Ace Reporter: Basketball Replay And More Notes

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In today’s column:

1.  Expanding instant replay in college basketball
2.  A much-needed rule change
3.  Keeping an out-of-the-race team motivated
4.  An SEC bias against Memphis



More instant replay for college basketball?

The ball bounced off the officials head as he ducked, causing him to miss seeing a player step out-of-bounds in the Tennessee-LSU game.

The ball appeared to be in the cylinder when a South Carolina player tipped in a game-winning shot against Alabama.

A Florida player took three steps as he drove for a layup against LSU.

Each of these plays could have been corrected with instant replay. But college basketball — like college football and the NFL — has a limited number of plays that are reviewable.

You can check the monitor for timing issues, 3-point shots, flagrant fouls and who committed the foul. But you can’t check to see if a player stepped out of bounds, goaltended or walked.

Is it time for college basketball to expand its instant replay? Is it time for the game to allow a limited number of coaches’ challenges, like they do in the NFL?



Yes, say some SEC coaches.

No, says the coordinator of SEC officials, although he’d be open to suggestions.

As more and more officiating mistakes are evident in arguably the toughest sport to call, more discussion has evolved about using instant replay in college hoops.

Be careful what you wish for, warns Gerald Boudreaux, SEC coordinator of officials.

“Off the cuff, it’s a dangerous area,” Boudreaux said.  “I’m comfortable where we have it.”

Boudreaux is leery of adding more calls that can be reviewed.

“Once you open the flood gates, how much water comes through?” he said.

Boudreaux said there is some “justification” to reviewing more calls, but goaltending is not one of them.

“That’s part of the game,” Boudreaux said.

What about whether a player stepped out of bounds? Or which player touched the ball last before it went out of bounds?

“Sometimes those are difficult,” Boudreaux said. “If it can’t be determined, you go to alternate possession. It doesn’t happen often. My concern is that every time it goes out of bounds, are you subject to going to look at it (on instant replay)? When incorporating instant replay, where do you draw the line?”

Boudreaux said the onus should fall on officials, not monitors.

“If it falls in the area of judgment, you’ve got to make calls, and if the judgment is poor, then guys assigning (officials) need to do something about it. Adding to replay is not good for the game.”

Boudreaux admitted that if he were a player or coach and a bad call resulted in a loss, he’d be upset.

“Sure it’s tough,” he said. “But I take the opposite approach. To make critical calls at crucial times in a game, that’s where accountability comes in. If a guy misses crucial plays at crucial times, he’s going to have some difficulties.”

In other words, he’s subject to being fired.

Boudreaux said he would not be opposed to viewing a proposal with reviewable calls for instant replay. But he is concerned about opening Pandora’s box.

One reviewable call coaches appreciate is making sure the right guy is charged with a foul.

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said officials charged the wrong Commodore with a foul in the Georgia game earlier this week. They were able to correct it.

Stallings said he’s “sure” instant replay could be expanded. “You can’t just go review anything. You’d have to have some limitations and stipulations on exactly what that might govern.”

Florida coach Billy Donovan said he had a similar situation to Vanderbilt’s — the wrong Gator got charged with a foul but it was corrected. Donovan agreed limitations on replay are necessary, but he added:

“I do think at the end of a game, in a one possession game, if officials are unsure who’s leg the ball went off, go to the monitor to get the call right. You should have tell-tale evidence as to who should have the ball.”

Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy would like to see replay expanded “as long as it doesn’t interrupt the flow.” He said he thought college would have more stoppages of play because many courts have two 3-point lines “but that hasn’t been the case.”

I would suggest giving coaches two challenges per half on calls relating to goal tending, out of bounds and traveling. If your challenge is upheld, you get one more per half, with a maximum of three.



A rule that needs changing

One rule I’d strongly suggest changing relates to the 10-second call. In men’s basketball, a team has 10 seconds to get the ball past midcourt. If nine seconds elapse, a team can call a timeout and get a fresh 10 seconds. If another nine seconds elapses, a team can call another timeout and get another fresh 10 seconds.

Two things I dislike about this rule.

One, it penalizes a team doing a good job of pressing.

Two, it allows a team trying to run time off the clock to take advantage of the rules by staying in the backcourt for — conceivably — 35 seconds. Yes, it might cost you some timeouts, but if your goal is to run clock and protect, say, a five-point lead in the final minute, then the timeouts are worth it.

“I think there needs to be an update on the men’s side of the rules,” Boudreaux said.

On the flip side, Boudreaux said, teams pay a penalty for using a timeout and some people “don’t feel additional punishment is necessary” — like giving a team two seconds to cross midcourt if timeout is called in the backcourt after eight seconds.



SEC voting bias toward Memphis?

Memphis coach John Calipari said he simply laughs when he surveys the voting in the AP Top 25.

Memphis is ranked #4 in the most recent poll, and the only five votes the Tigers received out of the Top 5 came from SEC cities, such as Baton Rouge, Knoxville, Columbia and Athens.

Is that a sign of jealously toward Memphis ? Or punishment for being a big fish in a small Conference USA pond? And why is it that only SEC media voters don’t give Memphis as much respect as the rest of the nation?

Playing in the weaker Conference USA hasn’t seemed to hurt Memphis in postseason play. The Tigers have been in the Elite Eight, Elite Eight and NCAA title game the past three seasons.

Two SEC coaches said they have no problem with Memphis moving up in the rankings despite a relatively easy conference slate.

“Memphis has had to move itself up by winning,” said Florida’s Donovan.  “The perception is Memphis is far superior to anybody else in its league. Whether it’s true or untrue, they’ve still won a lot of games and they’re taking care of business and putting themselves in position to climb the polls.”

While Donovan said it’s not unfair for Memphis to be ranked #4, he said Memphis would have more defeats if it played in the SEC, ACC, Big East or Pac-10.

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said Conference USA isn’t as tough as the SEC from top to bottom, but he applauds Memphis for taking everybody’s best shot and surviving.

“Give them credit — they keep beating people,” said Stansbury, who also gave Memphis credit for some big non-conference wins.
 


How to motivate an out-of-contention team

When you’re team is out of contention for a conference title or NCAA tournament berth — save for winning your conference tournament — how do you keep them motivated?

“That’s a good question,” said Vandy’s Stallings.

Stallings is facing that dilemma now. His team is 16-11 overall, 5-8 in the SEC. Vandy’s only hope for a ticket to the Big Dance is to win the SEC Tournament.

Stallings said he thought he fired some “meaningful bullets” at his team, then it lost to lowly Georgia.

“At this time when a team is not in contention,” Stallings said, “it’s a challenge when you’re on the outside looking in or there’s not a chance at all. It’s a challenge to keep a team engaged.”
 


Kentucky streak in jeopardy

Kentucky is in danger of snapping a streak of 17 consecutive NCAA Tournament berths. If the Wildcats don’t win two of their last three regular-season games (LSU, Georgia, Florida ) then Billy Gillispie will come under fire.

Kentucky is 19-9 and 8-5 in SEC play. Anything short of 10 SEC wins means the Wildcats better make some noise in the SEC Tournament.

After all, when’s the last time a team got an at’large NCAA berth with an RPI of 63? Tennessee (26), LSU (30), South Carolina (42) and Florida (43) have much better RPIs than Kentucky. So if the SEC only gets four teams, UK could be the odd team out.