Anyone know what a foul is?

[Alleyoopster]

Last week Chris Paul was fined $25,000 for his public comment on the technical foul he received from a rookie female ref.
 
"Some of [the technical fouls] were ridiculous," Paul said. "The tech that I get right there was ridiculous. I don't care what nobody says, I don't care what she says; that's terrible. There's no way that can be a tech. We try to get the ball out fast every time down the court, and when we did that, she said, 'Uh-uh.' I said, 'Why, uh-uh?' And she gave me a tech.

"That's ridiculous. If that's the case, this might not be for her." 

These statements might have been an extreme case, but it seems it's getting more and more difficult figuring these refs out.  And, I'm wondering if refereeing isn't for a number of refs in the league.

I say this because I find myself shaking my head at least 4-5 times a game wondering why particular calls are made or not made.  It seems the NBA has laid out unwritten violation rules and hasn't made them known to the public. 

One typical example is if a player is driving to the hoop and the defensive player makes any contact whatsoever it's an automatic foul.  On the other hand, someone driving to the hoop gets body slammed into the stands or floor, yet because it's a clean block it's a 'no call'.  I sit there scratching my head thinking didn't the ref see the body contact?  Surely, everyone in the arena saw it.  The player is plainly on the floor.  He changed directions due to the contact. 


I don't know if was last night or today... a player is 4 feet from the ref at the 3 point line, he's dribbling the ball, his hand goes underneath the ball with a slight hesitation holding the ball up, he takes another dribble and then he shot...it goes in... The ref doesn't call a palming or double dribble.  How is that possible?  The ref was 4 feet away looking at the player?  I realize there is a lot of latitude to palming, but this was blatant.   

The other night Tommy commented on a player who spun to the basket and ran right into Sullinger(?) who was planted firmly in front of him. Yet, the call went against Jared(?).  Tommy said something to the affect that he has a right to be on the court...you can't just get out of his way and let him go to the hoop. 

There seems to be no end to these types of examples.  My guess is a lot of players are angry at the officiating.  However, they don't complain because of the exorbitant fines. 

Has anyone figured out these calls or no calls? 

[GreenWarrior]

I think the confusion over what is and isn't a foul was actually the goal of the NBA. no one knows and they just move on because they can't do anything about it.

the whole system needs an overhaul and all of the officials need to be gotten rid of. they all stink of shady david stern. the days of a missed call or non call in front of a ref should be over. this is 2015, let's get some professionals in here.

[jpotter33]

I think it's always going to be an area of contention, because the refs affect the game of basketball so much more than any other sport.

But I agree, a whole new era of refs needs to be introduced under Silver. The game has become so inconsistently called that something needs to be done about it.

[ViolentGhandi]

no refs at all - gory days - I like that 

[fantankerous]

Constant whining about the refs is the biggest problem with the NBA today.

[Celtics4ever]

Dave Cowens knew what a foul was!

The Celtics were playing Houston in a game on Feb. 25, 1976. On two different occasions, Rockets guard Mike Newlin stepped in front of Cowens and flopped worse than "The Chevy Chase Show," drawing charge calls against Cowens.

Cowens panned Newlin's act. He had always maintained that all players should adhere to an unwritten code of conduct, one that Newlin had blatantly violated. The transgression required retaliation.

"I said to myself, `OK, I have to put an end to this,' " Cowens says. "I foul out enough without having this crap."

As Newlin trotted up court on a Houston possession shortly after the second foul, Cowens charged at him and leveled him with two high forearms. He turned toward referee Bill Jones and bellowed, "Now that's a foul."

Critics skewered Cowens for the vicious blow. In defense, he penned a letter to the Boston Globe that read more like a college thesis, in which he reeled off five reasons why the "fraudulent, deceiving and flagrant acts of pretending to be fouled when little or no contact is made is just as outrageously unsportsmanlike as knocking a player to the floor."

"Pretending," Cowens wrote, "makes players think they can achieve their goal without putting in the work or effort that it takes to develop any skill or talent. . . . It distracts anyone who attends the game to study fundamental basketball skills and traits of the game.

