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I love college basketball. I used to follow more than any other sport. But the game just isn't good anymore. Coaches are too prepared defensively, guys aren't skilled anymore, and officials are terrible. It takes too much time. Here are my twelve ideas on how to fix college basketball.
1) Employ defensive three seconds in the paint
It's so funny to me that when the leaders of college basketball get together, they NEVER discuss this as a way to get offense going. There are too many good shot blockers now and defenses funnel them to shot blockers just standing in the lane waiting for them or for a charge. Imagine the NBA with no defensive three second rule. It would be unbearable. You add this rule, you get more open driving lanes and you get more chances to create offense.
2) 30 second shot clock
If you have 24 seconds, I think too many teams would jack up bad shots. I think 30 is a good solid number. The women's game has 30 and they play faster than the men. But if you have a 30 second shot clock, you got to add one more rule to go with it.
3) 8 seconds to get the ball over the halfcourt line
We don't want offensives to completely dominate. This does two things. First you can't walk the ball up anymore, you at least have to jog. Two, you actually have to beat a press. With eight seconds, you will need to attack presses in order to beat it. Also, this rewards defenses more for good traps and defense. Good defense should still be rewarded.
4) Expand the three point line to NBA range
This seems like a silly proposal. "Wait, you want to fix offense but expand the three point line?" Yes, because you create more space for offensive drivers and post ups, which lead defenses to have to guard further out.
5) Have officials call bumps off ball
Too much contact is being made off ball and it is getting harder to get open off ball. This way guys have to move their feet and give effort on defense instead of just bullying them.
6) Call illegal screens more
We need to help the defense out too. Guys are moving way too much and clouding up space. This will reward good defense and punish bad offensive fundamentals.
7) Get rid of the charge
This the most controversial idea. I don't believe a guy should be punished for beating his defender. He should be rewarded. I don't think just standing there for a guy to run into you is good defense either. Instead, you actually have to go up and challenge the play. This also takes out the toughest call for officials. You still call push-off fouls on offense and illegal screens but get rid of the charge.
8) You cannot throw it past half-court one you pass half-court on an inbounds play
This is a silly, dumb rule I never got. You can't do it in the NBA. Why punish defenses for good guarding when an offensive guy can just throw it more than 60 feet down the court? Also, we might get more plays trying to score out of bounds.
9) Fix the timeouts/replay system
Here's what I propose. You are given four timeouts you can use for the first 39 minutes for each team no matter what. That means you don't lose one at halftime. However, once the clock shows 1:00 (60 seconds left in the second half) you get one timeout for each team even if you haven't used the previous three. However, if you call your timeout after a basket or rebound without a pass you get the ball to mid court. Who doesn't want more excitement at the end? Plus, now you don't have some loser (BO RYAN) who hoards his timeouts and uses four in the final minute. The replay system is simple. If the ref has not decided after 45 seconds once the monitor starts, the play stands. Period.
10) Have conference officials and same crews
This helps the coaches know the officials more, a little more consistency what a conference wants from its officials, and the league can monitor officials better. On out of conference games, the NCAA decides officials from out of conference, but they all are assigned the same crew for the entire season. This creates chemistry between officials and how they want to officiate a game.
11) Transfer Rules
We are keeping the grad transfer rule. However, we are going to do mix it up a little bit. A player can leave after his freshman or junior year but must sit out a year (unless the junior graduates and goes into a different program for his senior year at a different school. Same rules applies). After your sophomore or redshirt freshman year you can transfer and be eligible immediately. However, if you transfer after your sophomore year and play immediately you are not eligible for the grad transfer rule. You can have the option of transferring your sophomore and redshirting, keeping you eligible for the grad transfer rule.
12) New NBA Draft rules: Have the MLB rules with a twist
In Major League Baseball, you can come out and sign a contract after you are drafted. Or if you don't like your professional situation, you can decline the draft status and go to school for three years. That is what the NCAA should do. Let's say Stanley Johnson came out last year for the 2014 NBA Draft and fell to #13 in the NBA Draft for whatever reason. He doesn't like that and decides to go to school and he can stay for two or three years. We are adding one exception though. A minimum of five players to a maximum of ten players can be delegated to be drafted by a panel of basketball experts after their sophomore year. That way a guy who becomes a potential #1 guy doesn't have to stay at school unnecessarily. Other than that, you have to stay for a minimum of three years.
