Friday, September 24, 2010

Attention Josh Smith

Perhaps finally forswearing the jump shot isn't the greatest adjustment Josh Smith will have to make this season. As Henry Abbott reports, the NBA has expanded (and/or better defined) what constitutes cause to assess a technical foul. I direct both the reader and Mr. Smith's attention to the second bullet point in particular:
Referees have been instructed to call a technical for:

• Players making aggressive gestures, such as air punches, anywhere on the court.

• Demonstrative disagreement, such as when a player incredulously raises his hands, 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.

In addition, referees have been instructed to consider calling technicals on players who use body language to question or demonstrate displeasure, or say things like, "Come on!" They can also consider technicals for players who "take the long path to the official", walking across the court to make their case.

5 comments:

Blogging All The Things said...

"In addition, referees have been instructed to consider calling technicals on players who use body language to question or demonstrate displeasure, or say things like, 'Come on!'"

This is just ridiculous...

Throwback Soul said...

Watch a few coaches get some of this nonsense too...

Bronnt said...

Ugh, really? Saying "Come on!" is now a technical? I'm just waiting for this to rear its ugly head. Somebody is going to have a two point lead late in the fourth, an official is going to make a questionable call, a player is going to shout, "No!", then he's going to get whistled for a tech, giving the opposition three free throws and the ball based mostly off of poor officiating.

Let's face it, there's already plenty of questionable calls in the paint over the course of the season. This new emphasis has the possibility of making bad calls even worse.

jrauch said...

NBA's clearly trying to be more MLB-like in its "don't show up the ump/ref" business.

Honestly, the hysterics from players has gone over the top. It needs to stop. Is this a reaction too far in the opposite direction? Probably, but its better than seeing a ref surrounded by 3-4 players pleading their case, acting as if they've never done anything wrong ever.

Anonymous said...

Just FYI, it doesn't sound like Smoove is forswearing his jump shot at all. In one of today's AJC blog posts, it was mentioned that the three things he worked on over the summer were ball handling, making better decisions on the court and yes, midrange shooting.

http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2010/09/27/atlanta-hawks-media-day-musings/?cxntfid=blogs_hawks