My 5 things
Since I'm in no mood to rehash the entering and twisting of the dagger that was placed in my heart at approx 10pm last night, I thought I would make a list of 5 things the NBA needs to do to make me love it just that much more.
1. Axe "The Reggie Miller Foul".
- You all know this call. Its my least favorite rule in the book. Pump fake, defender jumps, shooter jumps into defender in air and flails. No ACTUAL attempt to shoot happens. I hate this rule. I despise this rule. If this rule were a person it would be Adolph Hitler in a Laker jersey having Starbucks coffee with Clay Bennett using money stolen from a homeless veteran selling handmade trinkets which he would then donate to a dying kids charity. According to the real rule book, this is an offensive foul. The offensive player is entering the defenders space (which goes up from his feet straight up into the ceiling), causing contact and somehow is rewarded. This is commonly called in the key as well. Get in close, dive INTO your defender and flail. 2 shots. And a loss of self respect.
2. Ease up on the Superstar calls.
- Look, I get it. You want to see the stars succeed. They are your bread and butter and make the bucks for the teams and the leagues. What drives me insane though is that they play by different rules. Its one thing to let a star get away with a questionable offensive goaltend for a slam or give him the benefit of the doubt on a dunk in the lane when the defender was millimeters from the circle in the key. But seriously, its gotten out of hand. Oh Mr. Stern, its about the game not the players. I can't fault his success, but the slope this road goes on is getting awfully icy.
3. Update the Arena Music.
- There are some classics out there, songs that when I hear them remind me of the Blazers, but c'mon guys. At least throw in ONE song that has been a top 40 since 1985. Just ONE. Please. I love Billy Idol. At least I did. But I was 6 years old. Update your music. Sometimes after a great run, I get stoked, I'm ready to dance (not Comet Guy dance but you know, get down) and then I get the same song they played earlier after we made one dunk. Mony Mony aint cuttin it. Update time. Timbaland makes lots of great beats where no one needs to know the words. Look into it fellas.
4. Show Some Loyalty.
- I understand the need to make money. I understand that the career of an NBA player is undoubtedly short. I understand that sometimes you are traded, sometimes you just dont fit, and sometimes the city you are in isn't good for your off the court life (NYC/LA/MIA don't work for party animals) but I miss the days when a player retired with the team he was drafted by. Now there are a ton of guys who change teams who are role players, but I am talking about stars (yes you LeBron) who for whatever reason leave their teams to go elsewhere for greener pastures. Your team loves you, you are loved in the community and can make just as much money where you are than anywhere else, yet you leave. I pray this doesnt happen to Roy, LMA or Oden. There just isn't any loyalty anymore. (Side note: I do not begrudge a player leaving at the tail of his career to try and win a title. Winning is SUPPOSED to be the reason to play, not money. Just move on with class and show respect to the place you played your whole career.)
5. Stop the Portuguese National Soccer Team-esque Flopping.
- If Oden or Shaq or Howard or Eddy Curry with a cheesesteak in hand, was charging at me, I get the idea of maybe going down a little bit before the body contact occured. I want children someday. Yet flopping occurs about as often as a european player gets on the floor. Some Americans are even worse (Derek Fisher should hang his head in shame) yet the NBA looks the other way. This isn't soccer, stop falling down. Remember? "Contact" sport? Well, in a perfect world (my world) not only would flopping not generate a call, it would be a foul FOR flopping. And a technical for guys who toboggon themselves across the floor like its ice on Greenland in mid January (again DFish, I am strongly nodding in your direction). Real charges should be taken when a player is out of control or run you over. If you start to fall while there is air between your sweat soaked jersey and their elbow, shoulder and/or face, the foul is on you my friend. And hopefully so is their stench.
Honorable Mention of things that drive me insane: Being 6"11 and laying it up in traffic. Getting 14 seconds on the clock after someone intentionally throws the ball off another players foot. Getting a timeout on the ground when it should be a jumpball. Guys that kick out their leg when they shoot and fall down and demand a call. Players who slap instead of punch (if your gonna throw it, mean it. Your getting suspended anyways and I enjoy a good punch). The inordinate amount of attention NY gets as a basketball Mecca when it is roughly the 100th best place to play in HS or College and the Knicks haven't won a title in 20 years. Peter Vecsey, Sam Smith and Stephen A Smith (his initials are in the wrong order). Kobe and Vanessa Bryant.
What are yours? (they can probably be shorter than my rants, unless you LOVE to type)
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Im a cheery fellow.. i couldnt take it anymore
"Why would we lie to ourselves dude?"
"Be excellent to each other."
"All we are is dust in the wind, dude."
"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."
The Wisdom of Bill S Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan
by GreatOden'sRaven on Dec 10, 2008 4:36 PM PST up reply actions
You are seriously wrong about the Reggie Miller foul
You must understand, If that defender leaves his feet it is the right of the shooter to draw the foul. It is no different then someone driving the lane attempting to jump into the airborn defender trying to draw the foul.
Don’t get mad about superstar fouls. Just remember where this team came from. We deserve it if everyone around the league gets them.
