New Tech fouls call.

[rjfan2spurs]

hey guys sorry i dont know if this has beenposted, but do you think the new rule will sffect the spurs more? (Timmy, Manu, Pop etc)

[LoneStarState'sPride]

No.

[Ditty]

username and question...troll right there haha

sup bump

[ElNono]

http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2006/0519/pg2_a_duncan_275.jpg

[duncan228]

Spurs notebook: Hill's tech a teaching tool (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/spurs_notebook_hills_tech_a_teaching_tool_10491609 4.html?showFullArticle=y)
By Jeff McDonald

“We've been calling techs all through camp in scrimmages,” said Popovich, a fan of the new rule. “Now the players believe us.”

...Popovich said he was happy Bavetta called what could have been a game-altering technical, calling it “a teaching moment.”

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/spurs_notebook_hills_tech_a_teaching_tool_10491609 4.html?showFullArticle=y

[#2!]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/spurs_notebook_hills_tech_a_teaching_tool_10491609 4.html?showFullArticle=y

The strip by Hill on Gordon was clean as far as I could tell from the 1 or 2 replays they showed during the broadcast. A great defensive play by George negated by a bad call, and then exacerbated by a tech that GH3 clearly earned with his antics.

[Dex]

The strip by Hill on Gordon was clean as far as I could tell from the 1 or 2 replays they showed during the broadcast. A great defensive play by George negated by a bad call, and then exacerbated by a tech that GH3 clearly earned with his antics.

I agree that Hill's reaction was a definitely over-the-top (if not justified). Even though it was good natured, it was still a big and flamboyant reaction, and I guess they felt it was enough to let the outcome of the game hang on it.

That being said, there were plenty of occasions earlier in the game where players either disputed or specifically waved off fouls or officials. That's supposed to be the same call. Tim even had a couple of his usual "That's a foul!" moments, one while shoving his defender, and that didn't even draw the ire of the refs.

I'm fine with this new rule as long as it is consistent. But I absolutely do not like it if you are going to let guys get away with it all game long, then wait for the game's deciding moments to decide to make an example out of somebody.

[HarlemHeat37]

:lol Did anybody see Tommy Heinsohn's reaction to the refs tonight?..classic..

I wonder how Timmy is going to hold up with this new BS officiating:lol..

[ducks]

heat are in trouble

[DesignatedT]

heat are in trouble

More like whoever is playing them is in trouble. Heat will get the calls, its up to the teams playing them to keep composure with all the expected BS that's going to happen.

[ElNono]

More like whoever is playing them is in trouble.

this

[polandprzem]

There is no way you gonna get consistant calls this season.
The refs will be calling subjectivly and also with the flow of the game.

There will be more distactions in game and more discusssion about the whistles.

Game of NBA will not be a game of emotions ?

Heck what?

[AlleyOopNazi]

Is there still a limit to how many techs you can have before you get suspended? I thought it was 15... look for suspensions coming to the usual's unless they changed the ruling.

[CubanMustGo]

Woj weighs in (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-sternofficiating101410):

NBA whistles while its players work

http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/sp/ed/experts/wojnarowski.png By Adrian Wojnarowski (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/expertsarchive?author=Adrian+Wojnarowski), Yahoo! Sports 5 hours, 10 minutes ago



NEW YORK – The fans wanted this, the NBA emperor tells everyone. David Stern tosses out some vague claim of market research to demand of his players what the commissioner has never demanded of himself: a control of his temper, the grace to react instantly to the incompetence of his officials with a robotic restraint.

That’s the irony: NBA employees have long described Stern’s private disposition as something that could make Rasheed Wallace (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3006/)(notes) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3006/news) blush with embarrassment. Nevertheless, Stern delivers a desperate mandate that does nothing but try to cover the flaws of his referees and remind the rank-and-file union members they’re ultimately under his control in this labor fight, ultimately at the mercy of his whim.

Just beyond the shadows of the NBA’s Olympic Tower Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, Boston’s Jermaine O’Neal (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3120/)(notes) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3120/news) drew his second technical in two nights for moderately reacting to a referee’s foul call. Kevin Garnett (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3007/)(notes) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3007/news) was given a technical moments later for trying to show an official how a New York Knicks (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/nyk/) player had hit him, and was then ejected for laughing over the legitimacy of that tech.

Finally, the Knicks’ Timofey Mozgov (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4794/)(notes) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4794/news) muttered to himself in Russian, and these lost, young referees carrying out orders teed him up, too.

