Started By
Message
Too many free throw breaks are college basketball's biggest problem imo
Posted on 1/12/25 at 10:16 am
Posted on 1/12/25 at 10:16 am
There were 23 fouls in the second half of the Georgia/Kentucky game the other night. The second half took almost an hour and a half to play. After a while, watching the game felt like a chore.
Shooting fouls, when the refs and players just take their time and fart around for a full 45-60 seconds, take all the rhythm out of a basketball game and make it too easy to change the channel.
Basketball purists will say "free throws are part of the game," and that's great. Good for them. But it's also part of the reason why random mid-major bowl games had better TV ratings than marquee non-conference college basketball games last month.
If I was the czar of college basketball, there'd be no free throws until the last 2 minutes of each half. If it's a shooting foul before then, the team on offense gets one point and the ball side out. If a team in in the bonus and gets fouled, it's one point and they get the ball side out. An and-1 is 3 points and change of possession.
Basketball purists can disagree and continue scratching their heads and wondering why more people don't love basketball as much as they do because basketball is awesome, while the general sports public won't really pay attention to college basketball until March and it will continue to fall further and further behind football.
Shooting fouls, when the refs and players just take their time and fart around for a full 45-60 seconds, take all the rhythm out of a basketball game and make it too easy to change the channel.
Basketball purists will say "free throws are part of the game," and that's great. Good for them. But it's also part of the reason why random mid-major bowl games had better TV ratings than marquee non-conference college basketball games last month.
If I was the czar of college basketball, there'd be no free throws until the last 2 minutes of each half. If it's a shooting foul before then, the team on offense gets one point and the ball side out. If a team in in the bonus and gets fouled, it's one point and they get the ball side out. An and-1 is 3 points and change of possession.
Basketball purists can disagree and continue scratching their heads and wondering why more people don't love basketball as much as they do because basketball is awesome, while the general sports public won't really pay attention to college basketball until March and it will continue to fall further and further behind football.
18
Posted on 1/12/25 at 10:17 am to Violent Hip Swivel
So true
Posted on 1/12/25 at 10:21 am to Violent Hip Swivel
I felt like the way our game was called last night with State went pretty well. The occasional weird call but didn’t disrupt the flow of the game or kill momentum.
The larger issue is certain officials who are just not good at their job. Or at the very least feel the need to be part of the game in a recognizable way (I’m looking at you TV Teddy).
This sounds terrible though. That means for majority of the game players will foul, and foul hard, to prevent the shot being made because no free throws will be shot.
The larger issue is certain officials who are just not good at their job. Or at the very least feel the need to be part of the game in a recognizable way (I’m looking at you TV Teddy).
quote:
If I was the czar of college basketball, there'd be no free throws until the last 2 minutes of each half. If it's a shooting foul before then, the team on offense gets one point and the ball side out. If a team in in the bonus and gets fouled, it's one point and they get the ball side out. An and-1 is 3 points and change of possession.
This sounds terrible though. That means for majority of the game players will foul, and foul hard, to prevent the shot being made because no free throws will be shot.
This post was edited on 1/12/25 at 10:22 am
Posted on 1/12/25 at 10:21 am to Violent Hip Swivel
I’m fine with free throws. They call too many fouls in my opinion. That’s the problem. Not everything has to be a fricking foul.
Posted on 1/12/25 at 10:23 am to Violent Hip Swivel
Way too many, The first team to 60 points in college basketball. After a while, it starts looking like the WNBA. Shooting is almost nonexistent in the men's game.
PS, I do love the NBA.
PS, I do love the NBA.
Posted on 1/12/25 at 10:23 am to BluegrassBelle
quote:
This sounds terrible though. That means for majority of the game players will foul, and foul hard, to prevent the shot being made because no free throws will be shot.
Then maybe "one point and side out" only on non-shooting fouls (when a team is in the bonus) would be a good compromise, until the last 2 minutes, and then the current rules would apply.
Or, refs could speed up the process of free throws. There's no reason free throw breaks have to take a full minute and no reason that both teams get to huddle and stretch and chat during free throw breaks.
This post was edited on 1/12/25 at 10:26 am
Posted on 1/12/25 at 10:28 am to bamameister
CBB needs to institute the “natural shooting motion” rule like the NBA.
Posted on 1/12/25 at 10:29 am to Crimsontide1713
College basketball is unwatchable for me.
Posted on 1/12/25 at 10:45 am to Violent Hip Swivel
Imagine if you weren't getting friendly whistles. Anyone from Auburn want to chime in? 
Foul differential vs opponents fouls
1. Georgia -5.4
2. Missouri -5.1
3. Carolina -4.5
4. Tennessee -3.2
5. Texas A&M -2.8
6. Alabama -2.6
7. Texas -1.5
8. LSU -1.1
9. Vandy -0.8
10. Arkansas -0.7
11. Florida -0.6
12. State -0.4
13. Ole Miss -0.3
14. Kentucky -0.3
15. Oklahoma -0.1
16. Auburn +1.5
Auburn is the only team getting more fouls called on them than the other team.
