Jay Bilas on the state of men's college basketball (What rules changes must be considered?, What to do about transfer portal? and more)

While I don’t like Bilas, especially when he is announcing , I do agree with some of his suggested rule changes.

I would add one more change. At no time should an official make any effort to engage a coach in a conversation. None - talk to them pre-game but when the horn starts the game, avoid them like the plague. Unless they see fit to call a technical foul. There isn’t anything more annoying then to see the sideline official jawing with that coach when the ball is in play. And likewise with a player. Stop being the fashion police. If they feel more comfortable with their jerseys out, so be it. Who the hell cares what they look like.

Another change. After the second made free throw, no substitutions except for the shooter. Speed up the game.
 

In the realm of incessant/excessive whistles: offensive and defensive players vie for a rebound. Player A comes down in possession of the ball, and player B is whistled for contact and play stopped. I’d like to see a “play on” as long as the contact didn’t disadvantage player A.
 

In the realm of incessant/excessive whistles: offensive and defensive players vie for a rebound. Player A comes down in possession of the ball, and player B is whistled for contact and play stopped. I’d like to see a “play on” as long as the contact didn’t disadvantage player A.
I don't like all the charging/blocking calls and would prefer a continuation of play. Plus stop all the hand slaps after a made or missed FT. Keep the game moving.
 

Weakling flops just to play victim to the refs need to be penalized, not warnings. Fake charges need to go as a personal foul against the flopper. Davison wouldn't sniff a D1 school if that was taken away from him. duke/wisconsin would be top 30 tops. Making players actually play defense and not fall down would help a lot. Rewarding laziness and inability to perform is terrible. It is competition after all, not acting.
 

per Bilas:

What rules changes must be considered?​

There has always been a barrier to change in college basketball, and it goes beyond tradition. It is often stated that "College basketball is unique" and "We don't want to be like the NBA." I have never understood that. What makes college basketball unique is that it is played by young adults who are enrolled in school, not that the game has two halves instead of four quarters. The rules of play need to be addressed in a thoughtful way, and the antiquated thinking of "this has always been the way" needs to go away. The college game should strongly consider several rules changes, including:

Four quarters instead of two halves:

Yeah let’s have 4 opportunities for last minute f ups by refs at the end of a clock.
I’m out.
Charge/block:
Yes please
Advance the ball to midcourt late in games:
Disagree with it but wouldn’t hate it
Widen the lane:
Maybe, but making the court bigger is the actual solution to the problem that wouldn’t be fixed by this
.

Bench decorum: .
He clearly hasn’t watched an NBA game. There is 100 times more talking to the refs get players and coaches in the nba and the nba refs are expected to handle themselves and not do what college refs do which is:
Power trip and escalate
Continue to suck but now suck in a biased way
Monitor review: !!
Only in the last 30 seconds
 


Bilas continues:

What to do about the transfer portal​

The ease with which players can transfer and be immediately eligible is still new to most and offends the sensibilities of some. While I differ with those who object to player movement and player rights, I respect the difference in opinion. Unpaid students should not be limited in their choice of destination. It strains the mind to believe that a high school player with no college experience should be required to make a binding commitment, yet after having college experience, cannot be trusted to decide whether staying or leaving is right for him. The transfer portal is clunky and has some problems, but those can be remedied by some sensible regulation. Forcing a player to sit out a year should not be one of those regulations.

Several high-profile coaches are complaining about rival coaches recruiting transfers off of their rosters, and I don't doubt that is happening. However, that phenomenon is more reflective of the ethics of the coaching profession. Who should pay the price for such actions? Why should players be subject to a transfer penalty because some coaches are not behaving ethically? Players are assets of the university -- valuable assets. Yet unless they are paid under contract, they should be allowed to move as they wish, with reasonable regulation as to timing of decisions.


The reality of NIL​

Amateurism is dead. Players can now be compensated for their name, image and likeness and be paid for promotional activities, appearances and for their talents outside of the field of play -- just like anyone else in our society and just like any other non-athlete student. It was a long time coming, and athletes still do not have full economic rights. Yet, while this is still new and so contrary to the way the NCAA has done business over the last century, there are many in the game struggling with this new reality. Now, "collectives" are being formed by seemingly every major conference school, and NIL enticements have moved into the recruiting realm, which was inevitable.

The NCAA is furiously lobbying Congress for a national standard so that it can legally restrict and regulate what players can earn or accept. While it seems ridiculous for a serial antitrust violator to ask Congress for an antitrust exemption, that is what the NCAA is doing. Given in what low esteem the NCAA and president Mark Emmert are held on Capitol Hill, such an exemption seems unlikely. In my view, universities should simply sign players to contracts rather than continue down this road.


Recently, I had a great discussion with a college administrator in which the concept of "rationality" was stated. The argument was put forth that there needs to be rationality with the amount of money any athlete can be paid. I thought about that and, while I am a free-market advocate, it seemed reasonable to consider. After considered thought, I believe the amounts being offered to athletes are completely rational, as the biggest keys to success in college sports are due to athletes. If anything is irrational, it is running a multibillion-dollar entertainment industry on college campuses. Until that is addressed, it is entirely rational to offer competitive compensation to athletes.

We have NIL now, and it is not going away. Yet the games are played, billions of dollars are being generated, and no fans have turned away. In fact, the games seem more popular than ever, and there will not be an empty seat in New Orleans. Compensating athletes is not a problem, it is just business.

The state of the game is strong, but it can be stronger. Let's hope that the bureaucracy of the NCAA can change so that a strong game can get stronger and better. I believe that it can, if we have the will to make those positive changes, and we stop rationalizing continued inaction.

Go Gophers!!
Good job saying absolutely nothing here by bilas
 

It’s already on it’s way, but by the time they’re done it will be unwatchable like the NBA.
 

Good job saying absolutely nothing here by bilas
Absolutely. He loves spouting, but offers no solutions.

I am for players being able to transfer at anytime, but why is having to sit a year such a terrible idea?
 

Absolutely. He loves spouting, but offers no solutions.

I am for players being able to transfer at anytime, but why is having to sit a year such a terrible idea?
There really isn’t a solution to NIL outside of congressional action. Good luck with that.

In terms of transfer, get the one free transfer during the pandemic I guess…but they need to go back to sit a year on a transfer. No waivers, no exceptions. I would even be okay if it didn’t cost you a year of eligibility. So if you redshirt, then transfer, you sit a year…but you’re still a redshirt freshman in terms of your eligibility on day one of season 3. I think that’s an okay middle ground. You have to incentivize staying at one school. You have to incentivize building rosters of 4 year guys if you’re really a student athlete type organization. But you have to do it without punishing the athletes. I think sit a year but no lost eligibility is a pretty good solution to that. Transfer twice, sit a second year, but no lost eligibility. If you play at 4 different schools in 4 seasons fine…but you’ll play those 4 seasons over 7 years because you had to sit one for each transfer.
 




Quarters instead of halves gets rid of a TV timeout in each half.
Or adds another as they could go under 6, then again under 2, then a longer quarter break.
 

Quarters instead of halves gets rid of a TV timeout in each half.
The worst part of college basketball is the last two minutes of a period. Let’s do that 4 times instead of 2
 




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