WKU's head coach Ray Harper talks to an official about a foul against WKU during their game Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015, E.A. Diddle Arena. (Miranda Pederson/photo@bgdailynews.com)

Western Kentucky coach Ray Harper offered his thoughts Monday on changes that could help the overall state of the men’s game, but not before tossing a dig at the man who sparked part of the debate.

Asked for his thoughts on the comments of UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma, who this month called the men’s game “a joke” and said it must make strides to boost the offensive end of the floor, Harper fired back his own question.

“Who is Geno Auriemma?” he asked.

After a reporter responded that Auriemma was the UConn women’s coach, Harper said, “Oh, he coaches women, OK.”

With that all cleared up, Harper offered his suggestions for tweaks that could help the game, starting with a 30-second shot clock instead of 35.

“I don’t know about 24 (seconds). Thirty seconds would probably be better,” Harper said. “You’ve got to look at the ability to take care of the ball and pass the ball. If you think you see some bad shots now, get it down to 24. You’re going to see some terrible shots.

“Those guys are going to run down and shoot it as quickly as possible. I think there will be some changes.”

Harper said the emphasis on hand-checking fouls has “kind of gone by the wayside,” and that it varies from game to game.

He also said he’d like to see a rule change where the 10-second count in the backcourt doesn’t reset if the ball goes out of bounds.

“You reward the defense for that one,” he said.

Harper talked at length about the changes in players over the last decade.

While he said the athletes are “so much better,” he said their fundamentals have dropped off in the last 10 years or so.

“I think kids need to get back in the gym and work on the basics – the ability to shoot the basketball, the ability to make a two-handed chest pass,” Harper said. “But then again, if you turn on ESPN tonight and they do the top 10 plays of the day, they’re not going to have one from a guy making a great two-handed pass. It’ll be a 360 dunk or alley-oop dunk.

“Unfortunately, they work on that more than maybe shooting free throws and doing things that I think are important.”

— Zach Greenwell