Fast or Slow

Over the last month or so, a lot of talk has been how scoring in college basketball has gone down and how basketball is more like a football game. That it's bad for the game and less people want to watch. Scoring is definitely down for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include lack of shooting, defensive schemes, control by the coaches, more teams playing zone, and officiating.

Lets talk about shooting. If you look at the three point shooting leaders this year (HERE) you'll see that only 35 players throughout Division One shoot over 40% from the three point line (there is probably more but you need a certain amount of attempts to be on the list). That's not a very high number considering there is about 340 Division One teams. Heck, there are only 22 in the NBA that are shooting 40% and above this year. Although, there are certain players that shoot higher percentages from the corners, which is big in the NBA game. The lack of shooting allows defenses to collapse more (more on this below).

As you watch games by teams like Virginia and Wisconsin you'll notice that they like to "muck it up."  What I mean by this is, they get physical and do not make anything easy for the offense. The idea behind how they play is to not allow penetration into the paint. Why? Teams shoot a much higher percentage when they get a paint touch through penetration, cutting, or post catches. By playing this way, the offense tends to score a lot less and are also forced to take tough shots later in the shot clock. Forcing teams to take shots near the end of the shot clock also forces their offense to get less possessions, which leads to less scoring for both teams. Examples are HERE, HERE, and HERE.

This defense is also known as the "pack-line defense." What this means is that there is rarely extended ball pressure. So, the offense doesn't have as much space to operate, especially when they need it, late in the shot clock. Also, you'll rarely see the players off the ball try to deny their man the ball. What this does is make the reversal pass easy but the potential drive doesn't look like it is there because that is where the help is positioned.

There are very few teams at the Division One level that really try to extend their defense and have ball pressure at all times. What the ball pressure does is put the defensive player on a island and if they get beat then the rest of the defense is at a huge disadvantage. In closing, why would coaches want to put their players at a huge disadvantage by pressuring the ball at half court?

Many of the basketball "experts" are saying that all coaches feel the need to have control and that is why offenses aren't scoring at all. I believe it's harder to get in the paint early in a shot clock and that is forcing offenses to needle their way into the paint near the end of the shot clock. So, most possessions are taking 20-30 seconds off the clock trying to get the defense to make a mistake. When teams settle for shots and make them, it looks like great offense but in reality it's not very good. Coaches definitely want control but their idea of control is getting great shots and not settling for bad or average shots.

Much like college football when it was very run oriented, basketball has become a physical mess and scoring has gone down. Now, coaches need to figure out ways to adjust to defenses like the pack-line and it's taking them a while. What is the best way to get their best players the ball in space? That's the magic question and every coach and team is different.

You'll see more teams playing zone now knowing that teams don't shoot the ball very well. Playing zone almost always slows the game down. The offense usually takes a bit longer to get shots especially when the zone has a lot of length. Yes, there are times when teams can get good looks early in a possession but much like pack-line the offense is waiting for the defense to make a mistake.

The last thing I will talk about is the officiating. Games have become physical messes because the officials allow it. Perfect example is last year when it was made a rule that officials HAD to call a foul when the defender would put two hands on the offensive player. That was called very early in the year and scoring went up. By the time conference play started, the physical play was back. If a rule is made, it needs to be enforced. With that being said, if play is consistently called a certain way for an extended period of time, players will adjust and the game will automatically become faster. Until then, scoring will continue to decrease.

Yes, everyone wants to see a lot of scoring but many coaches realize that they want to slow it down in hopes of giving them a better chance of winning the game by giving the other team less possessions. And as we've seen since many teams seasons have ended, coaches want to have a job.