"If this practice continues unrestrained or the actor is allowed to utilize this fraudulent exercise successfully, it will gradually become an accepted strategy and will be taught to kids more enthusiastically by their coaches."

http://lexnihilnovi.blogspot.com/2008/09/cowens-now-thats-foul.html

[Emmette Bryant]

Dave Cowens knew what a foul was!

The Celtics were playing Houston in a game on Feb. 25, 1976. On two different occasions, Rockets guard Mike Newlin stepped in front of Cowens and flopped worse than "The Chevy Chase Show," drawing charge calls against Cowens.

Cowens panned Newlin's act. He had always maintained that all players should adhere to an unwritten code of conduct, one that Newlin had blatantly violated. The transgression required retaliation.

"I said to myself, `OK, I have to put an end to this,' " Cowens says. "I foul out enough without having this crap."

As Newlin trotted up court on a Houston possession shortly after the second foul, Cowens charged at him and leveled him with two high forearms. He turned toward referee Bill Jones and bellowed, "Now that's a foul."

Critics skewered Cowens for the vicious blow. In defense, he penned a letter to the Boston Globe that read more like a college thesis, in which he reeled off five reasons why the "fraudulent, deceiving and flagrant acts of pretending to be fouled when little or no contact is made is just as outrageously unsportsmanlike as knocking a player to the floor."

"Pretending," Cowens wrote, "makes players think they can achieve their goal without putting in the work or effort that it takes to develop any skill or talent. . . . It distracts anyone who attends the game to study fundamental basketball skills and traits of the game.

"If this practice continues unrestrained or the actor is allowed to utilize this fraudulent exercise successfully, it will gradually become an accepted strategy and will be taught to kids more enthusiastically by their coaches."

http://lexnihilnovi.blogspot.com/2008/09/cowens-now-thats-foul.html

I was actually going to post the same thing.  Glad I read the whole thread before posting.

TP for you.

[crimson_stallion]

The worst part is that the league will always back the Official, no matter what.  Even if it's blatantly obvious on replay that the call was wrong.

I totally understand that watching a game and making calls on the spur of the moment isn't easy.  I totally understand that anybody, no matter how good, would miss a call from time to time.  Hell sometimes it's hard to make a call even AFTER seeing the slow-mo replace from three different angles. 

So when you have calls that are close, I totally understand it.

But when you have called that are absolutely blatantly obvious (like some of the ridiculous travel calls in Shaq-tin-a-fool) that don't get called - in cases like this the league should man up and admit that they made a mistake on the call.

If the league actually admitted to the mistakes, then maybe they could use them as an example to educate the other officials.  Or maybe they could keep tally, and when certain officials start racking up an excessively high number of bad calls, they should be reprimanded.

I also believe that when a bad call is made, and a player gets a technical for arguing against the bad call, and that call is later reviewed and found that the player was correct...the technical should be rescinded.

Maybe they should give each team's coach two free 'replays' per game so that at any point in the game, if the team felt they got hard done by on a critical play, they can elect to have the possession reviewed by the officials. 

I understand the biggest reason why more plays are not reviewed is fear of slowing down the game, and that's a fair call.  If you only give each team 2 replays per game then it eliminates a number of problems:

1) Won't slow the game down, because you can only use the replay request twice per game

2) Because you only have two uses, coaches would save these replays for only the most important possessions

3) No player/coach can complain they lost a game about bad calls - it's your responsibility to save those replays for the plays that really matter, and if you waste them early (then get stung by a bad call later) that's your problem for not

I think this small change would introduce a huge improvement. 

[freshinthehouse]

Constant whining about the refs is the biggest problem with the NBA today.

TP+ 

[Alleyoopster]

The worst part is that the league will always back the Official, no matter what.  Even if it's blatantly obvious on replay that the call was wrong.

I totally understand that watching a game and making calls on the spur of the moment isn't easy.  I totally understand that anybody, no matter how good, would miss a call from time to time.  Hell sometimes it's hard to make a call even AFTER seeing the slow-mo replace from three different angles. 

So when you have calls that are close, I totally understand it.

But when you have called that are absolutely blatantly obvious (like some of the ridiculous travel calls in Shaq-tin-a-fool) that don't get called - in cases like this the league should man up and admit that they made a mistake on the call.

