How To Legally Cheat College Basketball

As long as basketball has existed, there has been an everlasting debate about the rules. Within the game, the rules pit coaches and players against officials that have the unenviable job of enforcing the laws. Some games feeling like the Wild West where the rules are merely a suggestion (NBA playoffs). While others give a feeling akin to a dystopian reality where defense is outlawed (NBA regular season).  But one thing has persistented throughout the turmoil, everybody is trying to find a way to “legally” cheat.

This concept of “legally” cheating is found all throughout sports. Baseball catchers try to trick umpires into calling strikes by framing pitches, defensive backs try various tactics to get away with grabbing wide receivers, and soccer players have a stereotype of sacrificing one’s body to frame an innocent opponent for a heinous penalty. In this article, I am exploring basketball officiating, starting 30 years ago and working my way to back through time to find how officiating has changed and how to win the foul game.

This study will be formatted to look at post ups, shot contests, and screens as the focus. Throughout these three targeted areas I will explore how they have evolved and what role officiating has played in changing how basketball is played. Finally, showing how teams can leverage officiating to give them an advantage over their competition.

Post Ups

Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan dominated the 80s and the 90s, but at the end of the decade the game began to revolve around the low block. This shift was spea headed by a generation of dominate big men, but a subtle component was how the post was officiated, take this post-up by Stanford against Kentucky in the 1998 Final Four as an example.

Allen Edwards is whistled for the foul when he tries to dislodge Peter Sauer from the post. These types of whistles gave post players an edge because defenses either had to secede deep positioning or front the post. Compare these two clips, one from the same Kentucky vs Stanford game and the other is from 2023 with Kel’el Ware battling Hunter Dickinson off of the low block.

The allowance of more physicality in the post, especially for smaller players, made it much harder for post ups to remain effective. The shot contests allowed in the post are also worth noting when trying to understand why post ups have become less frequent in modern offenses. Here's two clips from games separated by 24 years. The first, Julian Reece is allowed contact with Zach Edey's body while attempting a shot. The second is a very similar contest that is whistled for the and one for Elton Brand.

From the late 1990s to the early 2020s, basketball drastically shifted towards the perimeter and the quantity of traditional post ups diminished. Although reduced, post ups are far from dead. In 2024 and 2023, Purdue was top 5 in post up frequency on their way to three Big Ten championships and a National Title berth. What was the key for Purdue? Their ability to generate highly efficient offense from the free throw line.

Drawing fouls from the post is all about creating an advantage against the defender. For physically dominate players, that advantage can be sheer size that forces the defender into fouling. The less physical players will have to work around the edges, attacking the hips of the defender to force them to turn their body.

Either way, once the advantage is created and a defender has changed his angle or is pushing too much, the offensive player has to be in-control to draw the foul. The following clip is a great example of a less physical player drawing free throws after creating his advantage. A key note, watch Josh Oduro lead with his elbows/forearms to punish Donovan Clingan for dropping his arm.

Shot Contests

How defenders can contest shots has undergone a large shift as the safety of shooters has been made a priority. Many people will remember Zaza Pachulia injuring Kawhi Leonard in the Western Conference Finals. Pre-Kawhi injury, defenders had a larger margin of error when jumping at shooters. Take this contest in the 1999 National Championship for an example of "textbook" defensive contests.

This is nearly exactly the type of contest that I was taught in youth basketball. The shot goes up and the defender is trying to contest the shot high followed by an immediate box out. The problem with this closeout is the defender does not give the offensive player their landing space, something that has turned into an emphasis for officials. Here's a more glaring example of the margin of error given to defenders in a prime time match-up between Purdue and West Virginia in 2010.

On jumpers that happen off the dribble, similar changes have occurred in terms of officiating. The first is the increase in physicality allowed for offensive players instead of defenders. Simultaneously, the tightening of the charge call has played into offensive players being given more freedom to play with physicality.

In the clip above, the defender is given his space despite the contact with the offensive player. Compare that with TJ Leaf (Pacer's legend) driving into his defender and drawing the foul as his defender is back pedaling.

This is one example of many attempted charges within this game but shows the potential dangers that offensive players had when driving into crowds. Compare that with the second clip of De'Aaron Fox driving into his man and getting a foul called and it is easy to see how officiating has given a potential advantage to the offense.

This change in what is and isn't a foul, combined with relaxed dribbling rules has given ball handlers the ability to exert control over defenders. Defenders have to be much more disciplined to avoid fouls while offensive players can manipulate the ball with hesitations, cross overs, and crab dribbles that would formerly be illegal. Below is an example of a hesitation move that would go uncalled now but was illegal in 2008.

