I'm all for calling a foul if the player is being pushed while going to the basket or when a player is hit in the eye or face while trying to shoot a mid-range J. Heck, with offensive fouls, I'm ok with it being called if the player pushes off with an elbow and what not. Here's the problem.....wait for it....the calling of TICKY-TACK calls.Ticky-tack how you ask? When a player drives to the backet; the opponent slightly touches him knowing that the player continues the act of said play w/o feeling contact.
The offensive possession was not ruined so why call the foul - especially if the player didn't feel anything? If I was NBA Ref for a day, I would make sure that is clearly a no call.
Oh and what about flopping? JJ Barea attempts to do this quite frequently after the ball has been inbounded. Cavs PF Anderson Varejao is one of the best at doing it. Oh and LeBron James does it now too. The guy is 6-9, 250 for crying out loud. He's too strong to be flopping.
I'll give the refs a break on this because it CAN be hard to tell if its a flop. But when flopping is very obvious then oustide of making it a no-call, I'd be inclined to make the possession be turned into an automatic turnover just to stop the acting once and for all. This is basketball not acting!
Finally, my personal favorite, Pump Fake Foul Calls. Players like Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, and Paul Pierce are notorious for this.
I cannot stand when a player forces themselves into another player while taking a shot, particularly when the player has space to work with. Talk about not fair. Yes, Life isn't fair. I get that but this act can be changed.
Sometimes the ref doesn't call that as a foul but more times than not, it is.
An NBA ref should no when a player is purposely leaning into another to draw contact. If i'm the opposing player called for that foul, I'm PO'd. I held my position in playing good defense. Why should I be penalized for a foul because the other player intentionally leans into me? If I was an NBA ref, I would make that a no-call everytime.
Again, I know being a ref in any sport is difficult; although, some calls are just common sense to make. We all know how hard it is to trust a referee...especially in the NBA. Just think back to the 2002 WCF Finals between the Kings and Lakers or the 2006 NBA Finals between the Mavs and Heat.
Needless to say, just one man's opinion.
