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> Scoring is way down in the NBA. A big reason? Referees have subtly swallowed their whistle on just about everything. Shooting fouls, non-shooting fouls, techs, Def 3 seconds, … all down significantly.
by lopea182
47 Comments
Best month of regular season basketball since the opening month of 2021-22
But you best not clap at a ref or else all rules are thrown away
Windhorst basically said this on his podcast today too in that Silver had a discussion with the refs about it
But SGA 31/15FTs is still the truth
After the thunder game last night I refuse to give refs any flowers I will now be like Luka and call them hating ass bitches
when people asked to give defense a chance, i dont think anyone meant “stop calling defensive 3 seconds”
Its like playing beer pong with no bouncing, no islands and 0 reracks straight shooting
Technicals are back at the point they were at the start of the season. Seems silly to talk about techs being “down significantly” when it never went above one tech per game and is now exactly where it was the first month of the season. Same with defensive 3 seconds. Down merely .05 per game from where it was to start. I think these and travelling (also under one a game) were just added to make it seem like more things are affected by refs “swallowing the whistle” than there are. Which is a silly thing to do because I think everyone agrees the game is more physical with less calls in the more recent games.
Didnt somebody shoot 15 free throws last night?
Yes, i would agree that games have an overall playoff feel to it and it’s good but it isnt consistent. How can they let okc play tough physical defense against the mavs and call fouls on the mavs for doing the same exact thing on defense? Fouls for thee but not for me
the physicality that the refs were allowing in last nights game against Phoenix really stood out, game went by a lot quicker as well. refs swallowing the whistles makes for a much more enjoyable viewing experience
Unfortunately some of the refs haven’t got the memo, as last night’s OKC win over the Mavs showed. SGA shot 15 free throws, almost double his league-leading 8.9 (and Kyrie’s 8 in the game). 44 fouls and 49 free throws and some notable obvious missed calls shown on replay (crew chief Josh Tiven).
Giannis shot 18 ftas last night, the 76ers entire team 14. (crew chief James Williams); Jaylen Brunson shot 17, Blazers team 16 (Pat Fraher)
I’m not saying the free throws should be even, but it’s interesting that 2 of the high octane offenses last night in Boston only had 25 fouls and 21 free throws combined, and the celtics were a mere +1 fta (Ed Malloy crew chief)
Still, it’s progress, and the media is talking it up big time. Lets hope it lasts past this small sample size of “post ASG”.
I reject this notion untill i see certain superstars not get 10+ fta a game. That is to say im waiting to see Embid play.
and yet the Lakers still have the best FT differential in the NBA by a fucking mile
I’m not going to celebrate what ultimately will be inconsistent officiating. Consistency is the most important part. A player should be able to operate knowing that what was a foul last game will be a foul the next game and not have to spend a quarter and a half “feeling out” how the refs are going to call a game, only to have it inexplicably change how it’s called after halftime.
Wait techs are down? Coulda fooled me and the Celtics
It’s not subtle
Some might see this as a good thing but this is just more of the same manipulation of games but just on the other end of the spectrum. Instead of worrying about the scoring they need to just call the game how it should be called. Call the carrying, travels (eliminate the gather step), flopping and eliminate offensive players jumping into defenders for free throws.
The nba is again trying to give the fans what they THINK we want. Most of us just want a fairly officiated game where the players decide the outcome
Joel Embiid being injured has brought scoring way down.
Free throw rate being at the lowest in its history while paint touches are still pretty high just means that guys are being hit and not getting calls, watching guys get hacked in the paint for free hasnt made the game more fun, its just the officiating has gone from one extreme to another, I just want foul baiting to be punished
What’s the scoring differential by month? Seems obviously lacking from that table in the tweet.
Who would have fucking thought that refs letting basketball be played would be good for basketball
Feel like this has been the norm the past few years, first half is all-star game ball and the second is where the refs let guys defend
Except for SGA
Refs quiet quitting
Good
Let’s see if this lasts. At the moment it can still be construed as just inconsistent reffing. Scoring for the year is still at it’s highest on average since well before the merger.
Thank god
Idk I still see soft techs
ITT: a wholeeee lot of whining
I went to the kings/spurs game , the first game after the all star break and there were 0 fouls called in the first quarter, 0. And there were some super obvious fouls both ways. That’s when I knew they made some changes.
So it is pointed that this started on Feb 9th. The average OFFRTG since then is 114.5. The Celtics register a 129.5 OFFRTG since then. This is insane.
6 months ago people were bitching the scoring was out of control.
Thank god.
This is a slippery slope the NBA is on. If they keep this up will the Playoffs be “Even More” Physical? How will there be that signature difference between Regular and Postseason Basketball? Makes me think this is a temporary solution to appease the fans until they pull the plug again in April.
I love NBA Referees! I love how much they get to influence games! I want refs deciding how the game plays out!
Is it that subtle? You see players losing their shit routinely over not getting a call where all the way up until the all star break it was a foul all day.
I watched a game the other day with literally six techs – BKN ORL – and the frustration the players were feeling was pretty visceral. It has been such a dramatic and somewhat inconsistent shift in officiating that many of the players themselves have struggled to adjust.
The true test will be when embiid is back
They are missing some egregious fouls now. Maxey got fouled so bad on a layup but he made it but refs didn’t call a foul.
It’s because Embiid isn’t playing.
Good. Fuck the refs.
Somebody forgot to tell the refs in Indy the other night lol… I did not expect to wake up and see Demar DeRozan with 17 free throws!
SURPRISE SURPRISE
The teams who have an actual good offense are still playing really well
On the other hand…
Hopefully this doesn’t lead to more dangerous fouls
I would day thus is down, but not WAY down. It needs to come down more. Free throws are the least interesting part of the game. And with the space and speed of today’s game, fouls feel even more disruptive to the flow of the game.
I commend the NBA for not waiting until the end of the season to tweak the game. They are the only proactive professional sports league around, and I think it is helping them put out a better product even if there are hiccups along the way.
So everyone is getting Jokic’s whistle now?
Good. The scoring and weak ass fouls were getting close to unwatchable.
Fuck yeah. This is great for the league.