Now that I laid out the recent history of shot contests. Let's study how these rules can be leveraged to benefit the offense. Similar to post ups, the first step is creating an advantage over the defender, usually indicated by the defender's hips turning. Once the advantage is created, it is vital that the offensive player seizes the space between themselves and the defender as shown below.

The final piece of the puzzle is patience. Shots that are recklessly attempted without creating an advantage have a low success rate of convincing officials to reward free throws. I love this clip from Arkansas, showing the patience to not settle but keep the advantage going until they get the perfect scenario to attack and draw free throws.

With most of the conversation being centered around offense, here's a simplistic evaluation of how defenders can avoid fouls. To do this, the on-ball defender has to be disciplined enough to remain completely vertical while relying on help defenders that can come behind to help contest the shot. If either the on-ball or help defenders are not precise, the contest will either be ineffective or a potential foul.

Screening

The art of screening has long been viewed as a simplistic part of basketball - It is not flashy enough for highlights. Yet, its value has continued to grow in modern basketball. One reason behind this growth is the emphasis on shooting threes and more specifically, creating advantages by forcing two defenders to have to guard the ball handler. A second reason is what returns me to the purpose of this article - the ability to set illegal screens without being punished.

Instead of diving into modern offensive concepts, I would like to focus on how setting a screen has changed and how that has given a major advantage to modern offenses. Before looking at video examples, I would like to set a solid foundation of what constitutes an illegal screen - The screen must hold their position and allow the defender one step to avoid the screen. Now, with that definition in mind, let's look at screens that were deemed "legal".

This type of movement from these screens is egregious but is not uncommon. Players have resorted to a screen that resembles a tackle protecting his quarterback as a way to force defenses to switch the ball screen. Going back 25 years, screens were forced to be much more rigid to allow for time and space to navigate around the screener.

The first clip, the screener moves slightly to try to adjust into the path of the defender but gives space for the defender to react. Also notice the hand positioning being inside of the screeners frame. The following clip has the same movement but it comes late and the screen leads with the shoulder that knocks the defender of his path.

I really like this clip from an Elite Eight game between Michigan State and Louisville - watch how the screens have begun to change. It no longer looks like a set action, but rather a following movement that leads into the next action. The first screen is more of a slide, the second is more of a slip, and the final is a Gortat screen in the post. None of these "screens" look like the examples from above nor do they match the definition of a screen.

This leads us to the easiest and possibly the most effective form of legal cheating. To study how to weaponize illegal screens on offense, I want to show how UConn has used these type of screens masterfully to make their offense nearly unguardable.

Before I go into when or where to use these new age screens, it is important to clarify how to set screens in modern basketball. Most importantly, the screener has to keep their legs and arms within the width of their shoulders. This screen from Samson Johnson is a great example of that, he is never set but stays within his shoulders and gets away with the questionable screen.

The basic purpose of a screen is drawing two to one player which frees up the second player. Another advanced benefit is how screens can cause breakdowns in defensive communication. This concept of confusing defenses led to quick slip screens that I call "ghost" screens.

The ghost screen is usually used as an extended dribble hand off with the ball handler running at the defender after the pass to disrupt the defender. An extension to the ghost screen is a cut that blends into screen off the ball. Like a ghost screen, these screens are effective because the offensive player no longer has to give the defender space to react so cuts can morph into screens before the defense can properly reach.

On this baseline-out-of-bounds play, watch number three for UConn set the final screen of the play. He doesn't really "set" a screen, choosing to just get in the way. This leaves his defender who has help responsibility behind the play because he doesn't realize what is happening.

With these new types of screens, defenses are almost force to switch. In the NBA, it is quite common to see weak defenders being forced to guard star players in a large part because of these cutting screens. This allows teams to dictate matchups or the screens create driving lanes if the defense is cut unprepared.

Another perfect screening situation is coming behind a defender to set a flare screen. Instead of giving space to the defender, the screener can extend their arms to initiate contact before giving the defender time to react.

As a quick aside, the best defense against teams setting an illegal screen is almost always for the defender to fall down when the screener slides into the contact.

Conclusion

In totality, finding key areas that have changed because of both play style and officiating style was an interesting exercise that allowed me to further understand the difficulties behind modern officiating. While simultaneously seeking to understand how, when done correctly, teams can legally cheat.