[Nevadaref]

Several of the clips shown in the video come down to a person’s opinion. Of course, an unpermitted step with the pivot foot during a drive to the basket matters, but should we call slight movement of the pivot foot on the perimeter?

The two areas which lacked the most clarity in the video were offensive and defensive fouls in the post. Probably 80% of what was stated to be a foul doesn’t look like anything to me. The obvious push-offs and displacements of defenders are going to be called. It is the minor battling for position which is going to cause confusion and frustration when it gets a whistle. There won’t be any consistent standard of judgment.

I’ve also been part of games in which an official whistled illegal screens away from the action. What was the impact on the play? I can understand if a player got clobbered, but whistling minor contact in such situations only causes frustration, adds to the foul counts of the players and teams, breaks the action, and results in more FTs later in the contest. The calls were justified by “we are supposed to call more illegal screens.” This lack of understanding exemplifies everything that is wrong with the current robot refereeing that is being taught. What is whistled needs to matter, not just be called because it fits a definition. The art of officiating is being lost and replaced by an unthinking formulaic code. We need to bring back thoughtful, human officiating which makes sense.

I believe that the issue stems from having people who are long retired from officiating attempting to impose standards on today’s game. They don’t have a good feel for the current state of the game and we can’t call it like they did in 1987.