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Anyone at the scrimmage want to give an update?

Champln
UAB men's basketball holds Saturday morning scrimmage for public to see (video)
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/...cart_river

UABSports.com
Veterans And Newcomers Impress At UAB's Scrimmage
http://www.uabsports.com/sports/m-baskbl...13aab.html

As I saw it, Frazier looked pretty good throughout, Watts was good in the 2nd half, Mehinti was pretty good but needs to put some bulk on to be really dominate on the inside but still good, Swing, well, was Swing especially late.

It looked to me like the defense has a chance to be a lot better this year. There were some flashes of good offense in the second half. It's hard to tell too much with the veterans playing against the new guys.

I don't like that the officials are going to call even more fouls this year. The C-USA game already seems to grind to a halt sometimes with the number of questionable fouls called. It shouldn't be too bad if it's called consistently, but I don't have much faith in the ability of the C-USA officials to do that.

(10-19-2013 04:30 PM)JeffUAB Wrote:  It shouldn't be too bad if it's called consistently, but I don't have much faith in the ability of the C-USA officials to do that.

We have our first preemptive "the refs suck" post of the basketball season. Let the games begin! Haha.

(10-20-2013 01:08 PM)BlazerGrad88 Wrote:  

(10-19-2013 04:30 PM)JeffUAB Wrote:  It shouldn't be too bad if it's called consistently, but I don't have much faith in the ability of the C-USA officials to do that.

We have our first preemptive "the refs suck" post of the basketball season. Let the games begin! Haha.

It's a legitimate concern. They actually changed the rules and more fouls will be called (at least in the beginning until players get used to not touching) in order to encourage more scoring. Based on the scrimmage, there's going to be A LOT of fouls this season...I'd say across the entire sport.

(10-20-2013 01:08 PM)BlazerGrad88 Wrote:  

(10-19-2013 04:30 PM)JeffUAB Wrote:  It shouldn't be too bad if it's called consistently, but I don't have much faith in the ability of the C-USA officials to do that.

We have our first preemptive "the refs suck" post of the basketball season. Let the games begin! Haha.

Haha. I actually have a lot of respect for the refs. It's a tremendously hard job that I couldn't do. However, I watch a ton of basketball from different conferences, and the C-USA refs are some of the more inconsistent. I've been at every UAB home game for the past few years and there are a few crews in particular that I dread seeing.

The rule change to add more fouls just give's the refs a greater influence on the outcome of the game. How bad that is is inversely proportional to the quality of the officiating.

Hopefully we have a little more depth this year so that foul trouble isn't as big of an issue. Just from a pure entertainment perspective, basketball is a lot more fun when the flow isn't broken up by a lot of fouls.

But, Yes... The refs do stink, especially in CUSA...

I for one am happy for the rule change. While initially more fouls will be called in the long run it will help the game. I have been screaming for this for a while. It's about time we get rugby out of basketball.

Actually, there's no such thing as "C-USA refs." There's just refs who call C-USA games. It's not like football in which the officials are affiliated with one conference. In basketball, the refs call games in multiple conferences, often varying from one game to the next.

For example, two of the better known refs who call UAB games are Duke Edsall and Steven Pyatt. Last year, Edsall called games in CUSA, Big 12, and MEAC. In his career, he has called games in 11 different conferences. Last year, Pyatt called games in CUSA, SoCon, Sun Belt, and Ohio Valley. He has called games in nine different conferences in his career.

One of the most recognizable refs in all college basketball is Ed Hightower. Last year, he called games in the Big 10, A-10, Missouri Valley, MAC, and Mountain West.

Fun facts/examples (just to belabor the point): The officiating crew for last year's UAB/Memphis game in Birmingham was Ted Hillary, Rick O'Neill, and Mark Schnur. The day before our game, O'Neill called the Utah State/San Jose State game in Logan, UT. Four days after our game, he called the Wyoming/Fresno State game in Fresno, CA. Three days before our game, Schnur called the Southern Illinois/Wichita State game in Wichita, KS. Four days after our game, he called the Temple/GW game in Washington, DC. This is typical of many college refs.

Calling more fouls, and reviewing more calls is slowing the game to down to a crawl. It takes away from the ebb and flow. Most players like it when the refs let them play, as long as it is called fairly and consistently. There is so much stoppage of play now that neither team can get into a flow.

On the plus side this year, is that we have a good free throw shooting team. But as our team gets bigger, this will hurt us more.

The most disturbing change I see is the rule change that basically does away with the charge call.

Coaches torn on rule changes
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketba...-14-season

You're correct about the referees not being affiliated with a particular conference. The effect is often the same though since a conference will have at coordinator of officials who selects the officials for conference games. Different conferences traditionally have different officiating styles.

I think these rule changes could potentially help the flow of the game in the long run, but if they're called inconsistently it could be a nightmare... at least for a while. Still, it's something both teams will have to deal with. Whoever can be more flexible with their style of play will have the advantage.

I think it will help in the long run as I stated. The players will adjust but it will get rid of some of the wrestling that goes on now and bring us back to more pure basketball. I do agree about the charge - block changes. The charge call will become a rarity.

(10-20-2013 09:08 PM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  I for one am happy for the rule change. While initially more fouls will be called in the long run it will help the game. I have been screaming for this for a while. It's about time we get rugby out of basketball.

+1

You could see it progress from the late 90s until now. More and more physical play was allowed until it has gotten pretty bad. I think the NBA influence has trickled down, but now, the powers that be have realized how far we have strayed from where the game needs to be.

(10-21-2013 08:10 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  I think it will help in the long run as I stated. The players will adjust but it will get rid of some of the wrestling that goes on now and bring us back to more pure basketball. I do agree about the charge - block changes. The charge call will become a rarity.

You might actually see more charges out on the floor as defensive players try to use body position to slow down offensive players.

Why would they try to take the charge out of basketball? I also think there's too many fouls called and too many stoppages of play as it is.

As to the actual scrimmage, did anyone shine from the PG position? Does anyone seem to have stepped up and taken the starting role yet?

The team that won the second half seemed to be more in sync. I think it was Frazier, Swing, CJ, Foz, and Rucker as the 1st 5...