BTW, looking forward to catching the game with you tomorrow night. I'm now wondering if baby backs on my grill are in order?
Outside of the bitch fest that has occurred in this thread I agree with the original premise. Our bigs are getting dissed by the refs. No doubt about it. Gasol was treated like an all star veteran by the refs. On the other hand, both Greg and Joel were treated like green ass rookies. This is becoming a trend, and it's disturbing. I'm not saying Greg, especially, isn't guilty of committing some stupid fouls, but it's beyond obvious that the majority of the calls going against him are based on expectation, not action. Why Joel is receiving the same treatment is completely beyond me.
This forum's wound a bit tight lately. If you think someone is way off-base about something, just explain the error of their ways (in terms of basketball). There's no need for scorn...if they are so far off-base, it should be easy to explain what is wrong about their position or argument. Just a suggestion. People don't break the rules here very often, but it does seem like there's a low-grade hostility at work surprisingly often. In some sense, I can understand that (even if I would prefer it didn't exist) when it comes to politics and that sort of thing. When it comes to basketball, the conversation should be casual and, at least, civil.
I'm not sure what to make of this new rule McMillan has for Oden http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/11/trail_blazers_93_memphis_79_pi.html
It isn't rocket science. If Greg or Przy were seen as scorers they'd probably get more love from the officials ... that's not to say it's all rigged and crooked, but I think there is at least an impetus from the league office to make sure a team's best scorers are on the floor for as much of the game as can be allowed. Having said that I've noticed a league-wide trend in bigs with more fouls ... admittedly that's not a scientific sampling, just anecdotal evidence I've observed when looking over boxscores from multiple games at times throughout the first couple of weeks of the season.
In a job, we have ways of communicating displeasure. We can have underlings tell another department how we want something done. Or we can phone a peon and have him tell his boss something. Or we can delay what they want done, hinting to them when they complain. But this is a message board---a message board severely lacking in one thing. It won't cost much to remedy your deficiency. I refer, of course, to the type of employee you need to hire so badly---the Fuck Off Man. I work for a pittance, and you really ought to consider it. Why should one poster become the enemy of another? How can these two people associate with each other at the Bash? In a job, opposing Dept. Heads are friendly to each other. Why? Because they have---the Fuck Off Man. For the sake of future Bashes, a small investment in peace is warranted. This time only I will give a free sample--Please, do not expect this again, and don't embarrass yourself asking for a free sample again. Now, let's say PapaG hired me. I would post, without telling anyone I was working for him, so that he can attend future Bashes in his usual sociable persona. You need to imagine I am yelling at the top of my lungs, but I would formulate my post something like this--- HEY BLAZERBEAV!! FUCK OFF!! HEY ABM!! FUCK OFF!! HEY BLAZERCARAVAN!! FUCK OFF!! HEY TOUTLAW25!! FUCK OFF!! HEY NOKNOBS!! FUCK OFF!! I would add a few big words, of course, to smooth over the effect. The whole thread would then turn against me instead of my client, and I would absorb the wrath incurred, while maintaining my client's absolute confidentiality. Don't take my word for it. Shop around, and you won't find a better alternative than---the Fuck Off Man.
Perhaps because you give the impression you didn't see the second half by your statement. Oden being THE difference was so obvious that saying you don't see it would be akin to saying, "I'm not sure it was the blow torch on the pile of gas soaked rags that started the fire". The guy was a force on both ends and every time he left the game Memphis came charging back. Every time he went in we expanded our lead both the mike's were commenting on it constantly. I imagine Wheels was as well. Edit: In response to your original post the NBA is definitely showing a bias against the big man in an ever increasing fashion. It's Sterns desire to see more offense and less defense. I submit the hand check rule and this years treatment of big men as evidence. Donaghy was right I'm afraid.
I think the biggest contributing factor to this is the new rule from a few years back that tried to clean up the offensive fouls under the basket. While the problem needed to be addressed, it has backfired against the big men. Now all you have to do is come barreling into the "painted area" and run into the big man and they have to call a foul on him. Even if he is just standing there and the offensive player initiates the contact, the foul goes against the D. This needs to be re-addressed. Maybe simply make it a "no call". I mean what is defensive guy suppose to do in this situation. Jump out of the way? Greg is used to fighting for position under the basket, now he needs to move away from he basket a few more feet to get out of the paint?? But last night it looked like Greg was simply standing there with his arms extended and his man jumped into him. Maybe he needs to erase all the fundamentals he has learned over the years and keep his arms down. It sounds ridiculous but it would keep him out of foul trouble.
I've brought this up several times before, but this situation would *really* benefit from a simple rules change: no more fouling out. The NBA needs to change the rule so that after the fifth foul (or you could even make it 4th foul perhaps), every subsequent foul called on a player will result in one free throw plus a new shot clock and possession of the ball (for non-shooting fouls)...exactly the consequence for a technical foul. And make no mistake: a free throw plus possession of the ball IS a big penalty, and coaches will respect it. It's a flaw in the NBA that's always drove me nuts. Fans want to see Greg Oden, Andrew Bynum, Shaq, Dwight Howard, Hasheem Thabeet (sp?), and all these other talented big men play. Forcing them to play tentatively and not contest shots in fear of picking up a foul is just dumb. This idea has been courted by coaches as well: I know for a fact that Rudy T and Pat Riley both endorse it, and Phil Jackson even wrote about it in his book (which is where I first learned about this proposal). It's a mystery to me why the NBA won't even address the situation. God forbid we take some power away from the officials....
Man, that idea makes so much sense. That single, simple rule change could bring an end to the superstar system. What do you do if it's a shooting foul? Just handle it normally?
Actually what I want to know is when did they change the rules so that when a moving guard jumps into the chest of a stationary center that it became a foul on the center? Because that is what is going on, and centers around the league are getting fubared by the way they call this.
I wonder if Bynum is getting these calls against him, or Garnett? I know DHO is complaining about it. Does anyone know if Bynum is getting these ticky tack fouls?
Sometimes we gotta just let things go here. Nobody should be offended on a message board, honestly. I never understood how small criticisms can escalate into talking about this board's demise and stuff. It is quite dramatic. Unless that is whats being aimed for. Drama/attention? Having the littlest things blow up to where this isn't a Blazer board but a soap opera does sometimes take the fun out of trying to discuss my NBA team. I think that is a good idea. It doesn't take people out of the game, but does penalize the player/team for fouling a lot. I like it, man.
I think it'd be the technical (shot by best FT shooting player), then the fouls shots as normal (shot by the guy who got fouled). So, 3 or 4 FT's. I'd also go even farther: Fouls 1-5 = normal (as-is now). Fouls 6-10 = 1 technical FT + normal. Fouls 11+ = 2 technical FT's + normal.
Fouls have not been a big preoblem for Andrew this year. Bynum has been moving his feet very well so far and avoiding a lot of direct contact. Also having Kobe and Ron on the perimeter helps. He also doesnt rebound or defend with the intensity of Oden, which keeps him in the game longer.
I want to say this is the 3rd year of the rule. (Maybe 4th) But basically it is the result of the rule that turned a charging foul into a blocking foul if the defensive player's feet are inside the restricted area. (Underneath the basket) The intent of the rule was not bad, but smart guards are exploiting it to draw fouls. Except for Bayless who never got the call last year.
I'm anxious to see Oden and Bynum square off against each other this year, that should be an interesting test for Greg to see how well he really is defending and whether or not Bynum can overcome Greg's stout post defense. I also wonder if Greg will be able to get his offensive mojo going against Bynum.
