The game is fine, although it would be nice to shorten the short clock and take away a few timeouts.
there are lots of little things that can be done to help make the game more watchable...
#1 - i agree with you on timeouts. it's bad enough that there's four forced media timeouts per half, but when you've got two coaches calling a combined six timeouts - including full timeouts - in the final minutes, the game ends up having no flow. on top of that, instant replay on questionable calls inside of two minutes has gotten out of hand. seems like the refs go to the monitor for almost everything anymore.
#2 - use a universal ball. most teams use nike, many teams use wilson, some use adidas, some use under armour. a handful of teams use The Rock ball. wisconsin is the lone team to use a sterling brand ball. andre hollins complained earlier this year that he thought nebraska's adidas balls were hard to shoot. tim miles was asked if brand of ball matters. he said his colorado state teams used spalding balls, which almost no other team used, and thought it made a big difference. "It was a unique ball, and it was hard for our guys to get used to it when we started with it," Miles said. "But we were one of the best offensive teams in the country, so it was doing well for us. But I also think it messed with our opponent, no question about it."
#3 - adjust the standard for rim tightness. the nba's scoring was down several years ago (i believe prior to the 2009-10 season), and one thing they did was bring in a new rim manufacturer. the rim broke away from the front and the sides, as compared to just the front. scoring did rise that year (it can't be entirely attributed to the rims), but i recall players commenting that they were far more forgiving.
#4 - use a slightly smaller basketball. easier to control, easier to shoot (more room), easier to dunk.
#5 - expanding the lane, implementing defensive 3 seconds (or 5 seconds) would also help. the WNBA did this last year with some success.
shortening the shot clock seems to be everyone's favorite option. i don't think a 30 second clock would be a big deal, but a 24-second clock would ruin the game and make an overwhelming majority of games unwatchable.