Are you worried about the NBA’s crackdown on complainers? Rasheed Wallace isn’t the only one to feel the wrath of trigger-happy referees: Mike Bibby was tossed on Wednesday and Carmelo Anthony was tossed last night. In case you’re keeping score at home, the Pistons, Kings and Nuggets each went on to lose those games.
So what’s a fan to do? Well, you can sit at home and stew while watching your favorite player get the hook. Or you can sign a petition sponsored by Need4Sheed asking David Stern to relax the rules — and, well, then sit at home and stew while watching your favorite player get the hook.
As anyone who’s been a fan of the NBA for very long can tell you, David Stern simply doesn’t flinch — in another life, he probably would have been a Wild West gunslinger or a modern-day cage fighter — so I’m guessing it’ll be the players who’ll have to relax. For most guys, it won’t be too difficult. In the meantime, there will be a sharp learning curve where refs have far more impact on the game than anyone wants when they’re forced to toss star players who still don’t get it.
Eventually, though, the game will be better. I’m as big of a Pistons fan as you’ll find, but even I’ll admit that some of the playoff games were a chore to watch with every single player complaining after every single call. Such whining is a black eye on the game, as far as I’m concerned, destroying the flow of the game and taking some of the joy out of watching.
Did Rasheed get a raw deal in his first game? Of course he did, and it’s going to be an extremely long season if players are consistently penalized for showing displeasure with a call even when they don’t directly complain to the official. But let’s see how this plays out, because I doubt it’ll be as much of a season-long issue as some of us fans are making it out to be at the moment. Sooner or later a middle ground will be found, with players showing more restraint and officials not analyzing every single post-whistle reaction. (EDIT: At least, there better be: SLAM’s Lang Whitaker has counted 46 technical fouls in the league’s first 17 games!) In the meantime, maybe we need to lower our expectations, with anything more than 30 minutes a night from Wallace considered bonus.
stern is a genius. this new “crack-down” is merely a ploy to divert attention from atrocious officiating. early in the season, all the bloggers and media-types are talking about the effects of the crackdown…instead of reminding all the casual fans how bad the officiating has been over the past umteesquat years. lest we remember last years’ playoff officiating? the only word to describe it is “sickening.” ok, i’m done channeling Cuban…matt and ian–don’t talk about players getting thrown out. talk more about the bad calls officials are making and have been making. don’t let stern have his way!! question authority!!
Chris McCoskey just mentioned on WDFN that Bibby was likly a casualty of retaliation by Derek Stafford. The new rules allow the refs to “settle old scores” because they are so subjective and ambiguous.
I’m glad for the new rule. It’s going to suck in the meantime while the players get used to it, but come on, how much did all of us complain…umm, about the complaining last year? It’s certainly entertaining from an anti-fan’s point of view. But seriously, this can only bring good things to the NBA. It’s about time.
I LOVE the Pistons, but I still grew tired of the constant whining during the playoffs last year. Whining, swearing, and being obnoxious doesn’t fly in high school, it doesn’t fly in college, and it shouldn’t fly in the NBA.
But maybe that’s just the high school teacher in me, trying to make everyone play by the same set of rules.
I find this new rule to be a great one. I’m a Pistons fan, of course, but I was getting so sick and tired of Rasheeds (for the most part) constant whining. I don’t see the point in complaining, they’re not going to reverse the call anyway. So let it be. Bickering on will only make things worse. They need to quit there crying and play on.
I don’t buy the complaints about NBA officiating. If you have ever been to a NBA game live you know that the speed of the game is absolutely amazing. During the course of the game officials have to make hundreds of split second decisions on whether or not something merits a whistle. You have to remember that these guys (and Violet Palmer) are the best in the business and are there for a reason. Even though they are the best, they are not infallible, they are going to make mistakes. There are not very many other people out there who could take their place and do a better job. NBA refs have a full time job as officials, not like the NFL who are part timers with day jobs. I am sure that every call (and non call) from each game is looked at and critiqued. I don’t agree with every call in every game, but I am not really sure how you would improve the calls in the game that are so atrocious according to Jason. What do you suggest?
As for the crackdown on whining or the Sheed Rule….I love it. I don’t care if there are a lot of T’s being thrown out right now, eventually the players will adjust. If they don’t, their teams will have to take steps to get them on the right track, because they are hurting their team. Great job by the NBA to step up and take care of this problem. The constant whining does not make the game better, and for the life of me I cannot see how people can argue that it does. So a few players are getting kicked out right now, they will learn to play without so much whining eventually.
To improve the calls in the games–create real consequences for refs that miss calls. wow what a concept. it’s kind of like creating a real consequence (t, ejection) for players who whine about calls.