A lot of talk on radio and message boards on how to improve college basketball..

[HoopsDawg]

b/c it's almost unwatchable. For me the last 2 minutes of a close game which should be the most entertaining are excruciating to watch.

College hoops doesn't need a complete overhaul, just these 4 simple changes would really help:

1. Go to a 30 second shot clock. 24 is too fast, 35 is too long.

2. change the official timeouts from under 16-12-8-4 to under 15-10-5. High school basketball has much better flow without these forced timeouts. Cutting them from 4 to 3 would help.

3. Each team gets 2 timeouts in the first half and only 3 in the second half. Each team having 4 in the 2nd half is just brutal. Leads to overcoaching and sometimes you get 9 timeouts the last 4 minutes of the game. (4+4+1 official TO)

4. This one is up to the NBA and the Players association, but allow players to go straight from HS to the Pros, but once they pass on the draft, they have to stay in college for 2 years. 3 years might be better but it just seems too long and a little unfair.

I think those are 4 reasonable changes that everyone could agree to that would make college hoops so much better.

[maroonmania]

Its become very unwatchable to me because the basketball skill of the teams have diminished so. In the SEC, its really just a bunch of athletes running around almost like street ball. And yes, the final 2 minutes taking 30 minutes to complete due to all the fouling and timeouts is definitely excrutiating. I think the whole AAU mindset has greatly tarnished much of college basketball as well. In the SEC it just seems to be the Kentucky mercenaries (i.e. their one to two year hired guns) and then everyone else trying to compete for 2nd place.

[godlluB]

One timeout per team in the last 90 seconds of each play period.

[HoopsDawg]

One timeout per team in the last 90 seconds of each play period.

I don't think you can totally take strategy out of the question.

[smootness]

I like some of your suggestions. Personally, I don't see why the 24-second shot clock would be too fast in college. College basketball is a shorter game anyway, so having a longer shot clock only reduces the number of possessions even more.

I think some of it will correct itself. Part of the problem right now is just the lack of overall skill, but basketball in general is seeing a shift due to advanced metrics. You're seeing more of an emphasis on spacing and shooting. This has made a big difference in the NBA, and it will in college eventually as well. You'll see less focus on ball-stoppers who just try to drive in traffic constantly and more focus on ball movement and shooting ability.

Michael Jordan helped ruin the sport, but it's coming back.

[HoopsDawg]

I like some of your suggestions. Personally, I don't see why the 24-second shot clock would be too fast in college. College basketball is a shorter game anyway, so having a longer shot clock only reduces the number of possessions even more.

I think some of it will correct itself. Part of the problem right now is just the lack of overall skill, but basketball in general is seeing a shift due to advanced metrics. You're seeing more of an emphasis on spacing and shooting. This has made a big difference in the NBA, and it will in college eventually as well. You'll see less focus on ball-stoppers who just try to drive in traffic constantly and more focus on ball movement and shooting ability.

Michael Jordan helped ruin the sport, but it's coming back.

If you go to 24 second shot clock, the game becomes nothing but pick and rolls. It would also destroy the variety of offenses you see now like the Princeton offense, Wisconsin, etc. It's just a little too fast for the college game. I think 30 is the perfect number.

[Dawg61]

New foul rules have significantly hurt college BB. Go back to the old rules. Can't go NBA till after jr. year too.

[Mjoelner34]

Run 20 seconds off of the clock for every foul committed by the trailing team for the last 2 minutes of the game.

[godlluB]

I don't think you can totally take strategy out of the question.

I don't think this does that (at least not entirely, that's why I didn't set the number at zero). The coach just has to be a little more careful about when it's ACTUALLY important to talk to the team. Plus, there will still be plenty of free throws, at which time the coaches could potentially talk to a player.

[thf24]

Run 20 seconds off of the clock for every foul committed by the trailing team for the last 2 minutes of the game.

While it would make the end of games less tedious, I think it might make it worse. It would make it far more difficult and unlikely to come back down the stretch, possibly causing teams down 8-10 with 2-3 minutes left to just give up.

[War Machine Dawg]

b/c it's almost unwatchable. For me the last 2 minutes of a close game which should be the most entertaining are excruciating to watch.

College hoops doesn't need a complete overhaul, just these 4 simple changes would really help:

1. Go to a 30 second shot clock. 24 is too fast, 35 is too long.

2. change the official timeouts from under 16-12-8-4 to under 15-10-5. High school basketball has much better flow without these forced timeouts. Cutting them from 4 to 3 would help.

