Television Time-Outs, "Extended to a Full," and Official Replays

[Joneslab]

Here's a good blog post on games that last an interminable amount of time, and it gets to something that has always driven me crazy about college basketball: the extended to a full time-out.

I'm not sure why we need this, and it happens quite a bit. It's happened in some of Kentucky's recent games. Happened last night. They come out, play like crap, Cal calls time-out, and it's extended to a full. Then they come back, play another 60 seconds, get a dead ball, and there's another TV time-out. This really messes up the rhythm during a crucial part of the game.

The same with official reviews. I think in football stoppages, going to the fridge, all the idle time between plays--all that stuff is knitted in to the game. In college basketball you have to have flow or a game is unwatchable.

The NCAA needs to (but won't) address these things, particularly the easy fix of officials spending eternities staring at a monitor over a phantom elbow.

http://rushthecourt.net/2015/01/16/fixing-college-basketball-on-pace-of-play-and-end-of-game-scenarios/

 

[runt#69]

Timeouts are one BIG reason why college basketball is so unwatchable - even with a good game, or rather ESPECIALLY in a good game. The timeout situation has really hurt college basketball. even for those of us that are the biggest fans readily admit that. As for the vast majority of the rest of America, timeouts and the way it effects the end of games and game-pace, is always one of the biggest reasons casual fans don't like college hoops.

Needs to be addressed, not sure if the NCAA will ever do so, though.

 

[AnarchoNeoLuddite]

Oh it is painful to have sit through those freakning time outs, i hate whether its the 30 right before the dead ball or the minute, it all sucks azz.

NBA plays half a quarter before a TO, 6 minutes of play is plenty of time to get a good flow going.

 

[Clark_MSC_Kent]

Originally posted by AnarchoNeoLuddite:
Oh it is painful to have sit through those freakning time outs, i hate whether its the 30 right before the dead ball or the minute, it all sucks azz.

NBA plays half a quarter before a TO, 6 minutes of play is plenty of time to get a good flow going.

Also, if you're under 6 minutes to play in a quarter and a team calls a timeout, as opposed to a dead ball time out, that counts as the 'official tv timeout'. In other words, If a team calls the timeout and once you're back to live action and you have a foul, you just keep going. Unlike the college game where team calls timeout. Go to commercial break. Come back to live action and 15 seconds later a foul is called and you go to another commercial break.

Outside of the Cats, I'd much rather watch NBA. So much more spacing, guys can hit open shots, and not nearly the rock fights that many college games are. And with former UK guys all over the league, it gives you a little more of a rooting interest.

 

[AnarchoNeoLuddite]

You have to figure in with the college game is that the talent level has dropped by leaps and bounds in the past 25 years. Obviously all the best players go to the L after a year. The past so many years FR are being voted preseason player of the year, its pathetic when the JRs and SRs in college are not that talented. Look at UF from last year, a senior domiated team where not one guy right now is on a NBA roster.

 

[KyCatFan]

I've always said that any timeout called within like a minute before the scheduled tv timeout should be automatically turned into the tv timeout. It especially sucks when a timeout is called at like the 16 minute mark and they immediately have a stoppage of play and go to the tv timeout. There are way to many timeouts in basketball. There can be up to 18 timeouts if I am not mistaken. That is freaking ridiculous. At most there should be about 14. I might change the tv timeouts to 5 minute intervals with 4 timeouts per team per game and those are only 30 second timeouts.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[UK_Is_Good]

The number of time outs can be frustrating at times, but it's a small price to pay to have every game on TV and have the production value be as good as it is.

 

[gakat3]

I hate all commercials, having said that my solution is start watching 10 to 20 minutes after the game starts. No phone calls or emails and we just watch it live straight through. At half time get a beer or pop some corn. Besides the announcers are so terrible in 90% of the games, no sound is a great alternate. Solves it all, no moronic dickie v or women commentators.