If the league actually admitted to the mistakes, then maybe they could use them as an example to educate the other officials.  Or maybe they could keep tally, and when certain officials start racking up an excessively high number of bad calls, they should be reprimanded.

I also believe that when a bad call is made, and a player gets a technical for arguing against the bad call, and that call is later reviewed and found that the player was correct...the technical should be rescinded.

Maybe they should give each team's coach two free 'replays' per game so that at any point in the game, if the team felt they got hard done by on a critical play, they can elect to have the possession reviewed by the officials. 

I understand the biggest reason why more plays are not reviewed is fear of slowing down the game, and that's a fair call.  If you only give each team 2 replays per game then it eliminates a number of problems:

1) Won't slow the game down, because you can only use the replay request twice per game

2) Because you only have two uses, coaches would save these replays for only the most important possessions

3) No player/coach can complain they lost a game about bad calls - it's your responsibility to save those replays for the plays that really matter, and if you waste them early (then get stung by a bad call later) that's your problem for not

I think this small change would introduce a huge improvement.

It sounds like a great idea....

[jpotter33]

Dave Cowens knew what a foul was!

The Celtics were playing Houston in a game on Feb. 25, 1976. On two different occasions, Rockets guard Mike Newlin stepped in front of Cowens and flopped worse than "The Chevy Chase Show," drawing charge calls against Cowens.

Cowens panned Newlin's act. He had always maintained that all players should adhere to an unwritten code of conduct, one that Newlin had blatantly violated. The transgression required retaliation.

"I said to myself, `OK, I have to put an end to this,' " Cowens says. "I foul out enough without having this crap."

As Newlin trotted up court on a Houston possession shortly after the second foul, Cowens charged at him and leveled him with two high forearms. He turned toward referee Bill Jones and bellowed, "Now that's a foul."

Critics skewered Cowens for the vicious blow. In defense, he penned a letter to the Boston Globe that read more like a college thesis, in which he reeled off five reasons why the "fraudulent, deceiving and flagrant acts of pretending to be fouled when little or no contact is made is just as outrageously unsportsmanlike as knocking a player to the floor."

"Pretending," Cowens wrote, "makes players think they can achieve their goal without putting in the work or effort that it takes to develop any skill or talent. . . . It distracts anyone who attends the game to study fundamental basketball skills and traits of the game.

"If this practice continues unrestrained or the actor is allowed to utilize this fraudulent exercise successfully, it will gradually become an accepted strategy and will be taught to kids more enthusiastically by their coaches."

http://lexnihilnovi.blogspot.com/2008/09/cowens-now-thats-foul.html

Haha that's awesome! TP! Too bad the good ole days can't make a return!

[MBunge]

I'm not sure Paul is the best example of this, given that the Clippers are about the biggest bunch of entitled whiners in the league.

And the one defense I'll make of the refs is that they have to be inconsistent because the league wants them to be.  It's not an accident that the top players in the NBA rarely foul out of are even in serious foul trouble.

Mike

[wiley]

An NBA foul is what happens when a referee thinks there is a possible chance
that there may have been some small amount of contact, and plus is nervous because
the game has been flowing for more than like 45 seconds and he/she are
worried things could get out of control at such a pace, and so shoves the whistle
in their mouth and blows with gusto.

[kraidstar]

I think the confusion over what is and isn't a foul was actually the goal of the NBA. no one knows and they just move on because they can't do anything about it.

the whole system needs an overhaul and all of the officials need to be gotten rid of. they all stink of shady david stern. the days of a missed call or non call in front of a ref should be over. this is 2015, let's get some professionals in here.

+100000000

one interesting thing i've noticed the last year or so is that free throw attempts for stars seem to be a bit down, james harden's top 9 FTA are the lowest by .9FT for the last 16 years (as far back as ESPN's FTA stat goes, so it's probably much further back).
in most recent years there have been 3, 4, 5, 6+ players with a higher FTA than the leader (harden) this year.
and of course, harden is one of the biggest floppers of all time, so his inflated numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.
hopefully this means there's a shift towards more team-oriented play and fewer star calls.