He retired.

Again?
 

Was he back? :p

Brett Favre syndrome.

what I find even MORE interesting than the "new" technical foul rules...is that the NBA surveyed members of its' "NBA Fan Forum" to get their opinions of technical fouls...

As a member, I received a web-based survey that included video clips of plays from last season followed by multiple-choice questions. They wanted to know what fans thought of how much players should be able to display their displeasure at a call (physical reaction vs verbal comments) and how much latitude to allow players when talking to officials after calls (discreet conversations vs "walking all the way across the floor to talk with an official").

It was pretty interesting to see that the NBA would survey fans about technicals and then adjust technical foul enforcement based, at least in part, on fan opinion.

No shocker......
 

Isn't the FAN-tastic? ;)

And the saga continues......
 

The players run the league. The players shall prevail.

And that's one of the reasons the NBE is unwatchable.

I wish the broadcasters would do a better job informing fans that these new "game respect" technical fouls are mandated to the officials.

I personally don't agree with this rule application. Fans think this gives the officials more power when it actually takes power away from them. The officials no longer can use discretion and have to call the technical.

A better solution to the players whining (which is not an emotion) would be to emphasize the technical fouls. The league office reviews each game. If they think a player was too overt or demonstrative in their actions and they didn't recieve a technical foul, then fine them. Players would adjust.

All this rule application does is bolster those who have negative opinions of NBA officials.

While there is always room for improvement, overall the NBA officials do a very good job and are accurate more than not. I wish the NBA would do more to educate fans on the rules of the game (some of which lend to these negative opinions). All the NBA does is make the appearance of a coverup for ineptness continue and grow. People will believe what they want to believe and perception becomes people's reality. The NBA is doing their officials a severe injustice in how they handle them and how they are "defended" by the NBA.

To end this, as an official this new rule application really bothers me. It may accomplish what the NBA wants, but at what cost to the players, fans and the officials.

The NBA makes available their rule book and casebook online on their website for anybody to view. They have Making The Call With Ronnie Nunn during the season which reviews correct and incorrect plays from the regular season. They also have the NBA Video Rule Book which has many different play situations including the new application of the "Respect for the game" guidelines which include plays from last year that were NOT technical fouls that will be this year.

To say the NBA doesn't try to educate their fans/broadcasters is, I believe, wrong to say. I think they do the best out of the major sports.

Yes the NBA does on one hand try educating fans but on the other hand sets themselves back. And the broadcasters certainly can help the NBA more in that manner. It is frustrating (and it happens in college games too) listening to broadcasters explain a rule incorrectly or suppose what the official is calling.

FOX has included the NFL's former VP of Officiating in their broadcasts which certainly is helpful. It could be of benefit if TNT or ESPN or both would do similar. Having a former official explain a controversial call or go over rules explinations would benefit the viewers and the NBA.

The NBA has done things to improve the officiating but there is a gap between perception and reality. The perception will take time to change, but it can be accomplished.

When you really think about it though, broadcasters don't really help any of the respective sports that they covers as far as rules knowledge and interpretations go. You'll either hear a fan's misrepresentation of the rule, a rule confusion for that particular level (high school rule vs. college vs. pro rules) or the rule just flat out wrong.

I do agree that having Mike Pereira for the Fox broadcasts was a tremendous add for the network. And it really works well for the NFL as its rule are very complex and nuisanced (a whole second book could be made just for all the exceptions listed in the book). I don't know how well it'd translate to basketball (especially compared to football) but it couldn't hurt.

Yea my suggestion wouldn't be the cure all but I think it could help. And it would be a little more difficult in basketball than football. But I think it would help the broadcasters. A lot of times fans take what broadcasters say as either truth or use what knowledge they have in forming opinions. It just would be nice if those broadcasters knew what they were talking about. And that applies not only to rules and officials, but the game itself. Sometimes I don't think the broadcasters are actually watching the game, whether it is football or basketball.

Technicals remaining an issue during NBA preseason
 

I found the following article on my local newspaper's website:

MIAMI The whistle blew and Heat forward Chris Bosh immediately raised his arms skyward, his way of telling referee Dick Bavetta that he didn't foul anybody.

