1985 Villanova-Georgetown Game - Rule Change
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 10:52 pmSo, my 2 young sons like watching college hoops with me. They pepper me with a lot of questions, like the 1-and-1 rule, the 5th timeout that doesn't carry over into the second half, and many others like jumpballs.
The other day i was reminded of a rule change that adjusted coaches' strategies at the end of games. There was a commonplace strategy that was eliminated once-and-for-all, i think, based on a heads-up play by David Wingate 30 years ago.
So, thru around 1985, if a team scored a field goal, the clock would keep running, even in the final seconds of the game. So what would happen is if the losing team had no timeouts, and scored a basket with fewer than 5 seconds, the game was effectively over. This is because the team in the lead would dillydally in picking up the ball, then would have the 5-second inbound period available to keep the game clock running.
For example (and this is before the 3-pt shot was in effect)... say PC was beating Boston College 80-77, and BC is out of timeouts... with 15 seconds to play, say the Eagles' Martin Clark fouled Friar Rickey Tucker for a 1-and-1... now, say Tucker misses the first shot... BC rebounds, and John Bagley sprints down the court and hits a layup with 9 seconds to play, making the score 80-79. After the ball falls thru the hoop, it bounces and rolls out toward the free throw line.
As the clock continues to run, 9... 8...7... the Friars' center Otis Thorpe kinda strolls over and picks up the ball, maybe even Bagley or Jay Murphy of BC sprints over to the ball and shoves it in Thorpe's gut... 6... 5... 4... frenetic action as BC sets up their inbounds defense, and as Thorpe strolls across the baseline like he has absolutely no interest in hurrying up... finally the ref starts counting his 5 seconds, but with only 3 seconds left on the game clock, Thorpe just stands there and lets the game end, not needing to throw it in. BC would scream about Thorpe not hurrying up, but Thorpe used the common, sensible strategy that was accepted in college hoops.
Ok, so in the 1985 National Final, this scenario was playing itself out. Georgetown scored their last bucket with under 5 seconds and no timeouts left. Villanova, Georgetown, and really anyone paying attention realized the game was effectively over. But the Hoyas were well coached and Big East teams were pretty sharp. So as Harold Pressley or whomever walked slowly over towards the ball, David Wingate (I think it was him) sprinted to the ball and batted it around 20 rows deep into the crowd.
With 2 seconds still remaining, and no ball available for Pressley to pick up, the ref blew the whistle and stopped play until the ball could be retrieved. And even better for Georgetown was that the clock wouldn't start until the ball was touched in play. As it turned out, the ball was inbounded by VU (to Dwayne McClain?), and the clock ran out as he sat on the floor (no travel?)...
Anyway, soon after, not sure exactly when, college hoops adopted the rule where the clock stops on made baskets with under a minute to play. And if i remember correctly, it was based on this final heady play in the 85 Final.
The other day i was reminded of a rule change that adjusted coaches' strategies at the end of games. There was a commonplace strategy that was eliminated once-and-for-all, i think, based on a heads-up play by David Wingate 30 years ago.
So, thru around 1985, if a team scored a field goal, the clock would keep running, even in the final seconds of the game. So what would happen is if the losing team had no timeouts, and scored a basket with fewer than 5 seconds, the game was effectively over. This is because the team in the lead would dillydally in picking up the ball, then would have the 5-second inbound period available to keep the game clock running.
For example (and this is before the 3-pt shot was in effect)... say PC was beating Boston College 80-77, and BC is out of timeouts... with 15 seconds to play, say the Eagles' Martin Clark fouled Friar Rickey Tucker for a 1-and-1... now, say Tucker misses the first shot... BC rebounds, and John Bagley sprints down the court and hits a layup with 9 seconds to play, making the score 80-79. After the ball falls thru the hoop, it bounces and rolls out toward the free throw line.
As the clock continues to run, 9... 8...7... the Friars' center Otis Thorpe kinda strolls over and picks up the ball, maybe even Bagley or Jay Murphy of BC sprints over to the ball and shoves it in Thorpe's gut... 6... 5... 4... frenetic action as BC sets up their inbounds defense, and as Thorpe strolls across the baseline like he has absolutely no interest in hurrying up... finally the ref starts counting his 5 seconds, but with only 3 seconds left on the game clock, Thorpe just stands there and lets the game end, not needing to throw it in. BC would scream about Thorpe not hurrying up, but Thorpe used the common, sensible strategy that was accepted in college hoops.
Ok, so in the 1985 National Final, this scenario was playing itself out. Georgetown scored their last bucket with under 5 seconds and no timeouts left. Villanova, Georgetown, and really anyone paying attention realized the game was effectively over. But the Hoyas were well coached and Big East teams were pretty sharp. So as Harold Pressley or whomever walked slowly over towards the ball, David Wingate (I think it was him) sprinted to the ball and batted it around 20 rows deep into the crowd.
With 2 seconds still remaining, and no ball available for Pressley to pick up, the ref blew the whistle and stopped play until the ball could be retrieved. And even better for Georgetown was that the clock wouldn't start until the ball was touched in play. As it turned out, the ball was inbounded by VU (to Dwayne McClain?), and the clock ran out as he sat on the floor (no travel?)...
Anyway, soon after, not sure exactly when, college hoops adopted the rule where the clock stops on made baskets with under a minute to play. And if i remember correctly, it was based on this final heady play in the 85 Final.
