30 second clock and rules' emphasis seems to be working

[mj2k10]

Scoring was noticeably up yesterday compared to the opening Monday last year. There were only 4 games in which the teams combined for less than 120 points. Last year, there were 11. And there were 16 teams that hit the century mark. Last year, it was 4.

Cross your fingers that it lasts, but it looks like the NCAA might have gotten something right. And no, I don't think points for points' sake are always a good thing, but a game that has room for a variety of playing styles is. There were simply too many teams playing a style that basically involved stalling on offense, hoping to make enough 3's and get enough offensive rebounds to generate points, while packing it back on D and playing as physically as the refs would allow. If it's going to be more difficult to do that this year (is it a coincidence that Virginia and Wisconsin already have losses? Maybe, maybe not) and into the future, I think that's a good thing. Maybe someone will even bring back a legitimate fastbreak offense, which is something that's almost disappeared from the game.

 

[wildcatglenn]

I watched UT and GT last night and I noticed a big difference. Both of those teams seam to be coached up to the rule. The flow of the game was pretty good and guys were getting to the rim and putting up shots. I think this will hurt 3 pt shooting teams. no longer can they hack and grab on defense and shoot 3's for a win...errrhhh UL

 

[wildcatsboston1984]

According to kenpom.com:
Season to date comparison (ppg, efficiency, poss/game): 2014-15(68.0, 98.9, 68.2), 2015-16(73.9, 101.5, 72.1)

It will flatten out more once conference play hits. By then, you would think most of the teams and players will have adjusted to the freedom of movement rules (more FTs typically equals more efficient offense), and by conference play, these extremely lopsided victories will be nearly non-existent. A few games of P5 team beating up on some of the worst teams in D1 (or D2/D3/NAIA schools) by 50+ can skew the numbers quite a bit early.

 

[mj2k10]

According to kenpom.com:
Season to date comparison (ppg, efficiency, poss/game): 2014-15(68.0, 98.9, 68.2), 2015-16(73.9, 101.5, 72.1)

It will flatten out more once conference play hits. By then, you would think most of the teams and players will have adjusted to the freedom of movement rules (more FTs typically equals more efficient offense), and by conference play, these extremely lopsided victories will be nearly non-existent. A few games of P5 team beating up on some of the worst teams in D1 (or D2/D3/NAIA schools) by 50+ can skew the numbers quite a bit early.

Thanks for that. It matches up with what I was merely sensing by looking at scores, and checking out high-end and low-end point totals.

Obviously, very small sample size, but that's a significant bump. FG Attempts per game hit an all-time low last year, and scoring was the 3rd lowest since 1952. Hopefully, team scoring average will creep over 70 for only the second time since 2003 (13-14, influenced by the huge amount of fouls called in Nov/Dec games that year, is the only other), and then trend up for a while to restore some balance to the sport.

Team scoring was over 70 ppg every year from 1964 through 1981, dropped below that every year from 82 through 86 (stall-ball era that led directly to the shot-clock), then was over every year from 87 through 2003. It's been below that every year since, with the 13-14 exception. History would say that a game where teams average 70-75 ppg is probably the right balance for the sport. You get above that, and offense gets a little too cheap. You get below that, and the game is a stagnant wrestling match. Although, if I have to choose, I'd rather see a game with more scoring, so if I had to err, I'd always err on the side of making things harder for the defense.