Fouls fouls & more touch fouls…new rules, early jumps to draft, & drastically inconsistent officiating has ruined the game I used to love. Maybe I’m just getting old & grouchy, or maybe not…
So true!!! I only can watch the Hogs play–and that’s just loyalty not their level of play!!!
Completely agree(and not just because the Hogs are getting smoked tonight). I grew up on Sutton and Nolan–I lived and breathed college basketball. There was a time I would have been ready to go to war with anyone who claimed college basketball wasn’t the greatest game on earth. And now I can barely force myself to watch for many of the reasons you mentioned, not to mention the ridiculously excessive media timeouts.
It really is frustrating. And before anyone suggests it, I’m not saying it’s why we got rolled.
But, everything is a touch foul, particularly on the perimeter. There is no consistency. I think we had 4 offensive fouls off the ball in the first half.
They called a weak intentional on Minny but then let a guy do a double throat slash.
Makes no sense.
I agree. I think the one-and-done(s) have really killed the game. And the rules trying to make the game more like the NBA are not helping. The age of Sutton and Richardson is gone forever. Big business and TV seem to have taken the “innocence” of the game away. Hard to watch. I’d rather watch Akron play Ohio in football, and I did, keeping one eye on ESPN 3 and the Razorbacks.
I don’t think the officiating cost us the game, but I agree the way the officials call the games vary from game to game, there is no consistency at all, that’s why you have very few teams that consistently win on the road in college basketball. You can watch the NBA, and from game to game the calls are pretty consistent. Can’t tell a real difference from game to game.
With college basketball, you can watch a game and they are shooting a ton of free throws and refs calling every little thing, then turn the channel and you hear the announcer talking about how physical both teams and glad they are letting them play. It’s really horrible and apparently the NCAA doesn’t care. People have been complaining about it for years now. And it always seems like it’s the worst in November and December.
i agree with the officiating is poor in college basketball. that said, lets face it, we foul a lot. we slap, don’t move our feet, we overplay trying to get steals ( only way to score because our half court offense is non existent). two facts: if we make it to the tournament, ncaa that is, we are going to get different officials, from different conferences. we don’t seem to adjust to how each officiating crew calls a game. some call touch fouls, some let em play, some are tricky tack on touches outside and let the bang inside, etc. number 2: you don’t get to play home games in the tournament, or on the road. we look awesome at home in andersons style. but on the road we struggle. our coaches need to adjust the style so we will be more prepared for away and tournament games. we’ve won 1 tournament game in five years? we are 0 for 5 or 6 against power five opponents on the road. now I’m no basketball expert, but what is the old adage, insanity is expecting different results doing the same thing over and over, something like that. statistics prove this doesn’t work. we have talent galore for a change, and we are amazed and upset and frustrated when lay an egg on the road. minnesota was picked 11th or 12th in their league this year, they won 8 games last year. yeah they got more talent this year, but so do we. andersons style is great at home when it works, but statistics indicate it doesn’t travel well at all. foul a minute team, horrible 3 point defense, and struggle in half court offense, rebounding woes, struggle mightily on the road. so i suggest we just expect what we get on the road because it is fairly apparent our coach is not going to adjust…
I agree with your statement of the rules trending to a game just like the NBA. The shot clock was the first problem as it lead to very poor shot selection by just about anyone, including role players with no business shooting anything other than a layup or inside shot. Teams with less talent have a much tougher time winning due to a short shot clock.
It’s not the officiating, it’s the style. The shortened shot clock and an undisciplined freestyle offense causes a lot of out of control and out of position floor action, which in turn lead to a lot of reach and grabs by out of position defenders. That, plus poor shot selection and more rebound opportunities contribute to more frequent whistles. Teams that shoot at or better than 50 percent from the floor tend to commit and receive fewer fouls. Common sense.
I used to be a die hard college basketball fan. I would watch anyone play.
