't a Syracuse fan I wouldn't watch the sport at all aside from the NCAA Tournament.

Reducing the shot clock will likely just lead to more frequent missed shots.

 

[Lawrinson14]

College basketball is straight-up horrid. If not for SU, I wouldnt think twince about it.

-scoring down
-refs suck
-rivalries destroyed (big east/uconn/gtown)
-one and dones

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Reducing the shot clock will likely just lead to more frequent missed shots.

I'd take it.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I think a few things have happened.

1. What passes for defense in college hoops is a traveshamockery.

2. The way charging is officiated.

3. Shot clock. I think this is the biggest one actually.

I don't think one and dones are the problem. I think the coaches have consciously ugged up the game. Players aren't coached to move in ways that facilitate shots. And if you see a guy open early in the shot clock, and he takesbhis look, chances are the coach will scowl and the announcers will say he took that shot too early. What does that even mean?

What's crazy is we're seeing the exact opposite in college football right now. Rather, not us as Syracuse fans, but more like I was using the royal we there.

 

[bevosu]

I posted this over a year ago...story hasn't changed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/sports/ncaabasketball/in-mens-college-basketball-missing-a-little-something.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias:r,{"1":"RI:9"}

Scoring and shooting percentages in N.C.A.A. Division I men’s basketball have been dropping for decades, though opinions vary on the reasons.

Coaches point to a decline in talent with young stars leaving early to play professional ball. Some say the way the game is played has changed, with defenses more physical and offenses more perimeter-oriented because of a lack of talented big men. In addition, the copious amount of scouting video helps coaches devise strategies to counter an opponent’s strengths.

Teams were averaging 68 points a game at the start of last week, the same as last season, according to Stats LLC. That is the lowest since the average was 67.6 in 1982, according to the N.C.A.A., and about 10 fewer points a game than the record scoring era of the early 1970s when, interestingly, there was no shot clock. This season’s .433 field-goal percentage is the worst since the .431 in 1965.

Accuracy from beyond the arc is down to .339, the lowest since the 3-pointer came into the college game in 1986-87.

What is with all the bricks?

 

[AlaskaSU]

We all know Syracuse struggles to score but Wisconsin-Marquette is 44-38 with 1:30 left in the game.

What has happened to offense? I know SWC posted in the JB show thread he wants the shot clock reduced but what can be done to fix offense?

The answer is as obvious as it is simple; 'hes gone'.

 

[Madbiker]

Wisconsin - Marquette was not a slow down game. Reducing the shot clock wouldn't have helped boost scores much. The problem was just low shooting percentages, under 33% for Wisconsin and just 29% for Marquette. Combination of good defense and poor shooting. IMO poor shooting is becoming an epidemic. That more than low number of possessions is the real problem.

 

[Knicks411]

The shooting % thing I think is a red herring; teams take more and more 3 pointers every year it seems, so you'd expect overall FG% to go down.

The shot clock is a killer, so many teams are content to burn 25-30 seconds off the clock every time down the floor.
Offensive efficiency hasn't moved much; just many fewer possessions per game

 

[Alsacs]

It is disgusting watching these games. I mean # 1 vs #6 should be entertaining to watch. All it was a brick city contest and who could outrebound the other and make layups.

NBA basketball is just so better played than College basketball. Unlike the NFL and college football.

 

[moqui]

it's the coaches . . . their professional lives are in the hands of teenagers and very young men and they can make mistakes that can cost you your career. So you keep your hand on the throttle and limit the possessions (and thus the chances that one of your kids can do something stupid). College coaches are getting more and more conservative and controlling and the game is therefore less free-wheeling and flowing.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

it's the coaches . . . their professional lives are in the hands of teenagers and very young men and they can make mistakes that can cost you your career. So you keep your hand on the throttle and limit the possessions (and thus the chances that one of your kids can do something stupid). College coaches are getting more and more conservative and controlling and the game is therefore less free-wheeling and flowing.

Yup. Limit turnovers, play whatever that thing a lot of them call defense is, and take the air out of the ball on offense. That's how coaches stay employed and get nifty shoe and apparel endorsements.

The euros have real basketball skills because they're coached to be basketball players. Here we coach them to make the Sportscenter Top 10 or slow everything down.

 

[Orange2389]

We all know Syracuse struggles to score but Wisconsin-Marquette is 44-38 with 1:30 left in the game.

What has happened to offense? I know SWC posted in the JB show thread he wants the shot clock reduced but what can be done to fix offense?

what do you expect from Wisc ?

 

[Chip]

Too much turnover with players. Too much one and done.

 

[bevosu]

I won't discount the possibility that the coaches have something to do with it, but I think, from watching many games over the years, that these kids just can't shoot.

I've seen many open shots..not all 3 pointers, where I'm baffled when the ball doesn't go into the basket. Years ago players would usually make a much higher percentage of those shots.

Maybe it's dunks, layups, and 3 pointers...or video games?

 

[pearl31]

1. What passes for defense in college hoops is a traveshamockery.

Do not agree with this. at least in general. Most teams are playing better and better defense every year. Look at this year - Kentucky, Texas, Virginia, L'vlle, even Duke are all playing superb defense. as are alot of other teams (Arizona, Sand Diego St, etc etc) around the country.
No, offense and not defense is most definitely the problem.
And I honestly don't think decreasing the shot clock would even help. It wouldn't hurt, but like some posted above, I think we'd just get that many more turnovers and missed shots.

Better athletes that are able to excel on defense but not skilled enough on offense. Who then move on before they do learn to excel on offense. and as others have rightly said, coaches too scared to take many risks and end up playing way too conservatively.

 

[moqui]

the old college model was recruit your players, have them spend 1-3 years as understudies/role players, then they emerge as your stars as juniors and seniors. A lot of coaches are still using that model. The problem is that almost anyone good enough to be a star is gone before they are upperclassmen, so JB is trying to recreate his "star system" around guys like Kris Joseph & CJ Fair who really weren't cut out for it. The model is on its head (with the rare exceptions like Rakeem Christmas noted, of course). Now, your upperclassmen are just role players and program guys who can mentor the kids, who have to be your stars. You have to embrace that and understand they are going to make a lot of mistakes. And it means giving up a lot of control. Calipari has embraced it to obvious effect.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Do not agree with this. at least in general. Most teams are playing better and better defense every year. Look at this year - Kentucky, Texas, Virginia, L'vlle, even Duke are all playing superb defense. as are alot of other teams (Arizona, Sand Diego St, etc etc) around the country.

The way the game is officiated today permits too much physicality.

The refs tried cracking down on that and coaches went ballistic. Why might that be?