“These new rules are very, very excessive,” O’Neal told Yahoo! Sports before the game. “They’re telling us the general public says we whine too much, but look at the way the NBA’s business is growing globally. I can see both sides of this. No one wants to see complaining over every call, but look at the rules. You can’t even make a hand gesture – never mind say anything.

“It’s going to be interesting to see the first two weeks of the season and how all this slows the pace.”

The biggest stars can be some of the NBA’s most emotional gripers, and they ought dare Stern and his refs to start tossing them out of regular season games. The league office loves to bully, but never has the stomach for a true fight. Let’s see how fast the public repudiates the NBA and this false premise born of phony market research.

Dare these officials, dare Stern, to reward what will be the toughest opening-night ticket ever – and the biggest TV audience – with ejections in the Boston-Miami game. Go ahead and dare them to toss LeBron James (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3704/)(notes) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3704/news) and Dwyane Wade (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3708/)(notes) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3708/news), Rajon Rondo (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4149/)(notes) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4149/news) and Garnett. Go ahead and challenge Stern the way he’s challenged them. The commissioner has increased the fines on ejections too, and two players agents told Yahoo! Sports they hope the union contests the legality of it within the collective bargaining agreement.

“The message we’re getting is that this is about cleaning up the perceptions of the NBA,” O’Neal said. “We never really know the reasons. We’re just a product out there that gets the memos.”

The NBA has gone out of its way to bring writers into preseason seminars with the officials, to get them to buy into the idea there’s so much behavior that needs to be curbed. It’s a load of garbage, but then again, no one runs a propaganda machine like the NBA. These new guidelines for technical fouls should be here to eliminate the likes of ’Sheed’s old act, and yet this has turned into a preseason where Grant Hill (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/2626/)(notes) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/2626/news) earned an ejection for slapping an opponent’s behind.

On a list of 100 desires of the NBA fan, enacting this edict probably falls somewhere in the top 150. The fans? What they want is competent ownership and management. In perpetual losing markets, they want to be rid of Donald Sterling and Glen Taylor, George Shinn and Michael Heisley. They don’t want to be told that a man from Oklahoma bought the Sonics to keep them in Seattle, only to have it proven to be a lie – and still never hear the commissioner acknowledge it.

Fans want a chance to believe in so many of these small markets, and Stern gives them David Kahn as a GM.

The commissioner is losing a grip on a younger, brasher generation of owners, and losing the respect of his players. Once, the players saw Stern as a kind of Don, a Godfather they had to respect. Once, they saw him as the commissioner of the NBA. Over time, he became just the commissioner of the owners. This is one more show of muscle for a commissioner who’s never had less within his sport.

In an email, one veteran Eastern Conference player told me, “What’s going to happen next is that people are going to keep going with this about how we don’t care, or don’t play hard … because we’re running around like a bunch of robots. We can’t win with this thing.”

Yes, referees should give techs to players who overreact. But now you get a technical for reacting. That’s an immense difference, and there’s no majority of NBA fans anywhere who ever demanded these changes from the league. This way, the league never has to address the putrid nature of its officiating. If players aren’t reacting to bad calls, they must not have been bad calls. [B]San Antonio Spurs (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/sas/) guard George Hill (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4488/)(notes) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4488/news) made a clean strip on the Los Angeles Clippers (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/lac/)’ Eric Gordon (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4469/)(notes) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4469/news) in the final minute of a one-point game on Tuesday, got called for a foul and reacted in a natural, expressive twinge of frustration. He drew a tech, and it nearly cost the Spurs a game.

“With the nature of human error being involved with the officials, guys are going to react when it’s a bad call,” O’Neal said.

On the night that Amar’e Stoudemire (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3607/)(notes) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3607/news) scored 30 points in his Knicks debut at the Garden, everyone will remember one of these frightened young officials, Kane Fitzgerald, following orders and tossing Garnett because the Celtics star actually tried to care about a preseason game. Don’t blame Fitzgerald, because the idea of making an example of someone of K.G.’s stature comes straight out of Olympic Tower, straight out of an agenda that has nothing to do with the wants of the fans, nor the good of the game.

This is pure politics and posturing, the last stand of a commissioner who refuses to let the beginnings of a historic season breathe. The NBA fans wanted this, Stern says, and all those yes-men surrounding him in midtown Manhattan assuredly gave the commissioner one more standing ovation.

