Tapping an airborne shooter

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by lmeadski

First a bit of logic: if it truly didn't distract the shooter, then why would a defender do it?

First, that's not logic. That's simply a rhetorical question. Why do they do it? Who knows? Why do coaches yell "3 seconds"? Does yelling it make it true? No. So does tapping (not pushing, remember) a player in the stomach make it effective? No. (By the way, that's a bit of logic. It's an argument from analogy. It's not a great argument, I'll grant you. )

Secondly, I guess you never got tapped in the stomach when you weren't expecting it.

Of course I have, and I can tell you firsthand that it doesn't cause a large enough reaction to affect a shooting motion. That's just ridiculous.

Third, some people are ticklish in that area.

Who the bleep cares? Are we really going to be watching for ticklish reactions on the court? This "tap" should be around #417 on the list of things to be looking for during a shooting sequence. This isn't even a subject for serious consideration, IMO.