The only thing I can think of is that there's something from the endline that we can't see from this angle. Otherwise I'm not sure how this can be anything but a charge. I'll have to take a look at it later today and see if they showed another angle and try to put it up.

From USAToday - Chris Strauss:

NBA referee Joey Crawford has never been afraid to draw attention to himself when making a call, as evidenced by this blocking foul against Los Angeles Lakers guard Chris Duhon in Tuesday night's game versus Indiana.

The Pacers won 79-77 despite a 40-point night from Kobe Bryant, but clearly Crawford was the star of the game.



Nuf Sed

Just a sportswriter looking for something. The officials are an easy target these days. Officials were much more flamboyant when I started watching basketball in the 1970s, but I can't imagine any writer back then saying anything about how Earl Strom tweet-tweet-tweeted every call. People (writers) seemed to have more respect and less of a TMZ mindset back then.

The one thing I've seen at the HS level is that things have swung WAY too far in the other direction -- anything remotely close is called a charge. Back when I started (in 1987, which seems like only yesterday) the defender needed to have his feet nailed to the floor and be there for a few seconds or it was a block.

There needs to be a happy middle ground based on actually officiating the defense and understanding the concepts of legal guarding position and the responsibilities of both players when a collision happens.

OHSAA has told us explicitly NOT to do this mechanic.

Fist on hips for a block? You won't find me donig it any other way (save for the theatrics shown here). The "by the book way" IMO is a weak signal (that and the PC signal).

You and I think alike.

The hands on hips is a weak mechanic. So is the hand behind the head on a PC foul. A crisp punch in the other direction is a much stronger call.

I had a block on a drive down the lane last night. Big collision, both players on the floor. I probably didn't ham it up as much as Crawford, but I remember banging the hips twice, saying, "Block, Block."

There's nothing wrong with selling a close one. On the video shown, it seems to me like he's overselling one that he probably got wrong.

I hear that opinion a lot, and then no one hardly says a word when done on a call. Like others said I would do the same as Joey other than the running half way up the court or the frequency, but the fist part would be done the exact same. I do not have the time to fix my hands in a way where they can be open and touch my hips.

Peace

Technically, I was "taught" the formal book call, but the hands on the hips beyond being weak just feels somewhat awkward and unnatural to do. I have always though the fists are perfectly fine as long as the mechanic is done correctly and the fists don't make their way around front.


Understatement of the week?

Chuck Berry would be proud.

Agree....he was in the spot for a long time before the contact.

Greatest. Incorrect. Call. Ever!

I don't disagree but we will get chastised here for not doing it by the book.

Honestly, I've never ever had anyone get on me for not doing this by the book. And if I was, it's probably a hit I'd be willing to take. Then again, I can count on one hand the amount of people that call this by the book (as far as a block goes...still see the PC mechanic all the time). Hell, the only person I can think of that does it "by the book" regularly is Dick Bervetta.

When I say "here" I'm not talking about all of Houston but my chapter in particular. The greater area is probably too big for anybody to care once you break into varsity.