Just understand, David Stern is the max-out NBA star who’d never survive a day on the job with his new rules, who’s asking of his sport something he’d never, ever ask of himself: restraint and grace.

[Leonard Curse]

people really need to start getting together to hit david stern where it hurts ya know the only thing that matters to him in life MONEY!!!!! if people strike certain games and follow through you better believe stern will change the rules.

this rule to me is targeted towards african americans and euro players because thats part of what happens when your passionate about the game in these cultures. sorry if i offend anyone but im being very honest

[Giuseppe]

you're an adorable race baiter as well.

[Chomag]

There is no way you gonna get consistant calls this season.
The refs will be calling subjectivly and also with the flow of the game.

There will be more distactions in game and more discusssion about the whistles.

Game of NBA will not be a game of emotions ?

Heck what?

I agree, I wonder how many games Lebron or Kobe will be thrown out. None, becuase this rule wont apply to these players I'm betting.

Funny thing about these special treatment players though is that they are the biggest violators of this rule. :lol:downspin:

[superbigtime]

Stern is a little imp. He does not care about the history of the game or its integrity. He does not care about a level playing field between all franchises. All he cares about is money, and he thinks that the league will generate more of it through hype (extolling star matchups, big franchise face-offs), player image (dress code, over-reprimanding foul calls and techs), and fake campaigns (NBA Cares photo ops, meaningless overseas preseason games). Stern's agenda does a frank disservice to true basketball fans and instead polishes the NBA's fool's gold bright enough to entice the casual fan. Stern may have brought more attention to the game overseas, but The NBA is actually thought of as entertainment in Europe, not legitimate sport.

The NBA could be such a pure product if the NBA had a Commissioner who would "revert" to a simple principle: game integrity. Power needs to be taken from the referees pure and simple. They are crooked, biased company men. And have a system that gives all franchises equal opportunities and a level playing field. Coaches and players should be able to speak freely; honesty should never be discouraged or penalized. It's no surprise Stern fines opinion, truths, and reactions from players and coaches.

In general, a fan is too casual/stupid/oblivious to care or notice the many problems with the NBA, or he/she is aware of it but overlooks it because of love for the game. I'm never going to stop buying Spurs season tickets though. I love watching the players and their incredible athleticism (not talking bout Matt Bonner here). But at some point even basketball geeks are going to be too turned off to tune in, and that's occurred with many folks I know.

Fucking Stern. I hate him.

[Bender]

This way, the league never has to address the putrid nature of its officiating.
:lol
what a great line!

[mexpurs21]

this rule to me is targeted towards african americans and euro players because thats part of what happens when your passionate about the game in these cultures. sorry if i offend anyone but im being very honest

I dont think so, if what you are saying is true, then the tech foul rule is targeted @ like 90% of all players.

[easjer]

I think, per the usual, that Wojnarowski is right on the money here.

[spectator]

seriously, someone make a facebook group and let's add some ppl to tell stern his market research is BS.

[bigdog]

This is a stupid change to the rule. Yeah, it gets annoying to see players complain, but the refs are going to completely use this to their advantage and call every single one of these out there.

[Bender]

seriously, someone make a facebook group and let's add some ppl to tell stern his market research is BS.
well, the Fb thing worked on the new Gap logo, they trashed it within one week because of the Fb outcry

[Obstructed_View]

It's really too bad that the NBA is doing this, because everyone that's ever watched basketball knows that a player crying about every whistle vastly improves the quality of the officiating.

[easjer]

It's really too bad that the NBA is doing this, because everyone that's ever watched basketball knows that a player crying about every whistle vastly improves the quality of the officiating.

There is a middle ground here, OV.

I think Wojnarowski points out it effectively. Extreme reactions, arguing with the ref, an extended period of muttering or dirty looks or whatever - that is unnecessary. Whining about every call is unnecessary.

But so is not allowing any reaction whatsoever, particularly on a bad call.

And like so many other things, I'll believe it when I see LeBron or Kobe tossed for 'over-reaction' . . .

[GinobiliForTres]

Sheed would be broke by the All-Star break had he not retired.

[mingus]

the only thing that worries me about this rule is that it will effect the end of games if it enforced as strongly as it is throughout the game. i'm not sure there's anything that can be done to stop a player from having a reaction at the end of a close game if a foul is called or isn't called. with that much on the line, the players are going to react no matter what. hopefully they're more lenient at the end of games.

[#2!]

Anyone who is interested should try sending in a message through NBA.com. Who knows if they get read or not, but even just one short message against this overly-strict rule change could help. Maybe even just send a link to Woj's article; it may not be much but its something we can do.