The pace of the game today makes it so hard to watch. Officials slow the pace of the game and make it erratic at best. Frequent timeouts. the best players are running to the NBA
Just not a lot of fun watching basketball anymore. It used to be my favorite
I know part of my disinterest is the fact that the Hogs have basically sucked for 25 years or so, but I used to plan my week by what college games were on TV. Now, I haven’t watched a game this year.
I will leave it to others to figure out what has changed (pretty good thoughts in this thread) but it just isn’t fun to watch anymore.
The quality is not what it was due to players leaving early. It’s probably hard for young people to believe that guys like Moncrief, Bird, and Jordan stayed 4 years.
Too many darn timeouts, and the timeouts are too long. (It’s all for TV). Games should not last two hours.
Why do free throw shooters have to high five every teammate after their first shot? It takes time and it serves no purpose.
I have no problems with the officiating. It’s a difficult job.
Probably because they didn’t. Bird only lasted 24 days of bobby knight… later on played 3 years college ball after dealing with life. Jordan played 3 years college losing in pine bluff was more than he could take of college ball apparently. Sid was a rare saint obviously…
Point is life is short. All that is guaranteed is today. I hope our second chance jucos and hot seat coach make the most of every opportunity and the fans fill the bud, right now. Malik Monk didn’t owe us a thing. Wps
I think the rules changes that have been made to speed the game up are forcing Mike Anderson to slow down. It’s a lot more difficult to play full-court pressure defense when you aren’t allowed to use your hands even a little bit. It’s forcing us to play more traditional defense. Mostly “playing fast” has become verbiage. How many games do we play where both teams use almost all of the shot clock before they shoot. The incentive to create pressure has been reduced significantly because the risk that you give up an easy basket is so great. Why take any risk when you can just play conservative, solid defense, and know that you have an excellent chance to get the rebound within 30 seconds.
It’s depressing to go back and watch games/highlights from the 1990’s. The action was so much better.
It’s hard to disagree with any statement made by anyone in this thread. As for me, I can’t even say why I don’t watch it much anymore, but I don’t. It’s probably a combination of all the things mentioned here, but for me it’s mostly the Razorbacks just aren’t doing well. I have not watched one second of Razorback basketball until last night. I turned it on when we were down 16-15, walked away for what I thought was only a minute or two & we were down something like 32-18. I turned it off in disgust. That’s not like me at all. I checked the radio from time to time to hear a score, but it never improved. I find I don’t get as upset when I don’t actually hear or see the loss. I checked the final score in the paper this morning. Didn’t even watch the news last night.
I really want this team to succeed. I like MA. I used to really like NCAA basketball, but until the Hogs start to become really relevant again, it’ll be hard for me to watch on TV, much less drive from LR to Walton. (I almost wrote “Barnhill” for “Walton.” That both dates me & tells you where my mind is.)
If the one and done players stayed four years the Hogs might never make a NCAA tourney. When was the last one and done at Arkansas? The really consistent Top teams have to contend with that issue virtually every year and if they all stayed Kentucky/Duke might never lose a game until they played each other.
Some of us have been saying for years that the game is a shell of its old self.
The tighter foul calls this year wil ultimately have an effect on the game just as much as the 3 point line and shot clock did. Specifically, there wil be broader skills displayed that may even improve the game.
Still, college basketball has fallen a long way since its heights in the 80s and 90s.
Fouls are up everywhere. Common sense says that has nothing to do with our style.
Fouls are point of emphasis this year. In a private conversation i had with a power 5 coach weeks ago, he predicted exactly what has happened with officiating. It was interesting that he didn’t so much complain as worry about the adjustment of his team.
The games aren’t any longer. Still 2 hours. I don’t notice a lot of stoppages. I watch all home games in person and haven’t noticed a difference. Maybe TV is what many at posting about but like I said, game is still 2 hours. Fouls may be more ticky tack but same number of fouls are being called. The game has changed but not in terms of stoppages. Inconsistent calling I agree with but it seems like across the board and in football as well.