There’s been a lot of talk about the NBA’s new policy on technical fouls, furthered by Kevin Garnett’s ejection in a preseason game against the Knicks.
Basically, the new rule is that NBA officials can give technical fouls if they complain about calls/no-calls. While this may seem like a fair enough rule, I hate it, for two main reasons.
The first reason I hate it is because NBA officials are the most crooked referees in the business, and they always make horrible calls. The players, coaches, etc. have a right to state their case to the referees if they don’t agree with a call. It’s a facet of sports to have disagreements with officials. Seeing that NBA officials are terrible, the players should be able to complain about bad calls and let the referees know that they were wrong. It’s human nature to disagree with something they feel is wrong, so naturally the players will complain after what they feel is a bad call. This rule, in turn, will hurt player morale and player’s will stop caring because they know they can’t do anything about it.
That brings me to my second reason for disliking this new rule. The frequency of technical fouls will be higher than ever. Check this; in 59 preseason games so far, there have been 69 technical fouls called! That’s about 1.15 technical fouls per game. Last preseason? There were only 51 technical fouls in 62 games. That’s about .82 technical fouls per game. So there has been about a 40% increase in technical fouls called. Now, during the regular season, the amount of technical fouls will jump dramatically because the games matter more, hence more complaining over calls that could make the difference between winning and losing. Again, this means a lot of stopping the game for technical fouls. But instead of the occasional technical foul, there will be many more technical fouls during the games, making the games more unwatchable.
As I do most every column, I’d like to ask the UB faithful what they think of the rule. Do you think this rule will have a positive or negative effect of player? And, do you think it will have a positive/negative effect on fans? Let me know your thoughts.
I fucking love this new rule. I can't stand these children in the NBA who slow the game down. I'm sick of seeing faces like this
ReplyDeletehttp://www.celticstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/rasheed-wallace-arguing-with-ref-300x168.jpg
Like this:
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Like this:
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and like this:
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Everyone should just shut the fuck up and play the game. You can't reverse the call. The rules are the rules, the refs are the refs. I love how we say that the NBA has such horrible refs. I think the refs do a good job with the rules that they're presented with. They didn't make the stupid moving screen rule, they just enforce it. The NBA has made so many rules for ticky tack fouls that people just assume that the game is poorly officiated, when in reality the refs are just following the rules, as stupid as they are.
By the way, I love how we blame the league when technical fouls go up. The players know the rules. They know what will get them T'd up, yet they do it anyway. Is that the refs fault? The entire point of the rule is to get everyone to shut the fuck up and play, but all we get is more complaining. Thats the fault of these undereducated arrogant players.
I don't know about you, but when I tune into a basketball game, I'm looking to see players play hard. What i'm not looking for are million dollar prima donna athletes complain about EVERY call. It really is so over the top.
We all have that one friend who bitches throughout an entire game of pick-up basketball, and you know what? That guy isn't very much fun to play with. Thats how I feel about watching NBA baskeball (especially the celtics). It gets old pretty quickly. The players are so ridiculously unsympathetic.
Bob Rodgers, a wise baskeball mind, always told us that he would take care of the refs, and we should just worry about playing the game. This is exactly what the NBA needs. Just like in baseball, its the coach/manager's job to keep the refs honest and protect the players. I'd love to see NBA coaches have free reign to complain all they want as long as its civilized, therefore the players wouldn't have to. But that can never happen because players think the refs are out to get them and will only argue more as the rules get more strict. Dumbasses.
I nearly agree entirely with you Shane. Players need to play, and that is it. Additionally, people with front row seats to the game did not pay that money to see Kevin Garnett, Dwayne Wade, whoever, get kicked out within the first half.
ReplyDeleteThe only part that I might add or disagree with, is that there may be some bias amongst the refs. Haven't some of them admitted that there are refs that are after certain players(or was that just Tim Donaghy)? Regardless, the point is that these millionaires should shut their mouths and play the game.
Any sport that has rules that cannot clearly be defined in a way that everyone agrees upon should not be a sport.
ReplyDeleteThen sports don't exist. Baseball has inconsistent strike zones, I don't think anyone completely understands the pass interference, tuck, or 'Calvin Johnson' rules in football, and we still don't know what an illegal hit is in hockey.
ReplyDeleteAnd Joe, Donaghey was the only one to have been proven to be crooked. Joey Crawford was suspended a couple years ago for ejecting Tim Duncan while he was on the bench minding his own buisness. (If you haven't seen that video, watch it. Its baffling.) I personally don't subscribe to an NBA official conspiracy theory. However, I can understand why some people do. NBA refs are incredibly inconsistent, but I think that the problem lies with the rules themselves, not the men who enforce them. Most foul rules are pretty open to interpretation, and thats why we get so much complaining. One ref sees the rule one way and another ref a different way. I think the NBA just needs to become a more physical league as a whole. The way the rules are defined, it takes so little to get a foul call, and that leads to alot of complaints from players.