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Some other proposed rule changes

Ohio State University coach Thad Matta argues a call with a referee in the second half of their NCAA men's college basketball game against Gonzaga University

Ohio State University coach Thad Matta argues a call with a referee in the second half of their NCAA men’s college basketball game against Gonzaga University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 17, 2012. REUTERS/ Jason Cohn (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

REUTERS

Earlier Monday, we talked about a rule change involving the potential banning of decals put on the floor during some of the early season events.

That’s not the only change that could end up being made:

- The rules committee recommended “more stringent adherence to officiating guidelines regarding bench decorum by coaches and bench personnel next season”. What does that mean? The committee wants to see more technical fouls for things like cursing, prolonged arguments, threatening or derogatory remarks and references to the integrity of the official.

- Also, the committee wants to see officials eliminate “running or jumping ‘in disbelief’ over a call/non-call” and “emphatically removing one’s coat in response to a call/no-call”. Priorities, you know.

- The committee believed that the block/charge call was missed on too many occasions. Some of the guidelines they approved to improve the impact of the call are expected, but the most important is this: “it appears that a defender is being rewarded solely for being outside the arc, without considering the other aspects of the rules.” The implementation of the three-foot arc resulted in referees focusing on the defender’s feet more than whether or not he was actually set to take a charge.

- Perhaps the most interesting discussion revolved around allowing coaching staffs to have mobile devices -- i.e. laptops, iPads or other tablets -- on the bench. On the one hand, it would make it easier for those staffs to chart statistics and call out plays. On the other hand, it would allow teams to break down what an opponent is doing during the game. It is not difficult to pull video from a internet stream of the game, which means that if, say, a particular defense is bothering a team, they would be able to watch it over and over on film on the bench.

Would that hurt the game? I honestly don’t think so. Is it really a big deal if a student manager is pulling video of offensive sets run by a team and sending it to an iPad that a coach has on the bench? It’s pointless to fight technology. Changes are going to happen, you might as well embrace it.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.