Richmond Times-Dispatch UR's Mooney Sees the 30-Second Shot
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Richmond Times-Dispatch UR’s Mooney sees the 30-second shot clock on horizon John O’Connor March 31, 2015 Chris Mooney, the University of Richmond coach whose team played three NIT games with a 30-second shot clock, sees the day when a shortened shot clock will be standard in NCAA basketball. That could be opening day of next season, he said. The NCAA shot clock has been 35 seconds since the 1993-94 season. All NIT games, as well as those in the College Basketball Invitational and CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament, used a 30-second shot clock at the request of the NCAA. “My sense is that it will be adopted,” Mooney said. Because the experimental rule was used in the NIT, “I have no knowledge of this, but that would be an indication that we’re moving in that direction,” Mooney said. “I like it. I think it’s the time that makes the most sense.” The NCAA Rules Committee requested the experiment in the postseason tournaments to gauge the effect of a 30-second clock on scoring and pace of play. The NCAA appears interested in increasing both. Mooney and the other coaches involved in the NIT were asked to complete surveys regarding the shot clock. Those surveys will be analyzed by the NCAA Rules Committee. That committee will meet in mid-May and at that time could recommend that the shot clock go to 30 seconds. If the committee does so, June approval from the Playing Rules Oversight Panel would be required to change the rule. In general, scoring and the number of possessions increased in NIT games, although not greatly, compared to regular-season games in which the 35-second clock was used. At least in UR’s three NIT games, there was an increased frequency of offenses rushing in order to beat the shot clock. That seemed to occur three or four possessions per game. “It had an effect because it was surprising a number of times,” said Mooney. Richmond learned it would be playing in the NIT on a Sunday night and played St. Francis Brooklyn in the tournament’s first round three days later. The Spiders won that game 84-74 and eliminated Arizona State 76-70 in overtime in the second round before falling to Miami 63-61 in the quarterfinals. All three games were played during a seven-day stretch. If teams had more time to prepare for the 30-second shot clock and adjust strategy accordingly, its effect wouldn’t have been as obvious, according to Mooney. Should the rule be adopted for next season, “I don’t think it will have a huge impact on the game, especially when everybody is used to it,” Mooney said. In a poll conducted by ESPN and published in February, nearly 60 percent of 500 college coaches (head coaches and assistants) favored a 30-second shot clock. Some preferred a 24-second clock, and others wanted to keep the 35-second clock. Notable in Richmond’s NIT games were pressing defenses utilized largely to force opponents to spend time getting the ball past mid-court, reducing probing time in the offensive zone. Richmond lost an 18-point lead in the second half against Miami, which exerted full-court pressure for the NIT quarterfinal’s final 10 minutes. UR committed only seven turnovers in that game. But the Hurricanes’ press combined with the 30-second shot clock disrupted the Spiders. “When we were pressing them and they got it through the press, there was eight or nine seconds off the clock, then they’ve got to get organized and into their half-court sets,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said in his postgame interview. “They didn’t have as much time to do what they normally do.” Notes: Mooney said All-A-10 senior guard Kendall Anthony is meeting with potential agents. “I think he will certainly have some great options and be able, if he chooses, to have a great career overseas,” Mooney said. The Spiders have two scholarships available with the decisions by freshmen Kadeem Smithen and Chandler Diekvoss to transfer. Coming in next season is 6-foot-3 freshman Julius Johnson and Anthony was UR’s only scholarship senior. Richmond Times-Dispatch As defensive resolve dissolved, UR’s season of improvement ended John O’Connor March 25, 2015 University of Richmond forward Terry Allen didn’t just block the driving shot of Miami’s Deandre Burnett. Allen sent the ball to the Robins Center court so forcefully that it bounced high in bounds and carried out of bounds. That first-half highlight on Tuesday night illustrated the Spiders’ aggressive, confident