Tom Moore discusses rule changes and how they could benefit Quinnipiac

Tom Moore looks to rebound (no pun intended) from 15-win season at Quinnipiac, and shared his opinion on recently enacted rule changes. (Photo courtesy of Big Apple Buckets)

In light of the NCAA approving rule changes yesterday that included a 30-second shot clock, a wider restricted area, and the reduction of a timeout in the second half, Quinnipiac head coach Tom Moore admitted he was not fond of some of the revelations.

"I don't like the reduction from 35 to 30, and I don't like the timeout reduction," the Bobcats' coach admitted. "I understand why they're doing it, and I understand that both of them are based on fan interest. The timeout thing seems to be geared toward speeding up the end of the game, so I understand it. I just think we can have a better executed game from a timeout point of view if we have that extra one." 

"It will be a challenge for all of us to use our timeouts more carefully," he cautiously added, "but I'd like to still have that extra one for real late-game situations where you might need it to organize your team for a side-out, or other out of bounds, or press break, that kind of thing."

As far as the shorter shot clock, the former Jim Calhoun assistant believes that the lesser time frame will alter the complexion of a possession, maybe forcing teams into late-possession tactics earlier in a drive up or down the floor.

"I think what it's going to do is it's going to try to make people do some things a little bit earlier," Moore predicted. "You might get some teams who are pretty fast-paced teams that are either going to try to go faster. I think coaches are going to put a little bit more of an emphasis on their primary and secondary break, and early action type of stuff."

"I get a feeling that some of the worst part of college basketball, offensively, and the least creative stuff that we do, is at the end of a shot clock," he continued. "I think by shaving five seconds off it, you're just going to have a tendency to go to that stuff earlier every possession. Maybe, what it will do is it will force us to get a little more creative with our end of the clock stuff, because it's going to come along, in theory, earlier and more often."

Applying the new clock to his offensive formations at Quinnipiac, Moore had this to say:

"I think the challenge for us will be manifesting at the beginning of it and manifesting at the end of it," he said. "I think we're going to have to do a really good job of coaching our team so they understand what we're comfortable with, what's a quick shot, what's a good shot, what's acceptable, what isn't acceptable, and also tighten our end of the clock execution."

Like Steve Masiello and John Dunne before him, both of whom believe a shorter shot clock will aid defense-oriented teams, Moore shares a similar perspective.

"Naturally, you have five less seconds that you have to prepare every single trip," he stated. "On one hand, from our point of view, over the years, we've been a very developed team defensively, very low risk. But as you crunch the numbers, turnovers created, we're close to the bottom in the nation because it's not what we try to do. In a way, I think it helps us a little bit because we're not, in general, a trapping, frenetic, high-energy type of defense, so for us, I think it will be a little bit of a benefit because we'll have to do what we do solidly for five less seconds. That should help us."