New D-League Rules: Breaking Down “Coaches Challenge”

Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

On Wednesday, the D-League announced it will implement new rules for the 2014-2015 season, including a coaches challenge and an advance rule. It was also made known the league will increase the team foul penalty limit and extend a rule deterring teams from deliberately fouling an offensive player away from the offensive action.

The D-League will also test headsets, which will be worn by officials so they may  communicate amongst themselves during games. A brief overview of these changes has already been published on this website.

Change is a good thing. It’s a positive indication that Adam Silver and his peers are searching for ways to improve the product. And the D-League is a perfect place to experiment with different ideas before applying and enforcing such alterations at the NBA level.

Some of you are probably familiar with the way coaches may challenge plays in the NFL or MLB. The NBA has yet to implement such a procedure, until now.

Coaches Challenge

Coaches are granted one challenge during regulation to determine whether or not a call is correct. A timeout must be called before issuing a challenge. If a call-in-question is reversed, a coach is bestowed an additional opportunity to call for a review later in the game. If a coach’s challenge is unsuccessful, their team is charged a timeout and then unable to challenge another play during regulation.

The release does not say whether or not a coach’s challenge that goes unused during regulation can be used during overtime, but another coach’s challenge will granted in the instance in which two teams are tied at the end of regulation. However, even if a coach’s challenge is successful, challenges will not be replenished during an overtime period as they would during regulation.

Subsequently, my belief is that challenges will not rollover from regulation and into overtime.

In short, a coach must be correct in his first challenge in order to be given a second challenge during regulation. The only time there will be three challenges used in a game is when overtime occurs. In the event of an overtime, only one challenge may be used and no additional challenges will be given until the next overtime period.

When will coaches challenge?

As the release states, “personal or shooting fouls, including offensive fouls, as well as those plays that have been identified as triggers for instant replay” are all potentially subject to be challenged. This renders a vast variety of situations coaches may elect to review, but they must remember to choose wisely.

Teams can’t afford to appease each disgruntled player, one who, hypothetically, just finished a feeble drive to the basket only to miss an easy layup during the opening quarter. Still, as the aggressor, a driving offensive player is more likely to be the beneficiary of a foul called in the painted area.

Officials who determine illegal contact occurred on a block/charge event but are uncertain as to whether the defender was inside or outside the restricted area, under the current replay regulations, may only review the play if it happens within the final two minutes of the fourth-quarter.

These are widely considered to be ‘bang-bang’ plays and are certainly difficult to judge due to how quickly things occur, therefore coaches challenges provide referees with opportunity to make the correct call – even though, initially, they may have been wrong.

Deflected field goal attempts that fall nowhere near the rim, in a situation where a foul is not called, are foreseeable plays that will likely be challenged. Conversely, fouls called on a defender who does, indeed, cleanly tip or somehow alter a shot will also be reviewable.

At the professional level, and also in the D-League, seeing someone badly miss a jump shot is perplexing — especially if there’s no foul called.

Coaches Challenges: Good or Bad?

Coaches Challenges will help clear up any instances of uncertainty, which is good for everyone involved. This is especially true, I think, for defensive players. Teams are scoring more rapidly and often than ever before, and one can assert rules and regulations often favor an offensive player — I don’t find this to be egregious.

Because officials may instinctively make calls that favor an offensive player, coaches challenges can protect those playing defense that are the victim of said favorable calls. It may come at a cost, but if it can prevent a top-defender from fouling out of the game I think these new rules unquestionably help better the D-League’s product.

Maybe one day we’ll see these changes implemented at the NBA level. Maybe even sometime soon.