Dan McDonald is back with his weekend primer, McDonald's Nuggets. This week’s edition talks fouls in basketball, some early college hoops thoughts, a note on a four-star 2021 big man and big news for Arkansas.
More: 3-Point Play on Jaylen Clark, upsets, more | Top 50 soph Bryce Griggs is a big-time scorer
2020 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Position
WHAT’S ON MY MIND: Coaches and foul trouble
There are two aspects of basketball that drive me nuts at every level of the sport. I touched on one of these in one of my first columns, which was about eliminating the help-side charge from the sport. If you follow me on Twitter (and you should, @RivalsDan), you’ll see me tweet about this at least once a week, maybe more. The other one that has really driven me nuts when out at high school games and watching college games is foul trouble and how it kills the game.
I’ve reached the point where I don’t think I would track player fouls If I were named basketball czar for the entire world. Basketball is the only sport where you can be disqualified for common fouls. A cornerback can get eight pass interference calls against him in football and he’s not out of the game. A hockey player can get eight two-minute penalties in a game and still play. There is no limit on fouls that don’t result in a yellow or red card in soccer. So why do we in basketball want to make it a part of the sport where we in some cases take our best players off the court for common fouls?
The soccer model works perfectly here. Two yellow cards in a game, which would be the equivalent of a “Flagrant 1,” and you are out. One red card, which in basketball terms is a “Flagrant 2,” and you are out of the game. All other fouls don’t matter except for a team foul count each quarter or half, depending on the level. This mostly eliminates players having to adjust their games to refs and it gets rid of the idea of teams going at the other team’s star big man to draw fouls and get him out of the game. I really believe this would help the game in a big way. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to a high school game mainly to see a big man play and he gets two early fouls and it ruins the night.
I’d love to get feedback from players, coaches and fans on this. Tweet at me or direct message me (@RivalsDan) and let me know what you think about this.
EARLY THOUGHTS ON COLLEGE HOOPS
I haven’t had a chance to watch nearly as much as I normally do so far this college hoops season, but my biggest takeaway is that I haven’t missed a ton, either. From what I’ve seen, there hasn’t been a lot of great basketball played so far. Teams we expected to be really good and ranked at the top have been disappointing, while a few others have exceeded expectations.
I’d say the biggest reason for this is so many teams are relying either on freshmen or transfers. The sport has become so transient that it takes time for teams to start clicking. For that reason, I’m not worried about Michigan State’s struggles. Tom Izzo will figure it out. I’m not worried about Florida struggling out of the gates. It looks like Mike White has started to get his group going after a great weekend in Charleston. Just give some of these teams time to figure it out and we may have a different picture in late January or February.
The best team I have seen so far is Louisville. The Cardinals have a really talented roster and one of the best coaches in the country in Chris Mack. Jordan Nwora is an All-American candidate who is averaging just shy of 22 points per game. There is a good chance they’ll be in Atlanta in early April for Mack’s first Final Four appearance.
I’ve also been impressed with Juwan Howard’s debut in college coaching. No doubt he inherited a nice roster from John Beilein, but Howard has done a terrific job of getting his team ready to go so far this season. A coach’s job is always easier with a point guard like Zavier Simpson, but the Wolverines also have three other players averaging in double figures. If Howard recruits like I expect him to, good times are ahead in Ann Arbor.
Lastly, how much fun has Dayton's Obi Toppin been to watch so far this season? Nobody has improved their draft stock in the past month like he has. He looks like a longtime NBA player with his combination of size, skill and athleticism. I’m looking forward to watching a lot of A-10 games this season with Toppin being a good reason why.
RECRUITING NOTE: Trey Kaufman battle brewing
Four-star power forward Trey Kaufman has been a popular prospect in the Midwest with offers coming in from several ACC, Big Ten and Big East programs over the past year. Even Kentucky has started to show some interest in the Indiana native.
I’m told this could be turning into a two-team battle in his recruitment. Purdue’s staff has done a terrific job recruiting the 6-foot-9 big man. The Boilermakers are in deep and could even be considered the leader at this point. The other school I’ve heard has worked itself deep into the mix here is Xavier. The Musketeers have long had a presence in Indiana because of Travis Steele’s ties in the state and Kaufman could be his next big pull.
COMMITS OF THE WEEK: Arkansas adds a pair of four-stars
Since the last column two weeks ago, a lot has happened in the basketball recruiting world. No program helped itself as much in that stretch as Arkansas did. The Razorbacks were able to lock down a pair of in-state commitments from four-star big man Jaylin Williams and four-star point K.K. Robinson. Those two join four-star shooting guard Davonte Davis and four-star small forward Moses Moody to give Eric Musselman a terrific first full class in Fayetteville. Arkansas now has the No. 7 class in the country, behind only Kentucky and Tennessee in the SEC.
