Cleaning up the game

By Ray Glier

Three years ago, the NCAA coordinator of officials, John Adams, had seen enough of the defender putting two hands on the dribbler to slow him down. Adams was tired of the tactic of the defender on the high ball screen throwing a hip into the dribbler coming across the top of the lane.

He started something: automatic fouls.

If you use two hands, if you throw a hip, it’s a foul. Don’t even complain. College basketball officials have a mandate on some plays on the floor. Blow the whistle if you see it. No questions asked.

You know what, slowly but surely, the game is being cleaned up. The Freedom of Movement Rules are taking away the rough stuff that had crept into college basketball 8-10 years ago.

Now, you don’t see the two hands on the dribbler to keep him at bay. You don’t see the hip into the dribbler. Coaches have adjusted. They have taught their players not to do those things because it is an automatic foul.

There is also a mandate to keep things civil in the post where most bad behavior tends to break out.

When I talked to him last week, Adams said he wasn’t through. The next thing to go is the subtle little arm bar in the back of the defender. Try it on a dribbler. It doesn’t have to be too rough, but on a young dribbler an arm bar will make them stand up a little. Instead of being in an attacking mode, the dribbler has slowed down.

It won’t be a legal play soon.

What’s interesting is that the Freedom Of Movement rules have not led to more scoring in college basketball.

Two things could be happening. Kids are paying attention to defense. They are ball hawks and moving their feet and making plays with their hands in the passing lane.

It could be, the cynic in me says, that kids can’t shoot the short jump shot anymore. They drive for the dunk or shoot the 3.

It’s probably some of both. What’s clear is that the game is more fun to watch without the grabbing, clutching, and pushing. Defense is meant to be played with your feet.

Officials understand this now. They want to officiate the Final Four. They know John Adams is watching and he decides who officiates the Final Four.

Unrealistic Expectations

By Ray Glier

It is difficult to understand what has transpired at North Carolina this season, until we realize the expectations heaped on young players are sometimes simply unrealistic.

Larry Drew did not have the offensive skill for the ACC, after all.

Harrison Barnes clearly does not have the explosiveness to be an All-American as a mere teenager.

It’s not their fault. It’s ours. They were going to North Carolina, a holy place in basketball, so we assumed great things. The Tar Heels are 16-5, which is a nice record, but this is far, far from among the best Carolina teams.

I watched Drew in a dreadful game the Tar Heels played against Georgia Tech and all he could contribute was above average man-to-man defense. That’s fine, except he is a point guard and need to keep the floor spaced and get the ball to the right shooter.

Drew could not do that. He tried. There was no chemistry on offense and he was not relevant to any set the Tar Heels ran.

Recently, Drew was getting assists, but the scoring wasn’t there and his minutes shrunk. He lost his starting job. Three weeks ago, a sportswriter colleague predicted that as soon as Roy Williams, the Carolina coach, pulled Drew from the starting lineup, Drew would be done for the season.

He was right. Drew is transferring. He didn’t let anybody down; he’s just moving on.

Then consider the case of Barnes, the freshman forward from Iowa. He was the subject of an intense recruiting battle before choosing Carolina over Duke.

Barnes was picked as AP All-American at the start of the season. That was a mistake. He is not among the top 20 players in the country, even with a recent scoring outburst (51 points in two games).

That’s not his fault. It’s ours.

Barnes over-matched high school players, but in the ACC there were athletes that could stay in front of him and get on the rim with him. He was shooting 40 percent from the field. He looks less explosive than advertised.

We were expecting robots in Carolina blue and we got kids with flaws. Drew and Barnes not playing up to our expectations is not their fault.

It’s ours.