Ironic to have Mulkey displeased at new rules

[RockyMTblue2]

Mulkey is not crazy about the new handcheck etc rules after last night.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/co...31207/baylor-kentucky-women-4ot.ap/index.html

 

[sarals24]

Ridiculous. She was begging for this last season.

 

[pap49cba]

Have some cheese with your whine, Kim. What do hand-check rules have to do with charging fouls?

 

[Geno-ista]

IMO- and I haven't seen that Baylor Vs KY game- - I like the fact that they are going to stop the clutching and grabbing used to slow down the offenses, like they did in hockey years ago. And I know it's a rule now, but these absolute touch fouls I think are horrible -personally. Our game with Stamford was ruined by them- no flow. And they really help keep the games closer by stopping the game and helping to prevent our big runs. Some of our other games were officiated better I feel. It is just the degree of the contact,of when they make the call, or when they are by rule now to make the call that I disagree with. I think if they let it be known they were going to call actual fouls, like interference in hockey, and real advantages gained in hand check pushes, that would be a more amenable change than this touch stuff. Just my opinion.

 

[sarals24]

I think it's a good thing...I don't think UConn has had a problem making big runs this year. It benefits the teams that play defense with their feet, and exposes those who can't.

 

[John Glass]

There are to many fouls called with minimal or no contact, there is a difference between contact, and holding. I see plenty of players allowing the offensive team to score to avoid fouls, and players with their arms straight up being called for fouls, even though the offense initiates the contact.

Does the NCAA want college to be like the NBA ? defensive 3 seconds, and no contact fouls

 

[DaddyChoc]

There are to many fouls called with minimal or no contact, there is a difference between contact, and holding. I see plenty of players allowing the offensive team to score to avoid fouls, and players with their arms straight up being called for fouls, even though the offense initiates the contact.

Does the NCAA want college to be like the NBA ? defensive 3 seconds, and no contact fouls

more contact is allowed in the NBA

(still dont understand why womens basketball continues to be compared to the N B A)

 

[Shenandoah]

I like the new rules, and I think that Geno and the rest of our coaches have done a superb job in coaching up our players to play within those rules. I've seen much better lateral movement in our defensive play this year. Kim's players, for whatever reason, have been shown to be less willing to adjust to the new rules, based on the KY game. Sorry, Kim, you can't have it both ways...

 

[EricLA]

I think there will be an adjustment period, for perhaps the rest of this year, or even longer. It's easy for top teams when they play NOT top teams - they simply out talent and also are more athletic than the other teams so defense is not really an issue. However, when 2 well coached talented teams play, suddenly all the things you did on defense against Eastern Paduka University no longer work. That's part of the reason why so many players fouled out of the Baylor/Kentucky game, and also why everyone else had so many fouls.

It's hard to defend by only moving your feet. It's hard to defend by keeping your hands up and not pushing or grabbing players to slow them down. But that's what the coaches need to teach, and I believe no one does it better than UCONN. I would think it would be a much bigger adjustment for teams that relied in the past on (IMHO) overly physical defense, and by pushing, grabbing, and slogging it out in the post. To me teams like Rutgers, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Louisville, Tennessee, Maryland, and probably a good number of other top teams, need to learn how to play defense the new way it's being called.

Ultimately I think it will be good for the game and will allow for higher scoring games. It will reward kids who can shoot with someone in their face, as opposed to someone draped all over them. It will reward teams who play offense that is fast, free flowing, and full of movement. I believe it's tailor made for the way UCONN runs offense. We will see how everyone else does in time...

 

[easttexastrash]

I hate the new rule. Touching someone with your fingertip, even if the second time, is not a foul and not even close to the original intent of the foul call. I suspect that this rule will not last long as it is turning women's basketball into nothing but free throw-fests. And I am not just talking about this game. It has made the game almost unwatchable as players are parading to the foul line for barely being touched.

 

[stamfordhusky]

I hate the new rule. Touching someone with your fingertip, even if the second time, is not a foul and not even close to the original intent of the foul call. I suspect that this rule will not last long as it is turning women's basketball into nothing but free throw-fests. And I am not just talking about this game. It has made the game almost unwatchable as players are parading to the foul line for barely being touched.

1. It is not a "new rule". Referees have merely been instructed to actually follow the rules - one of which is that it is a foul if "the defender places a hand (front or back of the hand) on the ball-handler/dribbler and keeps it on.” Also it is a foul (and always has been) to use an armbar on defense or to displace an opponent by pushing. Because refs had departed so far from the intent of the rules so as to allow contact more akin to a football linebacker, the rules committee decided to make certain calls mandatory.

