For all the talk of post-Halloween World Series games, there are those who are put off by college basketball practices that start way before that holiday.The Men’s Basketball Enhancement Group wants the NCAA to shorten the rigors of the basketball season by eliminating a regular-season game. But Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina’s Roy Williams may have a better idea: Just push back the start date. “I would not be against — and in fact, would favor — starting practice Nov. 1, and not playing the first game until the Friday after Thanksgiving,” said Williams, whose team opens the college basketball season the earliest it ever has — today. Said Krzyzewski: “We started (practice) Oct. 16. (If) we started Nov. 1 but have a little more of a buildup — you might work out three times a week, and they get weekends (off) and stuff like that — they’re not as tired, they can keep up with their studies. But I would not eliminate any games.” Now, teams can play 29 regular-season games, or 27 if they play in an exempt tournament in which up to four games are “counted” as two. Including league and NCAA tournaments, that means a team playing in the national-title game could compete in up to 41 games (North Carolina, the reigning national champion, played 38 last season).The NCAA’s Legislative Council in January will consider a proposal that trims that by one. It’s meant to “reduce missed class time during the playing season and promote better academic performance for men’s basketball student-athletes,” according to the rationale submitted by the Academic Enhancement Group. The proposal also includes a staggered practice schedule that would allow teams to work out with their coaches eight hours during the first week of October and 12 hours the second week before the usual 20-hour practice weeks commence on Oct. 15. That mandate could particularly help freshmen acclimate to the court and the classroom.

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Posted on Sun, Nov. 08, 2009 10:41 PM

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Talk of shorter college basketball season circulating

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For all the talk of post-Halloween World Series games, there are those who are put off by college basketball practices that start way before that holiday.

The Men’s Basketball Enhancement Group wants the NCAA to shorten the rigors of the basketball season by eliminating a regular-season game. But Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina’s Roy Williams may have a better idea: Just push back the start date.

“I would not be against — and in fact, would favor — starting practice Nov. 1, and not playing the first game until the Friday after Thanksgiving,” said Williams, whose team opens the college basketball season the earliest it ever has — today.

Said Krzyzewski: “We started (practice) Oct. 16. (If) we started Nov. 1 but have a little more of a buildup — you might work out three times a week, and they get weekends (off) and stuff like that — they’re not as tired, they can keep up with their studies. But I would not eliminate any games.”

Now, teams can play 29 regular-season games, or 27 if they play in an exempt tournament in which up to four games are “counted” as two. Including league and NCAA tournaments, that means a team playing in the national-title game could compete in up to 41 games (North Carolina, the reigning national champion, played 38 last season).

The NCAA’s Legislative Council in January will consider a proposal that trims that by one. It’s meant to “reduce missed class time during the playing season and promote better academic performance for men’s basketball student-athletes,” according to the rationale submitted by the Academic Enhancement Group.

The proposal also includes a staggered practice schedule that would allow teams to work out with their coaches eight hours during the first week of October and 12 hours the second week before the usual 20-hour practice weeks commence on Oct. 15.

That mandate could particularly help freshmen acclimate to the court and the classroom.

| The News & Observer

Posted on Sun, Nov. 08, 2009 10:41 PM

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