As far as outbursts go, it was weak.

Nonetheless, it'll cost Bosh $2,000.

It's a scene that's been repeated around the league throughout this preseason plenty of times - way too much for the liking of the NBA players association - and will likely continue when games start counting next week. Stepping toward refs, being demonstrative, even punching the air, it all falls under a newly emphasized respect-the-game umbrella that's led to a surge in technical fouls league-wide.

"The emotion of the game can never be taken out of the game of basketball," two-time reigning MVP LeBron James said Monday night. "And that's when the fans, that's when the real guys, and the people who are watching and who know the game of basketball will know there's a problem with the game.

"This game has always been built on emotion," James added. "And if we try to take that out of the game, the fans won't like it as much. And without the fans, there's no game."

Bosh could only smile after getting his technical. Charlotte's Stephen Jackson had an incredulous look on his face after he drew a technical moments earlier in the same game Monday night, unsure why he was called for traveling.

So Jackson ran to referee Rodney Mott, an absolute no-no by league decree this season.

"We've all got to make adjustments," Jackson said. "It's just something I've got to deal with. Everybody always says, 'Well, they've got a target on you.' It's part of the game. I've just got to be smarter about what I say and what calls I want to talk about."

Technically, the rules aren't changing much.

The way they're being enforced seems like the bigger change.
"I could understand if somebody was yelling, cursing, saying inappropriate things, OK, that's the reason for a technical," Bosh said. "They're very quick to 'T' guys up. And I don't want to give my money away. All I wanted to know is, I wanted to talk about the call. And that was it. And his main emphasis was, put your hands down."

Never mind that the fine - which went up this season - will cost Bosh 0.000138 percent of his $14.5 million salary.

To Bosh, the bigger point was that he didn't say anything inappropriate to Bavetta, and since he maintained his cool, he wondered why that would have prompted a second whistle.

"I've seen a couple of my teammates get technicals for, I'm not going to say nothing," James said, "but really nothing."

Across the NBA, plenty of players seem to be agreeing with James' sentiments.

"I'm not surprised about the rule," Denver forward J.R. Smith said. "I mean, the refs are getting tired of us complaining. And sometimes, I think we do go a little too far. But at the same time, it's in the heat of emotion. You're trying to win a game. But I understand both sides. I don't think that would have been at the top of the list of things that needed to be done, but I think something has to be done about it."

Teams have been shown exactly what the league means during briefings with referees during the preseason. The NBA players association is planning legal action over the league's decision to issue more technical fouls for complaining, saying last week that it all amounts to "an unnecessary and unwarranted overreaction."

James sees the merit of emphasizing the policy. That doesn't mean he's sold.
James argued a call Monday night, asking for clarification and pleading his case quickly. But he did so without gesturing, without screaming, without posturing - and therefore, did so without drawing a technical.

The new Heat star says he's been very aware of the policy when deciding when to engage officials during the preseason.

"You do now. Absolutely," James said. "I'm a very emotional player. And I feel like there's times where because of my size and my speed that some of the other calls that may go to certain players, I don't get because I'm able just to bounce off of it at times. That's $2,000 for a technical these days, man. It's not really about the money, but it is. You start writing them up, it's a lot of money."

James offered a what-if scenario that he'd dread: Game 7, NBA finals, a judgment call goes against a certain player who reacts angrily. By letter of the law, that's a technical. Imagine if that decided an NBA championship.
It's unlikely, of course. Regardless, if the preseason is any indicator, referees have gotten the NBA's message.

"It's unfortunate," Bosh said. "But hopefully, it'll get better."


Read more: Technicals remaining an issue during NBA preseason - Sports: NBA | Tri-City Herald : Mid-Columbia news

Update, Still Cracking Down.......
 

Bobcats' Stephen Jackson fined $50,000 for verbal abuse - ESPN

"Charlotte coach Larry Brown said Jackson flailing his arms was one of the first examples in a video distributed to teams before the season. Jackson has struggled with the new crackdown, getting called for two technical fouls in five games."