NY Times: Low Scores and Slow Games Sap March Madness

[Winter Tim]

I am excited to see WVU play in the Tourney. But it seems like something is wrong with the product (not Rich Rod).

EXCERPT
>>>...Division I men's basketball has never been less appealing. Scoring is down: Teams averaged 67.6 points a game through February, according to the N.C.A.A. If that average holds through the end of the tournament, it will be the second-lowest number since 1952 and part of a trend in which scoring has generally fallen from a peak of 76.7 points per team, per game, in 1990-91.



The game is as slow as it has ever been: Teams are averaging fewer than 65 possessions per 40 minutes, according to the statistics site KenPom.com. That is easily the lowest since 2002, and probably the lowest since at least the 1940s....



...College basketball's parched state of play has led to what is widely considered ugly basketball. Virginia's opponents averaged a little more than 50 points this season. Last month, the score at halftime of Utah and Oregon State was 16-14. In late December, Loyola Marymount and Nebraska headed to overtime tied at 35-35.

"Some people like Rembrandt, and some like Picasso," Paul Brazeau, the Atlantic Coast Conference's head of men's basketball operations, said while defending sixth-ranked Virginia's style of play...



...Jay Bilas, an ESPN college basketball analyst, warned of complacency.

"People are starting to vote with their feet," he said.

Average attendance at Division I men's games has declined for the seventh straight season...

 

[LowFatMilk]

Originally posted by Winter Tim:
I am excited to see WVU play in the Tourney. But it seems like something is wrong with the product (not Rich Rod).

EXCERPT
>>>...Division I men's basketball has never been less appealing. Scoring is down: Teams averaged 67.6 points a game through February, according to the N.C.A.A. If that average holds through the end of the tournament, it will be the second-lowest number since 1952 and part of a trend in which scoring has generally fallen from a peak of 76.7 points per team, per game, in 1990-91.

Let's be clear...

...the peak was about 77 points. Using a single season as an example (since no other numbers were given) we're down to 68 on average.

Nine points...two baskets per team per game on average (and a foul shot here and there....not to mention the introduction of the three point shot) ??? Let's not forget for whatever reason we're COMPLETELY IGNORING ALL BASKETBALL SCORING HISTORY BETWEEN 1952 and TODAY (today actually being almost three weeks ago).


---------------

I could go on...

...but basically, I'm saying this thread is BS.

 

[Doctor Doom_rivals422927]

28 second shot clock.

Fixed.

 

[LowFatMilk]

Originally posted by Doctor Doom:
28 second shot clock.

Fixed.

That's the first time you sounded, and acted, like my husband.


If that man could just last 2 minutes we might have the perfect marriage.

 

[Winter Tim]

I have to admit... I wondered about the article saying "fewest possessions per game - possibly since the 1940s." Back when I was a kid, it wasn't like every team was running the 4-corners offense... but I remember over-matched teams holding the ball for long stretches to keep the score down.
Also, if I remember correctly, didn't the shot clock begin at 45 seconds for college... then they made it 35?
Finally, a rebuttal to "attendance has dropped 7 years in row"... does coincide with the Great Recession... loss of middle class... rise of the HDTV... and more networks than ever. So, people may be watching at home instead of in the arena.

All that said... I think the 1-and-dones hurt the quality of the college game.

 

[WiiWii]

Originally posted by LowFatMilk:

That's the first time you sounded, and acted, like my husband.

If that man could just last 2 minutes we might have the perfect marriage.

BWHAHAHAHA! I bet Doom is ruined for the evening...

 

[wvusnids]

Also probably coincides with the fact that most games are on TV, and the cost to attend games is going up every year as schools try to compete with the top spenders. A point has been reached in many sports where the average fan is almost priced out of attending a game.

 

[WVUBuck]

I attribute it to offenses being dribble to the basket in a crowd or kick to a 30% chance of a three. I do not see anyone who makes the 10 to 18 foot jumper anymore. Shooting is a lost art form. I quit watching pro because,of it.

 

[Soaring Eagle 74]

"High Apple iPhone Adoption Rates Cause Lower NCAA Tourney Attendance"

I'm starting a second career in journalism. I can't back up this statement, but having the words "Apple" and "iPhone" in the lede should generate a lot of hits, and I'm too lazy to do much research.

Oh, I did a little research, and it seams NBA attendance is down too. I guess that game is also too slow and too low-scoring.

 

[Original Mountaineer1]

I am at the point in my life where I will usually stay home if I can't obtain a very good seat. And good seats aren't cheap. I doubt I ever go to a bowl game again unless it is part of the championship tournament because of the insane costs involved.

 

[xWVU2010x]

Originally posted by Original Mountaineer1:

I am at the point in my life where I will usually stay home if I can't obtain a very good seat. And good seats aren't cheap. I doubt I ever go to a bowl game again unless it is part of the championship tournament because of the insane costs involved.

Buy a bowl game ticket through Stub Hub. Practically any event outside of the NC you will find tickets for half of face value in the secondary market. Face value is for suckers this day and age unless the event is premium, and no college bowl games are not in that category (large stadium with typically minimal local interest, and both teams are not rolling 40k deep).

 

[Winter Tim]

I sometimes watching classic NBA games on the NBA channel (even though I don't watch NBA today). Granted, don't show sucky teams from the 1980s... but watch Boston-Atlanta game... or an L.A. - Seattle game. I swear... it seems exactly what WVUBuck said... about players hit the 18 to 20 foot jumper back then. I would like to go back and look at field goal %s for the league from the 1980s... see if I am just imagining it. I have heard others make this assertion... that today's players don't practice as much... or they practice the dunk moves... or they come out of college too soon before they are developed. I don't know. Or maybe we were just lucky. Are there teams today that pass and shoot like the Lakers and Celtics of the 1980s?