LINK
Foul differential vs opponents fouls
1. Georgia -5.4
2. Missouri -5.1
3. Carolina -4.5
4. Tennessee -3.2
5. Texas A&M -2.8
6. Alabama -2.6
7. Texas -1.5
8. LSU -1.1
9. Vandy -0.8
10. Arkansas -0.7
11. Florida -0.6
12. State -0.4
13. Ole Miss -0.3
14. Kentucky -0.3
15. Oklahoma -0.1
16. Auburn +1.5
Auburn is the only team getting more fouls called on them than the other team.
LINK
This post was edited on 1/12/25 at 10:46 am
Posted on 1/12/25 at 10:58 am to Violent Hip Swivel
Agreed.
They called 44 fouls in the Arkansas/Florida game yesterday. Some of them called, on both teams, were very ticky tack.
They called 44 fouls in the Arkansas/Florida game yesterday. Some of them called, on both teams, were very ticky tack.
Posted on 1/12/25 at 11:09 am to DhanTigers212
quote:
I’m fine with free throws. They call too many fouls in my opinion. That’s the problem. Not everything has to be a fricking foul.
Posted on 1/12/25 at 11:10 am to bigDgator
quote:
Auburn is the only team getting more fouls called on them than the other team.
If you dig deeper, the Free Throws Attempted is interesting with Mizzou sitting at +12.3.
It also varies greatly from game to game (which I think is the bigger issue). For instance, free throw differential in UK/UGA was 38-19. But then last night for UK/MSU, which was just as physical of a game, the differential was 19-18.
This post was edited on 1/12/25 at 11:15 am
Posted on 1/12/25 at 11:19 am to bigDgator
quote:
Imagine if you weren't getting friendly whistles. Anyone from Auburn want to chime in?
Foul differential vs opponents fouls
1. Georgia -5.4
2. Missouri -5.1
3. Carolina -4.5
4. Tennessee -3.2
5. Texas A&M -2.8
6. Alabama -2.6
7. Texas -1.5
8. LSU -1.1
9. Vandy -0.8
10. Arkansas -0.7
11. Florida -0.6
12. State -0.4
13. Ole Miss -0.3
14. Kentucky -0.3
15. Oklahoma -0.1
16. Auburn +1.5
Auburn is the only team getting more fouls called on them than the other team.
This is misleading info. Look at just SEC games. In our case here’s the FT disparity
OU/opponent FTs:
OU 9 / GA 37
OU 17 / atm 22
OU 16 / Bama 30
OU 42 / Opp 89
I know we get the new team treatment but its out of hand. Someone said yesterday its because we shoot more 3’s. I proved them wrong we took more 2’s than opponents.
But besides that the games are just overall too lethargic and stopped by refs too much. Its so hard to watch. Replay has hurt the game. Just like teams only allowed 2 challenges the refs should only be allowed 2 reviews per game (not counting teams). Its like everything is reviewed nowadays.
Posted on 1/12/25 at 11:27 am to OU Guy
Agreed. Fouls called and reviews are way out of hand. Let the players play. Not every drive to the hoop deserves a foul to be called. These refs are auto calling fouls on play in the paint.
Posted on 1/12/25 at 11:48 am to Violent Hip Swivel
quote:
There were 23 fouls in the second half of the Georgia/Kentucky game the other night
Those are rookie numbers. There were 29 fouls called in each half, 58 total, of the Alabama-TAM game last night.
Posted on 1/12/25 at 11:58 am to captdalton
quote:
There were 29 fouls called in each half, 58 total, of the Alabama-TAM game last night.
Didn’t this game last longer than the NFL game?
It seems the SEC has a huge ref problem.
Posted on 1/12/25 at 12:12 pm to OU Guy
quote:
Didn’t this game last longer than the NFL game?
It seems the SEC has a huge ref problem.
2 hours and 48 minutes. fricking ridiculous.
Posted on 1/12/25 at 12:14 pm to OU Guy
quote:
Didn’t this game last longer than the NFL game?
Yes. In addition to all the fouls there were a number of video reviews. Maybe the officials are being paid hourly now?
Posted on 1/12/25 at 12:16 pm to VaBamaMan
Almost 3 hours for a game is beyond ridiculous, and I say this as a Missouri fan who is watching his team go to the line as much or more than any in the nation. It's out of hand. Post defense is getting impossible to play with these whistle-happy refs. And stars are forced to sit on the bench with foul trouble. What fans want to see that? Let the players play!
Posted on 1/12/25 at 12:18 pm to Violent Hip Swivel
While true, bad officiating is to blame.
Page 1 of 3
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News