Trend in the NBA

[AGuinness]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Fouls are a huge problem for the NBA and not just recently.

Back in the days of the ironclad defense of the Pistons, Bill Lambert never committed a foul that he thought he deserved, but he was often in foul trouble and fouled out more than once. His abject disbelief whenever he was whistled for a foul occurred on 90%+ of the fouls he committed.

The big boys like Wilt and Shaq were human bulldozers who were never impeded gettin to the rim. If you were between them and the basket, you became road kill. Wilt and Shaq never got their share of offensive fouls in my opinion.

If you were a rookie or bench player guarding Michael Jordan or any other franchise player, questionable calls were never in your favor. Keeping Michael in the game was the unwritten rule.

Traveling also seems to be called inconsistently. 2, 3 or 4 steps seems to be okay at times. When the last dribble is above the foul circle and the basket counts, an air traffic controller should be on the officiating crew.

Doug Moe, Denver's coach in the 80s, was an early proponent of high scoring NBA basketball. His teams were okay, but often were defeated by high scoring opponents. He should be considered the father of the current NBA.

The impact of the three point line and how it has changed offensive basketball strategy suggests that additional lines might be considered. I'm not sure where though, just a thought.

I'll try to avoid this thread going forward, promise.

Additional lines should be considered! Why not? Not considering new changes just because the game has "always been played" a certain way is silly.

Shaq was a unique one, and I remember the refs not even knowing how to call fouls on/for him. The physics behind such a big body in motion created a new dynamic.

PS. What really chafes me is that step-back three that Harden has created, whereby he takes two steps, then moves back again (third step) and shoots. It's really funny that he gets away with it so much.