3. Each team gets 2 timeouts in the first half and only 3 in the second half. Each team having 4 in the 2nd half is just brutal. Leads to overcoaching and sometimes you get 9 timeouts the last 4 minutes of the game. (4+4+1 official TO)

4. This one is up to the NBA and the Players association, but allow players to go straight from HS to the Pros, but once they pass on the draft, they have to stay in college for 2 years. 3 years might be better but it just seems too long and a little unfair.

I think those are 4 reasonable changes that everyone could agree to that would make college hoops so much better.

25-30 second shot clock is a must.

And I say screw the HS kids, you have to go to college 2 years. Period, end of discussion. The one-and-done rule doesn't benefit anyone, and only about .00000001% of HS kids are ready for the NBA. So make everyone go to college 2 years. Lebron only comes along every 15 years or so. Pretty much every other HS draftee has spent years sucking before becoming a role player at best, much less the next star. Do the kids a favor and make them go to school for 2 years.

[Dawg Corps]

4. This one is up to the NBA and the Players association, but allow players to go straight from HS to the Pros, but once they pass on the draft, they have to stay in college for 2 years. 3 years might be better but it just seems too long and a little unfair.

I've been wanting something like this for a long time. One-and-done has had a negative impact on the game of college basketball.

[Dawg Corps]

Do the kids a favor and make them go to school for 2 years.

Exactly. Not only would it mature them and help them adjust to playing in the NBA more quickly than if they hadn't developed as a college player, but it would also give them a better chance at adjusting to the real world if the whole basketball star thing doesn't pan out they way they had hoped. It really is a win/win situation (except for the rare occurrences, i.e. Lebron).

[Irondawg]

Agree on the timeouts and while you don't take coaching out, we should only do with 2 timeouts per half per coach. Agree that reducing the TV timeouts would also help.

Ideally (and this was mentioned on another board) - go to 4 10 minute periods and have a 3-4 minute break in between thena 15 min halftime. no TV timeouts during that 10 minute period, just the long one during the intermission and during the coach timeouts during the first half.

[sleepy dawg]

This is a bunch of bullshit...

1. Whatever... This rule wouldn't make that big of a difference. We're talking 6 seconds difference... I'm pretty sure a 6 second difference doesn't change the game from "unwatchable" as some of you say to a perfect game again, like there is some perfect number on the shot clock.

2. They will not cut all those timeouts... Sorry, this is never happening as long as the timeouts are the biggest revenue generator for TV.

3. This is reasonable, but it won't happen either.

4. This is the biggest load of bullshit of all. Nobody should be forced into anything. There shouldn't be a 1 year rule, a 2 year rule, or any other rule. When a kid... er, grown man, is ready for the NBA, he should be able to go. The best players should be able to go pro anytime they want. By law, you are a free man at 18. The NBA (or any professional sport) should not have any rules with college in terms of eligibility. On top of that, you suggest the worst possible rule, which is you can go straight from high school, but if you go to college, you're forced to stay there for 2 years. Slavery has long since been abolished. How about we treat players like people instead of nothing more than objects for our entertainment?

Why do y'all constantly complain about all these rules that need to be implemented every year to make the sport watchable again? Y'all complain about every freaking sport...
blank sport is unwatchable now. It used to be the best sport, but so and so screwed it up. Now they need to implement these number of rules to make it good again because I'm a spoiled bitch.

[War Machine Dawg]

This is a bunch of bullshit...

1. Whatever... This rule wouldn't make that big of a difference. We're talking 6 seconds difference... I'm pretty sure a 6 second difference doesn't change the game from "unwatchable" as some of you say to a perfect game again, like there is some perfect number on the shot clock.

2. They will not cut all those timeouts... Sorry, this is never happening as long as the timeouts are the biggest revenue generator for TV.

3. This is reasonable, but it won't happen either.

4. This is the biggest load of bullshit of all. Nobody should be forced into anything. There shouldn't be a 1 year rule, a 2 year rule, or any other rule. When a kid... er, grown man, is ready for the NBA, he should be able to go. The best players should be able to go pro anytime they want. By law, you are a free man at 18. The NBA (or any professional sport) should not have any rules with college in terms of eligibility. On top of that, you suggest the worst possible rule, which is you can go straight from high school, but if you go to college, you're forced to stay there for 2 years. Slavery has long since been abolished. How about we treat players like people instead of nothing more than objects for our entertainment?

Why do y'all constantly complain about all these rules that need to be implemented every year to make the sport watchable again? Y'all complain about every freaking sport...

http://i.imgur.com/2YJ5inX.gif