2. The coaches' association wanted these changes and signed off on them.

3. Prior to the changes, scoring was down to its lowest level in 30+ years on the men's side. The tolerance of illegal play had also affected scoring on the women's side.

4. I can't find stats for the women, but on the men's side the number of fouls has only gone up by about four a game. Not a big deal - except when the press takes an outlier and uses it to distort reality. Smart teams have largely adjusted to the rules. Few games are becoming "parades to the free throw line" and less will fall into that category as the season progresses - unless a team has really dumb players.

 

[rford53]

Do you know UConn leads the nation in fewest fouls per game at 11.5? That means 342 other teams have found the new foul rules more challenging to adjust to than our Huskies!

 

[AndyCT]

Smart teams have largely adjusted to the rules. Few games are becoming "parades to the free throw line" and less will fall into that category as the season progresses - unless a team has really dumb players.

I agree with everything you said.

Just to add – so far it doesn’t seem to be a problem for skilled/disciplined teams. Last year UConn had 503 team fouls over 39 games, or just a hair under 13 per game. This year through 10 games UConn has 115 fouls or down to 11 ½ per game, and it’s not like they’ve played patsies this year with Stanford, Maryland and Penn State all within a week.

UConn’s opponents were just about even with UConn last year with 518 team fouls or 13.3 per game; this year they’re up a little with a total of 170 or 17 per game. The combined fouls per game are up from 26.2 to 28.5 – two more fouls per game hardly make a “free throw-fest”, at least for teams that have been able to adjust to the current interpretation of the rules.

On the other hand, I suppose my perspective would be different if I was a Baylor fan where the Baylorbearz already have 190 fouls in just 8 games – even if we count the Kentucky game as a game and a half (four OTs – 20 minutes), that’s 22 per game or just about double UConn’s rate and getting into the region of the combined total in UConn games last year; with the opposition’s 204 fouls, that’s 46+ fouls per game.

I guess if I had to watch Baylor basketball with, on average, more than a foul per minute, I’d be disappointed too.

 

[Phil]

One thing puzzles me. More than one commentator observed that the KY-Baylor game seemed to have matador defense. Shouldn't that lead to fewer fouls?

 

[Icebear]

One thing puzzles me. More than one commentator observed that the KY-Baylor game seemed to have matador defense. Shouldn't that lead to fewer fouls?

Unless you make contact with the picador stabbing arm.

 

[pap49cba]

"Just to add – so far it doesn’t seem to be a problem for skilled/disciplined teams. Last year UConn had 503 team fouls over 39 games, or just a hair under 13 per game. This year through 10 games UConn has 115 fouls or down to 11 ½ per game, and it’s not like they’ve played patsies this year with Stanford, Maryland and Penn State all within a week."

All of this applies except when UConn plays ND.

 

[AndyCT]

All of this applies except when UConn plays ND.

I think that we all would expect more fouls in difficult games against top opponents such as Notre Dame; this year as already mentioned, UConn is averaging 11 ½ fouls per game, although against the three ranked teams (Stanford, Maryland, and Penn State) UConn committed 19,12, and 13 fouls, and I would expect more than the average against Duke next week as well.

Having said that, last year’s Notre Dame games weren't "foul fests" although UConn did foul at a higher rate - for the four games UConn had 17-26-14-18 fouls for an average of 18.75, while Notre Dame had 16-22-13-19 for an average of 17.5. But as we all know, the second game went three OTs; if we normalize that to 40 minutes, UConn would have been 17-19-14-18 for an average of 17.0, and Notre Dame would have been 16-16-13-19 for an average of 16. That is still about four more than the season average for UConn, and puts Notre Dame right on the opponents’ average of 17 per game.

But even without all the math, UConn and Notre Dame combined for 48 fouls in that 3 OT game, one less than Baylor committed all by themselves against Kentucky, albeit over 4 OTs. And those fouls were expensive for Baylor: Kentucky scored 49 points on 47 Baylor fouls, a little over one point per foul, so even one foul less any time before the fourth overtime and Baylor would have likely won the game. Plus, in committing those 47 fouls they eventually lost Odyssey Sims.

But the real point is that UConn and many - or most? - other teams are adapting to the new rules. interpretations.

 

[doggydaddy]

I hate the new rule. Touching someone with your fingertip, even if the second time, is not a foul and not even close to the original intent of the foul call. I suspect that this rule will not last long as it is turning women's basketball into nothing but free throw-fests. And I am not just talking about this game. It has made the game almost unwatchable as players are parading to the foul line for barely being touched.

I don't understand why....

Oh, maybe because Baylor is averaging 24 fouls per game. 20 per game without the Kentucky game included.

If it's a foul when you do something, maybe you shouldn't do it?

Uconn 11.5 fouls per game.