Truehoop Must Read

Darn those Refs!

Sophia

N I think as long as people are doing the job there’s always a margin of error. If we asked each ref, who is the best team in the league, they’d all have to have their favorites right?
But a conspiracy throughout the officals leading up to the head of the nba, to increase ratings (the general assumption no?), I have a hard time swallowing that.

Besides without the ref’s to complain about what else is there? the other team? I don’t think I could bring myself to complain about how our boy’s were working.

But it may be a bit early to go that far. thanks dave.

not with the betting scandals so fresh in my mind

Care to add another point to the Site Conversation Rules?

… but this ref scandal has me trying even harder.
I really hate the idea that our refs are actually evil, not the pretend evil they usually are.

Apparently I was among the uninformed masses regarding offensive fouls. That will make watching the replays much more interesting. It’s too bad they don’t use the “Moment of alighting” as the determination because it is a nice phrase.

Albert: “Offensive foul is the call”
Fratello: “Right here you can see the moment of alighting”
Albert: “He does not look as though he has alighted there”
Fratello: “No, he has definitely alit”
Albert: “Alighted”
Fratello: “What?”
Albert: “Yeeeeeesssss”

This was a media event that was specially set up to reinstate confidence in NBA refs. They chose what videos to show, how the discussion went, etc. I don’t think that one meeting with NBA analyzers should completely wipe away what has happened in the past.

I do like that the Referees are opting for more transparency, and giving reporters a look into their world, but at the same time, that should not limit people from complaining about bad calls. That is how we are getting this transparency in the first place! If people had been complacent and just assumed the NBA would take care of it, or that the ref’s were doing the best that they could, we would be in the exact same situation that we were in before the last season.

We should understand that being a ref is a difficult job, as anyone who has ever reffed knows, and this media day is letting more people know exactly how tough it is. But to ask that people not criticize how a ref is doing, or how some bad calls affected the game, would be just ignoring a problem. In order to get the best refs, and make sure the best calls are made in games, people have to be able to complain and reflect how they feel about the reffing situation. I think the best situation is with the fans being transparent about their feelings, and the NBA refs being transparent about why and how they make the calls that they do, and owning up when they make a bad decision. That is how you instill confidence in the process, it’ll take a lot of time, and by ignoring the situation and sitting with our mouths closed that process won’t have the proper feedback to continue moving forward.

“Dave” is really Steve Jones

Would be great to have a website where you can look at few critical situations, briefly think about how you would have reacted (what you think you saw, what you think the rule is), and then get an explanation how a trained referee sees it and what the applicable rule exactly is. Maybe even show a few on TV when there is an occasion where this rule applies during analysis.

I had the chance to watch a couple of Summer League games along with a group of referees years ago. This is back when there was a strong contingency of games in Long Beach, and I used to go every year there (just as I do now in Las Vegas). I was there by myself and they simply sat down next to me, introduced themselves, and watched along with me. Most of them were referees in the WNBA who were in ‘training’ to become NBA referees. They told me about how after every Summer League game, the ‘training’ supervisory refs had evaluation sessions with each of them, using video footage to make points about made calls and missed calls. Pretty intense stuff.

Anyway, it was fascinating being able to interact with them during the games, getting perspective on why certain calls should or should not be made. They asked me what I, as a fan, wanted out of the referees – I told them that consistency was the biggest thing to me personally. Finally, they introduced me to Bob Lanier when he sat behind us – which was a real treat. And, yes, his feet really are huge!

I need to copy this post by Henry when I get home, save it on my laptop and reference it regularly.

the refs calling the game straight up. No breaks for the home team. No breaks for the stars. No breaks for the big markets. No breaks for the good stories (like us). Just call the game straight up. If a star fouls out, he fouls out. If a rooky plays well, he plays well. I hate the announcers saying “He’s not going to get that call as a rooky.” Why not? If these things happen, and I hear about them during every game, then how can we wonder why refs start calling other fouls that are not there, or not calling glaring fouls at various proper times in the games. The way games have been officiated in the past is a cancer that keeps spreading. I would love to see it ripped out. Like I tell my kids, “If we all play by the rules it is fun.”

Bad call, Dave. Whining about the refs is part of the fun.

The NBA game is a beautiful blend of grace, power, speed, athleticism, teamwork. But it is sometimes marred by pouting, juvenile gesturing by some players and coaches. I wish the league would encourage the networks to not focus on those negative emotional displays. On the other hand, it is helpful when cameras show the posturing player not getting back on defense, allowing the opponents to score. Perhaps coaches should more frequently bench complainers.

When watching baseball in recent years, I’ve been almost dismayed by the number of times the strike zone "tracers" show that umpires miss the calls. (Surely NBA officials have more accurate perception.) How the batters react to those missed calls does much to determine my attitude toward those players. And, I appreciate how the baseball play-by-play people generally let "Joe’s tracer" speak for itself. If NBA announcers could comment less, maybe fans would likewise.

Has anyone has analyzed the volume of complaints over the years. Were the players in the 60s, 70s, and 80s as demonstrative as the current era?

The part about travelling was particularly interesting to me, because I’ve long been amazed that my wife, who almost NEVER watches hoops, can howl, “That was travelling” when she looks at the screen, but the refs don’t call it. Well, maybe it’s because they truly don’t see it.

Why? I dunno. But maybe it’s because that’s not a violation they’re GRADED on catching. If they miss a zone defense violation—something I’m not likely to notice—they’ll catch hell from the league. Likewise with a guy’s foot touching a line on a three-second call or an “inside the restricted area” charging call. The refs are responsible for spotting a lot of technical violations, and as a result they often aren’t even watching the guy with the ball. So maybe that’s why they tend not to notice the “obvious” violations that ordinary fans see. E.g., maybe by the time they start watching a guy driving to the hoop, he’s already taken his first couple of steps!

At some point (I’d put it about 10 years ago), the players began to pick up on this “blind spot” in NBA officiating, and they just did what competitors do: they took advantage. I wish that the league would close this “loophole” and start making travelling a point of emphasis.

Now, I’m not referring to that little shuffle that players make as they start their drives. That doesn’t actually confer much advantage to the offensive player. I’m talking about taking three and four steps on drives to the hoop. Allowing guys to tuck the ball under their arms and run to the hoop like running backs ruins the game for me. OK, except maybe when Brandon Roy does it.

Well for a lot of fans complaining about the calls is part of the “fun”. You can debate the wisdom separately. As you’ve grown older you’ve come to realize the refs are just out there doing there jobs? Well as I’ve grown older I’ve come to realize my eyes are getting worse and maybe I’m just missing more bad calls.

Here’s my conspiracy theory. How much did the N.B.A. pay you for all this sudden love of the refs? When Dwayne Wade trips all by himself with nobody around him and somehow The Blazers get called for a foul, my eyebrows raise. No sorry, bad calls, bias still exist. I just can’t get onboard with the let’s just let the “good” refs do their jobs and all just turn away.

I’m forgiving and understanding, I think Pro-Basketball is hands down the hardest sport to call for a wide range of reasons. But over the years I’ve seen lot’s of blown calls and non-calls and I reserve my right as a fan to complain. In light of the Donaghy scandal I hardly think this is the time for a stepping back, joining hands Kumbaya session with the N.B.A. refs. No, I reserve my right to complain and I think it is a force that does influence outcome. Yes, I get tired sometimes of the constant 2 days after the game complaining, but that is part of being a fan.