Here's the link: http://www.nba.com/email_us/contact_us.html

[#2!]

There is a middle ground here, OV.

I think Wojnarowski points out it effectively. Extreme reactions, arguing with the ref, an extended period of muttering or dirty looks or whatever - that is unnecessary. Whining about every call is unnecessary.

But so is not allowing any reaction whatsoever, particularly on a bad call.

And like so many other things, I'll believe it when I see LeBron or Kobe tossed for 'over-reaction' . . .

Exactly, the rule change isn't necessarily a bad one, but to allow for no reaction at all is too far.

Players should be allowed to have some reaction in situations where the moment is tense and the game is on the line. I don't want the rule to be taken away, just scaled back a bit.

[GinobiliForTres]

Nobody is going to be perfect. This is like having rules in school, and having uniforms. They may abide by them, but they're always going to try to find loopholes to get out of it.

[AlleyOopNazi]

If the rule is policed fairly it shouldn't make a difference. The spurs are on the lower end of foul complaining, the Mavs are in trouble however.

[SequSpur]

WTF... I like it...I am sick and fucking tired of watching Tim Duncan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant cry way to much during a game...I can understand emotion but there is just no respect for the game or the refs for that matter...the shit is out of control...I remember being religious every night during basketball season and making sure I watched every game on TV...now I could give a fuck...It seems like the whole world has given the next championship to the Heat...what kind of league is that? Shit, you might as well have the Heat... and then form an NBA league... I think Pop is wrong, it was not good for basketball...Does the NBA have a cap or not? Shit..some teams are close to 100 million in payroll...come on man...the system is broke...in 10 years, the nba might be done.

the nba is nothing more than wrestling now...

[ace3g]

WojYahooNBA Adrian Wojnarowski
Union will contest new NBA technical rules: http://yhoo.it/9dVQYc

[duncan228]

Union to contest officiating crackdown (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ys-unioncomplains101410)
By Adrian Wojnarowski

The Players Association plans to contest the NBA’s efforts to curb player complaints about the league’s officiating, union executive director Billy Hunter said Thursday.

“The new unilateral rule changes are an unnecessary and unwarranted overreaction on the league’s behalf,” Hunter said in a statement. “We have not seen any increase in the level of ‘complaining’ to the officials, and we believe that players as a whole have demonstrated appropriate behavior toward the officials.

“Worse yet, to the extent the harsher treatment from the referees leads to a stifling of the players’ passion and exuberance for their work, we fear these changes may actually harm our product. The changes were made without proper consultation with the Players Association, and we intend to file an appropriate legal challenge.”

NBA commissioner David Stern said the league’s market research shows fans want to see a decrease in the on-court complaints and demonstrations by players. Stern has instructed the league’s referees to give players technical fouls for lingering too long to complain or making an overt gesture, including punching the air.

On Wednesday in New York, Boston Celtics center Jermaine O’Neal drew his second technical in two nights for moderately reacting to a referee’s foul call. Kevin Garnett was given a technical moments later for trying to show an official how a New York Knicks player had hit him, and was then ejected for laughing over the legitimacy of that technical.

[Obstructed_View]

There is a middle ground here, OV.

I think Wojnarowski points out it effectively. Extreme reactions, arguing with the ref, an extended period of muttering or dirty looks or whatever - that is unnecessary. Whining about every call is unnecessary.

But so is not allowing any reaction whatsoever, particularly on a bad call.

And like so many other things, I'll believe it when I see LeBron or Kobe tossed for 'over-reaction' . . .

George wasn't teed up for an initial reaction, and you know it. They allow for an initial emotional reaction but won't stand for anything beyond that. We've been watching crybaby basketball for so long now many of us forget what it was like before. Go watch the Robinson era Spurs when a call goes against them. NOBODY reacts to officials like they do today.

[The Truth #6]

George wasn't teed up for an initial reaction, and you know it. They allow for an initial emotional reaction but won't stand for anything beyond that. We've been watching crybaby basketball for so long now many of us forget what it was like before. Go watch the Robinson era Spurs when a call goes against them. NOBODY reacts to officials like they do today.

