Written by Ryan Palencer at Bloguin
Outrage flooded the NBA when the “Hack-a-Shaq” took effect. During the last few years, the same outrage has followed in the NBA playoffs when teams would foul poor free throw shooters to gain possessions.
In the first few games of the new college basketball season, we’re seeing something different. What’s happening on the hardwood is not due to any loopholes that teams have been found in the rules. Rather, free throw totals are skyrocketing because of the new emphasis on freedom of movement.
The main goal of the rule makers in college basketball this season was to make the game more aesthetically pleasing for fans. In doing this, the first thing they realized is that fans want to see a fluid, balletic style of play, rather than physical defensive slugfests with endless bumping of cutters and bodies crashing into each other with impunity.
In outlawing disruptive physical play, the NCAA has created an environment in which free throws reign supreme. This is the downside of policing contact: The emphasis takes the flow of the game in a different direction, creating so many stoppages of the clock with so many trips to the line. Reducing rough play is a goal which won’t be achieved right away; teams are clearly adjusting to the new points of emphasis. In the meantime, whistles have become the soundtrack for games. That’s an inconvenience the sport will have to live with, trusting that defenses and coaches will adjust in the course of time.
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