There was an article stating that Houston is focusing their offense on the three areas they do best: threes, dunks, and free throws. FTs should never be part of an offensive plan unless you intend to "get fouled" a lot by baiting officials.
I don't know man. That seems like a reach. I do agree they are a flopping team, but one could easily argue that getting to the line could increase with more drives to the basket.
I didn't say that he should make a call across the key. All I'm saying is I can watch the video and Dick has direct line of vision. It's not ideal, but he's right there, and I'm questioning his eyesight or his impartiality more than anything else. Again, call him out of position or say it's not his call, whatever. From the video, he has as good of a view as anyone.
Do the flopping penalties start over every year? Or do they continue to run (i.e. when next season starts, is Harden back to just being warned?)
Well, when you look at how their best player gets to the line more than just about anyone else in the league... I don't think I'm reaching.
Don't get me wrong. I am saying "public admitting" you will flop is the reach, not actually believing they are a flopping team. I am 100% certain they practice flopping.
Well then we just disagree that he had a good view. Because in reality that view across the Key is a horrible one. He's looking more at asses and elbows than he is between the players. Pause the video at .05. He has a view that refs call "Straightlined". More often than not you have a straightlined view if you are looking across the key. That is not a good view at all to judge contact.
My point to this all is that Bavetta et al. are struggling with High School Mechanics at the highest level of officiating. Again, is there a flopping issue in college? And why is there not an issue at that level? Because of this:
Again I ask: what incentive is there for the refs to work harder and send fewer stars to the free throw line when they aren't being punished for their shitty star flop calls now?
Um, start punishing them. The NBA (the people paying the refs) Demanding better. This can start with collectively bargaining that their needs to be a "Point of Emphasis" on flopping. Also that the Refs need to pledge help rid the NBA of flopping. This is what SHOULD happen. But probably won't. Instead they put the onus on the player which will never deter the flops. You cannot fix a problem if you don't realize you have it (refs).
But neither of those things (point of emphasis and pledges) count for dick more than 10 games into the season. And forget the playoffs. Give me a a tangible stick to punish the refs making calls out of position. Fines? Suspensions? Forced to call Utah games?
Yep, and they start fresh in the playoffs too. Kinda bullshit.. basically telling players they can flop a certain amount of times with little to no repercussions.
Referees have their performance reviewed all the time, which I understand can be hard to believe based on some of the calls we see every game. But I do think they take it seriously. We saw how much the replacement refs in the NFL struggled because the game is so much faster and harder to officiate at that level. The same is true for the NBA, so pointing to high-school basketball and stating there isn't a flopping issue there doesn't hold much water with me. Here's an intersting article: I like fining players when they act like they're playing soccer. It won't be an issue if they're not doing it. Further, refs are gonna miss calls, that's just a fact of life, so if players aren't getting dinged for flopping, why not keep doing it? Even if your flop succeeds only 10% of the time, it's working. However if they're gonna act like pansies, they should be treated like ones. I suggest they be forced to wear pink skirts over their shorts in the game following their flop. One would hope this would be a deterrent. The problem with fines alone is that it doesn't help during the game, so the game's outcome can be affected by these shitty calls. So I also hope the refs are held accountable in some way more significant than simply being deemed undeserving of "high-stakes assignments", whatever the hell that means.
It must happen properly through attrition. Bavetta knows he's not in position to make that call. As does the Center official who adjusted his position to get a better look and came away with no call. Bavetta simply needs to retire if he can't even get into position to make the call. But the league could bring attention to this at any time to the refs. It's just about them doing it.
I'm one of those referees who has his performance reviewed all the time. And again we handle flops differently than the NBA does. What I'm talking about with Bavetta is a simple mechanics issue. he doesn't come across the key when he is supposed to. And because of it he calls a foul outside of his area while straightlined. These are simple things to point out about that play and why a flop was called a foul. Those are simple mechanics that are baseline ref rules at any level. He simply made a horrible call based upon his inability to get in position to make a no call.
What is the motivation for the NBA to improve the refereeing in regard to preferential treatment for star players? Or, to put it another way, why would they care about chastising/punishing referees in the hope that they improve enough to be equitable when confronted with a matchup call between say......James Harden/Wesley Matthews or Dwight Howard/Robin Lopez during a playoff game?
So apathy. That's the way to get rid of flopping? If we all know that fines don't do shit what then? Somethings gotta give.
In my opinion that fuckin lil' pansy doesn't deserve my whistle. My 7 year old son says when players flop they are saying (in his whiniest voice) "help me ref! help me!" Fuck that. You earn the foul, not ask for help to get it. I would have told Harden just like this: "Beep! Out of bounds! Red!". And then when he complained (because that's what floppers do) I would then say: "get up and stop flopping!". If he flopped again and his coach had something to say: "Tell em' to stop flopping coach." Then the players AND the coach have to adjust. Next Flop after that is a Tech.
