You include Pierce with Kobe and Dwight?? Paul Pierce doesn't even get 2/3s of calls that are actually fouls. And you think he gets star treatment?! Perhaps you think this is 2006?
I would say that out of those three, Paul gets away with a lot more. He travels probably one in three times he has the ball. That ridiculously obvious upfake/charge that he's made a career of going to the free throw line with is probably as bogus as 80% of the charges (flops) that Glen Davis takes. The fact that he gets relatively few technicals despite of his frequent histrionics speak to the leiniency he gets from officials.
Incidentally, I liked the restraint that the officials showed on the Howard post-free throw sarcasm where the official told him to knock it off and Howard listened. I liked the similar restraint the official showed on Pierce before calling a tech. Pierce didn't stop complaining and deserved the T. He was the victim of a terrible call but at some point, he needs to stop and get back to the game.
Just officiate by the [dang]ed rulebook.
Well said - despite how unpopular this viewpoint is likely to be.
Can't stand the upfake/charge wrong call, no matter if it's wade, PP, or Reggie Miller doing it...
I don't know what the heck an upfake/charge wrong call is but I don't think you guys know what you're talking about. How are 80% of Baby's charges bogus? How is it a flop when on the majority of his charges the guy is plowing into him at full speed? That is called contact. If you want to learn what a flop is watch Noah or Varejao play.
As for Pierce's signature upfake, what is your complaint? The whole point of an upfake is to get your guy in the air. As a classic triple threat of course the fakes are gonna be in his arsenal. He's such a good shooter no one is gonna give him the shot so once they're in the air he can blow by them to get to the rim. If there isn't a clear lane then he can absorb the contact instead and get to the line. The latter he has done much less often since KG and Ray come to town anyway (partly because he does the former more often and partly because he just doesn't get the calls as often as he used to).
Both of these things are in the rulebook.
And also I don't think Pierce travels nearly as much as Kobe (or many others in the league) even though he clearly traveled on that inbounds passs towards the end of the game.
The only thing signature about Pierce's upfake is that he's the only NBA player who repeatedly can get the call when he barrels forward into an airborne opponent. It's irrelevent that the opponent may have been faked out when he goes straight up. Pierce barrels forward and initiates the contact about 80% of the time and gets to the line 100% of the time. Pierce is the only NBA player who consistently gets that call...And it is a bogus one. There is nobody else to compare this to because Pierce is the only one who gets this call consistently. The fact that either Kobe or Pierce travel as often as the do just discredits the game.
When a 6'9" 300lb man gets consistently "plowed over" by players half this size....No matter what speed that person is moving at, it's a flop. The fact that Noah and Varajao have more hair so when they flail and flop it looks more pronounced doesn't make their flops any less ridiculous than Davis. Flops discredit the game. The offensive foul Davis took from Howard yesterday was an extremely rare proper call.
The only difference between Davis and Pierce compared to Kobe, Varajao, and Noah are the color of their uniforms.
Nothing subjective about either thing. Pierce is charging and Davis is flopping.
I'm reading a basketball rulebook. You must be reading Donaghy's / Stern's. Sadly, a lot of these games are starting to look that way.
