NBA fines Celtics' Marcus Smart for public criticism of officiating

Sandpd wrote:

NYCelt wrote:I think whichever side of the debate you land on, there must be acknowledgement that basketball is arguably one of the hardest games to officiate. Calls get missed, and they always have. Players and fans can bitch about refs and calls, but it's a fast paced game. You can put 5 zebras on the floor if you want, and there will still be plays where they're all screened and miss something, or get it wrong. They can fine Smart, or whomever, all they want. Right or wrong, the complaints will continue.

“You can put 5 zebras on the floor if you want, . . . “

That would be called a “dazzle” or “zeal” of zebras. Ironically, those descriptors would probably not used by most when describing the performance of the officials . . .  um, zebras.

There's my learning moment for the day!

A lot of calls are missed but I think the most inconsistent calls involve offensive fouls.  

LeBron James makes an offensive foul on at least half of his drives to the hoop.  He always lowers the shoulder like an NFL running back and plows into opponents.

This biggest issue thst I have is that players like Harden and James get calls that other players do not get.  Refs are too reluctant to call fouls on elite players.  

I would like to see teams have at least two challenges per game on any call they do not agree with.  If they do not have any time outs left and they lose the challenge, charge them with a technical foul.

Super star calls - or Super Stars that excelled at avoiding fouls ???
Wilt Chamberlain**** 1961-62 AVERAGED 1.1 FOULS PER 36.0 MINUTES - AGAINST A LEAGUE AVE OF 51.8 FOULS PER GAME. WILTS PERCENTAGE SHARE = 0.021.
Bill Russell**** 1960-61 AVERAGED 1.6 FOULS PER 36 MINUTES - AGAINST A LEAGUE AVE 53.6 FOULS PER GAME. BILLS PERCENTAGE SHARE = 0.028
Lebron James**** 2012-13 AVERAGED 1.4 FOULS PER 36 MINUTES - AGAINST A LEAGUE AVE OF 39.6 PER GAME. LEBRONS PERCENTAGE SHARE = O.035
Kevin Durant**** 2012-13 AVERAGED 1.7 FOULS PER 36 MINUTES - AGAINST A LEAGUE AVE OF 39.6 PER GAME. KEVINS PERCENTAGE SHARE = 0.043.

Looks like Wilt and Russ were the Lebron and Kevin of the 50's-60's.

swish