Charges wane, altering strategy
New NCAA rules favor offensive players
When you are 73year-old Larry Brown, who began his head coaching career more than four decades ago, you think you know a charge when you see one. And in one game this season, the Southern Methodist coach witnessed what he thought was a clear charge and made that known to the official, one Brown greatly respects.
Brown remembered the official, whom Brown declined to name, turning toward the coach and saying, “Larry, you know there are no charges anymore.”
The charge can be one of the biggest game-changing plays in college basketball. It can swiftly turn momentum, abruptly ending a prime scoring opportunity. All Iowa State fans remember Ohio State’s Aaron Craft drawing a controversial and critical charge in the waning moments of last year’s third-round NCAA tournament game.
Though not extinct, the charge
this season has become a rarely seen call. During this three-week NCAA tournament, players will barrel toward the basket and defensive players will slide over, plant their feet and brace for collisions. But coaches know that when an official blows his whistle, the call more than likely will go against the defender.
During the offseason, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel adopted significant officiating rule changes, including enforcing a different interpretation of the block-charge call. This season, secondary defenders have to have their feet planted and be firmly established before the offensive player begins his upward motion to shoot or pass. If that doesn’t occur, the collision should result in a foul on the defender.
Several coaches said they dramatically de-emphasized taking charges in practice this season. The play, which occurs in virtually every game, happens in a split second. Texas Southern coach Mike Davis calls it the hardest call in college basketball. And in this NCAA tournament, coaches know that the block-charge call will almost certainly always favor offenses.
“I think kids are afraid to even try to take a charge now,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said.
NICHE SKILL VANISHING
Many coaches applaud the officiating change, because it was intended to increase scoring and reduce the risk of injuries that could occur from collisions near the basket. But others point to players such as Marquette’s Chris Otule, a big man with a limited offensive skill set who found a niche by sacrificing his body to take charges.
“You have a completely selfless 6-foot-10, 270-pound kid who will rotate over and stand in front of a guard and fall down,” Marquette assistant Brad Autry said. “He will take it directly in the chest. And because you want more scoring, you are going to discourage that? That’s a good rule?
“He has gotten some calls, but it’s frustrating. Don’t modify the charge-block rule. That is what college basketball is about. That is why people watch it instead of the NBA.”
Stephen F. Austin coach Brad Underwood says he has de-emphasized it in practice and changed how he rotates defensively because of the new interpretation. And he doesn’t like it.
“I am personally an old-school guy,” Underwood said. “There’s other ways to increase scoring that don’t jeopardize the purity of the game.”
Coaches vary on how much taking charges is a specific skill, a talent that some players master. When asked whether this new interpretation diminishes a specific skill that some players possess, Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall paused, searching for the right words.
“Maybe,” he said. “That is what I’ll say.”
Marshall said the Shockers primarily have shot-blockers rather than players who work on taking charges. He said it is a dangerous play for a secondary defender to move over and slide underneath an offensive player who is driving to the basket.
“They are trying to get scoring up,” Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. “And it was an adjustment. There are a lot of teams that pride themselves on getting in there and taking charges. That’s one of the most important stats you look at. All of it now benefits the offense, and ultimately I think it will be good for the game.”
A GAME-ALTERING PLAY
It is possible to draw charges, though it’s rare.
“If you are there, they will still call a charge,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “But you had better be there in position. None of this running around and trying to time it up and fall down. There were times these guys were diving, and three cheerleaders were getting killed on every drive to the basket. So I really applaud the NCAA on addressing that particular area.”
Iowa State guard DeAndre Kane was called for a charge in the Big 12 championship game against Baylor and earlier in the tournament against Kansas State. Kane said he thought those calls were supposed to favor the offense this season.
“Coach told me go the other way, don’t react to the refs,” he said. “I’m trying to do a better job with that. You can’t say, ‘Hey, ref, can you change the call?’ ”
On Feb. 12, Washington’s Desmond Simmons slid into the driving lane, planted his feet and waited for Stanford’s Chasson Randle to crash into him. The charge call, which came with 5.3 seconds left, was the decisive play in Washington’s 64-60 victory.
Perhaps the most memorable charge call of the season came Feb. 22 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Syracuse’s C.J. Fair was called for a controversial charge in the waning moments of a loss at Duke, a call that prompted coach Jim Boeheim to run onto the court in protest, earning him two technical fouls and an ejection.
The new interpretation of the block-charge call was also expect- ed to discourage defensive players from so-called flopping in an effort to draw the charge call.
“Too many people were flopping,” McCaffery said. “For whatever reason, there were an inordinate number of offensive foul calls. It just baffled me. I was like, ‘How is that a charge? The guy was not there. He is not making a decent play. He is taking a flyer hoping he gets a call. Call a block, and guys will stop doing that.’ Well, that is what they are doing.”
John Adams, the NCAA’s coordinator of basketball officiating, said the new interpretation discourages flopping. “You’re not getting that call, and now you are out of the play,” Adams said.
NO NEED TO PRACTICE IT
Coaches said they addressed charges differently this season. Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said the staff didn’t even talk about taking charges in practice, adding, “We talk about hands back and give ground. That’s what the rules were designed to do.”
Early in the season, Barnes said, he didn’t think anyone would be called for a charge. But as the season has progressed, he has seen the call made. And Texas associate head coach Rob Lanier said early in conference play there was a shift as officials were calling the charge the old way for a period of time.
For a sense of the decline in charging calls, analyst Ken Pomeroy compiled a chart for USA TODAY Sports examining non-steal turnovers. They include other various turnovers — such as bad passes, traveling or stepping out of bounds — but there is no reason why the frequency of those specific turnovers should change dramatically in any season. The change in how the block-charge call is interpreted, however, was expected to lead to fewer charges.
In the previous 11 seasons, teams committed non-steal turnovers on 12% of their offensive possessions during the first few weeks of those seasons. During the first few weeks of this season, teams committed non-steal turnovers on fewer than 10% of their offensive possessions.
But over the past 11 seasons, as each season progressed, the percentage of non-steal turnovers incrementally decreased week to week until it reached 10% in late February of those seasons. And this season it stood at roughly 10% in late February, too. It has evened out.
“If you were actually charting the number of blocks vs. charges, you’d probably have more blocks being called this year than charges,” Adams said. “But I have seen far fewer opportunities for referees to have to make the call. The collision play is down. The risk-reward ratio has changed for the defensive player. ... It is so hard to legally draw the charge.”
As the second round of the NCAA tournament erupts across the country today, there are sure to be dramatic finishes, headscratching upsets and decisive collisions near the basket. When officials blow their whistles this year, coaches and players have a good idea about which way the call will go.
“Just get there and stand your ground, but there’s no point in going down, really, as a defender,” Oklahoma assistant Steve Henson said. “There were certain guys who would stick their nose in there and take them. And it was a big play. Now when in doubt, it’s a block.”