The NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee approved a package of proposals on Friday that should improve the overall state of the game for the 2015-16 season.
Included in the package are the expected change to a 30 second shot clock, as well as a number of changes to timeouts, and the lifting of the previous rule which had prevented pregame dunking.
The key areas the committee will focus on in the upcoming season are:
• Perimeter defense, particularly on the dribbler and strictly enforcing the directives put in the book before the 2013-14 season.
• Physicality in post play.
• Screening, particularly moving screens and requiring that the screener be stationary.
• Block/charge plays.
• Allowing greater freedom of movement for players without the ball.
Restricted-area arc
To continue the focus on reducing the number of collisions at the basket, the committee approved the expansion of the restricted area arc from the current 3 feet to 4 feet. This arc would be effective in 2015-16 for Division I and 2016-17 for Divisions II and III.
Pace of Play
--The most significant of the changes is to reduce the shot clock to 30 seconds.
--The committee also voted to remove one team timeout in the second half and strictly focus on resuming play more quickly after a timeout, which would now include a delay of game warning when a team does not comply and a one-shot technical foul on subsequent violations.
The rest of the package to improve the pace of play includes:
- Adjusting the media timeout procedures to allow a timeout called within 30 seconds of a break (e.g., 16:30) or at any time after the scheduled media timeout becomes the media timeout.
- Removing the ability for a coach to call timeout when the ball is live.
- Allowing only a total of 10 seconds to advance the ball to the front court (with a few exceptions).
- Reducing the amount of time available to replace a disqualified player.
Faking Fouls
No more flopping. The committee proposed a rule that would allow officials to penalize faking fouls during the use of video to review a possible flagrant foul.
Other Changes
Other proposals approved by the committee include:
- Allowing officials to use the monitor to review a potential shot clock violation on made field goals throughout the entire game.
- Making Class B technical fouls (e.g., hanging on the rim, delaying the resumption of play, etc.) one-shot technical fouls. Two shots are now granted for these types of technical fouls.
- Eliminating the five-second closely guarded rule while dribbling the ball.
• Removing the prohibition on dunking in pregame warmups.
One year too late for some....
And right on time for others.
In all seriousness though, I love these changes, and I really do think that the 30 second shot clock is something that is really going to work in Louisville's favor. With the Cards' fullcourt and midcourt pressure, you're talking about teams having 16-18 seconds to shoot when they finally get to start their halfcourt sets. That's cool.