Basketball Needs To Get Its Hands Off

High school football and basketball overlap this weekend with the gridiron championships and the hardwood openers.

How fitting.

There are some who believe it is hard to tell the difference between the trench warfare of football from the post-pounding of basketball.

And basketball has had enough of that.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association is demanding, requesting, cajoling, begging, hoping, praying for basketball to turn back to its original premise.

Less physical, more finesse.

The WIAA held a statewide basketball summit in May to address the issue. A WIAA representative attended all the mandatory preseason rules clinics for coaches and officials to reiterate the message.

In the Spokane area, high school basketball is physical. For the most part, it’s not too physical, but certainly more so than the original intent of the game. It wouldn’t hurt at all if the game was cleaned up.

At the state-tournament level, the game, quite simply, is too physical.

What that does is put area teams at a disadvantage when they get to the big stage.

The WIAA’s recent mandate to clean up physical play could go a long way toward leveling the playing field, but is that possible?

All eyes will be on the referees.

Their boss is the Washington Officials Association, which is part of the WIAA. If the state says call games closer, the games should be called closer.

But while referees control the game, they aren’t the sole keepers of the game.

Everyone involved with high school basketball must make a conscious effort to clean up the action.

First, refs must call the game as the rules demand.

Second, coaches must teach their players to compete within the rule book.

Third, administrators must demand coaches and referees work within the rule book and support one or the other when the other - or more precisely the crowd - cries foul.

Fourth, players must understand the game they play doesn’t have to be - in fact, shouldn’t be - the same as the one they see on television.

But when the game is officiated in strict accordance with the rule book, what exactly does that means?

Basketball rules do not allow for contact and in few instances is that open to interpretation. Some loose balls and rebounding situations are the few exceptions.

But once the ball is put in play, how long until everyone involved gets fed up with the onslaught of whistles? That includes referees, who are going to hear fans, coaches and players yell, “Let them play!”

The WIAA is asking for three points of emphasis: 1, start the closely guarded 5-second count when a defender is within 6 feet of the player with the ball. 2, on a block or charge decision, blow the whistle and make the call. When in doubt, call a charge. 3, on the advantage-disadvantage gray area, get rid of it, it’s not in the rule book.

As coaches and officials heard, the game didn’t get where it is overnight; it won’t get cleaned up overnight.

But now fans should notice hand-checking is called, closely guarded players have to move the ball, offensive players attacking the basket will be penalized for being out of control, post play will be cleaner.

And a good one, an intentional foul is an intentional foul. Down the stretch of a close game, when a team needs to foul, if it announces such an intention, the foul is intentional.

If everyone does their part, basketball will be better, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Surviving the first few games might be difficult, but if they are cleaned up, it will be worth it.