Two college basketball questions

The Game Room
1

  1. My wife was asking the other day why, when players are setting a screen, they put their hands down in front of them like they are grabbing their crotch? I didn’t have an answer other than maybe it was to make sure they didn’t make contact with the other player and get whistled for a foul. Enlighten me please?

  2. I always thought that when a team was called for a technical foul, the opposing team got two free throws and then possession of the ball. Yet there have been a few times recently where I have seen a technical called, the opposing team shoots the free throws, and then the team that got the technical gets the ball back. What’s going on there?

2

  1. Yes, to make it clear you aren’t holding or shoving is one reason. Also to protect your crotch. You’re about to be slammed into by somebody who ideally doesn’t know you’re there. That shit hurts.

  2. The rule is 2 shots and then you return to normal play. If the team with the ball gets a T they get the ball back after the free throws. You return to the “point of interruption.”

3

Since the OP has been answered, maybe I piggyback a question of my own…

Why does college basketball play two halves rather than four quarters?

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Has it always been this way, or did this change within the last few years?
Also, does it matter if it is a technical foul on a player rather than the bench? Two specific instances that I remember were T’s on the bench.

5

The relevant question is “why does the NBA play in four quarters and not two halves?”

AFAIK, college basketball always was played in two halves. When the first pro leagues were being formed, it was decided to have four 12-minute quarters, since that would be a longer game for the admission price. The extra breaks made more sense than just extending the length of the halves, allowing a few minutes for the players to rest.

6

The technical foul rule was changed maybe eight or ten years ago, to take away loss of the ball. It doesn’t matter whether it’s on a player or the bench. Before that it was kind of comical sometimes, when you’d know a coach wanted to lay into the refs, but he’d wait until the other team had the ball to avoid the extra penalty.

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But then one could stretch that question into “Why does (most) high school basketball play in four quarters?” That consideration likely didn’t come into play for the high-school game.