Didn't see the game in question, but I basically agree with what you're saying about complaining in today's game compared to the 90s or 80s. At the same time, the game wasn't called as tightly back then either. Now, with the refs going out of their way to call BS charging calls whenever possible, they're basically rewarding flopping. And by doing that, I think they've softened the game and allowed for so many bad calls, and so its not surprising that the players are crying for every little call because it doesn't take as much to get a foul called anymore. In fact, the goal now seems to be to flop or dupe the refs into a call whenever possible - on offense or defense.

Anyway, Stern's influence in micro-managing the officiating will continue. If he doesn't want the players acting like babies, then he should stop rewarding bad play and make the players earn their fouls and hopefully the game will become more competitive again.

This post wasn't directed at you OV, but it got me going off on a tangent...

[Obstructed_View]

No problem, Truth, but the fact remains that the refs aren't tagging guys for their first reaction in 95 percent of the cases, and that remaining five percent are the guys that do something blatant. I'd be perfectly fine if Duncan got ejected from a couple early games if it got him to stop focusing on his calls and just figure out a way to win.

[fantasyfootball]

I won't be surprised when this rule fades into the sunset just like a number of other initiatives and impetuses.

Players are going to go complain about some calls. That's just the way it is. You can't play basketball, give your all, and just accept getting robbed on some foul calls (see George Hill in Mexico).

Some players are chronic complainers and I agree with curbing excessive complaining (Kobe and Tim come to mind) but trying to make the players robots who don't react to horrible officials won't work.

David Stern - for the millionth time - has got it dead wrong. Instead of focusing on complaining, he should focus on better refs. There's no reason in the world Dick Bavetta should still be reffing. He's a horrible referee. I would bet he actually misses 1 out of 4 calls he makes.

There are a lot of other referees who blow calls left and right. Just get better refs and you'll have less complaining.

If the players just bitch all the time, that's what the technical is for. The only reason that it hasn't work in the past is because the refs would only dare give out 1 technical and then after that were scared to throwout someone - especially in a meaningful game.

But I think the arguments and discussion will all go away once the season is a month underway. That's how it usually goes down with Stern's initiatives.

Closer 3 point line - reversed
Closer eye on traveling, palming - let this one go after 2-3 games
K-Mart rubber basketballs - did this even make it to the regular season

David Stern is horrible for the game of basketball. The ironic thing is if he quit fucking with the game, he'd make a lot more money because the game would be real and people would watch for authenticity.

Now everything is so watered down and controlled, it's like watching wrestling.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

From the article:


Popovich said he was happy Bavetta called what could have been a game-altering technical, calling it “a teaching moment.”

“Guys have been running around on the court like that all the time,” Popovich said. “Now you can't do it. You've got to get used to it.”

"A teaching moment". That kind of thing is why Pop is a great leader and mentor.

[#2!]

N.B.A. Cracks Down on Whining About Foul Calls


By JONATHAN ABRAMS

Published: October 14, 2010






In a recent preseason game against the Nets (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/newjerseynets/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Boston’s Paul Pierce punched the air in frustration after being whistled for a foul. He then looked around in curiosity after hearing the whistle again. In a circumstance that could repeat itself all season, the official, Steve Javie, had assessed Pierce with a technical foul for his demonstrativeness.


“He was like, ‘Sorry, but that’s the new rule,’ ” Pierce said Javie told him.
The new rule that Javie referred to is an attempt by the N.B.A. (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_basketball_association/index.html?inline=nyt-org) to cut down on the whining and muttering, the arm-waving and air-punching, the drawn-out contentiousness that is often generated by foul calls players disagree with. If players cannot keep a lid on the complaining, they will receive a technical.


On Wednesday night, in a preseason game between the Celtics (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/bostonceltics/index.html?inline=nyt-org) and the Knicks (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/newyorkknicks/index.html?inline=nyt-org) at Madison Square Garden, that new policy was on full display. Officials called four technicals in a span of 16 seconds, with Boston’s Jermaine O’Neal (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/jermaine_oneal/index.html?inline=nyt-per) igniting the second-quarter whistlefest. Kevin Garnett received two technicals (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_A_s-iDmyI) as he seemed to come to O’Neal’s defense, drawing an ejection before O’Neal even realized what occurred.


“I was still dazed by mine,” O’Neal said.


Six seconds later, the Knicks’ Timofey Mozgov was introduced to the N.B.A. with his first technical foul. He later said he had only spoken to the officials in his native Russian.


Frequent technical fouls are not new for the Celtics, one of the league’s more marketable — and volatile — teams. They accumulate technicals like points, registering a league-high 107 (http://www.cbssports.com/nba/stats/leaders/regularseason/yearly/NBA/TF) last season. “It is an emotional game,” Celtics Coach Doc Rivers (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/doc_rivers/index.html?inline=nyt-per) said recently. “That’s tough to understand when you’re not out there.”


