Eight months ago Curtis Shaw, Big 12 coordinator of officials, addressed the media at the Big 12 men’s basketball media day in Kansas City.
He opened his time discussing freedom of movement – how the year before coaches and some media members thought calling all the handcheck fouls would result in more free throws.
“Actually, the exact opposite happened,” Shaw said. “… Scoring went up a little over five points a game and the fouls only increased by about two a game.”
Because the wanted results came by focusing on the defender guarding the ball, Shaw said the decision was made to expand these calls to perimeter players with or without the ball.