Ryan ChartrandFlabbergasted and downright perplexed. That’s how I felt when I found out the NCAA voted to move the men’s 3-point line back one foot to 20 feet, 9 inches for the 2008-09 season.
That makes the line three inches farther than the international 3-point line and three feet short of the NBA line. Why move the college 3-point line to such an inanimate distance?
The NCAA hopes moving the 3-point line will increase the distance between post players and perimeter players. In other words, the new rule will open up the court and allow for easier dribble penetration and entry passes to the post.
No argument there, but why the move to 20-9? If the NCAA had given me a call, I would’ve recommended a move to the international line of 20-6.
Unfortunately, the NCAA didn’t give me a ring, but I did get an idea – it’s time for yours truly to run for Supreme Basketball Chancellor of the United States.
Well, first somebody will need to create the position, but then I’ll put my name on the ballot and run under the “Old School” ticket. Here’s my platform:
If I were in charge of basketball operations for this country, I would root out some of the evils within the game (i.e. loose NBA officiating and media timeouts) and refocus several rules to mimic the international game.
First, a few quick fixes. That whole defensive three-in-the-key business that the NBA employs gets thrown out the window. Also, I’d like to see stricter enforcement of traveling and carrying (palming). It might look sweet on an And 1 mix tape, but real basketball isn’t about sick crossovers and four-five-six step drives to the basket for a rim-rattling dunk.
Also gone is the NBA’s continuation rule. No more of those circus shot shenanigans – if a player gets fouled on the ground driving to the hoop, the points don’t count and the ball is taken out of bounds.
With the easy stuff out of the way, let’s move the college 3-point line to the international standard of 20-6 and the NBA line to 21-6.
I can already hear people moaning and groaning that NBA sharpshooters will make a killing from the move and that defenders will be allowed to sag toward the key, effectively cutting off the lane from dribble penetration.
An easy rebuttal: are these the same NBA sharpshooters that fail to dominate from the international 3-point line at the World Championships and Olympics? Seems to me NBA shooters could use a little brushing up on their international 3-point line skills.
Moving the NBA line to within one foot of the international line should help ease the transition from the NBA season to the real World Championship season. Maybe the international line should be moved back. Maybe it’s our foreign friends who need to adjust to an NBA style of play. But until that happens, the primary professional league in the U.S. needs to adjust to international rules to give us a better chance at the World Championships and Olympics.
Next, let’s do away with those pesky “media timeouts.”
Folks, I have a dream that one day our nation will be able to watch a college or professional basketball game that has continuous action for more than three to four minutes. Is that so much to ask?
Media timeouts are evil. They’re products of the corporations searching for commercial airtime. I don’t watch March Madness for the Geico caveman or the bazillion crummy car commercials running around the airwaves. A lack of media timeouts are part of the splendor of the world’s sport, soccer. In the World Cup, the game doesn’t stop for a one-minute, 30-second commercial break at the under-10-minute mark.
Why does there need to be a timeout at the under-16-minute mark in college basketball? Four minutes into the game and commercials break up the flow of the game. Under my jurisdiction, corporate America will no longer have a say on when sporting events stop for commercial breaks.
Finally, I will also adjust the draft eligibility standards for the NBA. I am 100 percent in favor of the current system and would like to see players remain in college for at least two seasons before entering the draft, but will instead implement a compromise.
Here’s the new rule: Take away the age limit and don’t allow high school seniors to hire an agent prior to the draft. The NBA Draft will be conducted a little like the MLB Draft. Any high school player can be taken, but that player has the option to either sign with the NBA team that takes him or go to college.
Following the draft, the high school player will be allowed to hire an agent. Penalties will be levied against any player who signs with an agent or accepts gifts that prohibit his amateur status prior to the NBA Draft.
This is a win-win situation for people who believe there should be an age limit in the NBA and those who think an age limit is just un-American. This system would give guys like DeAngelo Collins, Lenny Cooke, Tony Key and Ellis Richardson, all undrafted high schoolers, a safety net in case they aren’t selected to play pro ball.
If you support purity of the game, vote Frank Stranzl for Supreme Basketball Chancellor of the United States. A vote for Frank is like putting money in the bank!