The Charging Call; aka the Creeping Hand of Death

[Will Lavender]

Have I mentioned that I hate charging in college basketball? I hate it with a boundless, frenzied, soul-crushing passion.

But that's not really what this thread is about. It's about something I saw on Twitter after the Duke game the other night. A guy said this, basically:

How come late in college basketball games, a guy can be mugged when he's got the basketball and we're always told "the refs want to let the players decide it." But let that same guy dribble the ball and bump into a player, and it will be a charge EVERY TIME, regardless of the time left on the game clock.

Don't you agree with that? Because I do.

The Kansas/Oklahoma State last night? Came down to a charge. It's got to go. It has to. These offensive players have to have more room to operate, and there has to be a line of demarcation between "out of control offensive player barrelling over defender" and "defender setting up and waiting to flop at the first sign of contact."

[ukbob]

2 bogus charging calls changed the KU game last night.

I am at the point of believing that the 2 jobs, other than the Government, that you can be half right in and keep your job is weathermen and officials.

[Will Lavender]

It's officials, who likely love the thrill of the reaction when they make that call. And it's also the fact that the call is missed a whole lot. But it's also the "spirit of the rule."

The spirit of the rule is a bad spirit. A wraith of whatever. It's Satanic. Because the spirit of the rule suggests something like this: if you slide over and wait and FALL DOWN, you should be rewarded.

Listen, some of these offensive fouls after collisions are warranted. Archie Goodwin has careened over people this year. That's a charge. But there are times when these guys just shouldn't be rewarded for basically standing, waiting, and either flopping or taking a tiny bit of contact and falling on their backs.

[JFCats22]

I don't even want to get started on this topic. Just an unbelievable amount of incompetence when it comes to this.

[cumberlandredskin]

I'm tired of announcers giving officials a pass by saying "Oh it's the hardest call to make." No its not. Just don't call it either way and the coaches will stop coaching players from falling down everytime a player gets close enough to breath on them. I've been at the point for two years now that if they just don't call anything,block or charge, the game would be much better.

[Will Lavender]

My suggested changes for the game: (1) Make it so that charges are more difficult to take. (2) Get hand checks totally out of the game. No hands on defense at all or it's a foul. (3) Lower the shot clock to 30 seconds.

And suddenly this becomes a better sport all the way around.

Put the emphasis on offense and points and scoring and things that are fun to watch. Charging and perpetual hand-checking and wrestling matches under the goal aren't fun to watch.

[Dwight Schrute]

I'd also like to see the charge more difficult to take, and everything else be a block. That would discourage flopping. I'd also like to see the shot clock moved to 25 seconds.

[UKhoov]

It's officials, who likely love the thrill of the reaction when they make that call. And it's also the fact that the call is missed a whole lot. But it's also the "spirit of the rule."

The spirit of the rule is a bad spirit. A wraith of whatever. It's Satanic. Because the spirit of the rule suggests something like this: if you slide over and wait and FALL DOWN, you should be rewarded.

Listen, some of these offensive fouls after collisions are warranted. Archie Goodwin has careened over people this year. That's a charge. But there are times when these guys just shouldn't be rewarded for basically standing, waiting, and either flopping or taking a tiny bit of contact and falling on their backs.

You thought Bilas' going off about the NCAA and Emmert was good on twitter ask him about charges. He actually held a conversation with me last season on twitter during one of our games when the ref call the infamous "BLARGE" (a block and charge on the same play).

He may be the flag bearer of both hating the NCAA and Charges.

[NOWIS]

My suggested changes for the game: (1) Make it so that charges are more difficult to take. (2) Get hand checks totally out of the game. No hands on defense at all or it's a foul. (3) Lower the shot clock to 30 seconds.

And suddenly this becomes a better sport all the way around.

Put the emphasis on offense and points and scoring and things that are fun to watch. Charging and perpetual hand-checking and wrestling matches under the goal aren't fun to watch.

Calling some T's for flopping would help tremendously

[lighthouse]

Calling some T's for flopping would help tremendously

[wanderingcat]

If you watch the replays when a charge is called almost every one of them are blocks in spite of praises of a good call by Vitale and all the rest of the announcers. Coaching players to jump in front at the last moment speaks for itself that the offense player cannot avoid the contact. How many charges get called in a pickup game? Probably none in the entire country unless it is a weak game.

[lrsky]

Assigning some T's would probably help. Exactly my point two years ago when this was a Post Topic. I know it's not a widely held viewpoint on this site, but...Referees, many, too many, love the sound of a spontaneous cheer from the crowd. This is why, when a charge is called against the visiting team, they showboat, run halfway to midcourt, exercising the greatest amountof theatricality possible. I simply despise that call under those circumstances...ok, believe it or not EVEN if we're the beneficiary. It's a bad rule...not enforced with ANY degree of consistency.

[bobcooper]

If the spirit of the rule is something other than this, change it to this: gaining advantage over your opponent via deliberate contact is a foul.

Were that applied, most charges currently being called would not be.

[rainman]

If the spirit of the rule is something other than this, change it to this: gaining advantage over your opponent via deliberate contact is a foul.

Were that applied, most charges currently being called would not be.

Kind of applies to what I was saying the last time we discussed this!
All rules on the block charge need to be dropped, and just use common
sense as the judgement! At least the ref would have a 50/50 chance of
making the right call!
The way it is now with verticality, and simicircles, and what not chance
of getting it right decreases IMO! It's not that hard to realize when someone
has been run over, or an offensive player is out of control!