Reply With QuoteVoted. I'm really curious what people will think
A poll on NBA hand checking
For anyone with opinions on NBA hand-checking...
https://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1356634576538
Results will be made public in a week.
Voted. I'm really curious what people will think
I'll go ahead and say that I'm not in favor of hand checking, at least not how it was in the mid 90s. I can agree that today's game involves too many whistles, and refs are quick to call the slightest touch, especially for superstars.
But I do vividly remember how much I hated seeing the Knicks/Heat battles that ended up being 73-71. I know those kind of games are romanticized now, ("back when there was 'real' defense") but all that clutching and grabbing was awful to watch. All the goons and muscle bound scrubs could basically guide the offensive players with their hands and arms, and push them around without abandon, and no offensive flow could be established.
Aesthetically, I really do love the free flowing offenses now, and how the slighter, quicker guards can compete just as well as the body builders. I hate how flopping became acceptable this past decade (damn you coach kay), but if they could find a happy medium between not allowing too physical play, and also not calling any little contact to a driver, I would be happy.
If it was up to me, only if contact actually had an effect on the play should a whistle be blown. If a defender is sliding his feet and comes into contact with a player, if it doesn't cause a turnover and generally doesn't change what the player was doing, don't blow it. Such as when a player is just generally dribbling down the court with a defender moving down the floor with him - if the offensive player doesn't lose the ball, don't blow the whistle just because they might touch each other.
Or if two players off the ball are jostling for position or moving through traffic, just let it go unless someone is actually grabbed and/or body slammed to the ground. I think these couple things would make some of the flopping disappear in those instances.
I always grew up with the "no blood, no foul" mentality. Fouls aren't called unless it's intentional (grabbing your arms on a fast break) or out of line. I miss the days where you could play physical without the fear of the superstar getting some bull call like it is now. The league average pace was much higher in the 90s than it was now, and that's with the hand checking so the game these days isn't nearly as free flowing as one would imagine, what with guys like Durant and LeBron taking 8-10 free throws every night.
One of the biggest problems people have with the NBA these days is "star treatment" where guys whine, fake, act, and bitch their way to the FT line. The favorable conditions have eliminated the team concept of the olden days and turned the league into a individualized market where bandwagoners follow their favorite player instead of their favored team. That's manifested itself into a number of issues, most notably competition and fan attendance/involvement. Allowing the physical play to return gives the less talented guys the chance to compete on a more level playing field (court) and gives less talented teams the chance to compete because they're tough.
I'm also in favor of completely eliminating the charge call across the board and labeling it under a flop, punishable by technical foul for acting. Same goes for regular flops
H Checking definitely undermines defensive skills like reaction and quick lateral movement..."palms up" defending can be sustainable. Bruce Bowen and MWP deserve plenty of credit for doing their job even with the liberal foul calling. To your point about sliding: If someone slides into a player where the "manned up" defender moves laterally, with his back directly and constantly facing the basket, and a driving ball-carrier initiates contact with the defender's side-of-chest or frontal-shoulder-area, it should be legal to for a defender to maintain that contact and push back his own body, it does effect the play...but in a fair and necessary way: with that type of defending illegal, the defender's body could be slightly misaligned with the ball-carrier (especially on a close-out) and if that ball-carrier already has momentum going forward, the defender is already beat...a simple move like that would be impossible to defend with shooter/slashers like Kobe or Melo, I saw it from them over and over again last weekend where defense's were constantly disrupted by a simple move. However, a late reaction where a defender bumbs the ball carrier's body with the side of his hip should be illegal. (Sorry for the technical jargin, extremely hard to describe) I like your proposal: a happy medium...conservative officiating has gotten out of control.
Last edited by StakJak; 12-28-2012 at 05:22 PM.
Originally Posted by QC Thundercats
I was wrong, they already have the happy medium; they call ticky tack fouls and other bs on the Bobcats, while they allow hand checking and 90s style defense against us.
I'm normally one to accept a certain degree of bad officiating, and I don't blame it on us having a 32 game losing streak. But lately, there have been some ridiculous calls that weren't even corrected after video replay.
Last night against the Nets right before halftime, Kemba beats most of the Nets down court, gets grabbed on the arm by Deron and brushed on the back of the head, shoots a floater before the buzzer, nails it, and has Crash slide under him but without stopping, taking down Brooke's goofy ass and having the two Nets writhing in pain on the ground while Kemba is waiting for his and1 call.
Now I understand the refs having to discuss it, but after watching the video, the ball is shot before any contact occurs. If you want to call it an offensive foul, thats one thing, but the basket should count anyway as the foul happened after the shot. But Kemba got fouled twice by Deron and undercut by Crash, and just because he's the only one left standing, he has to pay twice for doing nothing wrong?
Then a couple games ago, I remember the opponent driving and then passing the ball, getting fouled before the pass, their teammate gets the ball and dunks it, and the team gets an and 1 call. After watching the replay, the refs confirmed it, even though the video clearly showed the foul while the guy still had possession, then passed it, and then the dunk.
Kemba regularly gets raped during games with no benefit of the call, while D Wade can kick someone in the nuts, then get two more calls to make up for him getting kicked. I think he got 3 calls in 15 seconds, instead of getting ejected in the first place.
But whatever, the lolcats are back in town, and we're gonna win that #2 pick in the lottery again baby!
Anything to stop LeBron from barreling down the lane at will.
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