Introducing the ‘50/50 Rule’ to Help Eliminate Block/Charge Calls From College Hoops

Here’s a scene we all see way too frequently in college hoops: A coach (or player, or fan) losing his mind over a block/charge call. Although, granted, USC coach Tim Floyd took it to an abnormal extreme last night:↵

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↵Here’s the thing with block/charge calls: About 95% of the time, they could go either way. This is math, you cannot argue it. This means that virtually every time a block/charge call is made, one bench is screaming mad. And rightfully so. After all, if the call could go either way, they certainly have an argument. This is why I’m proposing college basketball cut back on block/charge calls almost entirely. Crazy talk, I know, but stick with me here.↵↵Only in the most blatant and obvious instances would a ref blow the whistle. Aside from that, let them play. We can call it the “Chris Mottram 50/50 rule.” Or just the “50/50 rule” if that’s too long. ↵

↵↵If the blacktop’s taught us anything, it’s that there’s no need for a call every single time two players make contact. In the play above, for example, which falls into that 95-percentile I mentioned before, if there’s no whistle, three things have occurred: 1) the defender has made the offensive player’s progress to the basket more difficult, thus accomplishing his job; 2) despite this, the offensive player scored anyway, kudos; 3) Tim Floyd’s blood vessels are still fully intact. ↵

↵↵Not to mention it would eliminate a large portion of flopping. And anything we can do to keep our pastimes from looking like soccer is a plus, right? ↵

↵↵/Greg Paulus shakes his head disapprovingly. ↵

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