deportment. They were defensively dominant in taking an 18-point lead (36-18) with 16:30 left, playing as well as they had all season. A rollicking home crowd had their backs. Miami coach Jim Larranaga felt the need to call two timeouts in the first 3:20 of the second half. That’s what makes the ensuing breakdown so difficult to stomach for UR. Miami, with an energized offense, full-court pressure and rebounding mastery, rallied in the NIT quarterfinal to win 63-61, denying Richmond (21-14) its first trip to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden. UR allowed 18 points in the first half and 45 in the second. Defense was the elbow grease that propelled Richmond into late March, and then it wore off without warning. The Spiders, after the hangover fades, are left to consider the season, a 35-game set with momentum swings that paralleled Tuesday’s NIT quarterfinal. They were a game over .500 in mid-February, and then won eight of their last 10. “I think it’s a really competitive group and to me, that’s probably the most important element to have,” said UR coach Chris Mooney. “That means you’ll be competitive in the summer, it means you’ll be competitive in the fall getting ready, and next year.” Richmond loses only one scholarship senior, 5-foot-8 Kendall Anthony, who was the team’s top scorer. Anthony, a four-year regular, finished his career as the school’s record holder in 3-point baskets and as the fourth-leading scorer in UR history. Anthony raised the bar for returning Spiders, said Mooney, and “that will help. ... I do feel like we have a chance to be good (next season). I think Terry Allen has emerged as a great player. T.J. Cline is a guy who could really become a great player. We have some guys who have played a ton of games who can defend. I feel like we’ll be optimistic when the time comes.” Richmond played 20 games that were decided by six or fewer points and went 8-12 in them. “They easily could be in the NCAA tournament and if they somehow had gotten a bid, it certainly wouldn’t surprise me or many who follow college basketball if they’d still be playing in that tournament,” said Herb Sendek, who coached Arizona State in Richmond’s overtime NIT win over the Sun Devils on Sunday night. Getting a No. 1 seed in the NIT, which translated into being among the last four eliminated from NCAA tournament consideration, allowed UR to play three home games. Those Robins Center postseason dates revealed among Spiders fans fresh passion that was noted by Sendek, Larranaga and Hurricanes guard Sheldon McClellan. “I wish we had a home crowd like that,” said McClellan. “That crowd was fantastic, and (the Spiders) feed off that crowd a lot.” Richmond, which went 12-6 and placed fourth in the A-10, finished 16-4 at home and 4-9 on the road. Richmond Times-Dispatch All Spiders disappointed at end of Anthony’s career Paul Woody March 24, 2015 One by one they left the arena. Their faces were filled with disappointment, their shoulders slumped in exhaustion. They had given the last full measure of their energy and effort. Their quiet exits were in dramatic contrast to the outpouring of emotion they had displayed from the opening tip to almost the final buzzer. And that was just the University of Richmond fans. If there has been a noticeable difference at the Robins Center during the postseason, it has been the fans. They’ve been frantic, riled up. You’d think each of the past two games in the NIT had been against VCU. The atmosphere the Spiders’ fans created was a force with which opponents had to reckon. “Just like Cameron (Indoor Stadium, home court of the Duke Blue Devils),” said Miami coach Jim Larranaga. “They’re not quite on top of you as much as Cameron is. “I would say they’re a little more polite. Cameron is crazy. Good crazy but still wildly crazy. I thought the atmosphere was tremendous. Our guys love that.” For much of the game, the Richmond fans, players and coaches were loving life. The semifinals of the NIT in New York City and Madison Square Garden looked dead ahead. Instead, when the game ended, the Spiders’ disappointment was even more pronounced than that of their fans. Seasons and careers end. But the Spiders envisioned neither the end of the 2014-15 season nor of Kendall Anthony’s time in a Richmond uniform quite like this. Richmond had control of this quarterfinal round game in the NIT against Miami. The Spiders’ cylinders were clicking more smoothly than those in the cars of Jimmie Johnson when he was in the midst of his run of NASCAR championships.