I’m not sure if you’ve spent any time watching older college games or not. I’ve been slowly watching the 1981-82 North Carolina season (we’ve got copies of almost every single game they played, believe it or not).
The game was unwatchable in the days before the shot clock. Coaches like Dean Smith had set offensive routines intended to pass the ball around and avoid a violation while taking no shot attempts for 5 minutes or longer.
That 1981-82 NC team is really odd to watch when you know what some of these guys were capable of. You’d think that it would be a dunk-o-rama with Michael Jordan, James Worthy, and Sam Perkins playing almost every minute of every game. When you add in point guard Jimmy Black and the underrated Matt Doherty, you start wondering why these guys didn’t just run the floor every single possession.
Instead, the players kind of awkwardly worked into a half court offensive system that was designed to try to get the ball to James Worthy in the low post basically every single time they had the ball.
Other teams knew what was happening, and would play variations of zone defense that would put a ton of guys in the middle and down low. Since there was no three point shot, and since there was no pressure from a shot clock, the offense was basically passing the ball around the perimeter while Worthy tried to get open somewhere down low.
Jordan’s main role on the team was to be an outside shooting threat in hopes of getting more stuff open inside. It’s kind of strange to see a young (and very athletic) Jordan pass up driving to the basket in favor of taking low percentage outside jump shots, but that’s literally what they did.
Anyway — the shot clock has really changed things in the sport. College needed to go to 24 seconds 50 years ago.
The three point shot might be a bit more controversial, but it has also helped open things up significantly. You see a lot more wide open play in both college and the NBA because defenses have to account for the ever present three point threat. In the old days you would occasionally get players like Pete Maravich who became famous for excellent outside shooting, but it was an anomaly. Once they added in that extra point, however, the strategic calculations changed, and defenses were no longer able to simply clog up the middle and stall out the game.
Long story short — I do think the college game is a lot better today than it once was. Having said that, your suggestions are excellent. We need to see more scoring and faster play.
I haven’t watched much older basketball film from those days, but I have seen clips. Definitely a different game! It’s nice to know and see that the game keeps progressing for the better. Thanks for your comment!
A agree 100% on all three suggestions. Especially the shot clock. Good thought process here....make it so number one.
Watch a Canadian university game. They have used the 24-second shot clock since 2007 and the game flows much better.
Well stated.
I’m not sure if you’ve spent any time watching older college games or not. I’ve been slowly watching the 1981-82 North Carolina season (we’ve got copies of almost every single game they played, believe it or not).
The game was unwatchable in the days before the shot clock. Coaches like Dean Smith had set offensive routines intended to pass the ball around and avoid a violation while taking no shot attempts for 5 minutes or longer.
That 1981-82 NC team is really odd to watch when you know what some of these guys were capable of. You’d think that it would be a dunk-o-rama with Michael Jordan, James Worthy, and Sam Perkins playing almost every minute of every game. When you add in point guard Jimmy Black and the underrated Matt Doherty, you start wondering why these guys didn’t just run the floor every single possession.
Instead, the players kind of awkwardly worked into a half court offensive system that was designed to try to get the ball to James Worthy in the low post basically every single time they had the ball.
Other teams knew what was happening, and would play variations of zone defense that would put a ton of guys in the middle and down low. Since there was no three point shot, and since there was no pressure from a shot clock, the offense was basically passing the ball around the perimeter while Worthy tried to get open somewhere down low.
Jordan’s main role on the team was to be an outside shooting threat in hopes of getting more stuff open inside. It’s kind of strange to see a young (and very athletic) Jordan pass up driving to the basket in favor of taking low percentage outside jump shots, but that’s literally what they did.
Anyway — the shot clock has really changed things in the sport. College needed to go to 24 seconds 50 years ago.
The three point shot might be a bit more controversial, but it has also helped open things up significantly. You see a lot more wide open play in both college and the NBA because defenses have to account for the ever present three point threat. In the old days you would occasionally get players like Pete Maravich who became famous for excellent outside shooting, but it was an anomaly. Once they added in that extra point, however, the strategic calculations changed, and defenses were no longer able to simply clog up the middle and stall out the game.
Long story short — I do think the college game is a lot better today than it once was. Having said that, your suggestions are excellent. We need to see more scoring and faster play.
I haven’t watched much older basketball film from those days, but I have seen clips. Definitely a different game! It’s nice to know and see that the game keeps progressing for the better. Thanks for your comment!