Before complaining about NBA officiating

[Jimgolf]

Now this may seem like spam, but I have no interest in this other than enjoying the debates about certain calls. The NBA channel runs a series called "Making the Call with Ronnie Nunn", first run on Tuesday nights and then repeated a couple of times during the week.

This show has several enlightening segments, including "Officiating 101", which tries to educate the broadcasters about the rules by reviewing game tapes where the officials have been criticized about a call, "You Make the Call", where the hosts are asked to make a call on a series of plays, and a mail segment where viewers invariably ask about controversial calls. The thing I like best about this show is that Ronnie Nunn is not afraid to show where his officials have made mistakes and explain why a call was made in error.

My point is that NBA fans who think their team or favorite player has been jobbed by the officials would benefit a lot by viewing this show before mentioning how a certain official cost them a game. The segments this year about marginal contact and technical fouls for "disrespecting the game" have made watching NBA games more enjoyable for me, as have the numerous slow motion, multi-angle replays of controversial calls. The one thing I've learned is that the NBA officiating crew is dedicated to getting the calls right, and they work hard at getting the newer officials to understand how they want the games to be called. They are under a more tightly focused microscope of their job performance than almost any of us, and do a great job nonetheless.

I know I've posted about this show before, but they have recently hit a stride on this show that makes it enjoyable even for those with no officiating experience.

[Old School]

Hold on there. I don't know about the NBA officials doing such a great job. I have seen a lot of improvement this year. I have seen a lot more 3-second lane violations, good calls at the time, a lot more traveling being called, and then I watched Dwayne Wade come back game, and just about flipped in my chair. DWade was taking about 4 steps to the basket and dunking the ball. Watch some of his comeback highlights. I believe it was Sunday. What the hell???? If you're going to screw up that bad then I'm going to talk about you. This is why the US doesn't win in the Olympics, they don't have the NBA ref's turning their heads to obvious violations.

[WhistlesAndStripes]

Originally Posted by Old School

Hold on there. I don't know about the NBA officials doing such a great job. I have seen a lot of improvement this year. I have seen a lot more 3-second lane violations, good calls at the time, a lot more traveling being called, and then I watched Dwayne Wade come back game, and just about flipped in my chair. DWade was taking about 4 steps to the basket and dunking the ball. Watch some of his comeback highlights. I believe it was Sunday. What the hell???? If you're going to screw up that bad then I'm going to talk about you. This is why the US doesn't win in the Olympics, they don't have the NBA ref's turning their heads to obvious violations.

Get your facts straight.

No, that was the Friday night game, and even Bill Walton got on the officials a couple times for what D-Wade got away with.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by Whistles & Stripes

Get your facts straight.

No, that was the Friday night game

Hey - "Sunday" is metric for "Friday".

[budjones05]

Originally Posted by Old School

Hold on there. I don't know about the NBA officials doing such a great job. I have seen a lot of improvement this year. I have seen a lot more 3-second lane violations, good calls at the time, a lot more traveling being called, and then I watched Dwayne Wade come back game, and just about flipped in my chair. DWade was taking about 4 steps to the basket and dunking the ball. Watch some of his comeback highlights. I believe it was Sunday. What the hell???? If you're going to screw up that bad then I'm going to talk about you. This is why the US doesn't win in the Olympics, they don't have the NBA ref's turning their heads to obvious violations.

Old School, I couldn't agree with you any more! I hate the NBA. The NFL and MLB doesn't have this problem with rules not being followed. Not saying that theses officials are not good, but I see more travels and carrying, I can't even watch the game. And they are getting away with it!

[JohnBark]

Originally Posted by budjones05

Not saying that theses officials are not good, but I see more travels and carrying, I can't even watch the game. And they are getting away with it!

