Quote: (11-22-2012 12:53 PM)Timoteo Wrote:
I thought the league over-complicated this. Management loves coming up with different ways to dig in players' pockets. The simple solution to this was for refs to simply stop rewarding it with calls. If they simply don't blow the whistle, and a defender's man simply goes by him and scores while he's on the floor, guys will stay on their feet and play defense. Only in cases where the offensive player obviously runs over, or obviously clears space with an elbow or forearm against the defender should the ref blow the whistle. This whole system of warnings, fines and suspensions is a bit much to me. When the league decided they wanted to address palming, they instructed the refs to stop letting it go. The main offenders, like Jordan and Iverson, started getting whistled for it. They adjusted. When the league decided guys were complaining about calls too much, they instructed the refs to start T'ing guys up. Most players chilled, and the refs backed off a little once their message was delivered.
I see what you're saying and I agree to an extent but I think that would make the referees' jobs much more difficult with the high speed nature of the NBA. Something like palming the ball is much easier to judge than whether someone oversold a foul on a bang-bang play at the basket. With 30 teams at 10+ games played each there's only been one guy fined so far so it doesn't seem to be some huge money grab and it has definitely served as a deterrent thus far.
Once the playoffs start, it will be interesting to see if a higher paid guy like Chris Paul would be willing to take the fine to force a key turnover in a tight series.