1) Employ defensive three seconds in the paint
It's so funny to me that when the leaders of college basketball get together, they NEVER discuss this as a way to get offense going. There are too many good shot blockers now and defenses funnel them to shot blockers just standing in the lane waiting for them or for a charge. Imagine the NBA with no defensive three second rule. It would be unbearable. You add this rule, you get more open driving lanes and you get more chances to create offense.
2) 30 second shot clock
If you have 24 seconds, I think too many teams would jack up bad shots. I think 30 is a good solid number. The women's game has 30 and they play faster than the men. But if you have a 30 second shot clock, you got to add one more rule to go with it.
3) 8 seconds to get the ball over the halfcourt line
We don't want offensives to completely dominate. This does two things. First you can't walk the ball up anymore, you at least have to jog. Two, you actually have to beat a press. With eight seconds, you will need to attack presses in order to beat it. Also, this rewards defenses more for good traps and defense. Good defense should still be rewarded.
4) Expand the three point line to NBA range
This seems like a silly proposal. "Wait, you want to fix offense but expand the three point line?" Yes, because you create more space for offensive drivers and post ups, which lead defenses to have to guard further out.
5) Have officials call bumps off ball
Too much contact is being made off ball and it is getting harder to get open off ball. This way guys have to move their feet and give effort on defense instead of just bullying them.
6) Call illegal screens more
We need to help the defense out too. Guys are moving way too much and clouding up space. This will reward good defense and punish bad offensive fundamentals.
7) Get rid of the charge
This the most controversial idea. I don't believe a guy should be punished for beating his defender. He should be rewarded. I don't think just standing there for a guy to run into you is good defense either. Instead, you actually have to go up and challenge the play. This also takes out the toughest call for officials. You still call push-off fouls on offense and illegal screens but get rid of the charge.
8) You cannot throw it past half-court one you pass half-court on an inbounds play
This is a silly, dumb rule I never got. You can't do it in the NBA. Why punish defenses for good guarding when an offensive guy can just throw it more than 60 feet down the court? Also, we might get more plays trying to score out of bounds.
9) Fix the timeouts/replay system
Here's what I propose. You are given four timeouts you can use for the first 39 minutes for each team no matter what. That means you don't lose one at halftime. However, once the clock shows 1:00 (60 seconds left in the second half) you get one timeout for each team even if you haven't used the previous three. However, if you call your timeout after a basket or rebound without a pass you get the ball to mid court. Who doesn't want more excitement at the end? Plus, now you don't have some loser (BO RYAN) who hoards his timeouts and uses four in the final minute. The replay system is simple. If the ref has not decided after 45 seconds once the monitor starts, the play stands. Period.
10) Have conference officials and same crews
This helps the coaches know the officials more, a little more consistency what a conference wants from its officials, and the league can monitor officials better. On out of conference games, the NCAA decides officials from out of conference, but they all are assigned the same crew for the entire season. This creates chemistry between officials and how they want to officiate a game.
11) Transfer Rules
We are keeping the grad transfer rule. However, we are going to do mix it up a little bit. A player can leave after his freshman or junior year but must sit out a year (unless the junior graduates and goes into a different program for his senior year at a different school. Same rules applies). After your sophomore or redshirt freshman year you can transfer and be eligible immediately. However, if you transfer after your sophomore year and play immediately you are not eligible for the grad transfer rule. You can have the option of transferring your sophomore and redshirting, keeping you eligible for the grad transfer rule.
12) New NBA Draft rules: Have the MLB rules with a twist
In Major League Baseball, you can come out and sign a contract after you are drafted. Or if you don't like your professional situation, you can decline the draft status and go to school for three years. That is what the NCAA should do. Let's say Stanley Johnson came out last year for the 2014 NBA Draft and fell to #13 in the NBA Draft for whatever reason. He doesn't like that and decides to go to school and he can stay for two or three years. We are adding one exception though. A minimum of five players to a maximum of ten players can be delegated to be drafted by a panel of basketball experts after their sophomore year. That way a guy who becomes a potential #1 guy doesn't have to stay at school unnecessarily. Other than that, you have to stay for a minimum of three years.