I agree MSG is overrated.
I believe that is one of the worst things about the NBA
you shouldnt be able to CAUSE contact and receive points. Not at all in agreement. Thats the worst idea ever
"Why would we lie to ourselves dude?"
"Be excellent to each other."
"All we are is dust in the wind, dude."
"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."
The Wisdom of Bill S Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan
by GreatOden'sRaven on Dec 11, 2008 11:06 AM PST up reply actions
no, you are seriously wrong!
That type of foul is one of the worse ones in all of sports. If the defender jumps into you while you are going up for the shot it is one thing, but to pump fake, have the defender go straight up, and you as the offensive player jump into the defender, not even attempt a legit shot, and get the foul call is crazy.
5 things to change?
1. David Stern’s reign of terror needs to end.
2. The refs need to be actually policed and punished, I’m sick of them deciding games at the leagues discretion.
3. T up KG when he opens his noise hole; give him the same treatment ’sheed gets.
4. Fire whomever created our schedule this year.
5. The Santa Anna fault needs to split and just dump LA in the pacific.
Skadoosh
2 birds with one stone.
5. The Santa Anna fault needs to split and just dump LA in the pacific.
Get rid of the Lakers and Z-Bo forever
i like your thinking
also no more listening to people trying to say Baron Davis should go to the all star game over roy.
Skadoosh
hated zbo as a blazer
now I look at him and he looks like a big teddy bear. Can’t hate him. I might even cheer him Friday
I cant swim that good man
"Why would we lie to ourselves dude?"
"Be excellent to each other."
"All we are is dust in the wind, dude."
"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."
The Wisdom of Bill S Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan
by GreatOden'sRaven on Dec 11, 2008 11:06 AM PST up reply actions
I think for the Reggie Miller type call
sometimes you get them in the air and you have to sell it. like here.
Every night the team scores 100 points is sort of a mini-Hispanic night.........all the fans get free Chalupas. --Bust a Bucket
whatever happened to getting a shot off and playing good defense..
if the guy jumps ON YOU, then its a foul, but if he jumps straight up and you jump under him.. no call
"Why would we lie to ourselves dude?"
"Be excellent to each other."
"All we are is dust in the wind, dude."
"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."
The Wisdom of Bill S Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan
by GreatOden'sRaven on Dec 11, 2008 11:07 AM PST up reply actions
fouling in the last 24 seconds just to stop the clock
I can’t think of a rule change that would effectively end the practice of fouling to stop the clock, but I wish the practice would end.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
"I would be in favor of trading LMA and Oden for a reliable starting PF at this point."
MT Suit, 11/25/08
Regarding:
Adolph Hitler in a Laker jersey having Starbucks coffee with Clay Bennett
using money stolen from a homeless veteran selling handmade trinkets
which he would then donate to a dying kids charity.
Sounds like Sarah Palin.
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." - Ernest Hemingway
by QualityPie on Dec 10, 2008 5:43 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Good one
Except that has nothing to do with her.
by TheGreatDane17 on Dec 10, 2008 6:59 PM PST up reply actions
PS
Don’t believe everything your mommy and daddy tell you. I am going to go out on a limb and say they think Fox News is bias.
by TheGreatDane17 on Dec 10, 2008 7:00 PM PST up reply actions
Fun post and all valid
but I think the biggest thing that most everyone wants is consistancy. I have been watching and playing hoops for 25 years, and I think what it comes down to is this…
It is the hardest team sport to officiate. There are a lot of rules that involve minutia like angles, “player space” and momentum, which are interpreted differently by different observers. This is most obvious (and least relevant) when two fans, pulling for opposing teams, view an iffy foul, and almost without exception the two see the call as just or unjust based on their bias.
More relevant, though are the officials interpretations based on vantage point, momentum (of the players and the official viewing the play), lighting, and (the biggie) emotion, which I believe even the best of officials fall victim to.
I don’t think that we will ever see the sport of basketball officiated in a way that satisfies a majority of people, save for implementing a much more elaborate replay system, which everyone would probably hate even more. It’s tough to call a play where two players are jumping, trying to decipher which violated the others space with the naked eye, because the whole thing goes down in less than a second. However, the call becomes obvious when slowed down for instant replay.
In other words, the NBA always has been, and always will be frustrating, from time to time, from the rule enforcement point of view.
That said, it is unforgivable that Stern has not implemented a much more rigid official evaluation process with massive rewards for the best and dramatic penalties/termination for the bottom feeders.
Probably my least favorite NBA rules in no particular order (the shot fake foul is also bad)
- That you can inbound the ball now into the backcourt in the final two (?) minutes. I have already seen games this year that were decided because the team on offense ran away with the ball and the defense couldn’t stop the clock. If I want to see that, I can watch old videos of Bob Cousy or the Harlem Globetrotters. If the NBA wants that in the modern shot-clock era, why not eliminate backcourt violations altogether?
- That you still get an offensive foul after releasing the ball when colliding with a player.
- That obvious flopping is still not a personal or technical foul
Viva la Rudylucion

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