Adam Silver on Mike and Mike in the Morning.

[nickagneta]

Discussed some fun issues. Stated he doesn't think the NBA is handling flopping correctly and advocates change so that the flopping can be handled within the confines of the game. Talked about how next year there will be a replay booth in New York overseeing every game that will have communication with refs on the floor which might possibly lead to in game penalties, overturning of calls and technicals for flopping.

Also, in a shocker, stated his number one concern for the game is how the officiating is perceived by the fans. He doesn't like that in the NBA fans in the stands are saying the refs are fixing games and that they are being influenced by the NBA to get a certain outcome to extend series or give the advantage to teams in certain markets or with certain players. He says his officials are the best in sports but you do not see this in the NFL and he wants that type of respect and perception for his officials. Said maybe education is the answer but more replay and an updated replay system swould probably be the right thing to stem the tide of this type of thinking.

[Clench123]

I think it's ridiculous that everybody had already prejudged the guy as being an extension of Stern but his actions so far as being a total opposite.  Stern wouldn't have handled Sterling's case like Silver did.  Stern wouldn't have talked about his refs on camera like Silver did here.  Maybe Silver is not so bad after all.

[ram]

they will turn a 2 hour game into a 3 hour game (similar to the NFL) and still not get it right (also like the NFL).

There is more controversy today in the NFL with replays than there was without.  I hate it.   Let the officials do their jobs and live with what they call.  That's sports.

[wdleehi]

He has certainly worked hard to separate himself from Stern.



I am happy he is not taking the head in the sand approach for issues fans have like the officials.  Replays can be done quickly if the on the court officials do not have to go look.  They can review fouls called, but they can not review possible fouls not called.  That way, the actual flow of the game is not disturbed. 

[Clench123]

they will turn a 2 hour game into a 3 hour game (similar to the NFL) and still not get it right (also like the NFL).

There is more controversy today in the NFL with replays than there was without.  I hate it.   Let the officials do their jobs and live with what they call.  That's sports.

Is that without commercials?  Because with commercials an NBA game is already 3 hours or almost 3 hours.

[GreenWarrior]

Discussed some fun issues. Stated he doesn't think the NBA is handling flopping correctly and advocates change so that the flopping can be handled within the confines of the game. Talked about how next year there will be a replay booth in New York overseeing every game that will have communication with refs on the floor which might possibly lead to in game penalties, overturning of calls and technicals for flopping.

Also, in a shocker, stated his number one concern for the game is how the officiating is perceived by the fans. He doesn't like that in the NBA fans in the stands are saying the refs are fixing games and that they are being influenced by the NBA to get a certain outcome to extend series or give the advantage to teams in certain markets or with certain players. He says his officials are the best in sports but you do not see this in the NFL and he wants that type of respect and perception for his officials. Said maybe education is the answer but more replay and an updated replay system swould probably be the right thing to stem the tide of this type of thinking.

uggh that last line "more replay"? no thank you!

that line is like what stern used to do when it came to adjusting rules - "we can't get this call right so lets make another rule as a Band-Aid so we never have to address the real problem".

i'm more than willing to give silver a chance because he's not a smarmy p**** like stern, in fact he's kinda likeable. and the fact that he acknowledges the officiating as a problem is a start but i'm not optimistic. esp. when their head of officials makes explanations like this:

(paraphrasing) in this particular incident this ref's responsibility is to watch for this and that. the ref(on the other side of the court) responsible for this play likely couldn't see because of being screened by the other players on the court....

and then silver says they're the best officials? they maybe but their system is horrible. or more likely it's both that are horrible.

[Sizzlack]

Absolutely love this guy. Totally had him judged all wrong, he's as much the anti-Stern as I ever could have imagined.

My one concern, hearkening to what ram mentioned above, is an expansion of replay will go the way of the MLB. Where they're taking all this time for reviews, and still getting it wrong half the time.

That being said, I believe doing anything is better than letting the status quo continue. Flopping is a huge issue right now, and at the speed the game is played, it's far too difficult to rely on officials to be able to judge in real time when contact is exaggerated. A reply booth reviewing in real time is a great idea, and much needed.

[Celtics18]

My number one mantra to improve officiating would be; "Don't guess." 

I can live with missed calls so much more than I can live with made up calls.  I think basketball is probably the hardest sport to officiate.  So much goes on on every play.  The refs are going to miss stuff every once in a while.  I really can't stand it when they anticipate fouls and blow the whistle on fouls that don't actually occur, though. 

If a player drives to the hoop hard and it looks like he got fouled, but the ref didn't actually see the contact, hold the whistle and call it good defense.  For me, that's the biggest thing towards improving the game.  Don't anticipate fouls.   Call the ones you see.  Don't call the ones you don't see.

That's why I hate late whistles so much.  When a whistle is late, it is a strong indication that the ref didn't actually see the foul itself, but is reacting to the offensive player's falling to the floor or flailing his arms as evidence that he must have been fouled.

In short, I want to see them return to more of the classic "let 'em play" philosophy of refereeing the games. 

[Donoghus]

Good stuff to hear.

