I’m not sure what game is being played or if it actually is a game, but it ain’t basketball. Mosh pit? Street fight? Rugby scrum? Gladiator games? How is it a basketball move when a 7', 300 pound man drives a shoulder into the defender’s chest hard enough to knock him back 3 steps, Sumo wrestler style, to free up space for a shot? And if you hit him hard enough to knock him on his butt, more than likely he’ll get a “flop” warning. Poor Chet Holmgren. I fear for his skinny body. Or barrel down the lane full speed headlong into 3 defenders to an almost always automatic shooting foul call?
I’m just amazed there aren’t broken ribs in every game. Flak jackets should be part of standard issue basketball uniforms.
I remember a playing in a high school B-Squad game and being called for a foul because I had my hand touching the kid I was guarding. I said, “What?”. And the ref gave me a break, not calling a technical, instead saying, “You know you can’t do that, son”. Really?
These days the name of the game is “physicality” and contact close to the basket draws an automatic foul, while mauling each other while rebounding mostly goes uncalled. Rules around offensive fouls require the defensive player to remain in a fixed position and get obliterated by the driving offensive player to get a charging call. And if you twitch or the offensive player manages to create a glancing blow, well, it’s a foul on you. At the end of the game a gentle nudge is a foul because the team that's behind wants to stop the clock. The last 2 minutes of any close game is a slow motion agony of timeouts, whistles, foul shooting and desperation shots. And when is the last time you saw “traveling” called? 1,2,3, 4th step, dunk. Or carrying the ball? It used to be automatic when the dribbling hand got on the side or under the ball.
Playmaking? Only occasionally, unless you consider the high ball screen pick and roll or the weave playmaking. The game has become one-on-one (or more often 1 on 3), the big guy backing down his defender for a 2’ baby hook. Or a quick guard beating his man around a screen at the top of the key for a layup or dump off for a dunk. Or 50 times a game, launch a 3-ball. The 3 point shot has become the homerun of basketball with similar damage to the game. The saving grace is a couple shining moments of incredible athleticism in every game. But, give me the Princeton back door cuts or “Pistol Pete” passing any day. That’s entertainment. College ball now echos the NBA. NBA has ruined amateur basketball.
It is certainly an incredibly difficult task to officiate a NCAA tournament game, these days nigh impossible. And I'll bet you did not know, "according to 2019 statistics, basketball causes the most injuries compared to any other team sport." It's time to introduce some rule changes to reduce the risk of injury - and improve the game. The NFL has done this to some degree. You almost never see a clothesline tackle or chop block or helmet first tackling.
March Madness is of course enormou$ly popular ($3 billion in wagers! How’s your bracket doing, BTW?) and it is a bit addictive, but if you want to watch basketball as it should be played, watch the NCAA women.
Yes, I am a curmudgeon. You're not the first to have that thought.
Copyright © 2022 Dave Hoplin
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