If what we saw, or rather counted, in Piraeus on Friday night is the new norm then get worried. No, get angry. The stop-start farce between Olympiacos and Zalgiris Kaunas paints a worrying picture of the future. It’s one that we, as lovers of the sport, can change for the better. Emmet Ryan on the utter mess that we witnessed in Euroleague.
Two hours and twenty four minutes. That’s how much time passed between the opening tip and final horn. Euroleague and all of European basketball has new tweaks this season. Still, what we saw between Olympiacos Piraeus and Zalgiris Kaunas was worrying to watch.
This isn’t basketball
If you’re visiting this site, it’s reasonable to assume you like basketball or at least want to like it. The display in Piraeus did everything possible to drive people away from the sport. The stops and starts were beyond excessive. Granted, Olympiacos and Zalgiris Kaunas played an unbalanced game that got close. Still, it’s not like this is new. It happens in basketball and we’ve seen plenty of games like it in Euroleague.
The increased use of the challenge rule was always going to be a factor. Yet it has become almost a crutch. Reviews simply take far too long. The sport, at least right now, seems incapable of rapid decision making.
Rapid is the key word. Even a relatively quick replay review adds significantly to the clock. The refs make the call. They walk to the screen. Then they issue instructions to the broadcast crew on what they need to see. Even with a simple review. That’s more time.
Excessive but not isolated
Like I said at the top, this game took 2 hours and 24 minutes from opening tip to final horn. That was for a normal 40 minute game. There was no overtime nor any weird extended overtime.
While Olympiacos and Zalgiris Kaunas delivered an exceptionally over-long game, it wasn’t the only game like it this week. The Euroleague battle of Anadolu Efes and Fenerbahce on Thursday evening had similar complaints from fans over its drawn out nature.
In my own commentary work, through two games in the Basketball Champions League, I’ve noticed it. I was fortunate enough to be on a legitimately good game on Wednesday. That being Saben Lee’s explosion. Even then I noticed that the start to finish runtime was longer than expected. It was the same a week prior, for Filou Oostende vs Unicaja Malaga.
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A balance is needed
The basic tenet behind introducing a coach’s challenge system makes sense. In theory, fewer things will get reviewed randomly. More often than not, the teams aggrieved will react to the more egregious issues.
That’s the plan. The execution has me worried about lumbar pain for officials. They seem to be spending far too much time crouched over monitors. That increases the gaps between things actually happening on the court.
Think about the circumstances on Friday night. It was the home opener for Olympiacos in Euroleague. The fans were witnessing their team hold on against a big comeback from Zalgiris. Yet they were dead. There was so little basketball that they had little cause to get fired up.
The worst thing about the NBA is how long it takes for a game to actually finish. European ball by contrast can have a grind it out slugfest that feels like a marathon finish inside of 2 hours. At least that’s what it used to be able to do.
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There was some actual basketball
The Incredibles, a really fun movie from 2004, has a runtime of 115 minutes. Goodfellas, a bona fide classic, has a run time of 145 minutes. The latter was the basically same length as the game between Olympiacos and Zalgiris Kaunas. The game was not compelling like Goodfellas. The Incredibles is also not Goodfellas but it sure is a lot more watchable than what was in Piraeus.
This is not an argument against broadcasting. It’s not even an argument against technology. I’ve been a tech journalist for 20 years. For all that tech can annoy me, I enjoy innovation. This is an argument for some basic sense to prevail.
If basketball is going to introduce adjustments led by technology then basketball must be ready to adjust. It begins by setting a target. A 115 minute goal is more than doable. That’s 1 hour and 55 minutes.
Everyone in the 40 minutes per game basketball world needs to come together and work on this. Set the 115 minute target and then ask what’s needed. Find a way to make the tech, the broadcast, and everything else work together. Progress needs planning. It’s simple but it’s not easy. Friday night’s viewing proved that it can be very hard on those watching.
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