Nice to see that he is trying to change the perception of officiating.  Stern would just talk down and be condescending about it if brought up.  I think working so close to Stern for years, he's seen the good & the bad and is trying to address the bad head on.  I don't know if it'll work.  It'll be awfully tough to change the perception of officiating but, at least, he sees it as an issue and doesn't laugh it off like Stern would.

[RyNye]

NBA refs get a lot more hate than they deserve from entitled/annoying fans. A lot of people let their own biases affect their judgments, when the refs are actually being reasonable. Fans will screech about how terrible a call or non-call is, but in those cases the refs are right, not the fans (like the infamous one earlier in the playoffs where on the replay the refs weren't allowed to judge the player out of bounds).

The fact is, NBA refs are very good, overall. Yes, they have bad games, they make bad calls, but that is inevitable. It is literally impossible to be 100% accurate. And some of the supposed problems with the refs are actually problems with the rule system that the refs are following (flopping, for example; shooting fowls, etc.).

Honestly, anyone crying about the refs fixing the games is just a whining loser. It is easy to cherry pick missed calls or bad calls to make it look like their is a conspiracy, while ignoring the 20-30 good calls the same ref makes that game.

That said, the refs aren't perfect, and there is room for improvement. I think the best thing for the NBA to do is simply encourage the refs to be more conservative with their whistle. When in doubt, don't blow the whistle. The game would be better with more non-calls. Missing a foul is better than frivolous calls.

[obnoxiousmime]

I think it's ridiculous that everybody had already prejudged the guy as being an extension of Stern but his actions so far as being a total opposite.  Stern wouldn't have handled Sterling's case like Silver did.  Stern wouldn't have talked about his refs on camera like Silver did here.  Maybe Silver is not so bad after all.

Really? All I've ever heard is praise for Silver, even before Stern left. Everybody seems to agree he's a forward-thinking commissioner.

Posted by: ram
? on: Today at 10:30:49 AM ?

    Insert Quote


they will turn a 2 hour game into a 3 hour game (similar to the NFL) and still not get it right (also like the NFL).

There is more controversy today in the NFL with replays than there was without.  I hate it.   Let the officials do their jobs and live with what they call.  That's sports.

I also hate all the stoppages. There are too many stops in play as it is. How about taking away some of the timeouts if you're going to increase the number of replays? If you think about it, timeouts are horrible for the product. When the action is at its most exciting (i.e. a team is making a run), what always happens? A TIMEOUT and go to commercial. Imagine if a boxer was getting pummeled and his coach said, "TIMEOUT, we need to halt the opponent's momentum."

They should limit the number of timeouts and eliminate TV timeouts altogether. Imagine the end of the game where players actually have to think on the fly instead of always calling timeout to "set up a play."

One of the most exciting plays in basketball history? Larry Bird stealing the ball from Isiah who panicked and threw the ball away on the inbounds. If Isiah had called timeout as he should have, that play would never have happened.

Anyway, just ranting. It's never going to happen because they need all the commercial money.

[Donoghus]

Just cut down the team timeouts if they're going to go to the central replay route.  There's too many timeouts to begin with, anyways. 

[nickagneta]

Along with flopping I think the NBA has to go back to hard line calling of technical fouls for complaining about calls. Lebron and Wade are famous for the constant and demonstrative complaining to officials after every shot they take but its a rampant problem in the league. Take a shot and rather than run back on defense or crash the offensive board, players instantly run toward a ref yelling and complaining, making faces and failing their arms in disgust.

That has to stop as much as the flopping. Enough is enough the call was made move on. I think I literally saw three really late whistles last night after shots because it appeared the refs were being influenced by complaining players. Its atrocious.

[GreenWarrior]

My number one mantra to improve officiating would be; "Don't guess." 

I can live with missed calls so much more than I can live with made up calls.  I think basketball is probably the hardest sport to officiate.  So much goes on on every play.  The refs are going to miss stuff every once in a while.  I really can't stand it when they anticipate fouls and blow the whistle on fouls that don't actually occur, though. 

If a player drives to the hoop hard and it looks like he got fouled, but the ref didn't actually see the contact, hold the whistle and call it good defense.  For me, that's the biggest thing towards improving the game.  Don't anticipate fouls.   Call the ones you see.  Don't call the ones you don't see.

That's why I hate late whistles so much.  When a whistle is late, it is a strong indication that the ref didn't actually see the foul itself, but is reacting to the offensive player's falling to the floor or flailing his arms as evidence that he must have been fouled.

In short, I want to see them return to more of the classic "let 'em play" philosophy of refereeing the games.

that's why I think they should only have 2 refs on the floor. 1 to watch the ball handler and the guy defending the ball handler. the other ref watches all the off-ball action.

then have 2 watching on a monitor on the sidelines. 1 watching what we're seeing. the other backing up the on the court ref responsible for watching the off the ball action.

[NorthernLightning]

Silver says NBA refs are the best in sports, and fans fawn over Silver. LOL. Now you guys love Joey Crawford and Dick Bavetta, and love NBA officiating. I guess you love those superstar calls and those rookie calls as well.

Dirty little secret: Study says NBA refs have Napoleon Complex  http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/study-referees-have-napoleon-complex-short-officials-call-more-fouls-could-impact-gambling-060914