Get rid of the block/charge rule....

What's most disgusting is how the refs are so dramatic about the call, it's like they are selling it; it becomes about them not the players.

 

Expand the semicircle to a rectangular line bisecting the free throw lane 4 feet from the center of the rim (i.e. same distance as the semicircle, just a horizontal line). This would encourage driving from the wing and the baseline).

And call technicals on floppers. Not warnings -- technicals.

 

or break their legs.

 

When Wilt used to set picks on offense or set up in the lane on defense, he would plant both feet on the floor like they were mounted in cement.

The hapless opponent would slam into Wilt, who would stand there like a telephone pole.

The hapless opponent would usually ricochet straight ass backwards to the floor. Wilt usually reacted as if he had been assaulted by a butterfly.

The refs rarely if ever called a foul either way.

Since these plays almost always ended up with the hapless opponent lying on his ass on the floor half-knocked out, most players rarely tried it more than about once.

 

Blocking/charging doesn't bother me. What bothers me is allowing shots on continuation after the foul. Guy gets fouled, takes another couple steps, puts up the shot, and the shot counts anyways.

Nantz even joked about it at one point last night, saying one of them would have been a continuation in the NBA.

 

Wider semi-circle and more no-calls instead of charges.

 

Block/charge is an easy call for a ref who's trained to know what to look for at game speed.

Some aren't, which still makes it a 50-50 call.

 

Guys sliding over a split second early to stop a driving player instead of contesting the actual shot are doing nothing more than finding a loophole in a rule and exploiting it.

 

I think more are charges now because the notion of traveling has changed so much. It's now common for the player driving to the basket to stop dribbling, tuck the ball between his upper arm and chest and run the last three steps through the lane. That, of course, gives him more ball control. It also makes sense that a guy running with the basketball like a running back might slam into more defenders.

 

Out of everything I saw in this tournament, the thing that bothered me most was Hancock (and others) suckering guys into the air and then getting three free throws when they weren't attempting to shoot. Those "step into the guy as he is falling and then throw the ball five feet" are not shot attempts.

 

Are you kidding me?

 

There supposedly is a rule of "verticality," where the defender who remains vertical, even when jumping, won't get called for a foul when the offensive player leans into him to cause contact while shooting, as the Louisville player did several times last night. As I said, it's only supposedly a rule, since it is never enforced.

And on the play in the corner where he was awarded three shots, he didn't even begin the "shooting motion" (such as it was) until he leaned into the defender after the defender had flown past him without any contact. Truly the horrific call in a game that was full of officiating blunders.