by Brett Edwards
The NBA is making it a point of emphasis this season to crack down on players who dramatically complain to the officials after the whistle. Officials from the league have been visiting training camps to let teams know of the supposed "zero tolerance" policy for arguing calls with officials.
As a result, you can kiss the Spurs' title chances goodbye. With Bowen, Parker, and Duncan acting like Peyton Manning at the line of scrimmage after every referee's whistle, they will rack up technical fouls so quickly that they will be kicked out of games left and right. This will certainly cut into their season win total, which will leave them without home court advantage in the playoffs (not that it helped last year). Combine that with the suspensions the Spurs will rack up for having too many technical fouls, and they should be out by the first round.
All kidding aside, it's about time the league did something about this. The commissioner is right when he said it detracts from the game; it's an annoyance that has gotten out of control and hopefully the league is serious about cracking down. We'll know early on if the league's serious if we see some quick T's called on the league's marquee players like LeBron or D Wade, instead of overrated role players like Bowen.
hmmm. i hope com. stern is not just raising funds for irag war vets . i see his coffers filling up quickly w/ big donors being sheed , etc aside from the 3 spurs you id'd !
Posted by: nike | October 12, 2006 at 12:53 PM
'Sheed doesn't need any help getting technicals; he does it pretty efficiently anyway. I bet he gets suspended before the allstar break.
Posted by: Jack | October 12, 2006 at 08:30 PM
The league should crack down on it. It's tiring to see guys complain on every play. Give a technical once early in the season (or game) and you'll see guys stop complaining really quickly.
Posted by: girls basketball | October 16, 2006 at 10:44 AM
Hey Brett,
How's it feel to be an idiot?
3rd best record in the league with a 6 game winning streak.
"No chance" indeed.
Posted by: Illinois-boy | February 27, 2007 at 11:50 PM
i thought the spurs complained too much last season, but i don't see how not complaining would make the spurs lose. they cut down. you gotta complain every once in a while of the official thinks you don't care. but it had gotten out of hand.
i did notice that the blazers announcers thought the spurs owned the officials the other night.
Posted by: Dave | March 11, 2007 at 11:54 AM