http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drPQkEsM8uMIf you follow the NBA, you are familiar with this play by Bruce Bowen. He is thought of as a cheap player for it. I always thought he was a cheap player because of it. Until 2 nights ago.
I was playing in my (competitive) rec league and drew the assignment of guarding a really quick shooter with legit 24' range. I think he probably even popped some deeper ones and maybe sunk 1. I'm a 6'0 point guard and usually guard PGs or wings. My best friends are both 6'3, so when I defend them, I have no chance at blocking a shot. So, I've started to employ the Shane Battier shot defense against them and now I do against all shooters. Not putting my hand up to block the ball, as Bowen does above, but getting my hand between the shooter's arms to block the shooter's view of the hoop while shooting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jMWsnws48I(Battier was sagged too far into help defense to get the hand up fast enough this possession.)
So, anyways, I was doing this to my man last game. For the first time ever, my foot landed underneath his TWICE in the same game. Completely accidentally. He didn't get injured, nor say anything to me or a ref about it. I couldn't help it. To get close to his face, I needed to jump towards him. Then to land, I needed a to put a foot down in the forward direction I was headed in, otherwise my momentum would have made me fall on my face.
It makes me wonder... were Bruce Bowen's plays above really intentional and dirty? Or was it possibly just his reputation that brought attention to it? Has anybody else ever done this in a game?