NBA trying to eliminate "overt" player reactions.

@Region Philbis,

Region Philbis's source wrote:

You're basically taking emotions out of the game.

It's professional basketball, it's not a continuing daytime drama. People come to see the players play basketball, not to see them emote.

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@Setanta,

there's a certain entertainment value associated with player histrionics.
i'd say there are plenty of people who pay to see that...

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@Region Philbis,

I think you have the "Stern philosophy" right there.

he is trying to force a change of audience.

but I'm not so sure if giving the refs more power to influence the outcome of games is a good idea.

just sayin'...

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Perhaps, but that could be because they've been conditioned to it. There is, and as far as i can tell, always has been a "we was robbed" attitude towad officiating. At one time, the home plate umpire sat in a cage hung behind the plate to protect him from missiles thrown by the crowd. I have no doubt that the crowd likes to see players intimidate referees because of a tendency to blame setbacks on the officials rather than to acknowledge that the "hometown team" could possibly lose (which is silly because of how rarely the players actually are from that city). I think the referees are justified in taking an opportunity to remove that intimidation from the game. Basketball players are called "cagers" because the crowds were once as bad as the baseball crowds, and the court was enclosed in a cage to protect the players. Do you think it would be good to return to those days? I'm sure there people in the crowds who would love to pitch a beer bottle at the opposing team's center.

As has been pointed out, they don't put up with that **** in football, and i think it's reasonable that they wouldn't put up with in basketball.

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compared to other team sports, the NBA referee prolly makes the most subjective calls -- calls on fouls that could be interpreted differently depending on the ref.

they have also been known to show favoritism to star players -- michael jordan, for example, got away with murder once he had astablished himself in the league.

due to the inexact nature of NBA officiating, players should have the right to at least discuss the reasoning behind particular calls.

they are apparently no longer allowed to do this -- the ref has the final say.
it continues to make no sense to me.

i predict that by the all-star break (if not sooner), the league will retract these new rules...

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That may well happen, but i don't agree with your claim about subjective calls. The NFL went to the instant replay because of human falibility. The name escapes me now (damned old age), but there was that kid who was robbed of his perfect game this year--and the umpire who made the call admitted it. I'm not sure that i agree that the refs calls in basketball are more subjective than in other sports. And, i'll stick by my statement that they have the right to do their jobs without the intimidation.

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@Setanta,

you're talking about perceived missed calls that can be corrected with video replay.
football & baseball officials miss plenty of them, but not because of different interpretations of the same rule, as is the case in basketball...

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OK, you think your way, and i'll think mine.

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Men, who by and large are not allowed to act like men, live vicariously through our sports where manly behaviour has been still allowed. I realize that the NBA is in trouble and feels that they need to reinvent themselves but reformulating the game to appeal more to women will drive the men away. The NBA would do well to remember that their product requires aggression on the floor and that the displays of aggression are one of the main reasons fans pay to sit in the stands. The NBA leadership should do better at rejecting the carping from the puritans about the evilness of sports violence.

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@hawkeye10,

Quote:

I realize that the NBA is in trouble

are they?
game 2 of this year's finals was the highest rated game in six years.
i think attendance figures were slightly down due to the economy,
not from lack of fan interest...

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@hawkeye10,

hawkeye10 wrote:

Men, who by and large are not allowed to act like men,

I, for one, woud not tolerate such absence of allowance, but in candor,
I have never had anyone try to significantly modify my behavior.

Did someone try to stop u from acting like a man ?
Did u co-operate ?

David

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@Region Philbis,

Region Philbis wrote:

Quote:
I realize that the NBA is in trouble
are they?
game 2 of this year's finals was the highest rated game in six years.
i think attendance figures were slightly down due to the economy,
not from lack of fan interest...

It woud be oxymoronic for a fanatic to lose interest.

David

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@Region Philbis,

Quote:

are they?

I dont follow closely, but I believe they are..Attendance is down, interest is down, tv ratings are down, tv advertising is way down which will greatly impact the next tv contract, and cost continue to go up in large part because of salaries which the NBA wants to attack on the next CBA but the players seem in no mood to give up anything. A lockout seems likely, and you know damn well that this will not go down well with the public...in this economy with so many struggling to put food on their tables and these NBA millionaires (almost all of them) can't put aside their greed and play basketball...

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Quote:

The NBA has issued a mandate this season for referees to crack down on players overreacting to what they perceive to be bad calls, and many league observers are hoping Wednesday night’s Celtics-Knicks preseason game does not portend what will happen when the regular season starts.