 

[Ugoff]

I wish they would go to 4 10 minute quarters and do away with the media timeouts altogether, or mayber have one at the 5 minute marks

This post was edited on 1/21 8:27 PM by Ugoff

 

[far_away_fan]

I just read the NCAA rules on timeouts recently, and I didn't see anything about "extended to full."

I think the rules say that each team gets 4 full timeouts (typically 75 seconds but actual duration depends on the agreement with the TV network) and 2 30-second timeouts (one of which is lost if it isn't used during the first half). In addition, there are the media timeouts (after each 4 minute mark). These typically last 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

As others have noted, the game would actually be much better if a called timeout COULD be "extended" to a media timeout (and thus replace the media timeout). So if Cal calls a 30 second TO at the 16:30 mark, that timeout would last 2.5 minutes rather than 30 seconds, and there would not be a media timeout at the 16 minute mark.

Of course, the rules I read are probably subject to negotiation with ESPN. Who knows what the networks are actually allowed to do.

 

[nssdigitalchumps]

The timeouts don't hurt as much in basketball after watching CBS NFL games. lol

 

[fla.cat]

Gakat3
Been doing that for years, and I hardly ever listen to the " announcers". Unless there is some stop in the action and they are trying to sort something out. I watch often with a couple of other transplants to north Florida...they like the plan and do the same thing.

I really haven't listened to hardly any announcers since Cawood left for the high rise hardwood.


We start watching about fifteen minutes in....fast forward through commercials and generally see the last 5 minutes or so "live".

We or I can stand it for that long.

 

[JPScott]

Being a referee is a difficult and thankless job and while I've been critical of refs it's not that I expect them to be perfect every play.

What I dislike most about many refs is the attitude that they are always correct, no matter how egregious the call was.

Having said that, there's one thing about the official replays that I find kind of strange.

On the one hand refs will call a split second play, whether it's a out-of-bounds play or a block/charge with authority and will take exception if anyone disagrees.

But on the other hand, these very same refs will sit for literally a minute watching a monitor of the same play over and over again from multiple angles and can't seem to make up their mind what to call.

It's like there are two completely different people.

Anyone else notice this contradiction?

 

[SilentsAreGolden]

What I don't understand is why the official timeouts have to be "under" the marker, like 11:59, but if there is a dead ball at 12:00 they won't take the timeout. Why? Is there really some hard and fast rule that they can't do this?

 

[Sithlyone]

It's how they pay their bills.

 

[barryn2000]

This is typical for the B10...and why I set my DVR to 1 extra hour whenever we follow a B10 game.

 

[BoulderCat]

I think it's one of the myriad of reasons fan attendance has been declining. There are so many TV timeout's. It makes some football games nearly intolerable because some have so many replay's. It's also lessoned the importance of conditioning for basketball teams. There are so many times they get to sit during a game.

Read a good article recently on the growing popularity of streaming TV. It's the future. One of the effects has been broadcast networks have to rely increasingly on revenue from sports. They often have exclusive rights to the broadcast. So if anything, sadly we could see more and longer TV timeouts in the future.

 

[nkuCATfan]

To counter, i would say shorten the Tv timeouts but without losing money have the announcers plug commercials for product during the game. I mean lets be real, half the time what they talk about is irrelevant, why not have dickie V make a pitch about toothpaste and say ITS AWESOME BABY! instead of, OH OH OH, THAT WAS AWESOME BABY! problem solved.

 

[specialkd24]

Starting last season in women's basketball if a Coach calls at timeout within 30 seconds of the Media (say 16:29) then that becomes the media timeout. Maybe the men should look at that.

But I also agree the first called timeout of the 2nd half should NOT be a full timeout. Sometimes that comes in the first minute or two of the half ... the players aren't tired about 15+ minutes in the locker room.

But it is about the money so I doubt it will change.

 

[UKGrad93]

Originally posted by Sithlyone:
It's how they pay their bills.

Agree