Rivers said he did not think that the N.B.A. needed a new policy to cut down on complaining about calls, that officials “are good enough to know the difference” between normal bellyaching and behavior that is over the top.


But other coaches and players are less critical. Asked in recent weeks what they thought of the new measure, they noted that other rules had been put in place before the beginning of a season and that players had always adjusted.


“I thought it was great,” Cleveland Cavaliers (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/clevelandcavaliers/index.html?inline=nyt-org) Coach Byron Scott (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/byron_scott/index.html?inline=nyt-per) said of the new policy. “I don’t think there should be players that can run up on referees, that can throw punches in the air. There shouldn’t be players blatantly trying to let everybody know that they got hit by slapping their hands and things like that.”

(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/billy_hunter/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Billy Hunter (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/billy_hunter/index.html?inline=nyt-per), the executive director of the Players Association, called the change “an unnecessary and unwarranted overreaction on the league’s behalf” and said the union had seen no increase in the level of complaining. He said the union would file a legal challenge.


The union and others said they worried that the policy would remove some of the game’s natural vibrancy.


“It’s impossible to not show emotion playing basketball,” the Denver Nuggets (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/denvernuggets/index.html?inline=nyt-org)’ Chauncey Billups told The Denver Post. “Shoot, it’s impossible to do playing golf. And that’s no physical contact at all.”


The league’s veteran players know the officials on a first-name basis. In the search for a bit of leeway, they often talk to officials more often than younger players do. But now they will have to be more careful about their tone and accompanying gestures.


“At the end of the day, it’s letting us as players know we’ve got to have better relationships with referees and we’ve always got to come correct,” Boston’s Ray Allen said in support of the new policy.


The N.B.A. has also raised the fines for technicals to $2,000 each for a player or coach for the first five offenses. They will be docked $3,000 for each of the next five technicals and $4,000 for technicals 11-15. If a player exceeds 15 technicals, he is suspended for one game for every two technicals and draws a $5,000 fine for each additional technical.


As it is, some of the biggest complainers are top players. So what will the reaction be if LeBron James (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/j/lebron_james/index.html?inline=nyt-per) or Kobe Bryant (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/kobe_bryant/index.html?inline=nyt-per) is tossed from a pivotal game for punching the air? “That would be my concern,” O’Neal said.


On Wednesday, when nothing was really at stake, Garnett laughed his way off the court after being ejected for his second technical. Rivers and Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/mike_dantoni/index.html?inline=nyt-per) each ended up grinning.


O’Neal, a 14-year veteran, said he received his technical after asking the official, Zach Zarba, if he could talk to him after a call. Under the new rules, players may talk to referees if they do not use demonstrative gestures.


But O’Neal said he had barely talked to Zarba before he was whistled. Afterward, O’Neal said he empathized with Zarba, who he knew was following orders.


““I’ve never been given a tech where I just asked, ‘Can I talk to you?’ ” O’Neal said. “And I’m talking about seconds. As soon as it came out of my mouth it was a tech.”


The league said it adopted the stronger policy because fans had complained about the frequent bickering. O’Neal predicted that the league would back off after witnessing the impact of the new policy during the regular season.
“It’s going to make it look like it’s about the officials,” O’Neal said. “If I’m a fan looking at it, O.K., the referees are too big for the players to talk to, to communicate.”


The N.B.A. has sent officials to talk to teams about the new policy. They have the support of the Knicks’ Amar’e Stoudemire, who said the tougher rules made for a “clean game, a fun game.” But others aren’t so sure.
Opening night, meanwhile, is 11 days away.



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/sports/basketball/15whining.html?_r=1&hp

[The Truth #6]

No problem, Truth, but the fact remains that the refs aren't tagging guys for their first reaction in 95 percent of the cases, and that remaining five percent are the guys that do something blatant. I'd be perfectly fine if Duncan got ejected from a couple early games if it got him to stop focusing on his calls and just figure out a way to win.

Where are you getting your stats? It's only been a week and a half of pre season games.

[duncan228]

Hill still shocked by his Mexico tech: "You don’t think you’re going to get one if you don’t actually say nothing or look at the person."

[wildbill2u]

I understand the tech for raising the arms and hands in the air with a look of 'fundamental disbelief' on the face is called the "Duncan tech"