What's one of the hardest calls in basketball? Someone once told me making a "Travel" call was...if that's truly the case...then from another post about Joey C...someone said the NBA has the best officials in the world...really? with all the Travel violations going on in the NBA...they were either told not to call it...or the best officials in the world have a different definition of that violation than i do.

that's one thing i dislike about the NBA all the missed/overlooked travels and minor violations that the younger kids see and then try to copy in junior high and high school games...

[Junker]

First of all, I'm not at all an NBA fan anymore. I can't remember the last time I actually sat and watched an entire game. That being said, those officials are getting pretty beat up around here lately. I don't think any of us are in a position to judge what they do. The game they are asked to manage is entirely different than anything any of us sees. Most of us will go an entire season without seeing even 1 player that has the skills to play at that level. I don't feel that I have any concept of what advantage/disadvantage would be on a floor when you have 10 players of that caliber. In addition, the league is a professional league and their bottom line is putting butts into seats. They want their game to be entertaining to the general public and officials are told to call the game in that fashion. What I know about NBA officials is that they are incredible at getting in position, and they probably do more with game management in a night than we do in a week. They work a ton of games and work harder than any of us on watching tape in hotel rooms and on planes. Get off their case.

[jkjenning]

Hey JohnBark - where in the Artic Circle are you? I've handled a fair amount of magnetometer data from the poles and have a friend in space physics who is working on his research "in your area"... can't remember what the name of his town is - he keeps a cool blog. You don't happen to know a Tom Immel, do you? being that the Artic Circle is such a small place!!

[JohnBark]

Originally Posted by Junker

First of all, I'm not at all an NBA fan anymore. I can't remember the last time I actually sat and watched an entire game. That being said, those officials are getting pretty beat up around here lately. I don't think any of us are in a position to judge what they do. The game they are asked to manage is entirely different than anything any of us sees. Most of us will go an entire season without seeing even 1 player that has the skills to play at that level. I don't feel that I have any concept of what advantage/disadvantage would be on a floor when you have 10 players of that caliber. In addition, the league is a professional league and their bottom line is putting butts into seats. They want their game to be entertaining to the general public and officials are told to call the game in that fashion. What I know about NBA officials is that they are incredible at getting in position, and they probably do more with game management in a night than we do in a week. They work a ton of games and work harder than any of us on watching tape in hotel rooms and on planes. Get off their case.

Junker, I'm not on their case. I actually watch the NBA games when I get a chance. And I'm not on the officiates as much as I wish the NBA would let them make the call. Taking 4 steps to get to the hole is traveling and if it's not, then it's not basketball. and the talent level is way above what most of us see, they should be able to make their moves LEGALLY under the rules. And I would love a chance to be an NBA official. I wish all of my games were taped because I would review them immediately after the game just as the NBA guys do. So, don't misunderstand my post...it's more directed at the NBA as a whole rather than the officials. I probably could have worded my original post better for that I'm sorry. So, NBA shape up!!!! You NBA officials, I think are great and doing the best you can under the current NBA management!!!

[JohnBark]

Originally Posted by jkjenning

Hey JohnBark - where in the Artic Circle are you? I've handled a fair amount of magnetometer data from the poles and have a friend in space physics who is working on his PhD... can't remember what the name of his town is - he keeps a cool blog. You don't happen to know a Tom Immel, do you? being that the Artic Circle is such a small place!!

North Pole, Alaska?

[SWMOzebra]

Originally Posted by Junker

First of all, I'm not at all an NBA fan anymore. I can't remember the last time I actually sat and watched an entire game. That being said, those officials are getting pretty beat up around here lately. I don't think any of us are in a position to judge what they do. The game they are asked to manage is entirely different than anything any of us sees. Most of us will go an entire season without seeing even 1 player that has the skills to play at that level. I don't feel that I have any concept of what advantage/disadvantage would be on a floor when you have 10 players of that caliber. In addition, the league is a professional league and their bottom line is putting butts into seats. They want their game to be entertaining to the general public and officials are told to call the game in that fashion. What I know about NBA officials is that they are incredible at getting in position, and they probably do more with game management in a night than we do in a week. They work a ton of games and work harder than any of us on watching tape in hotel rooms and on planes. Get off their case.

