Miami Heat v. New York Knicks: LeBron Block Attempt and Foul
 

Was asked to post this play for discussion:

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*EDIT* Play added at post 73.

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**EDIT Play added at post 90.

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Nice block, great teaching moment... dont call above the rim plays as L.

No foul, jus an incredible block.

Disagree, or rather, I think your statement needs more specificity. I would say the lead needs to stay off action above the rim, but on this type of play there can be body contact occuring below the rim that the lead needs to officiate.

Calling a foul on LeBron here and there is good for the game - it quiets some of the conspiracy theorists.

I'm pretty sure Mike Callahan doesn't think about that crap when it comes to his playcalling.

True story... he saw the body contact but unfortunately he didnt see that the block was very clean & prior to the contact. 95/5 at best.

Foul....









....ok not really but it gets boring just agreeing with everyone all the time.

By the letter of the rule, this would be a blocking foul...there was plenty of displacement through body contact from a position that was no where near LGP Without it, LeBron wouldn't have been able to block the shot (or at least not nearly as easily).

However, in practice, when a player gets that much ball up top, we often ignore a lot of body contact that comes with it.

Not sure why we don't protect shooters who get their shot blocked, but we don't.

Well considering that the shooter landed under his own power, did not change his follow through on the shot, not sure what there is to protect. Blocked shots are almost always going to have some level of contact. I think the official in this case (like many do) anticipated the contact and did not likely see the entire play.

Peace

On jump shooters we do. Jump shot, quick block, crash! We can't officiate that play like a punt in football.
Like you said there are less calls on plays to the rim. I think that is because he is going up with much more force and bracing for any contact. This is most likely why the contact is deemed incidental. Which I agree with in most plays.

Where does it say a player has to be knocked on their backside to be fouled?

Protecting the shooter is about letting the shooter land cleanly and safely. Knocking them sideways is usually not doing that, even if they happen to be agile enough to come out on their feet.

But, as I said, we don't call these if the defender gets the ball first or even gets mostly ball....short of extreme contact.

I know... was just havin' some fun.

It doesn't say that specifically, but the rule does say that it is not a foul when a player's movement is not affected and in this case there is not affect on movement based on the contact that may or may not have taken place.

The rule does not say that there cannot be any contact what so ever. Again, was Melo knocked to the floor? Was he unable to land in a similar spot without the contact? Better yet, did LBJ block the ball first? And players can fall as a result of the force of the block as much as the contact. Heck someone big is jumping to prevent you from completing a motion towards the basket, I would suspect that some contact is inevitable or this could knock someone off their normal movement even when there is no contact. This is why at the end of the day this is a judgment call.

Peace

I was actually watching the game last night when this play happened...my first thought was "Nice call!" And then they showed the replay...a good patient whistle on this play and we don't call anything. I can understand why it would be called, but it really should come from an outside official who has a better look at the play.