During practices this week in a steamy and overheated Pavilion on the UWM campus, the Panthers are busy adjusting to the rules of international basketball.
We received a nice, handy summary sheet on the rules differences from Basketball Travelers, the group organizing the trip. Among the highlights to note …
- Four, 10-minute periods instead of two, 20-minute halves - This has an impact on the game mainly through the bonus situation, which gives you two free throws on and after the fifth foul of every period.
- A 24-second shot clock instead of a 35-second shot clock – Even for a team looking to play faster with Kaylon Williams at the point and a number of guards running the wings, 24 seconds is a remarkably short amount of time to run anything short of a quick-hitter.
- Eight seconds to get the ball across halfcourt instead of 10 – In the preseason, and in what will likely be some hot gymnasiums in Italy, I wouldn’t expect to see a ton of full-court pressure. This rule is likely more something you could get caught napping on if you forget about it, rather than seeing a press that will cause a ton of eight-second violation turnovers.
- The three-point line sits at 20’ 6” instead of 20’ 9” – a very small difference, obviously.
There are also some differences in calling timeouts and making substitutions, and in the international game you can also touch the ball in the cylinder. Plus, there is the trapezoid lane, which usually serves to spread the floor and could wind up giving the Panthers some good room to work offensively.