I couldn't agree with you more, Junker. Whether or not I like to watch the NBA (which I don't), I would argue that the officials who work on this level must be among the best around for the reasons you mentioned and then some.

Here's what I don't understand: certainly, officials of every sport miss calls from time to time. Granted I don't go much to the baseball, football or other sections of the forum but once in a great while...but generally I don't read about officials from other sports being so critically judgmental of their collegiate or pro breathren. I will never work above the HS level, but have tremendous respect for those of you that do. Moreover, I accept a certain amount of criticism (constructive or otherwise) from fellow officials, coaches, players and fans recognizing that it goes with the territory...but for whatever reason it seems to me that basketball officials are more likely to "pile on" those who have made it to the NBA or even D-1.

Hey, the folks that work at these levels make mistakes too and are under a far larger microscope than most of us will ever experience...it seems to me the least they could expect is some support from those of us who have a had a taste, however small, of what it is they go through on the floor.

[btaylor64]

Originally Posted by JohnBark

Junker, I'm not on their case. I actually watch the NBA games when I get a chance. And I'm not on the officiates as much as I wish the NBA would let them make the call. Taking 4 steps to get to the hole is traveling and if it's not, then it's not basketball. and the talent level is way above what most of us see, they should be able to make their moves LEGALLY under the rules. And I would love a chance to be an NBA official. I wish all of my games were taped because I would review them immediately after the game just as the NBA guys do. So, don't misunderstand my post...it's more directed at the NBA as a whole rather than the officials. I probably could have worded my original post better for that I'm sorry. So, NBA shape up!!!! You NBA officials, I think are great and doing the best you can under the current NBA management!!!

Then do it. Someone doesn't just find you. You have to get in front of someone and be liked by them.

You and alot of people have no idea how the pro game works and how the heads of the officials work. The crap about the head office not letting the refs "make the call" is bullcrap. I will guarantee you that there are more travels called in HS that are not travels than travels that are missed in the NBA. I will guarantee you that! How many travel calls do we or our crew miss a night. I would bet its a lot more than the NBA guys. The insuation(sp?) that they let all this stuff go is ridiculous and is still being harped on, because they used to be very lax about it 5-10 yrs. ago and no one has attempted to watch or pay attention to the game again. People come on here and say they miss all these plays, but no wait, you don't watch the NBA anymore, so how do you know what they miss. Watch 2+ games a week in the NBA instead of 5 min. and tell me if you don't change your mind. Yes they miss travels and so called "minor" violations, but we all do, its just that we get to see it on replay 12 times, criticizing them and how they missed it, and they don't. Well they do but its after the fact.

I love how the pro game is officiated. Call me a fanboy, if you will. They don't have a "let 'em play" mentality. They believe that the refs set the tempo and set a standard of how the rest of the game is going to be officiated. If there is a bump or bodycheck going to the hole, they don't wait to see if the ball is going in, they blow the whistle. If a coach steps over the line, they don't console him and put there arm around him to calm him down. They whack him, cause its the only thing they can and will respect, and they move on.

These guys are the best in the business. They get there plays right and they manage the game better than anyone, while still being the most professional you can possibly be (with the exception of Joey Crawford going off his rocker the other night).

[Junker]

Sorry, I wasn't necessarily commenting on this particular thread. There just hasn't been much else to talk about lately and a lot of folks are spending alot of time bashing the NBA guys.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by jkjenning

Hey JohnBark - where in the Arctic Circle are you? I've handled a fair amount of magnetometer data from the poles and have a friend in space physics who is working on his research "in your area"... can't remember what the name of his town is - he keeps a cool blog. You don't happen to know a Tom Immel, do you? being that the Arctic Circle is such a small place!!

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by JohnBark

North Pole, Alaska?

I sure hope you're kidding. I don't see either Pole belonging to any nation.