The problem with refs and the NBA.
Posted by: SPQR on Jun 07, 2010 - 09:30 AM
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I want to preface this post by saying I don’t want this thread to turn into a debate about the calls in last night’s game. That is going on in plenty of other threads here right now. For those who have read me over time, you know how I feel about the issue of ‘bad’ calls including last night’s game. For those who don’t know my thoughts, just check out those threads on here and you can learn them.
But I do want to discuss the issue of bad calls and what can be done about it.
First off, we hear many fans say things like, “The NBA needs better refs. The NBA needs to monitor and do something about the refs who make bad calls.”
Well, the fact is, the league does review and monitor the refs. They look for weaknesses and try to work on them. They also use the officials who grade highest in the finals, just as the NFL does.
Another salient fact is this: the officials we see in pro sports are the best of the best. There are no “better” officials out there waiting to come along.
NBA and NFL officials go through a long, arduous vetting process to get to where they are. Years of high school and college officiating. Years of scrutiny and training with the leagues before they make the big show. They are the best. Perfect? Not by any means. The best one can find? Yes.
One must keep in mind that these are human beings. They are placed in a situation where they are among the largest, fastest athletes on earth, they are physically stuck with one angle of vision (unlike us who have the benefit of five cameras and instant replay) and have to make calls on plays that take but a split second. By that very nature, even the best officials are going to make mistakes…as aggravating as it may be to fans of teams watching. Sometimes those bad calls will even cost a team a game.
So all this begs the question: Since these are the best officials humanly possible, and since they are in a position where mistakes can be made, what can you do? Start firing officials and bringing in new ones and placing them in the exact same situation where you know human mistakes will occur again? Doesn’t make much sense, does it?
The real problem does not lie with the officials; they are doing the best they can under the circumstances. The true problem is with the rules themselves.
Basketball is the ONLY sport on earth that carries the penalty of ejection for a player who fouls. And there is the true rub of this problem.
In the NFL, an offensive lineman can hold, and be penalized 12 straight times and not be ejected from the game. In the NBA, if a player is penalized 6 times, he is tossed.
If a player picks up three or more fouls, he is placed on the bench to conserve him from picking up more. It also mitigates how he plays the rest of the game, fearful of picking up more fouls and being tossed.
It is this strange, weird rule, innate only to basketball which has such a massive influence on games, and also makes bad calls so detrimental to the game.
Since it obvious that new officials won’t be any better or more capable than the ones currently plying their trade, one has to attack this from another more logical perspective: Change the rules.
There are a couple ways that come to my mind. I am sure there are many others that I can’t think of. It is not my purpose to come up with the best solution, just to give some broad outline on what can be done.
You can do like the NFL does and give coaches say, two or three challenges a half. That way, if a player, or a star player, picks up one or two bad fouls a half, they can be reviewed and rescinded. If this were the case, then to my view, Kobe would have had two less fouls last night than he ended up with. But there is always the possibility that even under review, the refs may not agree there is conclusive evidence to rescind a foul.
Another way to go about it to avoid that problem would be to change the penalty of the sixth foul and on. No ejection from the game from fouls at all. Say if a player gets a sixth foul, then for that foul and every one after that he commits, the other team gets two (or three, or four) free throws and the ball. They can use any player on the floor they want to shot those foul shots.
I don’t claim these are perfect answers. Just some suggestions about how the issue of fouls and ejections can be changed. I am sure many of you would have very viable suggestions as well.
Some purists will say, “Hey, it has always been this way, you can’t change it.” That is arrant nonsense. You used to be able to hand check. There never used to be a three point shot. You never used to be able to play zone. Centers used to be able to camp in the lane on defense. Rules have changed how the game ‘used to be played’ all the time. With an issue like this, it begs for a rule change. All in the interests of fairness and also for keeping the players where they should be: on the floor playing basketball, not sitting on the bench, be it from good calls or bad.
The issue really is not with the refs. The very fact that they are human and put in the position they are in will lead to mistakes. The problem is with the stupid, archaic rules that only basketball has. That rule needs changed.
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Re: The problem with refs and the NBA.
by mtpascoe on Jun 16, 2010 - 02:57 PM
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I think you are correct Randy. A ref may be hesitant to make a call because he doesn’t want that player to get into foul trouble. Or if he has a bias, he might do just the opposite. Also, all refs have a “strike zone” of sorts. Just like in baseball, the umps have their own strike zone. Basketball referees have limits on how much contact is made. Some refs call a foul is you just touch a player. Others call it if there is blood and an ambulance. All the players and fans want is consistency. Whatever call you make in the first inning or first quarter, make in the last.
The baseball umps are the best, even with that horrible call a couple of weeks ago that cost a perfect game. The game may not be fast, but the plays are. A runner going to first is just as difficult to call as is a charge or block. But, on instant replay, after many different angles, the umps are usually proven correct (unless you are watching with “bias” eyes.)
Not true in basketball. You can see contact all night and wonder when or if the refs will call a foul. And in baseball, a strike is a strike in the first game of the season as it is in the last game of the World Series. In basketball and in hockey too, the refs might call a game different if it’s the seventh game of the Finals.
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