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Hands-on approach is taboo

By BRIAN LANDMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 13, 2001

The rules preventing college basketball from deteriorating into a game of clutch-and-grab with more roughhousing than a WWF match have long been on the books. They just weren't being enforced.

But the NCAA vowed that would change. Calling fouls in the post when a defender places a forearm in the back of an offensive player to nudge him farther from the basket and for hand-checking would be the "single point of emphasis" this season, then-rules committee chairman Reggie Minton said.

So far, the no-hands rule has left many coaches, players and even officials throwing up their hands in frustration.

"It's ridiculous how it's being administered," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "I thought rough play meant rough play. We were going to take away banging and now it's touching.

"As I've stated a million times, I don't think the officials have done a bad job. I think they've done a great job calling it like they've been demanded to call it. I'm hoping the media and TV and everybody realize the best players aren't going to be playing in games and games are going to last forever and there's no flow to games."

Temple coach John Chaney, never one to yield to political correctness when it comes to speaking his mind, said officiating is inconsistent and officials are making game-changing calls in the final moments rather than let "the kids" determine the outcomes.

"It is the worst, even the officials, if they want to be truthful, they'll tell you," Chaney said. "Everybody's getting hurt by the rule. It used to be a time when, no harm, no foul. ... Now, officials have to make the call because it is a new rule irrespective of what part of the game it is."

While Wake Forest coach Dave Odom doesn't advocate "accosting" opponents, he does believe teams should be able to use their bodies. He added that he hopes the NCAA doesn't overlegislate.

Yeah, like that ever happens. "I look at the NBA today, they have legislated themselves into having a league that really renders the defenses powerless against their opponents; they want the stars to be stars," he said. "I will tell you now, you put Shaquille O'Neal back at LSU and he would be defended better in college than he is in the NBA. In college, they'd play zone against him, they'd put one guy in front of him and one guy behind him. He wouldn't get 35 points a game. I hope we don't get to the point where you can not defend people."

REBEL YELL: Mississippi (14-1), fresh off a win at Arkansas, is off to its best start since the team began 15-1 in the 1925-26. The Rebels can match that age-old mark with a win today against visiting Georgia.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Stanford twins Jason and Jarron Collins, who combined to average 36 points on 59.5 percent shooting and 17 rebounds in wins against Arizona State and Arizona, were fittingly enough the Pac-10 co-players of the week.

DID YOU KNOW?: Of the five active coaches who have won league titles at three different schools, three call the Big 12 home -- Oklahoma State's Eddie Sutton (Kentucky, Arkansas and OSU), Baylor's Dave Bliss (Oklahoma, Southern Methodist, New Mexico) and Iowa State's Larry Eustachy (Iowa State, Utah State and Idaho).

-- Brian Landman covers men's college basketball. He can reached at (813) 226-3347 or by e-mail at landman@sptimes.com.

By the numbers

0 -- Conference USA teams in the latest AP poll, a first since Dec. 22, 1997.

2 -- Undefeated teams left in Division I (Stanford and Georgetown).

12 -- Southeastern Conference teams with a winning overall record. That's out of 12. No other league can make the same claim.

14 -- Nation's longest winning streak (Stanford and Georgetown)

37 -- Nation's longest home winning streak (Michigan State)

On the rebound

After sending just three teams to the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons, the Atlantic Coast Conference's position as one of the nation's best leagues was questioned. Not anymore. Five teams are highly ranked -- No. 2 Duke, No. 6 Wake Forest, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 10 Virginia and No. 14 Maryland -- and Georgia Tech and North Carolina State might be in the poll before too long.

Quotable

"Any time you have something, some adversity, there's a healing process that has to take place and I think we're involved in that right now. Certainly everyone feels for Ty (Shine) and everyone else that got involved in the situation within our team. We're going to move forward, move it behind us and get better from it. I think we've already started that as evidenced by how we played Monday." -- Seton Hall coach Tommy Amaker, referring to a locker-room fight between Shine, star freshmen Eddie Griffin and Marcus Toney-El and senior Kevin Wilkins. Griffin and Wilkins were suspended for Monday's win against Notre Dame.

Weekend highlight

No. 17 Wisconsin at No. 3 Michigan State. 4:30 p.m. today. It's a rematch of last season's national semifinal game with both team's nationally ranked again, which is intriguing in and of itself. But some folks point to Michigan's 53-41 win that April 1 as Exhibit 1 for the crackdown this season on rough play and, at least in part, a contributing factor for the sudden retirement of Badger coach Dick Bennett in November. Said Wisconsin coach Brad Soderberg: "I think he was irritated by the comments that came out at a time that was his most glorious moment in coaching, making it to the Final Four with a team that had no players make all-conference. We did what we wanted to (in that game) and got criticized for it, and I think he took some of it personally." -- Compiled by Brian Landman.

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