ALBANY - Will Brown was exhausted following Tuesday's game against Brown.

He's usually a little tired following a game, but this game went nearly 2 and 1/2 hours.

"I felt like I coached a doubleheader," said Brown, following the 74-68 victory.

Mike McMahon/The Record

With good reason. His UAlbany team shot a whopping 46 free throws, making 35 (76%), while Brown shot 33 free throws, making 17 (51%).

There was a lot made in the preseason about the referees calling the game tighter, in order to allow for more offensive flow and more scoring, to make for a better game.

“I don’t think anything was wrong with the game, going into it," said Brown, candidly, following Friday's practice.

The NCAA was hoping the new rules would give an advantage to the offense, but it seems to have just slowed everything down, turning some games into a whistle-fest.

“From a fans perspective, they don’t want to see free throws," Brown said. "They want to see teams play. They want teams to see free flow.” 

The referees are also being graded on if they call games by the "new" rules, which is leading to some games having more fouls.

“Some of these calls, they make you scratch you head," Brown said. "It all comes down to, you better move your feet."

In the game against Brown, there were a couple charge calls that Coach Brown thought should go the other way.

“That was like last year’s rules, but everything else was this year’s new rules," he said. "It’s a guessing game, It really is. You just don’t know what’s going to happen from night to night.”

That Brown game was the first this season, for UAlbany, in which the game was really slowed to a standstill by fouls. If games continue to be like that, they might not be much fun for fans.

“If every game is like the other night, it might not be fun to watch," said Brown.

One positive was the play off the bench from Levan Shengelia and Michael Rowley, who got into the game, primarily because of all the foul trouble.

“You have to make sure you have bench guys who are ready to play and you better be ready to make your free throws," said Brown.

However, having games were starters are routinely in foul trouble means fans will be seeing more and more bench players.

“In my opinion, coaching through that Brown game, what it does now is how good are your seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth men," Brown said. "At our level, it’s hard enough to get a good starting five.”

The problem may even get worse, as conference play arrives and teams know each other better, usually leading to more physical, grind-it-out games.

“I think it’s going to get worse when you get into conference play because teams know each other even more," Brown said. "So in my opinion, it’s going to become more physical."

The rules aren't changing any time soon, but Brown suggested if the shot clock was lowered or the lane was widened, that would create more possessions and in turn, more offense.

The NCAA released a report on Thursday, stating that scoring was up and turnovers were down, meaning the game was better. 

Brown grew up watching the "Bad Boys" in Detroit, the physical Boston Celtics teams and Karl Malone, who would play physical. He likes that style of game, but knows his teams must adjust.

“We have to adjust because if we don’t adjust, we’re going to lose games because of it," he said.