[ snip ]

NBA writers are also complaining the new rules are excessive.

”Until both players and referees adjust to [NBA Commissioner David] Stern’s latest new world order,” CBS Sports’ Ken Berger writes, “we have a mess — a needless controversy of the NBA’s own making.”

Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski adds, “The biggest stars can be some of the NBA’s most emotional gripers, and they ought dare Stern and his refs to start tossing them out of regular season games. The league office loves to bully, but never has the stomach for a true fight. Let’s see how fast the public repudiates the NBA and this false premise born of phony market research.”

In fact, two players agents told Yahoo! that they want the players’ association to contest the legality of the new rules as it applies to the collective bargaining agreement.

But the mandate has its supporters, too, including Pistons guard Ben Gordon. “I’m all for it, and I think it will make the game go a lot smoother,” Gordon told the Detroit Free Press. “There are times when guys are complaining a bit excessively. It kind of slows the game down. It messes with the flow of the game.”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers did not exactly come to his players’ defense after Thursday’s game.

“Listen, the rules are the rules and we have to have more discipline,” Rivers told the Boston Globe. “Kevin, JO, I told all of them that. Whether they deserved it or not, I think both sides, we’ve got to use our judgment a little bit better. It shouldn’t be just a tech [for debating a call]. Having said that, we know the rules. We have to have discipline. We can’t worry about them. We have to be better.’’

And Yahoo! NBA blogger Kelly Dwyer points out that officials liberally doling out technical fouls during the preseason is nothing new. “Seemingly every fall the league announces that it will do more to crack down on traveling violations, while promising to enforce stricter technical-foul rules along the way,” Dwyer writes. “And, every fall, the NBA follows through on this promise. At least until the regular season starts.”

(sportingnews)

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@hawkeye10,

the new officiating guidelines have absolutely nothing to do with player salaries...

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@Region Philbis,

Quote:

the new officiating guidelines have absolutely nothing to do with player salaries...

it does impact the brand, it probably impacts the popularity of the game which in turn drives the economics of the game, it it might alter public allegiances during the showdown with labor, and it might be a shot across the bow from the owners to the players that they intend to call the shot. This might be a message to the players intended to impact the CBA negotiations.

But like I said, I have not been following the NBA very closely so I dont know what this is about.

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@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

At one time, the home plate umpire sat in a cage hung behind the plate to protect him from missiles thrown by the crowd.

What time was that?

Setanta wrote:

Basketball players are called "cagers" because the crowds were once as bad as the baseball crowds, and the court was enclosed in a cage to protect the players.

No, they're called "cagers" because, originally, the basketball was a birdcage that the players shot through a hoop made out of bicycle wheel rims and the game itself was called "yahtzee."

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@Region Philbis,

I think the NBA is aiming to reform the wrong thing. They should be curbing the aggressiveness the players display toward each other. The recent epidemic of fighting on and off the court (players vs the fans) doesn't seem to be addressed here.

Quote:

or smacks his own arm to demonstrate how he was fouled.

• Running directly at an official to complain about a call.

• Excessive inquiries about a call, even in a civilized tone.

Players who try to reason with the officials may actually have a legitimate concern about the aggressive one sided nature of a particular game. This can only lead to sloppy officiating. These types of policy solve nothing and do more harm then good.

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@hawkeye10,

Quote:

are they?

hawkeye10 wrote:

I dont follow closely, but I believe they are..Attendance is down, interest is down, tv ratings are down, tv advertising is way down which will greatly impact the next tv contract, and cost continue to go up in large part because of salaries which the NBA wants to attack on the next CBA but the players seem in no mood to give up anything. A lockout seems likely, and you know damn well that this will not go down well with the public...in this economy with so many struggling to put food on their tables and these NBA millionaires (almost all of them) can't put aside their greed and play basketball...

I don 't see much point in playing ball, in and of itself,
but if u r going to DO it, u might as well be greedy while u r at it.
That way u have something to show for your efforts when its over.

We shoud ALL be as greedy as possible,
in everything that we do. Failure to do so is perverted n unnatural.

David

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I think a certain amount of emotion is part of any activity where people are striving to do their best in a stressful situation. If I get hacked going up for a layup and the refs miss it, I'm going to let him know I got hacked. As long as it is a) short so as not to interfere with the game and b) not physically threatening to the refs or other players like the high speed charging up to the refs to get in their faces, I don't see any harm.

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NBA trying to eliminate "overt" player reactions.

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